RE: Dragon question
 

Some pics:


I had some Problems to solve:

All steering surfaces are a little bit too long. So you have a problem, when you want to mount for example the Elevator to the fuselage. The same problem with the lenght of the flaps an ailerons. So i had to shorten al little bit...

The wood for the turbine installation in the fuselage is not exact in center (1cm out of centerline)

The Cockit details are awesome. but you have to modify the cockpit to fit in the fuselage...

The amplitude(?) for the steering surfaces are too small. You have to modify a little bit..

Hope you can unterstand my bad english... ;)

RE: Dragon question
 

Some pics:


I had some Problems to solve:

All steering surfaces are a little bit too long. So you have a problem, when you want to mount for example the Elevator to the fuselage. The same problem with the lenght of the flaps an ailerons. So i had to shorten al little bit...

The wood for the turbine installation in the fuselage is not exact in center (1cm out of centerline)

The Cockit details are awesome. but you have to modify the cockpit to fit in the fuselage...

The amplitude(?) for the steering surfaces are too small. You have to modify a little bit..

Hope you can unterstand my bad english... ;)

RE: Dragon question
 

may i can help you in german ..... :D

send me a pm for my phone number .....

RE: Dragon question
 

RE: Dragon question
 

Just got my Dragon, I'm very happy with the overall quality. There's a few minor things to work out but nothing major. What are you guys using for operating the gear door ? BVM switch ?

Thanks
Albert

RE: Dragon question
 

I just purchased my Dragon, used, from a friend. Powered by a 160sx, I flew it last weekend and burned about 9 gallons of fuel. This is my 3rd turbine jet and I am very impressed with how well it flies. I was comfortable enough after the third flight to do entire flights of touch and goes on grass. Grass is what I fly on 99% of the time. The original (upgraded) struts have been replaced by Dream Works Pro Links (for the Reaction) and these seem to take the abuse of grass field runways well. I survived a couple of rough bunny hops while learning to get it slow enough on landing without damage to airframe. I feel the knee action design of this type of gear really helps here.

Balance, weight placement, center of gravity: I have two 4000 mah LiPos (rx) and one 3700 Lipo (for ECU) up front (in the nose) along with a pretty large chunk of lead. The balance is right on the wing spar but it feels like it can be moved back a bit. I really slowed it down with no tendacy to snap or even begin to wobble. Most of my landings were too hot but I did manage to get here stopped where I was standing on about 3 occasions. My landing flaps were set at about 70 degrees (the recommended 90 degrees looked scary) but I did dial in a bit more (about 85 degrees) later on the second day. I'll have to make some linkage adjustments to get a full 90 degrees.

I had a flame out on day 2 and did not feel rushed to get it on the ground. There was plenty of time and stability to set up for a nice landing and get the gear/flaps down without incident. I suspect a air bubble got me caused by my defueling procedure the day before.

On day 2, there seemed to be a problem with the rudder servo. The tail appeared to move back and forth at high speed. I slowed it down and had no issues with landing. Not wanting to take any chances, a new servo and rx have been installed. Testing will continue tomorrow.

I'm still new to turbines (about 13 months now) and feel really comfortable with this setup. The Bobcat is collecting dust every since making the purchase. I feel there is still much to learn about this aircraft and hope all Dragon owners will post their lessons learned here.

One of the things I really like about this airframe is the howl emitted by the airframe at high speed. I've heard it is created by not running the front wheel door. It's a awesome sound and enough to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

One of the things I want to make improvement to is the cable steering. I think the thick grass I'm flying on is causing a delayed effect on steering inputs. It's not unmanagable, but does require you to be on your toes (or left stick) while making the take off run. We tried tightening the cables a bit but this caused the front gear not to lock in the down position. If anyone has done a modification to make this a direct steering (servo mounted to front gear), I'd sure like to see it.

Here are some pics. I hope others with the same plane will add to this post as there does not appear to be much info available on the forums/youtube for this aircraft:

John

RE: Dragon question
 

John,

You said you used the Prolink Reaction LG. Did it drop right in? Are you using it for the nose as well?

Thanks,
Jim

RE: Dragon question
 

Jim,

Yes, it is a drop in. I only changed out the mains............the nose gear holds up well. Failed to mention that I went with solid tires and used Dreamworks wheel/tire/brake combo. Part numbers:

Struts: PST Reaction ARF Main Strut= PL-33400 $180.00
Intairco 3" Main wheels/tires/brakes= IAC-3004 $209.00

You could use the Skymaster wheels/tires with a little material removed from the bottom of the strut where the brake hub attaches. I have the same setup on my BVM Bobcat using the BVM stock wheels. It too did require some minor modifications to mate the wheels to strut. A local machinist did mine in about 20 minutes for the cost of a 12 pack of his favorite brew.

