paladin

My Feedback: (9)

Daw, I understand how that could be gleaned form my writeup but if you weight all the evidence I think you will agree that it was not too slow. The plane was crabbing / requiring allot more rudder than it needed for a normal rollout. I should have quit there, but having no skin in the game (building time, and having gone a long time without bashing a plane) I pressed on. I’m sure you have taxied down the runway long enough to have reached that point were the plane just can not go any faster unless you lift it out of the grass. Well first flights are always done that way, realizing the drag caused by the loose wheel axial surely slowed that top ground speed some. But the most obvious evidence that the wing was flying was when I gave it elevator & aileron commands it responded crisply. Had it been a tip stall the aileron would have completed the tip stall and the elevator would have been very sluggish in response.

Over the time I had the plane it had a very interesting stall response. I say interesting because almost every plane I have has a similar stall response with power and dead stick. This plane was a ***** cat with the throttle at idle even and an excellent glide ratio. Go dead stick and it would glide wings level very nicely but turning without power it would bleed speed with the heaviest of war birds. I regret that I never got the chance to try this with flaps, ten or twenty degrees in the turn might have helped.

Its all moot now anyway. Have you flown yours yet?

Joe

PlaneFlyer

Joe, I wish to thank you for all your written comments about this plane. I am building the Stuka plane this week. I appreciate the tip about the wood blocks to push against the aileron servo. Sounds like a good tip. Also, the reminder to bend the wheels forward. I have yet to look at how doing that will affect the wheel pants installation.

Right now, I am working on the Flap hinge pins. I must say that I don't like this arrangment. [&o] It looks like it will be too sloppy of a mechanism. Any further tips on how to accomplish the flap mechanism would be appreciated.

Aurora Joe

p.s. a siren on this baby sounds great

paladin

My Feedback: (9)

Joe, As you know from reading this thread my Stuka died from a wing fold. I’ve now had a lot of time to think about what happen and I realize that the problem started when my engine would not stay running. I had to make a lot of emergency landings with it. Well the STOP (STandard Operating Procedure) for dead sticks is dive to the ground at 45 degrees and turn to the field at the same time. When out of air level the wings just above the grass and fly level to the runway as long as possible. Do not worry about flaps or retracts (they are distractions). Well after quite a few of these I finally had to put it into the grass (actually alfalfa), STOP tells me that when close to the ground keep adding elevator until it looses effectiveness. Well in the case of this plane I was used to flying planes that would have the gear up at this point and got a little to close to the alfalfa and it grabbed the plane out of the sky 5 or 10 feet before all flying speed was lost. The alfalfa grabbed the wheels and removed the outer wing bays and the whole thing fell in a heap.

After picking up all the peaces and reassembling the plane I could not replace the main spar brace so I glassed the gulls. With the wing reassembled and uncovered I gave it the stress test, this is putting the center section on my knee (while seated) and grabbing each wing tip and pulling towards me looking for deflection. As you know the wing on this plane is very flexible right from the box, so other than some sheeting that showed it was not glued at the center section everything seamed good to go.

I took it out and flew it. It was my bad weather plane so it got flown in some bad weather and in its last five flights twice before the final flight I got into a position where I felt the elevator servo was not working. As I added elevator the plane would not react, continuing on the flight path with no deviation. In both cases I let go of the elevator stick letting it re-center then reapplied the elevator and it responded. This was followed by an immediate landing and a trip home to check it out. At the time I was thinking Radio problem so I never did the knee test. Had I I’m sure I would still have the plane. On the day the wings folded It had a third of these elevator episodes, I landed checked the battery voltage and took off again and the rest has already been written.

The reason I’ve included this is that I feel if I had just taken the knee test in any one of those times, or glassed the center section when I had the chance during the rebuild the plane could have been saved. So If you have one of these and you land it hard, or see these symptoms I hope the knowledge of what happened to mine will help you.

Joe

PlaneFlyer

Thank you much Joe for the response you wrote. I will keep what you wrote in mind, whenever I get around to flying this beautiful plane. My apolgies for your last landing with this plane.

I was hoping that you would mention any particular info about the sloppy flap/pin arrangement. I have a dial up modem, so, I am sick of searching dead end threads. I am leaning to making my own sliding wood/wedge pin, in leu of the sloppy arrangement the kit comes with.

