bananaman

Richox, just measured mine. Original gear 170mm and 20mm between holes. New gear 162mm and 20mm between holes.

bananaman

After a bit of flying on the weekend, a dead stick into long grass tested the original gear mod I did. It bent one side a little and a wheel hub failed. I changed the wheels and straightened the gear, but noticed a bit of creaking. Closer inspection showed the lower skin flexing a little and I thought there may have been damage to the gear attachment wood work. With the model apart, the aluminium angles that secure the gear to the inner fuselage walls had worked loose. So in yours, check that they are firm and the 3 bolts each side aren't loose. There is a problem though as you can not get access to the nuts without removing some of the fuselage covering. I ended up just saturating in CA and it seems to have fixed it. I haven't put on the new gear yet but I'll just use it as a drill guide and add 2 alu plates on the back side. Should be ample strength to compensate for the different holes.

My other issue is that the glue holding on the control surface corrugations is crumbling and I lost a few sections (Its always been stored away from light). I CA'd the edges but it has still separated.

Austars, do you have any sheets of that plastic available?

Otherwise its still flying fine.

richox5

hey bananaman, i had to fix my corrogation by removing it and then re-sticking it with 3m 77 spray adhesive, also i checked the screws in the landing gear brakets and found that mine are loose as well. how is every ones 188's going? would be good to hear some feedback from the other aussie owners and the americans now we have had our planes for a while!

damagedgoodes

Mine is going well. I have around 20 flights so far and after an interesting start (guestimating the control throws) have tamed it down thanks to help from Bananman and Bignuts. Mine's got a DA50 with a Biela 3 blade 20x10 and TME smoke sytem. I've tightened the aluminium landing gear brackets once already (with a tiny spanner and alot of swearing) without cutting the covering but it was a temporary fix as they are now creaking a bit. I fitted the new thicker gear and it is much better (after re-drilling new mounting holes). I run Dubro inflatable treaded wheels and they are much better than the stock ones. All in all it has grown to be one of my favorite planes, but the orange covering isn't the best quality and constantly requires re sticking down in a few spots.
Damagedgoodes

richox5

good to hear damagedgoods, i cant figure out how you got into the landing gear bolts to tighten them but i guess i will find a way eventually, i had a good flight today with mine and have iorned a few bugs out. the smoke system should realy bring the plane to life. i find it funny you mention the orange covering as mine has not lifted exepl for a piece that ripped of the wing but the orange has badly faded to a yellow colour in the spots that the sun shines on which is funny as the plane has only been outside fully assembled four times and is under a cover in the shed, oh well cant do much about i anyway, i have also included a photo of when we balanced the plane which was done upside down for more accurate measuring and ease of handling on the low wing plane. thank god having the mt 62cc up front meant i only needed 1/3 the lead of what rossco used.

munbro01

After reading 10 pages of post on this airframe, I say I am impressed. Therfore I must reconsider the Pawnee or Pilatus Porter for now.

Would like to know if anyone has done any "Serious Aero-Towing" and at what weight was the aircraft being towed? What about power?

Bill

pc55bomber

G'day Bill
Love my Husky, using a 3MM/TMM TOC 53cc gas engine with a 22x8 (C) hawk prop for towing.
Have towed up my HF Ventus (fully molded 11 kg) as well as my mates HF ASG29 (10kg) numerous times without incident, but I think that is very much the upper limit with this setup.

My mates tug is 11kg (3MM53 engine as well) and we use it to tow anything we have, again maximum towed weight is my Ventus at 11kg. This engine/tug setup has done heaps of work and the 3MM just continues to get better and better, a fantastic engine, really smooth.
We have 4 of these engines as well as the 106cc twin pulling a variety of airframes.

Check out some pics here, http://www.rebelflyingclub.com/blueframe.htm go to the aerotowing page.

Also have an S2G Pilatus 2.4mtr span with a Super Tigre 3250 as our previous towplane, but I like the Husky better as an overall flier.

Cheers
Paul

outacontrol41

My Feedback: (9)

Checked out the website...very nice. Glad that 53 is doing good for you because that's what's going in my Husky. 'Rebels' in Australia...lol...you and your mates have a good sense of humor!
I like Simon's Skylane with the 111cc engine...what a monster of a plane. Also a Austars plane? I'm assuming it is.

pc55bomber

G'Day Outacontrol41
You will be very pleased with the 53.
Yes, the Cessna is an Austars plane as well, last tow day (with the cattle) the front firewall basically gave way but we were landing on some pretty rough paddocks.
All repaired now and flies well, plenty of power with the 106cc.
We are looking at putting a 106cc in a scale type airframe that will double as a tow plane and a scalie as well, can't decide on what to use.

