Hi guys,

Haven't seen too much on here about the Swallow 90. I have the Flair Swallow 90 EX and wanted to post some build pics and thread for others that may be interested in the Swallow as there isn't a whole lot on here about it. If you are also building or have built the Swallow what about some hints and tips!

regards,

Gricey

Here's the bare fues: length=1500mm , width(at cowl)=120mm

Wingspan = 1650mm

as you can see quite good wing sizing, the kit is built lightly but strongly also...

Nice cowl on the model..

Plenty of heat ventilation and great fibreglass work

The 1.20fs that I'm putting in the front of it. Watch for more build pics soon!

www.flairproducts.co.uk

I've built a Swallow EX, you should look through the other threads that have been on this plane. Some people have had various problems; the most frequent occuring being problems with undercarriage and the fuselage breaking. I haven't had any of those problems, or any other major problems (other than radio failure, it landed in a tree, just had to replace a bit of covering and some balsa a few places in the LE of the wing!). How much does that engine weigh?

Hi Thomas, yeah, they're supplying the kit now with fibreglass on the inside to strengthen the fues area and I intend on using a carbon undercarriage and big wheels for a bit of flex, hopefully that will sort out the majority of the problems. Not sure on the engine, will get back to you.

Any other build tips?

Hi,

Definitely strengthen the undercarriage mounting plate. Mine broke from a quite gentle landing when the plane hit slightly longer grass. The plate popped out, making me think that its not so well glued in. I replaced the bottom u/c plate with some decent ply and triangle stock whereever I could fit it.

I've fitted an OS91Fx and now a YS FZ110 to mine. I love the flight characteristics of this plane, I'm only flying sportsman, but its a very solid plane to fly. The CG needs to be further back than even the addendum to the manual suggests. Mine is currently at about 180MM back from the LE.

I've also strengthened my fuz with some carbon fibre added judiciiously where the ply doubler's are cut by former's (poor design there).

Great plane, and what a price!!

Steve

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the comments, did yours also have the fibreglass where the ply doubler's are cut by formers?

I will run a few stringers in the back of the undercarriage mount and plenty of pva :-)

Send a pic of the plane at your flying site... I'm an Aussie myself from Brissie but currently living (and flying) in Dublin...

I like the flag in you avatar.......

I'd prefer it to be an Aussie one but didn't have it to hand :-)

Everyone has been telling me 'get a heavy duty servo for the rudder'.. Anyway, I had a load of 3003's (3kg) hanging about looking for a home so I thought I'd do a slight customisation and run 2 in series... hopefully should be double the torque or thereabouts.... Am also going to be running a 6v system so with luck I should be at about 7kg for the rudder. When you think about the size of the fin area, the weight of the plane and flying this thing at knife edge I would say that should be about right... comments?

here's some (although extreme bad quality) pics of the mod in progress...

.

next to come... fitting the servos and making up the connectors, does anyone know how much torque a standard control horn will take?

I think you'll be fine with the two servos ganged up....I have less on my Synergy's rudder....(9404)

Hi Gricey, I am also in the process of assembling a Swallow, EX albeit mine appears to be earlier make (no fibergalss on the high stress areas) .. will keep you posted of progress

Hi Patrick,

Doesn't look like it would be too much effort, just pick up a fibro kit from a hobby shop or at worst a car store and stick it over the top of what is there. It looks like that's all they've done anyway. I will be using big wheels and trying to get a carbon u/c so a bit more springy on landings which is what causes them to fail there or so I am told.

I've also put a lot of extra PVA glue around all of the seams in that area as some of them were slotted together and a few glued joints but others were clearly not glued at all, just relying on the slotting... hopefully it will hold up :-)

Also going to try configuring it with flaps so will hopefully make the landings a bit softer once I have it properly trimmed.

Here's the three different sized servo's I'm using in the model. The one on the right is an entry level Futaba, not so hot on response time and torque but at 6v it's acceptable. My gut feeling is that the quality is there, I have held Futaba in high esteem and haven't had this model servo (S3003) let me down yet of the 12 that I'm using day in day out.

This shot gives you an indicatio nof the depth difference in the servo body. I just get 2 reds in the back of the fues without touching slightly towards the front of the stabiliser. The black servo (MX3) on the left I am using for the throttle, this is standard plastic gears the red ones are metal geared and digital, I guess this accounts for the height difference as they are both from Multiplex.

On the bench with the engine mount back plate fitted....

I like this mount as you can mount it centrally then slide the engine horizontally in adjustment by about 3 or 4 mm. This may sound weak but it comes with quite oversize bolts (hex drive) and decent blind nuts so take it from me it's not coming undone in a rush.... a bit of locktight also helps... You can see I've got a cutout at the bottom of the mount. This is to ensure that the engine can be mounted as far back as possible and is there to give some space for a couple of bolts that protrude from the carb. I've removed the choke mechanism, it saved me 5mm.

The logic in doing this is due to the length difference of the 120 over a standard 90. I have heard that the YS 90 is a long motor anyway with the pump and all so by doing this mod hopefully it will keep the latitudinal response and cg mostly where the factory says.

First test fit with the wing on and horizontal stab in. Looking good! cables are coming out under the fues, I didn't run them up through the outside ;-)

Engine installed in place.... check out how close the mixture screw is to the firewall... phew.. don't want to bump that guy or the mix goes haywire... luckily have found that the engine doesn't torque enough to adjust it for me... :-)

Not sure if you can see the slide holes for the mount. It's an Anderson brand mount if anyone is interested.... nice and solid

Here I am ready for the maiden flight.... From the engine mounting to this point took me some 20hours of assembly and detailing (cutting cowl, rigging closed loop, fitting horns etc)... so allow yourself plenty of time. Some more pictures to follow on the finer points, a tip is to throw away all of the control horns that come with the kit, they're absolute rubbish!