Joe

paladin

My Feedback: (9)

Oh yah, that little connection between flaps. Well I installed mine by over drilling the holes in the flaps ends. Putting a littleVaseline on the rods to keep the epoxy from sticking to it, then in the ends of the brass to fill it right up . So I ended up with a assembly of the pin with both brass bushings on it totally filled with Vaseline. I gooped a lot of epoxy into the holes, pushed the flaps down far enough to let me put the pin assembly in one side with my finger over the opening on the other end. Then guiding it as I bring the two flaps together and taping it in place in the closed or clean position. As the epoxy cures it creates enough heat to melt out most of the Vaseline and some epoxy clean up may need to be done with a x-acto knife after everything is dry.

After landing in the alfalfa I lost one of those metal rods before I got to the house and had to replace it. I could not find a std English size stock that could replace it, so I made a replacement out of 1/16 steel and brass that fit over it nice and tight, this was a much better fit than the originals. To remove the brass from the first rod I turned the soldering iron up to max. and pushed it into the brass guide until the epoxy started to melt, then pulled it out with a pair of pliers.

Enjoy it’s a fun plane to fly

Joe

PlaneFlyer

Joe,

Thank you very much for the detailed response. I will think very much on what you wrote regarding the flap/hinge installation. I must say, the design requires much improvement from the maker. The drill outs for the brass are not even solid wood. I can feel the drill bit go through a rib and then open space. Your idea about filling the brass with jelly and epoxing the mount is interesting. I find that the steel pins are NOT long enough for my preference.

Thank you again for your input. I think I will go have a beer and drink it over

Happy flying,
Aurora Joe

paladin

My Feedback: (9)

Joe, There are hard points in the wing for the flap and aileron hinges, be sure to mount exactly were they tell you. As far as the strength of the mounting points in the wing my last landing was the worst kind possible. In order to get it spinning as fast as possible (the faster it spins the more drag the slower it will go, into the ground) I hit the flaps then gave aileron to the same side. So when it hit I expected all the hinges to be ripped out because all of their weight plus G’s was going to be borne by those hard points in the wing. Well not a single one ripped out of the wing, that hard point is very well designed so don’t worry about that.

For the metal rod set the flaps to 45degrees for full extension. Then with them at full extension push the rod into one flap then the other. If the metal rod is to short you will be able to free it from the other side easily. If that happens unhook the linkage, bring the flaps down to 90 degrees remove the rod that you pushed it into to get it to come loose and put a peace of scrap steel in that brass bearing tube and put everything back together and that should solve the coming apart problem. Remember KISS (keep it simple silly), while the first time you use this type of slip fitting it seams pretty flimsy but it will work, its easy to maintain, because of the dissimilar materials it will not cause RF problems, and if you continue to build scale you will use variations of this slide over and over.

Good luck!
I wish I still had mine?

Joe

proulxlaw

My Feedback: (3)

Paladin: Is this plane worth buying if I can find one? The plane has been discontinued. I have an extra OS .61 fx I could throw in one.

Please advise.
Bob

Marcos_Nieto

Bob if you can find one do not hesitate, buy it, it is worth every penny. I didn´t know it was discontinued...I have one for about a year now (over 150 flights) and it is a great flier, easy on takeoff and better on landings.......a lot of fun.......with full flaps it lands at walking speed. A bit slow on ali but if you mix ail-flaps to work both as aileron the plane rolls like a sport one. mine has an OS91 S and recently change the Coverite to Monokote.....great looking
Marcos

paladin

My Feedback: (9)

Bob, Its an excellent flyer. I had a .90 in mine but a .60 is more than enough. Mine flew takeoff at full throttle and that was it. I never needed the rest of the power. I feel that the main spar braces made of Lt ply are too prone to fracture, that can be fixed by replacing them or glassing the wing joints. It is an excellent flaps trainer! It allows someone to experiment with flaps while not having to deal with the expense and reliability of first time retracts.

The only reason I don’t have a second one is that I’m trying to reduce my model inventory. The “fly them all and let god sort them out� inventory reduction method is just to slow.

Joe

proulxlaw

My Feedback: (3)

Plane looks great! I'm gonna hunt around on the net later and see if I can find one. If you guys find a vendor that has one I can buy in stock please let me know. I'm off to fly my float plane now.

proulxlaw

My Feedback: (3)

After looking and calling everywhere on the net, I finally found one. They sure as hell bent me over for it but, I found one. I paid $300.00 plus $10.00 for shipping. I said what the heck and just gave them my cc info. I'll just waste that difference on something else that I don't need anyway. I hope this thing flies like you guys say.

