RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

Hello

Does the upgrade suggested by Jetpilot have been take into account by Anton ?

Thanks
Jean Fi :)

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

14 flights here with no problems.

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

Yes,
I just received the newest batch of Vipers. The cylinders are secured very nicely, the wing/stab tabs have been reinforced, vertical fin spars and gear plates have more hysol reinforcement. From what I've been told, each new batch adds the suggested changes to improve the model.

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

Hi currently building mine and was wndering if you all have added the 75 grams per elevator to mass balance them.

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

I have not balanced any of mine ( On number 5 viper jet soon )
I changed the tank hardware out to BVM ( With a TAm Jets aluminum fitting glued to the tank for the rubber bung to go through ) I do this as I prefer the fitment and the BVM tubing has a larger I/D which makes for a better vent thus less pressure on the pump system.
I also use BVM Poly tubing for the clunks as i find Tygon too stiff and during long rolling maneuvers the clunk gets stuck out of the fuel at times.
Regards Al

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

Hi, Ali

here is picture for your new viper jet color scheme....;)

Best regards

Anton

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

Very nice work Anton.
I look forward to receiving it next week and hopefully I can keep this one a little longer than the previous ones :eek:, but then again I have a few more ideas for colours so it might be good if this one is sold also :D

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

What!!! You haven't sold it already? :D :) ;)

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

No.. but only as I haven't told anyone about it ( Partly because I didnt know how it would look, and also because I want to have one to fly for what's left of the shows this year )
I have two more customers who are waiting on Vipers on the next batch of three which Anton is making for us. I have a feeling that at least one of these will be in touch soon regarding this new scheme! [:@]
I feel a military scheme Viper coming next!
Regards Al

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

Help. looking to install lights on my SM Viper, can someone tell me if there is a channel for the wires along the leading edge of the wing, where you would cutout for the lights ? or any where in the wing ??

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

Hello all... New to this thread as I just got into the jet world. My VIPER just showed up and Im drooling over all the nice parts. I thought I would chime in and ask a few questions from the people that have done that and been there. Hope you all dont mind answering a few questions that may have already been asked/answered.
Running a JetCat 160... supplied fuel cells OKay? Cockpit kit...anyone have any ideas as to how to mount this to be user friendly? The MB-339 I flew had the cockpit mounted to the canopy frame. At first glance, im not seeing that this will work on the Viper. Any thoughts or ideas? My kit showed up with 4 airtanks.... how many are you guys running and on what? My stabs dont have the servo hatch cut out. Im guessing thats because I goy the 'new' design that is now mounting the servo on the stab stub off the fuse, how is this working out? Any thoughts on mounting the horns in the control surfaces? No real location is given, I'm hoping there is 'hard piont' in a wide area so general placment for each builder is ok. Thanks for taking the time to read and respond. Cant' wait to light the fire on this one!
Matt-C

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

Have you checked with the folks at www.dreamworksrc.com ? I'm told they have ready to install light for the Viper. I hope so, Im ordering a set if they do.

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

Cockpit can be made to fit the frame so it comes out in one piece however the dash board needs to be modded so that it remains in the fuse and under the fwd screen. Good luck with hard points in the flying surfaces, seems to be the luck of the draw. Servos in the fuse section of the hori stab works well and not an issue, even if you want to remove for transport, just means disconnection of the pushrod and rotating servo arm to clear the slot.

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

Yes there is, not a purpose made channel but rather a leading edge void.

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

I understand "Design 4 Scale" has a new plug and play lighting system for the Viper, no trying to understand german engneering to get the lights to work....

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

Matt,

I found it fairly easy to mount each cockpit individually. Locate the forward cockpit shroud and retain it with 1/4" balsa strips on the sides (below the flanges). It's light and stays in place without glue or screws.

Trim the cockpit tubs as necessary and put some balsa blocks on the fuselage flanges to center the tubs and provide fore and aft stops.
The tubs will slide in and out easily and are held in place when the canopy is on, again without screws.

FYI: it helps to beef up the flimsy tubs with balsa or fiberglass doublers along the sides below the flanges

I also suggest you add a couple of BV style canopy hooks near the center of the canopy to keep the canopy from bulging at higer speeds and blowing off.

Maybe these pics will help.

Craig

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

Matt,

The large Viper tank holds 104 ozs and the smaller one 60 for a total of 164 ozs. Should be adequate for your P-160. My kit had one large air tank and two smaller ones. I used the two smaller ones for the brakes and added an additional large one for the gear (2 total). Probably over kill. Mine came with a 4th "hairspray" type tank which is used to charge up the struts.

Guys are mounting their rudder and elevator servos either in the fuselage or just inside the fin/stab root, which is what I did. You have to clear out a space in the roots and it's a little tight with the stabs. Epoxy in some blocks to screw the servos to and cut a slot in the skin as appropriate.

Here's a couple of pics of my rudder servo install.

Craig

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

Hi CraigG, where did you get the pilot ??

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

From these guys: http://premierpilots.net/id47.html

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

Thanks for the quick reply

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

G-DAY CRAIG
Have just received my VIPER and I dont know what we would do with out these build threads,Makes things a lot easy, Just a question on the horns are they ok to use I feel they are not deep enough and have made one up from some composit shall post a photo for some advice from everyone
REGARDS
JOHN

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

Hello John,

I had the exact same concern about the horns. Why don't they just make them larger and let the builder trim them down if necessary?

The problem is compounded by the fact that solid material in the control surfaces is missing or poorly installed. I went to great lengths to be sure the horns were well secured and used lots of Hysol. I would have made new ones like you did if I had the material to do so.

In any case, the rudder control horn attach has failed on several VJ's and you really need to beef up that area. In these pics you can see that I opened up the entire bottom of the rudder, then packed it with hard balsa/Hysol. I made sure to have good contact with both sides, the bottom and vertical spar. I made it big enough to capture the hinge in that area as well. I used 5 hinges instead of 3.

The other pic shows an insert I made of dowel and balsa and installed at each rudder hinge point. Much more area to attach and support the hinge.

Craig

PS: The hinges supplied with my VJ were "fake" Robart's, very sloppy and flimsy. Replace them with real Robart's or similar.

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

This is not a viper but this is how I did my Horizontal stabs on my 339. The servo is mounted in the root of the stab and the bottom of the case sticks out a little and sits inside the fuse... I will be using the same method on my Viper (once I finally get it)....

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

On the last few viper jets that we have tune keyed ( And my own current example ) we have fitted to horns per surface and bolted a ball link between them. A bit like the large aerobatic models do. This is my preferred attachment and linkage system as its nigh on bullet proof, and has lots of security.
All of the recent Vipers ( by recent I mean maybe 12 weeks) We have supplied have had hard point installed in the correct positions. I still advise a metal servo arm on that rudder servo. Its alot of surface pushing down hard on a plastic horn. I lost a rudder and was lucky not to lose the fin at FJ with my prototype Viper thanks to a servo arm stripping.. and yes it was a JR Super servo arm with the large hub!
Craig has a point with the hinges, but to be honest I think even Robarts will flex. The problem is the un supported area of hinge between the trailing edge of the fin and the radius of the leading edge of the rudder. We put balsa blocks or even build a seat of hysol to support the hinge and eliminate the movement. But to be honest we have never had a hinge fail even on the un supported ones.
Hope this helps, and enjoy your great new toy! and for me what must be one of, if not the best all rounder available on the market today!
Regards Al

RE: Another Skymaster Viper
 

That's a really nice looking servo mount. It should fit the vertical fin OK but it might be a little big for the stabs. It's a squeez to get an 8611 in there.

Craig