heli_Rod

I did one of my least favorites jobs on the plane today. I cut the hinge slots, hinged and installed the control horns on the flaps and ailerons. I bought a new electric hinge slot machine. What a labor and time saving tool that is! The flap and aileron servos and linkage are now installed as well. The cables pulled through the wing effortlessly.

Pic (1) shows the flaps in the down position.

Pic (2) shows the servos and linkages.

Pic (3) shows the completed windshield installation. It actually came out better than it usually does. It still doesn't please me. Maybe one of these days I'll get clean installation. I used automotive GOOP adhesive to secure the windshield then trimmed it with 1/4" stripping tape.

Pic (4). This is a used O.S. FS .40 surpass I bought off E-Bay for $72.00. It looks to be in great shape with little run time. I have it set up on the test stand to get the idle and mixture set close. Hopefully it runs as good as it looks. After this one is checked out, I'll break in the new engine.

heli_Rod

Today I ran the push rods for the rudder and elevator. I can't install the servos until I get the engines and cowling's mounted to see where he balance will be. I also installed a FOURMOST bomb release on the belly right on the CG. Just a little something to keep flying interesting.

The fuel tanks are assembled and awaiting installation. I had to fuel proof the tank compartment first. I am making the engine side thrust shims to go behind the engine mounts. They are 1/8" plywood, and will sanded to 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 degree angles. I'm not going to glue these to the firewall to allow thrust to be changed if I'm not satisfied with the angles.

I have also started working on the plug to pull the nose cone. I have it roughed out and will take it out to the barn tomorrow to the belt sander to get it closer to profile, and to sand the thrust shims.

It's suppose to warm up to around 55 Saturday, so I'll probably try to get the engines broke in then.

Rod

heli_Rod

This project is quickly coming to a close. There isn't a lot left to do. Pic (1), the fuel tanks are assembled and installed. It was a very nice fit with foam padding on all sides. The tank hatch covers are put on in pic (2).

Pic (3) Nice chunk of balsa, huh? Very rough shape, ready for the belt sander, and the templates used to sand it to a closer shape.

Pic (4) is of the engine side thrust shims of 1/8" plywood with dowels glues on to hold them while sanding them to shape. The templates are for the angles to are to be sanded to. The firewalls were fuel proofed today.

Pic (5) shows the finished rough sanded nose cone plug and the completed shims with the handles sawed off.

Pic (6) ...almost there. A little more sanding to smooth out a few bumps and it will be ready to fill and primer.

Pic (7) Just for fun, I installed the FOURMOST bomb drop mechanism. It will be operated by a micro servo and a pull cable through the belly.

Rod

McLeodAviation

My Feedback: (70)

Looks great! I can hardly wait to see with the cowls and spinners in place!

Have you thought about installing Robart strut covers on the main gear?

heli_Rod

Actually, I was going to, but money was getting tight for all the others items I needed, so I didn't order them, however I am planning on putting them on sometime in the future as money permits. I think they would add a lot to the looks and ground handling.

I'm looking forward to seeing it with the cowling's on to. I'll have to trim them to fit (for length) and paint the OD trim paint on them. Naturally, cutting all the access holes takes awhile to.

If I don't run into any problems, I expect to finish it up by next weekend.

Rod

heli_Rod

Today's progress was interesting and fruitful. Pic (1), I re-installed the engine mounts with the new thrust shims. This one is the right engine with 2 1/2 degrees side thrust. The throttle servos are place and the hardwood cowl mount blocks are glued in place.

I started sorting out the radio system today Pic (2). The receiver is new. It's a JR R2000, 10 CH, ScanSelect dual conversion receiver. It's easy to program. I even figured it out on the first try. The DS537 servo is for the elevator and the other JR servo is actually a metal gear servo I had for a car. I thought I'd use it for the rudder. The little servo is a Hitec HS-55 that is going to be used to activate the bomb drop. I am also using a heavy duty switch harness and a Voltwatch.

Pic (3) shows the tangled mess of wires and my trusty JR 9303 transmitter I bought for my Fury Extreme heli. I've never used this transmitter for an airplane, so I thought I would see what it can do. Lots of nice features I didn't even know were in there! I had bought 3 Y-harnesses, 2 standard and 1 reversing, or so I thought. When I took them out of their packages to wire up, I found out that the sales person had given me 3 reversing Y-harnesses. One of those didn't even work. I took the shrink tubing off it and found the circuit board was cracked all the way across. Since it wasn't any good, I used the leads and made up a regular Y-harness out of it. Now I just need one more regular Y-harness. Off to the hobby shop I go!