RE: Dragon question
 

Thanks John. Do you think I can squeeze a 3.5" main wheel in there? Also, What is the length of the front strut? I want to know so I can order the right one from Dreamworks.

Jim

RE: Dragon question
 

Thanks John for all the info, I should have mine done in a week or two. I got the wings, stabs and vertical fin hinged and servos are in. BTW thanks for the pictures !
What do you think of the power with the 160 ?

Thanks
Albert

RE: Dragon question
 

There is plenty of room for a 3 1/2" tire. The only reason I went with a 3" was because 3.5" were out of stock. I failed to mention that the Intairco tires are solid as opposed to the air filled stock Skymaster tires. I'll swap them out in the future and see if I can tell any difference.

I just came in from completing 4 more flights and have the fuselage tied down in my trailer. Will try to get you a length of the front strut tomorrow. Are you starting from scratch? (no struts at all)

John

RE: Dragon question
 

John,

No, I do not have the landing gear yet.

And thank you for all the great info!

Jim

RE: Dragon question
 

I feel the 160 is a perfect match for this airframe, but I have not tried it with anything else. I would not want anything less but don't feel the need for any more power right now. This aircraft covers the flying site (end to end) in short order and the verticals are at the limits of my eye sight. Running the stock tanks, I initially set my timer at 6 minutes, went to 7, then 8, now I am at 9 minutes and have 2 inches of fuel left in the main tank. I do manage the throttle (don't fly WOT the entire flight) and have flown 21 minutes while doing nothing but touch and goes (take off at full throttle, pull back to about 30% power and set up for landing). It's much harder to determine how much fuel your using while doing this, but with as easy as the canopy is to remove, I will pop it open and check my fuel level after 10 minutes or so just to get a feel for my remaining flight time.

Hopefully I can get some video in the next couple of days.

I need some advice in this area: If anyone has shifted the c/g back from the recommended wing tube position, I'd like to know the magic number. I'm of the impression it is nose heavy by the amount of down elevator required while inverted. I've also flown by at 3/4 stick, pulled up at about a 45 degree angle while rolling inverted and the nose does tend to go toward the ground. It is not unmanagable but I don't won't to flirt with snapping it while slow and down wind.

RE: Dragon question
 

A couple more pics with prolinks down. Note the air nipple for brakes. I prefer this design over a horizontal fitting for obvious reasons. DO NOT assume the screws for these struts are assembled with lock tite. The blue holds, but will occasionally back out over time. Red locktite has not let me down yet. You don't need to disassemble the strut, just back the screws out about 4 turns and apply the locker from both ends where possible. The screw holding the knee joint is the critical one. Let sit over night befoe using.

RE: Dragon question
 

Received a couple of PM's about size of the Dragon. Here it is next to my composite bobcat:

RE: Dragon question
 

John,

Thanks for the pictures of the main gear. Don't forget to measure the length of the nose gear when you get a chance.

Jim

RE: Dragon question
 

6-1/8" from retract mount to center of axle (uncompressed...on the stand)

4 more flights logged this morning. Winds 10-20 mph.............solid is the word I would use to describe the experience.

RE: Dragon question
 

Morne,
Hoeveel is die kit?

RE: Dragon question
 

Andre,

Omtrent so +/- R15K kompleet. Bly om te sien jy wil weer vlieg.

Groete

Morne

Hier is my Dragon: http://www.xtremehobby.co.za/page76.html

RE: Dragon question
 

Some video of the Dragon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHFk1ChPOes

RE: Dragon question
 

Thanks for the video John. Does the trim change much from start to end of the flight since the fuel is mostly ahead of the c.g. ?

Thanks
Albert

RE: Dragon question
 

Dankie, dis nie so erg nie...
Hoe lank is die wagtyd?

RE: Dragon question
 

If so, it is not noticable to me. I will say that I believe my plane has been flying in a nose heavy condition. Removed 6 oz. from nose yesterday and it feels better already. Only logged 4 flights today and need to get in some more time to give a more accurate answer.

Have been flying all day. Let me get unloaded, downloaded, yard moved and my thoughts together and I'll share what I learned today.

John

RE: Dragon question
 

One more question. Are you using the stock stab tube ? Mine sticks out 60mm on each side of the fuse, it seems too short.

Thanks
Albert

RE: Dragon question
 

Albert,

I too thought the stab tube was short. I just ordered a 17" tube from Troybilt Models. My tube measured a tad over 12mm dia. and 1mm thick and Troybilt has one that is 12.5mm x 1mm.

When do you anticipate a maiden?

Jim