TopRC giant P-47 Thunderbolt ARF
#376
When the kits were first offered for pre-order, I (and prolly others) shared feedback that this “forced” bundling model was short-sighted and would impact sales and customer satisfaction.
Glad to hear they’re now “allowing” customers to purchase what they want without tying what they don’t.
Keep us posted on your electron journey (source, cost, installation, etc.).
I’m flying off grass so matter of time until more robust solution required.
Cheers
Glad to hear they’re now “allowing” customers to purchase what they want without tying what they don’t.
Keep us posted on your electron journey (source, cost, installation, etc.).
I’m flying off grass so matter of time until more robust solution required.
Cheers
I ended up buying ER-50 Classic model direct from Electron's website (Spain I believe). With the upgraded GS-200 controller, the paypal exchange rate to Euros and shipping, the cost was $413. The method of lengthening the pin (that goes into the retract) to shorten the length of the strut worked really well. Hope that helps.
I do plan on easing up on the strut spring tension somewhat. With the current spring and grease TopRc used, there is bery little give in the struts (at least the ones I got from them). I disassembled the strut and removed all the pine tar like grease and with the spring alone, it takes about 35 pounds to begin moving the strut. I'm concerned that with a harder than average landing, the gear box will come through the top of the wing without a little more give in the oleos.
Last edited by Colt4570; 10-25-2022 at 05:05 PM. Reason: Spelling
#377
Got 4 great flights on her including the maiden, but a little issue on the fourth landing. Put a little side load on the right side gear and the steel portion of the strut took a bend. Good news is, the Electrons held up like they should, (solid as a rock). If you've looked at the pin that retains the strut, you'll see it's a hardened roll pin into a blind hole and is obviously not normally a user serviceable part.
I used two different methods to get right and left side pins out. Because I didn't know the length of the roll pin, I used an 1/8" carbide end mill on the first and got it out, but broke 2 end mills doing it. The second one went much better, but you have to measure and approximate the location of the hole from the opposite side, then you can drive the roll pin back out, opposite the direction it was installed. I used an 1/8" end mill on this as well, because you are starting the hole on a radiused surface.
Since it took over a month to hear back from TopRc on the bent retract sideplates, I decided to order some 9/16" chromoly tubing and will have to ream it out and turn it down slightly to size. The stock struts only have a .029" or .73 mm wall thickness. The new ones should be about .060" or 1.52 mm. I will probably have to use different springs as well. If I had to do it all over, I would order Sierra gear from the get go. Definitely a learning experience, but I like flying my planes more than fixing them...
Bent strut
Milled out roll pin
Milled hole and drove out roll pin
I used two different methods to get right and left side pins out. Because I didn't know the length of the roll pin, I used an 1/8" carbide end mill on the first and got it out, but broke 2 end mills doing it. The second one went much better, but you have to measure and approximate the location of the hole from the opposite side, then you can drive the roll pin back out, opposite the direction it was installed. I used an 1/8" end mill on this as well, because you are starting the hole on a radiused surface.
Since it took over a month to hear back from TopRc on the bent retract sideplates, I decided to order some 9/16" chromoly tubing and will have to ream it out and turn it down slightly to size. The stock struts only have a .029" or .73 mm wall thickness. The new ones should be about .060" or 1.52 mm. I will probably have to use different springs as well. If I had to do it all over, I would order Sierra gear from the get go. Definitely a learning experience, but I like flying my planes more than fixing them...
Bent strut
Milled out roll pin
Milled hole and drove out roll pin
Last edited by Colt4570; 11-01-2022 at 09:32 AM.
#378
Finished the struts this morning. Ended up using 9/16" chromoly tube with .121" wall thickness beause they were out of the .065" wall stuff. Even less chance they'll bend, lol. Just in case anyone else needs to do this, I'm including my diagram. Also putting a louvered vent from Valley View rc under the cowl between the exhaust cutouts. Without the extra air exit, a couple full throttle laps had the temp at 300°F.
#379
Pics of the cowl venting. It seemed to work pretty well. I didn't do any full throttle laps, but that's not typically how I fly anyway, lol. Engine near the spark plug on the rearward cylinder never got over 257 deg. This DLE 111 will do some awesome large loops without even slowing down. Two very enjoyable flights at the 1/8th Air Force fly-in today in Phoenix.
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bradley (11-11-2022)
#380
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Hi, could someone give me please the exact CG position recommended in mm if possible ( any feed back about CG position after test flights?) and the length of the cord of the wing, as I 'am adapting a Ziroli P47 with a Toprc cowl to fit a Moi 180. My Ziroli is 92" instead of 96 wingspan and Ziroli recommends 150 mm CG from the leading edge: If I can go for a CG more aft than 150 mm it should be better as , despite of the Moki weight, I'm tail heavy. The cord of the Ziroli wing is 52 cm. Many Thanks for your help. I was unable to upload the P47 Top rc notice.
