I'm wondering if anyone out there has any experience building Don Smiths Lockheed Constellation....I am presently finishing a Ziroli B-25 (101") version with about 4 weeks worth of work to complete this airplane. I already have the plans, glass and a cowl to find an engine that fits in relatively well.The Connie will be made into a "MATS" military version and should roughly be 140" with the tip tanks.G-23's seem to be an ok fit and they fly his B-17 quite nicely.I'm not at all impressed with the Century Jet gear set-up as it isnt very scale and the struts have very short shock absorbing distance......By the way it will be the "1049" variant which is the longer version... Thanx...Bill...

My good friend Miguel "had" one untill radio failure took it at Top Gun. He flew his on 4 Magnum 91 4strokes, and was plenty of power. The plane weighed about 38-40 lbs. Very stable and docile, w/ no bad habits. Details and some pics are on RCwarbirds.com.

another pic

TLH1o1...Do you know who's gear that Miguel used on his Connie...Looks like it "was" a gorgeous airplane....Dont like to see one go "down"....Bill

I hope Miguel was not using a Futaba 8UAP....like the one that cost me my 110 inch Seafury at Bomber field. Beautiful "Connie"

Why do you say that the Futaba 8UAP radio cost you your airplane?

Well....to make a long story short, the wire running from the antenna to the computer board was seperated in the transmitter...so no antenna. I had heard this was a problem with 8UAP radios. Mine was one of them. I talked with Futaba and they acknowledge that they had some of the early 8U radios go out with cold solder joints in this region. I was introduced to this problem by 3 other guys in Texas that had had it happen or had seen it happen in the past. Turns out my radio was in the "affected population".

I have 2 of the 8 ch radios, how do I find out if they are in the affected population? Thanks, Bruce

Warbirdz, he used CJM. Had all kinds of grief w/ gear and CJM.
Jeff, yes it was an 8U. His problem turned out to be a shorted switch, we think, had some melted wires. I did send him a copy of your report.

No way to tell, unless you are a solder expert (I am not). Anyway, Futaba claims that if you send a radio in for a check-up, this is something they automatically check. I would send it in and point it out to be looked at. If anyone would like the e-mail from Futaba, I have it and will forward it to interested parties. Kind of a sad situation.

Jeff...If you have a copy of that Futaba letter send it to me via PM....Thanks....Bill...By the way I'm the guy that tried to buy your TigerCat and shipping turned out to be a nemisis....

TLH101....Thanks for the info on the gear...I saw a set and the set-up for N/W steering looked like a bad idea...also mains only had about 1/2" compression on the strut....Hopefully someone else has a workable set or might have to come up with something close ....The nose gear is going to be the issue here...might be able to use 120" "Z" B-25 mains as a possibility......Bill

This might sound silly but here goes. Is Futaba going to help with the costs with the loss of the Sea Fury ? Since they sent out defective radios with no recall for them. Which to the way i may think they knowingly sent out radios and knew they may break and therefore the people flying may loose there planes or worse cause injury or death becouse of it.

Yes, please forward the email, thanks, Bruce

I spoke to Futaba about this on the phone. They stated that the defective radios typically failed within the first 60-90 days of use. They considered the fact that my radio was 4 years old, and had always worked flawlessly (which it had), it could not be considered defective. PErsonally, I can kinda see their point. They really have no control over how I may have treated the radio once I received it, eventho I always pampered it, keeping it in a foam filled radio case. But, that's the story, and I am just glad the plane lasted 12 years with over 200 flights on it. Altho, it was still a drag to lose it to such a senseless problem. As for the e-mail, i have it in my work e-mail. I will forward it to you all on Monday when I get there.

warbirdz,
The gear worked fine after they were intalled, he just had the normal CJM customer service issues, (very slow responses and shipping for replacement of defective parts)and some quality control issues (one unit fell apart, and one was very sloppy loose at pivot points, I believe). No problems w/ steering, he used a pull-pull system.
In fact, he's building a new one, a "Super" and is planning on using the gear and motors from the crash. They all came out w/out any damage.

TLH101....Keep me informed how the "new" Connie is coming along....I'll do likewise....should be starting sometime middle of Nov....I'm gonna stop over @ Don Smiths to pick-up the other cowls ....He's only 40 mins from my house in Boca...What size fuel tanks did he fit in the nacelles....Bill

I am posting the Futaba reply here. Hope this is OK:

Thank you for your recent e-mail.

Wearing of the pins and the pin mounting is a normal part of any modular radio's life and why we always recommend annual or biannual check ups of all radios. This is one of many things we look for which are a part of normal wear and tear.

The very first generation 8U (non-supers) had some units go out with insufficient or "cold" solder joints mounting the pins to the board. Those units would tend to show intermittent contact and transmission, usually in the first 30-90 days of their use. It is possible your radio is still one of those, although if you have ever had it serviced in its lifetime it would've been checked and repaired.

