i had a brisson 3.2 5 pounds 5 hp. i had to add 2 1/2 pounds of lead ontop of the engine to CG
im thinking mine was 23 pounds and change?and i relocated all the tail servose to the cockpit area

My skills come no where near this kinda of detail ! WOW! I can only aspire to become as good great looking bird ! I hope you don't mind if I sit back and drool in silence LOL , this was my attempt at weathering a plane

Well, you know I had a much smaller arf Zero (OK Models 45 size Zero) that had over 800 hours of hard flying time on it, same Saito .56 throughout its life too. Every year it got more oil soaked (oil smoke) heavier, and dinged from use but also looked more and more realistic. In all those years it became more and more of a fixture at the field and really helped get others in the club excited about warbirds, especially with good looking and flying arfs being so common these days. The challenge for me was trying to see just how long I could keep it going and how major damage could be repaired. It became a puzzle to solve (literally at times). I learned a lot from others at the field and from just plain experimenting on my own. In its last season (2007) I was flying it with the wing tip chewed up from another buddies prop. It flew okay but needed a bit of trim! A month later a newer pilot flying a hanger 9 Spit in our group ran into me at 300ft, cutting my tail feathers off and destroying both planes. The wood was just too oil soaked to take any glue and was just breaking up into granules as you rubbed it between fingers. After seeing how pervasive the oil had been on that model which was made of balsa formers and foam sheeting with a printed vinyl covering it was time for a new plane and I told myself it was going to be all glass. That's when another buddy in the group said he had just gotten a World Models 60 size Zero at a swap shop from a guy who hacked it together as an electric. It was rough (wing halves were not even at the root!) but Curt gave it to me and I started to cut it up and heat the epoxy free at the center. Prying and scrapping the soft epoxy I was able to get all the individual pieces free and clean and reassembled. The modes came from there, all small and relatively simple operations in their individual execution but they add up as a whole. I think anyone can do this, and better probably too, if you look at it that way. Small, individual projects.

Your Zero looks good and I'm sure it looks GREAT on a low, fast flyby! Besides you can alway add detail as you like along the way....

Damn I love those summer afternoons flying formation with my buddies!

Set 1 pics of the Okay models Zero 800+ flying hours!
Set 2 World Models Zero...The tweaking began here....

Hi Jim
Attached are a few pictures , I used a Turnigy speed regulator on the flaps it works nice.

More pictures

ckahoun, Looks great what retracts and struts are you using

Flyer 35
They are Robart spring down, with a machined solid half strut heated and bent to contour the wheel openings and robostruts 615? and slid over the machined half strut I would use the larger robostruts next time, I have to add larger springs or spacers in the struts to handle the 20.5lb plane.
Clay

ckahoun,

look real good. It looks like that Fuji 50 will sure do the job for you. I hope I can make my Brillelli 46GT do the same. I am picking up my Hanger 9 150 P-47 retracts up Friday and hope to get some work on the Zero done this weekend. I';; post some pic's once I get started.

Hi Jim
I think the fuji 50 is a 46cc motor. Have you checked out Troy built models ? They sell EMS gen v retracts at a great price and they look very nice, the kit comes with wheels all three with aluminum rims air valve, lines and tank set up for $139.00, I orderd a set for my corsair.http://www.troybuiltmodels.com/items/ESMCORSAIR74.html
Check it out. I will let you know how they are when I get them.
Clay

Clay,

Yes I have thought of the landing gear that Troy Built sells for the ESM war birds. I opted to go with the Hanger 9 150 P-47 retracts because I know Fishdeth used them and they work just fine off of a grass field. Let use know how the gear from Troy Built works on the Zero. I was not sure if they may have been long enough If I do not like the way the Hanger 9 retracts work I'll give the Troy Built retracts a try if they work for you I hope to get started on the Zero this weekend

Clay,

I found out there is a problem with the Hanger 9 150 P-47 retract bending on landing.[:@] I have gone to Troy Built and ordered the landing gear for the LA-7. That is an 80" ESM Russian War Brid so the gear should be real close to the size we need. It is on back order for now,[:'(] but they said it wil be instock in a few days. What gear did you order for you CMP Zero?

Hi Jim
I ordered a set for my Corsair. I had a set for the zero, robart spring down. I did not get my retracts for the corsair yet but they look very nice as well as the ones you ordered.
Clay

great info

Well is have gotten started building this CMP Zero. I thought I would start with the fuselage first. I have all of the servo's and fuel tank installed in the fuselage as far forward as possible. I am using a pull-pull system for the rudder and tail wheel. I had a little problem with the Brillelli engine and mount.[:'(] The Brillelli 46GT with the engine mount I have is 6 1/2" long so I could not use the motor box.[:@] I laminated two 3/4" pieces of plywod together and mounted it to the the firewall. That puts the Brillelli 46 hub at 8" out from the firewall. I cut the cowl and installed a Dave Brown 4" spinner using a APC 20x10 prop. Everything looks good so far. This thread and others have been a big help. Sorry no pics for now. My Computer was stolen and I am using a friends to post this. I'll post some pic's when I can get another computer

I finally got the fuselage done. Here are a few pic's of the progress so far. I will now start on the wings, ailerons, flaps and landing gear now

From reading this post and others does anyone know if Bass Pro sells 1lb lead weights? I think I my need a couple of them to balance this plane. I am also going to be moving my elevator servo's to the H-Stab like the others have done. I think it is best. The rods from the fuselage to the elevator I installed is a little to long for my liking[:@]

With 4 lbs of a123, it should balance ;-)

Yes I believe you are right your Zero will balance will the 4 lbs from your batteries. I have a light Brillelli 46GT gas engine installed in mine so I know I'll need at least 1 to 2 lbs of weight up front to balance this Zero. I am looking for a source of 1lbs lead weights.

I use old leads from scuba diving or lead sheet for roofing.

I went to a tire store and asked about the used lead weights that come off of tires and the guy handed me a 5 gallon pail of them. I melted them down with a small torch into a tuna fish can and bolted it to the fire wall. Cost? ZERO. They melt quickly hold the clip with pliers. It took 4# to balance. I have since moved the servos to the CG area to see if I can reduce some of the weight.

I have installed the servo's for the elevator in the CG area of the fuselage. [X(] I am using 4-40 rods attached to 3/8" dowels. They seem to work OK on the ground bit I am a little worried about the lenght of the rods to one of the elevators. Do you think the 4-40 rod will be stiff enough and not fex while flying?

I suggest you use carbon rods...

Ramboman,

You know I think you are right. I'll go out tomorrow and get some carbon fiber rods. I'm hoping by having the elevator servo's in the wing cradle area of the fuslage I'll save some weight.

If you center the motor on the hole in the firewall, you are 14mm too high.
I did not use the offset line, the mount is centred; side trust will be given at the motor.
The ring is mounted at 10mm of the firewall to facilitate air exit.

I know about the motor being to high if you use the center hole to aline your engine. I did that because my CMP Zero did not have any centering lines on the firewall. I could not use the motor box because my Brillelli 46GT already had a mount and with it the prop hub is 6 1/2" from the firewall. I used the extension mount that came with the kit and laminated another 3/4" plywood to it. That gave me a perfect 8" from the firewall.

I am using the Hanger 9 P-47D landing gear and I am having some trouble with it. Standard JR retacts servo's are not strong enough to extend the gear once they are retracted. [:'(] I am ordering some JR-791 retract servo's which are metal gear and much stronger than the standard JR-88 servo's.[X(]