yellow zero
 

Hey I hope someone out there can help me with my zero. First what motor g45 for wieght or a da 50 for the power or some think alone them lines.
second I have never fiber glassed a wing before iam scared iam going to mess it up. third how do I make a sliding conopy? I am looking for scale
and willing to take my time with this zero. Thanks for your help

jim

RE: yellow zero
 

Jim,

You might also look at the Saito FG36. It puts out more HP than the G45 and is much smoother running. I know a couple guys at our field have G38s in their Yellow Spitfires and they fly great with them. I think you will have trouble fitting the DA50 in the cowl neatly. The G38 or G45 would fit better and should have pleanty of power.

I really like the Saito and would use this over any others motors with the same HP. The only negative is the price [:@]
I have it in my beat up Hanger 9 P51 right now until it's new home arrives. It has great power (about 3 HP) with the setup I have right now.

Still, much smoother, more power for it's size and very fuel efficient. I got a 40 minute flight on mine last weekend.


Jeff

RE: yellow zero
 

I'm just finishing mine up now, sprayed the gray paint on the bottom yesterday. One thing for sure is your likely going to need nose weight to balance it no matter what so go with the heaviest engine possible that fits. The zero has a very short nose moment and depending on which engine you pick can require up to 2 lbs plus of lead to balance. I don't know yet how much more nose weight will be needed in mine but a flying buddy of mine put in a DA 50 and if I remember correctly it needed 2.5 lbs of lead to balance. I'm going with the G45.

As far as fiberglassing the wing, there are some good threads on RCU on how to do it. Try doing a search for some background. Try fiberglassing a small sample first to get your technique down and just take your time. It's really not that hard to do.

I did the sliding canopy on mine and I just used PLASTRUCT square plastic tube for the rails. Some guys use square brass tubing. And others buy prefabricated rails from vendors.

- Carl

RE: yellow zero
 

Here's hpw I finish my planes. Dan.

With so many paints disappearing from the store shelves, it’s hard to find substitutes that will perform the same way. Use what you have available in your area and what you are familiar with. Here is how I finished the prototype. It is a finishing technique I have achieved good results with on other models. Brush on a full strength coat of Valspar Lacquer Sanding Sealer NAS1420. A well-stocked paint store that caters to the professionals will carry this. It is usually used for furniture finishing. One of those two-inch inexpensive disposable brushes is ideal for this application. Sand lightly with 220-grit sandpaper. Apply ¾ fiberglass cloth over the surfaces brushing through it with the sealer thinned 100% with lacquer thinner. Sand lightly with 220-grit sandpaper. Brush on another thinned coat of the sealer. Sand with 220-grit sandpaper being careful not to cut into the cloth. Brush on two more coats of the thinned sealer. Try to fill the weave of the cloth as much as possible. Sand with 150-grit sandpaper to keep the surface flat and smooth.
Spray on three coats of Pacific Coast Lacquer’s PCL 913 lacquer based primer thinned 125% with medium lacquer thinner. Sand the first coat with 100-grit sandpaper, the second coat with 150-grit sandpaper and the last coat with 320-grit sandpaper. You should now have a pretty good surface for your color coats.
Apply a coat of Kilz that is thinned to two parts Kilz to one part naphtha. This will improve the adhesion of the final color coats.
The prototype model was painted with Benjamin Moore’s oil based paints. It took two coats of paint, each thinned to a mixture of two parts paint and one part naphtha. The model was painted in a two color scheme, not necessarily representing any particular plane. All of the insignia and rudder stripes were painted with Rust-oleum. The letters on the wing were four inch vinyl letters available at a stationery store. The overall result was just what I was looking for.

RE: yellow zero
 

Glassing is not that hard. Try a practice piece first. I use Z pacer finish epoxy as it sands very well. You can mix a small amount and use a small cheap foam roller from Home Depot to get a nice thin layer of epoxy into the glass. Keep it light with no excess epoxy. I had a OS 160 on a 79" 18 lb Platt Zero and it had plenty of power for me. I did have to add ballast to the nose though.

RE: yellow zero
 

I had a yellow zero with a G45 in it and had to add about 3 lbs of lead to the nose. I have built most all the yellow kits and the zero is truly a great flying aircraft. Very forgiving on landing as long as you come in power on. Very aerobatic. Mine weighed close to 29 lbs.
I have another I am going to build and the best engine choice would be something with more power than a G45 like a DA50 but heavier.
Tough choice. Might try a G62, or maybe a 3W 50. With the g45 the plane was alittle slow, but very scale. Supposedly DA has a new 65 coming out , may want to check on the weight of that engine. Need the power of a DA50 with a little more weight on it.
May also want to consider Sierra retracts if you dont already have the gear.

Fiberglass Tech 101
start withh a super smooth surface
use a credit card (expired) to place an ultrathin layer of zpoxy on the wood.
Put a layer of 3/4 oz cloth over the top wing and sqeege with another card, make sure cloth is completely saturated but scraped as thin as you can with the card. dry, trim, and sand with a black and decker elecrtic sander, beats the hell out of manually sanding!!
Put second layer of 2 oz cloth from landing gear block to landing gear block, sand and trim again
Do other side same way
Put on wing tips before you fiberglass
There is a learning curve with this procedure so I would strongly advise you to work on a practice piece first. It will pay huge dividends in the end. Thats the short version

RE: yellow zero
 

I would put a G62 in there, I find the G45 and G62 very close in physical size but the power is so much more on the G62. If undamaged they run smoother than most gas motors. Very reliable and without hassle of running extra battery on ignition. They are perfect for warbirds as they are much heavier than the 3D aerobat motors. The only trouble with them is you need a big starter to get them going, but I never use my hands to start these big motors anyways.