Where did you guys find the best CG was and what other mods should I consider (e.g. landing gear to prevent nose overs, etc.).

PlaneFlyer

i set the CG at 4"... and its a bit nose heavy i think... will set it up to 3 3/4. Beef up landing gear by cutting away the balsa under there (if you not graceful on landings or you have a rough field OR FLYING WHEN ITS WINDY) I flew with 20mph gusts and that was NOT to bright. It handled awful and had a hardish landing. Am fixing the gear supports and there is not much there.

Joe

paladin

My Feedback: (9)

Joe, if you took the gear out of it on a landing please read this thread from the beginning. I feel that the dihedral brace was damaged when I took the gear out of mine. It passed all the stress tests I gave it so I did not glass the wing center section. A mistake that cost me the plane. Be sure you do not make the same mistake.

Good Luck
Joe

proulxlaw

My Feedback: (3)

While looking for one of these, I sent out about a dozen emails and today after already buying one, I got an email froma vendor that has one if anyone is interested.

BULL-RCU

My Feedback: (15)

The vender uptown has one for sale for $369 or $349 can't remember. Thinking of buying just to have an extra.

proulxlaw

My Feedback: (3)

Before you do that, check this guy's price. The plane sold for $249.00 a month or so ago at Tower but, apparently because it has been discontinued, they have upped the ante.

Dear Sir,
I do have one in stock, the 60 size Stuka ARF.
Send me your shipping address and I will determine shipping cost for you.
My phone is 704 485 4122 and I will be back in the store after 11AM Eastern.
Thank you,
Tom
Wings Inc

proulxlaw

My Feedback: (3)

Paladin:

I'm thinking of putting a Saito 100 in mine. What do you think? I have a NIB OS .61 fx but, I would rather throw a 4s in it.

Bob

PlaneFlyer

Bob, a Saito 1.0 sounds like a good fit and probably would sound good on the Stuka too.

IMHO

Joe

PlaneFlyer

Paladin Joe,

Thank you for the input.

Joe

paladin

My Feedback: (9)

Bob,
The 100 will be plenty of power but will require you to modify the Engine mount (EM) to make it fit. The .60 will provide adequate power, I had a 90 on mine and the speed delta from 60% and 100 % was maybe 5-10 mph, but it will fit in the EM without modification. What ever you decide, enjoy!

Joe

proulxlaw

My Feedback: (3)

Joe: I bought the Saito 100 and broke it in on my .60 Big Stik. So far it's been a great motor with power to spare. I have no doubt that it will be plenty for the Stuka. I also bought the Saito motor mount that goes with it. Do you think I should use the Saito (aluminum) mount and re-drill more holes in the firewall or use the GP mount and modify that? A friend of mine who's been at this about 12 or so years longer than I says that Saitos don't like to be mounted on their side or inverted as it is his opinion that they run crappy. He has probably had half a dozen Saitos of various sizes. Any thoughts on that?

Bob

paladin

My Feedback: (9)

Bob, I have one Saito mounted on its side, and a friend with numerous saito mounted inverted and on their sides. We’ve never had a problem! I would however saggest you put two coats of 0.75 oz. Glass on the firewall and overlap it on to the sides of the box about 1.5 inches.

As far as engine mounts I have everything on the GP adjust-a-mounts so that every engine of that similar size can be swapped for the other. To make the GP adjust-a mounts work with the Saito 100 will require a lot of modifying.

Good luck
Joe

Timthetoolman1

My Feedback: (6)

I just got a GP Stuka and I need some advise. I have two engines that could go in this. I know both are MORE than adequate but I like the 4s. I have a Saito 120 and a ST 90 with a pitts muffler. I don't want to mount it on the side, that's why I wanted to put the Satio in it but it might be too big (I would probably get Vmax about 1/2 throttle). I would love to get a 100 or 90 4s but I just bought this and a TX set so I can't force myself to do it.

paladin

My Feedback: (9)

Ranger, I had a Super Tigre S-90 in mine and it required adjustments to be made to the engine mounts. I looked at a 1.2 4 cycle but even with replacement engine mounts and the carb right up against the firewall the spinner was still to far away from where the plans say it should be. The Super Tigre S-90 was more power than the airplane needed. It reached top speed at about ¾ throttle, maybe gaining 5mph for the rest of the throttle. I ended up flying at ½ to ¾ throttle for the entire flight (except takeoff).

Put some fiberglass cloth over all the corners ob the firewall. Mine was not glued in very well.

Joe