We will be happy to service your radios, of course, for you.

Please see the following site for a worksheet which will simplify sending your item for service:

http://www.hobbyservices.com/techsup...orm-futaba.pdf

In case you can not use the worksheet for any reason, here is the pertinent information.

Please ship your product to:

Futaba Service Center
1610 Interstate Drive
Champaign IL 61822

phone: 217-398-0007
fax 217-398-7721
email: [email protected]

Please be sure to fill in all fields on the worksheet or, if not using the worksheet, to provide us a detailed explanation of your concerns and service required, as well as at least 2 means of daytime contact: phone, fax, or email are great, as well as your return mailing address. If this is non-warranty service, please also provide a means of payment (visa, MasterCard). Please note that we will contact you with an estimate prior to performing ANY repairs to a non-warranty item, so be sure to provide an easy way to reach you to avoid delays.

I hope you find this information helpful. Should you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at this email address. (Please be sure to copy all previous emails into any future questions.) you can also reach our product support technical team at 217-398-8970, or via fax at 217-398-7721.

DID you KNOW that our web pages now all contain FAQs? (Frequently asked questions) Please drop by and take a look! We hope you'll find the information helpful and valuable to you.

We also now fully support and manage a futaba owners email list and a 6X users email list. To join (its free!) go to www.groups.yahoo.com, join the site, then join futabaowners and/or 6xusers. We also provide support on the 9C list at futaba9c and the 9Z list at futaba9z. Have fun reading the archives and hope you find the discussions useful!

Sincerely,
Mrs. AnnMarie Cross
Senior Manager, Proprietary Services and Support
Great Planes Model Distributors
[email protected]
www.bestrc.com
NO AUTORESPONDER

>>> "Jeff.Quesenberry" <[email protected]> 09/26/02 12:29PM >>>
This does not answer my question
-----Original Message-----
From: support Futaba <[email protected]>
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Date: Thursday, September 26, 2002 12:21 PM
Subject: Re: Futaba 8UAP ((antenna) -AR)


>Thank you for your recent e-mail.
>
>Thank you for your recent e-mail. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS AN INTELLIGENT
AUTOMATED RESPONSE BASED SPECIFICALLY ON THE INFORMATION YOU HAVE SUBMITTED.
>
>1) Cleaning TX antennas.
>2) Replace TX antenna on all radios except 9Z.
>3) Replace 9Z TX Antenna.
>4) Replace receiver antenna for 72, 75MHz.
>5) Replace receiver antenna for 50MHz.
>6) Antenna lengths.
>7) Repairing antenna/antenna mount.
>8) Duck/whip antennas.
>9) Replacement frequency flags.
>10) Antenna position during simulator and setup time when not flying.
>11) cost to check up receiver and replace antenna.
>12) Sending for service.
>13) Re-emailing for prompt live technical support.
>
>1) If you are looking for information on cleaning your transmitter's
antenna, please visit:
>http://www.futaba-rc.com/faq/service-faq.html#q258
>
>2) If you need to replace your transmitter's antenna on all current
generation radios except the 9Z, this is fairly easy to do. Simply visit:
>http://www.futaba-rc.com/parts/futm5040.html
>and purchase the appropriate antenna for your transmitter. (These antennas
unscrew and the new antenna screws in place.)
>
>3) Regarding the 9Z's transmitter antenna:
>http://www.futaba-rc.com/faq/faq-9z-q115.html
>http://www.futaba-rc.com/faq/faq-9z-q267.html
>
>4) Are you looking to replace your receiver antenna, or looking for the
proper length of a receiver antenna?
>FUTM1610 AL0142 RX ANT WIRE AM 1000MM
>FUTM1620 AL0146 RX ANT WIRE FM 1100MM
>are the proper receiver antennas. Note that the AM receiver antenna and the
50MHz antennas are 1000mm in length while the FM 72MHz is 1100mm in length.
To send for service for us to replace, see #11 below.
>
>5) FOR 50MHz, the antenna is different and is a special order only item:
>HSP57260 AL0138 RX ANT LEAD 1000 GREEN (SPECIAL ORDER through your
hobby shop.)
>
>6) For questions on the actual length of the antenna, please see:
>http://www.futaba-rc.com/faq/product-faq.html#q127
>
>7) Can I repair my damaged antenna or antenna mount?
>http://www.futaba-rc.com/faq/service-faq.html#q235
>
>8) Can I replace my antenna safely with an aftermarket "duck", "whip" or
other antenna?
>We can not recommend doing so. Making this modification to your transmitter
is against FCC regulation (unless you are a HAM licensed technician) and may
also void your AMA insurance coverage.
>
>9) Are you looking to replace the Frequency Flags which attach to your
radio's antenna?
>This item is a special order item only. Plesae ask your favorite hobby shop
to contact Great Planes customer service to place a special order for a
Frequency Flag from Hobby Services.
>
>10) Ar you asking about extending your antenna when using your radio for
setup or simulator use? It is VERY hard on your transmitters internal parts
to be transmitting with a collapsed antenna for more than a minute or two.
ALWAYS extend your transmitter antenna or remove your module when using your
radio for long setups or for simulator use.
>
>11) Flat rate to replace antenna/check up receiver $15 plus $7.99 return
shipping.
>
>12) Sending for service:
>http://www.futaba-rc.com/service.html
>
>13) DID THIS AUTOMATED MESSAGE ANSWER YOUR QUESTION COMPLETELY? If so,
we're so glad we could help promptly. If not, please replyto this email,
being SURE NOT TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT and copy the entire email into your
response, and we will be happy to assist you.
>
>I hope you find this information helpful. Should you have any further
questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at this email
address. (Please be sure to copy all previous emails into any future
questions.) You can also reach our product support technical team at
217-398-8970, or via fax at 217-398-7721.
>
>DID YOU KNOW that our web pages now all contain FAQs? (Frequently asked
questions) Please drop by and take a look! We hope you'll find the
information helpful and valuable to you.
>
>Sincerely,
>Futaba Support AUTORESPONDER
>www.futaba-rc.com
>
>
>>>> "[email protected]" 09/26/02 12:18 >>>
>
>I was at a fly-in and lost a 3500 dollar airplane due to a failure of the
>radio. I have a Futaba 8UAP that is about 5 years old. At this fly-in, I
>was told, by three different people, that the older Futaba 8UAP radios had
a
>series of failures where the connection from the transmitter antenna to the
>trasmitter module would break and thus, stop transmitting. Is this true?
I
>have 3 other 8UAP radios. The radio that crashed has been in use for 4
>years witn no problem, but one day, it just went into PCM lockout. A
>different guy flew on my same frequency, also with an 8UAP, with no
>problems, right after I crashed. I was also told that a major change in
the
>8UAPS series, was to redesign this connection. Now, I have not checked the
>tranmission after the radio failure, but the batteries were full, post
>crash, when I checked them. I want to know if this story is true on the
>8UAP. If so, can I send these other radios in to have it corrected? I
will
>of course be sending this crashed radio in for a check-up. Please advise.
>
>
>

