More pictures...

And more...

Hey Archie - this part is fun! LOL

Joe

Still more.

Last one today for the Proline.

Hey Joe,

If you reroute your vent line (a lot of people use aluminum tubing to save weight) back behind the fuel tank and then to the front of the plane I think it should get rid of your dripping problem.

The plane is gorgeous though, congrats. Looks like you really put it together nicely.

-Brett

Joe,
Just pop a check valve on your vent line.
Greg Grigsby

Ahhh - Excellent idea! thanks Brett. I'll try that this weekend. I am also installing the remote glow ignition. I had a minor backfire on start-up that was less than kind to the belly pan...

For the air line, does it matter if the line is higher/lower than the tank?

Well that's even better! (and easier)
Thanks Greg!

The check valve works well but complicates the fueling system. The same valve that doesn't let fuel escape while flying won't let air escape while fueling. Somehow you have to vent the tank to the outside, a tee in the vent line with a plug or similar setup will work.

That's true, you do need a T-valve for the over fill. I've been using it for a couple of years and haven't had any issues so farrrrr?
Greg Grigsby

Joe,
Troy Newman has a good drawing on here how he vents, you might want to look at it.
Greg Grigsby

Where is the drawing at?

Joe,

I'm attaching some pictures for you...

picture 1 shows the check valve
picture 2 shows the vent line coming from the tank to a T - one line goes to the check valve and the other to the outside and a fuel plug
picture 3 is up close and personal and you can really see the DIRT and T [8D]
picture 4 is vent line to the outside and the fuel plug

BTW, I see you mounted your servos in the stab... can you take some pictures of that install?

Thanks!

Do you want to make an already tail heavy plane heavier?

I never said I wanted to mount the servos in the stab - I want to see how Joe did it and everyone else can see how it is done as well.

Actually Riot, it's not tail heavy at all. I debated on several ways to set up the elevator and decided on the servos in the tail because it looked a little nicer. The servo tray is already installed from the factory for a push rod set up. I don't like long push rods at all, so it was between twin servos or cables. The only thing that ruled the cable out was I didn't like the way the servo looked hovering over the rudder servo. Cheesey reason, but I suppose that's my perogative.

My comments with regard to the nose weight earlier were actually counter intuitive. The flight characteristics would have suggested moving the CG further back towards the tail by conventional wisdom (yours, actually), but I was experimenting with the nose weight based on converstaions with Bryan Hebert and Ryan M. It worked. Moving the CG further forward improved everything I hoped it would. Less mixing, better spins and snaps.

Derek,
Thanks for the pics! I like that set up. You'll notice on mine that I didn't even bother with the needle adjustment. I played with it a little with the belly pan off and have just tweaked it a bit from time to time. No need for a big ole nasty hole in the side of the plane!

I'll snap some more pictures of the stab set up and post them for ya. basically, I set it up just like my Impact (which was just like Jason Shulman's Impact). The base of the servo pokes into the fuse.

Joe W.

I just plug the check valve on my vent outside the plane. Take it off when I fill then replace. Only two lines in my planes. I snip one end of the check valve so I can only plug it in the correct way.
I know, no cool little anodized bracket. So that's no good.

Excellent Joe. What servos are you using in the stab?

I did use remote glow on the Astral XX initially but I had trouble finding a product where the attachment stayed on the glow plug. I tried several different products and then at the Nats last year I finally gave up and went to a hole in the belly pan instead. The issues I had with the remote attachments were that they tended to loosen up over time and came off. With the head lock type they were difficult to get on/off when one used the short type (the long one didn't work because of the wrap around header. See the picture below with the short head lock version.

Derek,
I used the JR 3421SA Digitals. Tiny size, light, strong and accurate. They just fit right in the opening already in the rib.

I'm using the remote glow on my Angel's Shadow with no problem except that yes, it's a pain to get the short lock off once it is on. The plug portion is a radio shack charge jack. Once I install it, I'll post more pictures. It's pretty slick and easy to use. It hasn't come loose at all.

I like the idea of the check vavle, but I don't know if I can live with it hanging outside the plane. The cool factor is important after all!

Joe

Derek,

I have the same setup like the picture you attached, but replaced the head that connected to the glow plug with a body pin used on RC cars, and the set up has about 140 flights without any problems.

Kevin

Can you take a picture of this and post it here? I'd like to see how you did this - I'm not in favor of cutting holes in the bottom of the bellypan for the glow driver and would much prefer to use remote glow. If that head lock is easy to get on/off then my problems will be solved...

Derek,

Will you be going to Hollister this weekend? I can show you there.

Kevin

Cool... I'll be there.

H Joe

Thats very informative to read...well done! Looks like you have got a good setup their...I have only one question though...what happens to the air in the tank when the time comes to re-fuel? where does that pressure go?

As far as i see it the vent needs to be able to flow airpressure both ways ie. vent pressure for re-fuelling & to releive the vaccum created during flight!
And in a perfect world needs to not leak fuel.

How does one acheive that?...i would love to know

Regards Scot

There's a fuel dot between the tank and the check valve. This is the vent. The check valve allows air in during flight and the dot allows air out during fuelng. I'm assuming you know what a fuel dot is. It's nothing more than a plug in a fuel line. This system requires a Tee fitting between the tank and check valve or a 3rd line from the tank.

Time to head out to Busch Gardens with the kids for a relaxing day of fun. Oh Joy. If I'm not back in 2 days send in a search party.