With respect to the weak landing gear legs, I had the same problem with my Ziroli, with Chineese legs, so I bought some Sierra Legs wich are superb and strong, but not tested yet. Maybe an option for you could be Sierra Legs with ER50 brackets to upgrade the landing gear and fit in the wing . My P47 was 40 lb powered with a DJ 80 with 5 lb of lead in the front.
Cheers
With respect to the weak landing gear legs, I had the same problem with my Ziroli, with Chineese legs, so I bought some Sierra Legs wich are superb and strong, but not tested yet. Maybe an option for you could be Sierra Legs with ER50 brackets to upgrade the landing gear and fit in the wing . My P47 was 40 lb powered with a DJ 80 with 5 lb of lead in the front.
Cheers
#381
Hi, could someone give me please the exact CG position recommended in mm if possible ( any feed back about CG position after test flights?) and the length of the cord of the wing, as I 'am adapting a Ziroli P47 with a Toprc cowl to fit a Moi 180. My Ziroli is 92" instead of 96 wingspan and Ziroli recommends 150 mm CG from the leading edge: If I can go for a CG more aft than 150 mm it should be better as , despite of the Moki weight, I'm tail heavy. The cord of the Ziroli wing is 52 cm. Many Thanks for your help. I was unable to upload the P47 Top rc notice.
With respect to the weak landing gear legs, I had the same problem with my Ziroli, with Chineese legs, so I bought some Sierra Legs wich are superb and strong, but not tested yet. Maybe an option for you could be Sierra Legs with ER50 brackets to upgrade the landing gear and fit in the wing . My P47 was 40 lb powered with a DJ 80 with 5 lb of lead in the front.
Cheers
With respect to the weak landing gear legs, I had the same problem with my Ziroli, with Chineese legs, so I bought some Sierra Legs wich are superb and strong, but not tested yet. Maybe an option for you could be Sierra Legs with ER50 brackets to upgrade the landing gear and fit in the wing . My P47 was 40 lb powered with a DJ 80 with 5 lb of lead in the front.
Cheers
I will look into the Sierra legs if anything else goes wrong, but so far so good!
#382
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#384
#385
Having a hard time fitting my UMS 150 in the cowl. If I clear the valve stems, my prop hub does not extend far enough out of the cowl to place the prop. What am I doing wrong?
#386
My Feedback: (2)
P47
Hi guys,
TopRC now has 5 silver P47’s on order. ETA likely February 2023. I have one of these on order. Sounds like the gear is not standing up to expectations. I just spoke with Sierra and Darryl will hopefully be coming up with gear to fit. The more of us interested in using his gear the more likely he will be to making a set.
who is interested?
TopRC now has 5 silver P47’s on order. ETA likely February 2023. I have one of these on order. Sounds like the gear is not standing up to expectations. I just spoke with Sierra and Darryl will hopefully be coming up with gear to fit. The more of us interested in using his gear the more likely he will be to making a set.
who is interested?
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Colt4570 (12-05-2022)
#387
Hi guys,
TopRC now has 5 silver P47’s on order. ETA likely February 2023. I have one of these on order. Sounds like the gear is not standing up to expectations. I just spoke with Sierra and Darryl will hopefully be coming up with gear to fit. The more of us interested in using his gear the more likely he will be to making a set.
who is interested?
TopRC now has 5 silver P47’s on order. ETA likely February 2023. I have one of these on order. Sounds like the gear is not standing up to expectations. I just spoke with Sierra and Darryl will hopefully be coming up with gear to fit. The more of us interested in using his gear the more likely he will be to making a set.
who is interested?
#388
#389
My Feedback: (9)
Hi guys,
TopRC now has 5 silver P47’s on order. ETA likely February 2023. I have one of these on order. Sounds like the gear is not standing up to expectations. I just spoke with Sierra and Darryl will hopefully be coming up with gear to fit. The more of us interested in using his gear the more likely he will be to making a set.
who is interested?
TopRC now has 5 silver P47’s on order. ETA likely February 2023. I have one of these on order. Sounds like the gear is not standing up to expectations. I just spoke with Sierra and Darryl will hopefully be coming up with gear to fit. The more of us interested in using his gear the more likely he will be to making a set.
who is interested?
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bradley (06-21-2023)
#391
Hey guys,
Hope everyone had a good Christmas or whatever you celebrate. New mod I wanted to share. I was having a bit of ground handling issues on our asphalt runway. Didn't seem to always have great control on the ground with the tailwheel on takeoff or landing and would would sometimes have to swing around quickly rather than hit the fence. I found when the tailwheel suspension was compressed, it would slightly loosen the pull pull cables to the tailwheel. My tail gear doors were also moving a lot, because they're directly connected to the gear itself.
I removed the compression spring in the factory tailwheel retract and made it solid to keep the cables from getting loose. Hopefully get to try it out tomorrow or Saturday. Let me know if anyone else has had the same problem.