Cheers
Paul

dmyers0403

My Feedback: (48)

Sent out the two landing gear that Austars sent to me. I used original as templet to have a friend make mine out of T6 aluminum which works great. This is one sweet planeI just changed to a 22/10 3-Blade MZ with cut TrueTurn spiner for my 4.2 Precision Eng. engine. Only needs half throttle but is very low on vibration with 3-Blade. I will probally go back and add a 1/4 ply spanner plate inside between alum. LG mounting angles==I have had no problem yet but I believe that would help stiffen the angle support and keep them from twisting.

bignuts181

Hi there guys just letting you know I have decided to sell my ag husky ready to run bind and fly, if your interestedplease pm me for more details

cheers Rossco.

rob95

is it a 120" model? if so could you please reply with some pictures

Parrot Girl

Hi Guys,

how is this plane holding up over time, I am looking at getting one - worth it?

outacontrol41

My Feedback: (9)

Just an observation....
Has anyone noticed that the covering on this plane is a very cheap see through kind? It reminds me much of the covering on RC Guys planes. The structure and build also very similar. Wondering now if it didn't come from the same factory in China? A little disappointed for the price I paid for this plane.....[&o][&o]
Btw....not complaining about the quality of the wood and build, just the econo-type covering.

makka9

Outacontrol,

I have the orange. 4 years old. They tell you it is Monocote - It's rubbish. The covering will get to a yellow tinge as it gets older - regardless of exposure to sun or not. The covering they use is so thin and poor it is almost transparent.

I needed to recover the fuselage due to a fire on board within. I used orange Oracover/Profilm and it is superb. The wings are still original and continue to deteriorate. All real crop dusters are usually in a poor state of presentation anyway so I suppose it's no big deal.

Careful, unless attended to you will eventually lose your ribbed plastic elevator and aileron add ons when airborne.

outacontrol41

My Feedback: (9)

Thanks. I will keep an eye out for them. This was one of the most expensive arf's I've ever bought and the hardware is total crap, covering is total crap, and the edges of the cowl are so thin they're chipping away.
Who can you trust anymore.
Before I buy again I will study and research the product carefully to see if its worth it. This plane was worth $400-500 tops.

schai

i wanna get an informal poll from folks with regard to the wing spar construction.
1. first off, does anyone have sheer webbing or a subspar in theirs? if so, when did you purchase the plane?
2. if not, do you have any concerns wiht regard to the wings' ability to take on high g manuevers? are you holding back or have you been able to put this plane thru the wringer?
3. have you experienced any outright wing flutter?
4. do you wish that when you pick a tip up you didnt hear that awful sound of wood fibers breaking?
5. if you do have concerns, have you considered a remedy? have you come up with anything besides a full stripdown and installation of webbing and hardwood subspar?

i have a "later" version of this plane - i guess this is so because it has the blue covering scheme (which looks very nice)
what i have found is
number 4
perhaps number 3
DLA 112 is waaaayyyy too much for this plane
I am wondering if even a 3w75 is too
perhaps the coupling is just too short for my style of flying and i need to learn more?
perhaps i am being overly cautious?
i agree the covering sucks
it still is a head turner. wish i could feel more comfortable with this plane

pc55bomber

Hi Schai

Have not had any issues with mine, flies great, tows and will do rolls spins, stall turns etc no problem.
Mine is the original version and covering is not oracover as advertised but then I usually recover my models after a couple of years flying with Oracover (profilm) anyway.

Using a TMM53CC engine , a 112cc is IMHO too much engine.

To answer your questions..
1. Shear webbing is ply with laser cut holes, so no solid webbing from top to bottom. Has extra ply around joiner tube. Mine is one of the original airframes.
2. No concerns with mine.
3. Never had any flutter on any surface.
4. You should never pick up any wing by the tip, the wings are light but strong.
5. No not required.

We have the 120" version with a TMM106cc, even at 17kg's and the same wing construction have not had any issues.
They both fly great.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Paul

makka9

Schai,

I have an original with also a 53cc and agree with Paul on all counts.

I regard the wing as one of the better aspects of the construction in that it appears to have integrity.

This model holds a special positon in my fleet albeit it contains hardly anything it started out with.

Dave

outacontrol41

My Feedback: (9)

Installing a smoke / spray system on mine. Using a TMM 53 cc engine. Up next: designing fasteners to hold the spray bars to the wing. Fun project so far.

bignuts181

Hi all well several years on since I built the original husky in this thread I was out flying my 6 meter Phoenix Ka8 in the middle of a thermal when my phone wrang.... Turns out it was my old boss " I have big orange husky thing here still at the shop come and take it away, I need the space"
I use to work in a hobby shop selling retail, so the next day I headed off to Hobbyman and was given an ag husky.....

So this time things will be done a little differently to the first one I built with the lessons learned.

So the outline is this all covering is to be stripped and the open structure replaced with Fibreglass sheet 3oz prelaminated and bonded to the open structure of both the fuse and wing. The balsa sheeted areas will be glassed and the hole model painted in 2 pack.

The motor this time round will be the dla112 as I swapped one for another model with very low hours on it. To
Make the motor fit the fins ontop of the cylinder heads are going to
Be milled off so only the plug caps hang out.

The rudder will be driven internally, a hopper or spray booms are being fitted and the canopy will have functioning
Doors and the hatch will probably be magnatised.

Oh and the cowl has already been split
Horizontally for easier access

Cheers for
Now Rossco