RE: yellow zero
 

checkout Tom Pierce's website , look at the sbd build,lots of great how to's . http://www.tompierce.net/home/home.htm

Paul S.

RE: yellow zero
 

I started with the Fuji 50, which is actually a 46cc.
I am now running a DLE-55. Ton's of power for this
25 lb airplane.

I fly around at a click above half throttle most of
the time.

Good Luck!!! It is a wonderful airplane in the air!!!


Regards,

Flakbait

RE: yellow zero
 

This is the exact engine I have been looking at putting in my yellow zero, How was the balance ? did you require allot of nose weight ? and most important how much butchering had to be done to the cowl for fit and cooling ?

RE: yellow zero
 

here is a picture of my yellow zero with a da 50 in it. it took 2.5 or 3 pounds in the front of the cowl to balance it. its not fully finished yet but it has more than enough power and flies phenominal! couldnt ask for a better flying plane.

RE: yellow zero
 

Zero,

Still took right at three pounds to balance.
The Zero is a short nosed airplane. The
R-2800 in the Corsair,Hellcat, and Thunderbolt
weighed right at 2500 pounds.

The cowl on the bottom is not too bad.
I used a J-Tech muffler.( See pic)
Maybe I'll paint the muffler with some hi-temp
paint....

The DLE seems to be a pretty good engine so far...

Regards,

Flakbait

RE: yellow zero
 

For the extra weigh iam going to call keleo creations and see about custom exhast for the zero instead of 2 or more pounds of lead.
Thanks tunakuts3d for the web sit very helpful on the glassing I think Iam going to try the water base poly. And u all for your input on
the zero. does anyone have pics of the zero with g45 or g62 in? and were should I place the air tank?

jim

RE: yellow zero
 

Here's mine with the G45 prior to paint. Doesn't stick out of the cowl too much. I had to put the air tank behind the cockpit since it's a full cockpit.

RE: yellow zero
 

And the Bennett muffler

RE: yellow zero
 

What is the Horse power on the G45 ? I could never find this stat anywhere I look, also what is the weight of this engine with muffler , I like and agree with you it doesn't stick out of the cowl much , not as much as the DLE 55

RE: yellow zero
 

The G45 (74 oz) combined with the Bennett muffler (5 oz) totals 79 oz, just under 5 lbs. A DLE55 with muffler weighs in at just under 3 lbs. That's probably 2 lbs of lead that you will likely need to add if you go with the DLE55.

I've seen a 3.3 HP/7200 rpm number on the G45. When the G45 is prop'd well and tuned correctly it flys a 25 lb warbird with plenty of authority. I've seen quite a few G45s in YA P-47s and they move along very well. My rule of thumb is I will use a G45 in an 80" warbird up to 25 lbs. Beyond 25 lbs I would go to the G62 or some equivalent. The DLE55 will definitely give you more performance than the G45 if that's what you're looking for.

- Carl

RE: yellow zero
 

carl your zeros lookin great! i got mine on charge now and i am hoping to get some more flights on it tomorow before the seasons over. mabey ill see you at the field tomorow? i agree with you on the engine. the g 45 lugs my p-47 around really well. my 47 next will have a da 50 in it for sure though for that extra tiny bit of performance. its all a matter of personal preforance i guess

RE: yellow zero
 

Carl thanks for the 411 , but let me pose a question to you and all , if we take the above stats and compare them to the DLE 30 which would cowl in completely , at 3.7 HP @ 8700 RPM and weighing just under 3 lbs with two and half pounds of weight, lead, batteries, etc then in theory we should expect the same performance that we would get from a G45 ?

RE: yellow zero
 

I would be careful about using manufacturers HP/RPM numbers alone to compare engine performance. I would rely more on prop size and associated RPM per engine as a comparison. I know from my experience that a G45 will swing a 20x10 @ ~7000 rpm. I don't have any experience with a DLE30 so I can't say it can do the same but my gut says it will have less performance than G45.

RE: yellow zero
 

According to the manufacture spec 20x8 is the max size prop that could be run by the DLE30

RE: yellow zero
 

i personally wouldnt take that chance. that size engine may fly the airplane but it wouldnt fly it with much authority at all

RE: yellow zero
 

I'm not sure I would believe the DLE30 can swing a 20x8 @8500 RPM to generate the 3.3HP. I think if you search the engine forums you'll find that it swings more like a 20x8 @ ~7200 which is pretty decent for that size engine. I would say the performance of the DLE30 is closer to the G38 than a G45.

RE: yellow zero
 

I think smoother yes but I thought displacement for 4-stroke compared to 2-stroke is generally not as strong?

RE: yellow zero
 

I agree, the only thing that I can recall swinging that much rpm from a 30cc would be a Moki 1.8 or 2.10 on glow.