Darrin
Hope everyone had a good Christmas or whatever you celebrate. New mod I wanted to share. I was having a bit of ground handling issues on our asphalt runway. Didn't seem to always have great control on the ground with the tailwheel on takeoff or landing and would would sometimes have to swing around quickly rather than hit the fence. I found when the tailwheel suspension was compressed, it would slightly loosen the pull pull cables to the tailwheel. My tail gear doors were also moving a lot, because they're directly connected to the gear itself.
I removed the compression spring in the factory tailwheel retract and made it solid to keep the cables from getting loose. Hopefully get to try it out tomorrow or Saturday. Let me know if anyone else has had the same problem.
Darrin
#392
Only got one flight today before it started raining, but so far so good. The roll on takeoff and roll out on landing seemed much straighter without having to make major corrections. I wanted to give this big girl a chance to be tame on ground handling, because I was on the verge of using a rudder gyro for the first time ever with one of my planes. The solid tail wheel seems to have helped quite a bit. I'll get some more indication when the weather clears up. Have a happy New Year!
#393
My Feedback: (39)
So has anyone done anything with the “oil canning” of the rear section of the fuse?
I’ve got my cockpit tub out - the useless brace underneath it was not even glued on one side so I yanked it out.
Looking to add something to stiffen the Sides up - maybe some spruce rails glued on edge?
PaulD
I’ve got my cockpit tub out - the useless brace underneath it was not even glued on one side so I yanked it out.
Looking to add something to stiffen the Sides up - maybe some spruce rails glued on edge?
PaulD
#394
My Feedback: (39)
Here’s what I came up with for a solution.
Ran 1/8x1/4 Basswood on edge down the sides of the fuse in the middle of the “soft” area. Capped it with some CF tow. (In hindsight it might have been better to sandwich the tow between two basswood sticks)
Then repurposed the crossbrace that was under the cockpit and added a 1/2” wide cap strip.
Add a huge difference - not completely done but better and minimal weight added behind the CG.
PaulD
looking at the picture now, those inner ears on the cross brace are useless - gonna go back and trim those
Ran 1/8x1/4 Basswood on edge down the sides of the fuse in the middle of the “soft” area. Capped it with some CF tow. (In hindsight it might have been better to sandwich the tow between two basswood sticks)
Then repurposed the crossbrace that was under the cockpit and added a 1/2” wide cap strip.
Add a huge difference - not completely done but better and minimal weight added behind the CG.
PaulD
looking at the picture now, those inner ears on the cross brace are useless - gonna go back and trim those
#395
Paul,
I tried to do that with some carbon fiber from the back, but couldn't get my hand in far enough. Just made some plywood 1/2 formers 7" and 14" back from the wing tube mount. Wanted to make the belly strong enough to pick up the plane. Only time the sides are an issue for me, is when I'm trying to turn the fuse upside down to work on it. Hasn't been an issue otherwise. But if your cockpit tub is out, you should be able to get some bracing in there pretty easy. I'd put some support in the belly while your at it.
The only other thing I'd suggest, is to shape some styrofoam and glue it into the top half of the vertical stab so you can pick tail up when walking the plane around at the field. Just my 2 cents.
I tried to do that with some carbon fiber from the back, but couldn't get my hand in far enough. Just made some plywood 1/2 formers 7" and 14" back from the wing tube mount. Wanted to make the belly strong enough to pick up the plane. Only time the sides are an issue for me, is when I'm trying to turn the fuse upside down to work on it. Hasn't been an issue otherwise. But if your cockpit tub is out, you should be able to get some bracing in there pretty easy. I'd put some support in the belly while your at it.
The only other thing I'd suggest, is to shape some styrofoam and glue it into the top half of the vertical stab so you can pick tail up when walking the plane around at the field. Just my 2 cents.
#396
My Feedback: (39)
Paul,
I tried to do that with some carbon fiber from the back, but couldn't get my hand in far enough. Just made some plywood 1/2 formers 7" and 14" back from the wing tube mount. Wanted to make the belly strong enough to pick up the plane. Only time the sides are an issue for me, is when I'm trying to turn the fuse upside down to work on it. Hasn't been an issue otherwise. But if your cockpit tub is out, you should be able to get some bracing in there pretty easy. I'd put some support in the belly while your at it.
The only other thing I'd suggest, is to shape some styrofoam and glue it into the top half of the vertical stab so you can pick tail up when walking the plane around at the field. Just my 2 cents.
I tried to do that with some carbon fiber from the back, but couldn't get my hand in far enough. Just made some plywood 1/2 formers 7" and 14" back from the wing tube mount. Wanted to make the belly strong enough to pick up the plane. Only time the sides are an issue for me, is when I'm trying to turn the fuse upside down to work on it. Hasn't been an issue otherwise. But if your cockpit tub is out, you should be able to get some bracing in there pretty easy. I'd put some support in the belly while your at it.
The only other thing I'd suggest, is to shape some styrofoam and glue it into the top half of the vertical stab so you can pick tail up when walking the plane around at the field. Just my 2 cents.
Cheers,
Paul
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Colt4570 (01-06-2023)