mlj3

My Feedback: (95)

I have just finish building the Orginal KIT version of this plane. A few years ago I printed out and saved a thread on this plane that had to deal with balancing.It was stated that the balance point of 4 and 1/4 " from the wings leading edge as stated on the plans was incorrect.My question is for those who are now flying this plane as the Kit or ARF version where is the balance point.and also the weight of your plane.Mine weights 11 pounds which I think is to heavy and I balanced it 3 and 1/2 inches form the wings leading edge.I have put about a full pound of weight on it to balance just slightly nose heavy.I am using a ST 75 engine. Thanks in advance !!

lrb75

My Feedback: (12)

You should be ok a little further back than that on the CG. It been a long time since I built mine but I think I went with 3 3/4. I have a Magnum 91FS in mine with about 8oz of nose weight. It flys great at 10 1/2 lbs.

paladin

My Feedback: (9)

MLJ, I reduced my nose wt by mounting the throttle servo on the engine mount (2oz), mounted the rx bat under the engine (7oz), then with the CG at 5in the rest of the nose wt should be gone. also if you are using the cowl they sent with the kit it needs glassing on the inside (2oz). here are some pic's of mine Hollywood Zero vertion.


http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_37...tm.htm#3783310

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_30...tm.htm#3063579

this one has my CG in it (on post 19):
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_36...tm.htm#3643055

Joe

Scratchie

I just started the TF AT-6 KIT last night. What retracts did you use and if you glassed, what products did you use? Did anything trip you up during the build - thanks.

mlj3

My Feedback: (95)

This is my 2nd attempt at getting one of these birds in the air.My 1st attempt was about 10 years ago when I brought one from a club member that was complete and ready to fly.I crashed it on its maiden flight.I was not really ready for it.Also I think the CG was off and the throws were to much.Anyway I was able to save the wing.Then a couple of years ago I brought the same kit off ebay and the fuse was 80% completed and the wing had not been started.So all I had to do was to complete the fuse because I already had the wing.It has mechanial retracts,Flaps,I used monokote as covering.I am using a ST 75 this time because on the 1st texan I crashed it had a ST90 on it and I think it was to much power for the plane?? To sum it up I have never built one of these from scratch.Also right after I crashed the 1st one that winter i went to my local hobby store and brought the complete kit before it was discontinued and it has been in my closet ever since.I may sell it and buy the ARF if the economy ever gets better.I am not really a Kit builder.

Scratchie

Is the AT-6 really as difficult to fly as some say it is? It seems that there's a lot disagreement - I'm wondering if the difference between a difficult AT-6 and an easy AT-6 is the weight of the plane and takeoff/landing speed.

paladin

My Feedback: (9)

I rebuilt the wing about 200 flights ago. In that rebuild I put 1/64 ply on both sides of the ribs that the Landing gear rails mounted to. Then built to the plans replacing the ply landing gear mounting rails with maple of the same size (had to cut down to correct size with a band saw). AT-6’s have a bounce on landing that will tear it apart, these changes have worked out well for me. Though, I am not bouncing it any more.

To install flaps I mounted two servos one on each end of the middle flap and attached both servos to the center flap and to the outside flap nearest it. the wing mounting lug in the fuse are cantilevered and break out about every 80 flights. For now I CA pop cycle sticks between them, when the epoxy starts to give it breaks the CA joint alerting me to it is time to pull and re-bond. When I rebuild the fuse I will use the same blocks but tie them together.

The big problem with the fuse is the firewall! Where it mounts to the stressed balsa skin it is only 1/8 thick and that leads to a lot of oil canning problems. And it is light ply, mine is old enough that the inner layer has turned to dust. I’m just waiting for the firewall to start cracking around the engine mount and I will have to rebuild the forward fuse. I have the throttle servo mounted to the engine mount to reduce dead nose wt. I also have a battery box in the nose to reduce more of the nose wt.

Lastly every flop tite gold kit I’ve built has had the stab incidence incorrect. That means it has noticeable down E when trimmed out. The stab should be 1 degree less incidence than the wing .

Flying the wheels are close together the wings are long, but it has a long tail moment/short nose moment, so things get interesting fast if things don’t go right. The ailerons have a slow response, the elevator is very effective and it is possible to over stress the wing pulling hard E. mine will go from 94mph and turn in three wing lengths. You only get so many of those in each wing. Mine has flown on every engine I’ve broken in since it was built but it likes the osmax 1.2 4c best .

Have fun it is a blast to fly

Joe

mlj3

My Feedback: (95)

Thank -you for all your Info !! Instead of Balancing it at 3 1/2 inches I went to 3 3/4 inches and I was able to remove most of the dead weight that I had put In It now weights 10 1/4. I will try it at this weight whenever the weather get better !!

scratchbuilder46

Just found this thread thought I might add my 2 cents. Built one of these birds after a long hiatus from R/C. Built it according to the plans, balanced it according to the plans and it flew just fine. I used the Robart wire air up air down retract in it and they worked just fine. I powered it with an OS .61 with the scale exhaust set up with no cooling problems. I lost it due to battery failure about flight #5. Total rekit. Didn't even save the retracts from this one. I do rebuilding for my club and one of the members had a TF AT-6 he didn't want. I worked out a deal with him and have it as a future project. The only things I am going to change are the engine size, ST.75 with scale exhaust and going with the Robart set again with the scale struts. A little more power would not hurt and the scale retracts lend themselves to the model I will pattern mine after. There are no door covers on the model I plan to build. I will glass this one and make sure to wrap the glass around the nose section after adding some tri stock to the back of the firewall. Just and extra amount of security in this area. I did the same for my TF Corsair. Not much weight gain but a lot of strength in this area. This is one fun bird to fly, it is just a warbird that needs to have a little more speed on landing to prevent the tip stall, but other than that a delight to fly. Carry some speed over the end with full flaps, use throttle to maintain speed above stall and let it settle in. Good luck on all of yours.

mlj3

My Feedback: (95)

Scratchbuilder 46 Thank-You Very much for the info !!