bfd04

Hello all,

I am going to be starting my TF Gold T-6 in a week or so, and I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on where to make parts stronger or lighter as the case may be. I know there have been some good fixes for the TF Corsair kit short commings and figured I would see if anyone had any for this kit also.

Thanks

John

E Henry

John, I built this plane last winter and I must say I absolutely love it. I did not make any major changes except I mounted the engine(ST .75) at a 90 degree angle instead of inverted. I had the most trouble getting the flap servos adjusted so there was no binding since they are tied together with the center flap. That being said I do not even use them, but they look cool. I did not install retracts but I wish i did. My plane balanced right on with this configuration. I added just enough nose weight to get it a bit nose heavy. The plane builds very easy. Good luck, Erik

paladin

My Feedback: (9)

John, My TF AT-6 was built in 1996 to mock dog fight with my son. So it was made easy to fix with monokote, mine is the Hollywood zero upgrade. Anyway the first week point discovered was the firewall which was made of Lt ply, one sheet of 1/8in full span then doubled but the doubler is not full span and ends ½ to ¾ away from the skin. I’ve had the partial doubler peal, I’ve pulled the blind nuts through the firewall to the partial doubler and that caused the pealing. I have another kit and the firewall will be made of 1/8 marine ply tracings of the full firewall (which is made in two parts) then the secondary doubler will be a full one. Now I have to admit that had the plane not been used in mock combat the stock firewall may vary well been fine.

In 1999 I band sawed out the center section and replaced it with one built as follows. Each of the ribs that the landing gear attach to should be covered LE to TE, top to bottom with 1/64 ply then use the doublers they give you as directed for the landing gear. Replace the front landing gear rail with maple engine mount. The kit comes with a ply dihedral brace I choose to omit in favor of keeping the center section end rib in one peace. This of coarse meant that I had to glass the dihedral joints.

I’ve also included a pic pf my plane.

Joe

bfd04

Thank you both for your input. Paladin your plane looks great. I will make the changes suggested by both of you, this is easier now then after it is built. Unfortunately I did not find these forums untill I was almost finished with my Corsair, but I know where you arre now so I have a big pool to get ideas from.
I just recieved my retracts last night, They are plactic[] are all the retracts comming from Robart this way now? I have a set of 100 deg for the Corsair which are all metal. Did they go to plastic to keep the cost down or to increase sales on replacement parts? Do you know of another company that sells gear that will fit in the fuse that have some strength to them? I have been accused of over building my projects, I look at it this way, if my brain loosea connection for a second and the plane takes a hard hit, I don't want to be picking up toothpick size pieces(been there done that) from the field. Again thank you for your suggestions, they are always welcome.

John

paladin

My Feedback: (9)

John, I had a set of those in my AT-6 They lasted about 10hr of flight time before I gave up on them.

Problem number one the piston in the cylinder is very small so if something got sucked up into the mechanism while retracting there was not a lot of power to overcome it. I was told that using 120psi in my system would solve the problem, and it did. The problems the fix created: After flying air had to be let out of the system to prevent the hoses from blowing off as the temp. in the radio compartment increased between flights. All the air movement had to be restricted to prevent shock waves which would also pop the hose off the barbs. Then they have stuff to prevent the hose from popping off the barb but those eventually cut the line and a leak develops. Results three gear up landings for no apparent reason.

Second problem: The mounting ears would crack between the screw hole for mounting and the edge of the mounting ear. Mine were never really stressed enough to deserve those cracks yet in 60 landings I had two of these cracks out of eight holes.

Lastly those plastic ones are priced with no support equipment so they look like a great deal. Once you have them in your hand and realize they need the support equipment you come to the realization you will pay as much for them as for spring airs.

My advise is send them back and get Spring airs that can hold a 3/16 strut. I don't care for the spring down but they are reliable. I normally buy my retracts at flee markets because I know how they work and can rebuild them if need be so the majority of my retracts are Rhom-air with two sets of spring-airs.

Joe

bfd04

I was out looking on Robart's website, I found a set of metal retracts. More expensive but will probably hold up better than plastic. I was looking at the plans and am wondering do you think I should use a single or double servo for the ailerons? I have read that the stresses on a single would tear apart the plascic pushrods under heavy loading. I am sure I could create doors like on the flaps, to have access them.

paladin

My Feedback: (9)

John, Anything metal has got to be better.

There are plus's and minuses to both:
Single requires bellcranks and/or plastic pushrods, or cables. Unless you are very dilligent you will end up with loads of uncontrolable dead band at center that will cause the plane to act like it is always out of trim. The slop gets worse over time. Advantage its cheeper and lighter.

Double gives a good crisp center but costs more. Extra servo , extensions, Y harness and if you are luck enough to have the correct length to get a ressinent signal feedback loop you will need a treminated Y.

Stress is not a factor as long as the single servo is a 40 inoz'er

I usually use the two servo method. The hatch method works great but on every day flyers I mount the servos in the balsa skin of the wing. I put a ply picture frame around the servo on the inside of the balsa skin. It does not look as pretty but everything is out in the breeze where it is easy to inspect.

Joe

Yellowflier

This isn't a large scale bird, I don't think you will be ripping the arms off your servo if you go single servo just use a good mid torque servo, maybe something like a HiTech 425 or even 475 ( or 47-52 OZ). However, I think you will have a crisper flying plane with two servos, whether in a hatch or outside the skin, it's just a more direct link. I don't see the Y as a problem unless your skin is already on and you didn't make an acess tube for the wires to run through.

I had a fast flying T-6 many years ago and used Nyod on a single center mounted servo, it worked out fine except that the temp of the day changed my trim settings !!!!
Old Nyrod was like that, it expanded with heat, I hear todays is better.

I still suggest two servos, one on each wing.
David