TLH101....Spoke to Bob Walker over @ Robart and he has all 3 gears for the DS Constellation....He builds on order only and its priced around $600....N/W steering is pushrod from servo instead of pull-pull system which I prefer....Takes a month or so to recieve the gears...I'm gonna go with the Robarts...I've had good service from their stuff in all my Ziroli planes...By the way how did your buddy do the fuel tanks? Are they in the nacelles?.......Thanx....Bill

Found these pics of Miguel's Connie, that were taken at Top Gun.
http://www.franktiano.com/Warbirds.htm
Miguel will be using Sullivan boat tanks mounted in the wings between the nacelles for fuel.

This is not the radio forum but since I watched F4u5's beautiful Seafury go in at Bomber Field, here is the problem and fix that I dealt with on the 8UAF radio. I did not have a problem with the antenna wire connection. I wrote the following back in the Summer:

I use a Futaba FP-T8UAF transmitter to fly several giant scale airplanes. Up until today it has been ultra reliable.

While test running an engine on a Big Rookie, I noticed that the radio system suddenly was intermittent. I turned it off and took the transmitter inside where I set it up for another plane and tried that one. Same problem.

After examining the transmitter with the back of the case off, I found that the 5-pin connector that the module plugs onto was loose. On the back of the pc board, all 5 pins were broken loose from their respective lands. I used a small tip soldering iron and soldered all 5 pins. Problem fixed.

Each time the antenna is pulled out and pushed in; it slightly moves the pc board that the transmitter module plugs into. Since the module is held in place by the back of the case, stress is put on the 5-pin connector.

To prevent the problem from happening again, elongate the two lower holes that support the antenna tower, such that when the antenna tower moves, it does not move the circuit board with it, else it is just a matter of time before it fails. While you are there, cut off the excess pin length of the buddy cord connector. It has been known to touch the antenna, and fry the transmitter.

Ken

CONNIE MILITARY VERSION
I WAS STATIONED AT PMRF B/S KAUAI,HI STSTER SQUADRON OF POINT MAGO CAL.
WE HAD THE LAST MILIARTY (NAVY) VERSION
ARE YOU GOING TO PUT THE SONAR DOME ON BTM OF FUSELAGE?
DAN MOFFETT
AMS-3 USN
1969-73