The last pic is of the nose cone plug. It just needs final sanding and then I'm ready to pull the nose cone. The last thing I accomplished today was to get my engines broke in and set-up. Both engines started right up with no hassles at all. The used engine was set up quite well, so I only ran a couple of tanks of fuel though it. The new engine was the easiest engine I've ever broken in. I think she is going to be a good one. I ran 60 oz of fuel through it. That's a lot of running to. A 10 oz tank ran 20 minutes! I balanced the props, but I didn't check the spinners. I think one is a little out of balance. I'll have to check it.

Well, it's coming to a close very quick. I probably won't get to fly it until spring, but that's Ok, I'm not much of a cold weather flyer anymore.

Rod

scalemig

your doin an awesome job, everything looks outstandin. I am still moving along well with mine to i'm just stuck between one thing. I started thinking about the eagle 2 that i used to fly with my 40 la. I have a grass runway and it isn't that big, and the eagle 2 took alot of it to take off. My kadet is a lil bit heavier than it and a lot bigger. I was thinking of putting my tiger gp 61 in it but then it would be way over powered. Do you think with an overseized prop i could slow it down enough to where it would be ok for this plane. If so what prop would you recomend. Oh take in consideration i do want this to still be a slow flyer, so that i can help others learn to fly. thanks

heli_Rod

If you are flying off grass and on a short runway, going with the .61 might be a good idea. As far as flying slow, that's what they have throttles for...lol....just pull the power back and trim for level flight. you can use a larger diameter prop with less pitch to help keep the speed down also. If you still have the instruction manual fir the engine, they may provide some optional prop sizes. You don't want to lug the engine down and cause it to overheat. It may require a little experimentation to find what works the best....maybe a 12-6 or ever a 13-4.

I hope that helps.

Rod

heli_Rod

Not much accomplished yesterday. Too many interruptions all day.[] I managed to get the engines mounted on the plane when I realized I only had one remote glow starter adapter on hand. My son went to Indy yesterday to pick up odds and ends I needed, but they didn't have the remoter adapter, so I'll have to order it. I also need two of the fuel filters with a tee built in for fueling and a couple line clamps.

I started to mount the cowling's , but it just didn't get done. Maybe I can get some of it done today..I hope! One thing I did check yesterday.....I put the wings on with the engines mounted. Allowing for the weight of the cowling's and the Lexan nose cone, balance will be easy to achieve using the radio components placement.

Rod

heli_Rod

I started fitting cowl's today. I have the right cowling rough fitted to the firewall and the screws in place. I'll have to remove a little more material around the exhaust pipe and cut the holes for the needle valve extension and the remote glow adapter. I also want to mark the paint trim lines before I remove it. I think they are going to look fairly decent on the plane when it's finished. I had to remove more material than I really wanted around the cylinder head, but that's the way it goes. The cowl's inlet area is swept back quite a bit. If I had used a 2-cycle engine, I doubt if I'd had to cut as much away. But then I wouldn't have that wonderful sound of a twin 4 stroker!

I'll work on the other cowl tomorrow. I've run out of time for today.

Rod

flyst

WOW! what a great looking ...use to bee kadet!...I really enjoyed reading all your mods and trails and tribulations...hope she flies well...I too have a winter project going on a Kadet..well, two winters now..lol...job .kids and a wifie...I am planning on flying mine in the dark so to say...and have done several changes ...streight wing with barn door ailerons,traildragger,with fat 1930's type wheel pants,and fully modified tail feathers, kinda like an extra300,for knife edge flight,two bomb droppers and a box built inside with lights for candy drop or dog turds(going to try to hit a friend of mine)remote glow,lit up instument panel ,Barbie's head turns both directions,and three light systems,including steerable nose lights.hiddin screw cowling homemade of coarse.saddle for the night flying glider which will ride on top...lots of chrome...and well other things that will just make it fun in the DARK...hope ya'll enjoy the pix ..

scalemig

well i am just about done, it's all covered and waiting to be balanced. Since i live in south alabama i should have some decent flying weather here pretty soon... I am replacing all of my radio gear cuz it is a lil old but as soon as that is done i will be doing the maiden. So far the plane is still light with the 61 on front it is going to need a lil tail weight. So far it weights 7.5 lbs

heli_Rod

Hi flyst! Looks like an interesting build. I've never tried night flying ..yet! It looks like you have it set up for all kinds of fun stuff. The bomb drop is cool, but will you have to put fins on the dog turds to make them more accurate? Thanks for sharing the pics.

Hi scalemig, I see you have been busy also. She looks about ready to fly. The new wing bolt hold downs look good to. I'm sure that .61 will get you up off the grass quickly! 7 1/2 lbs. with all the wing area, she should be a floater for sure. Keep us posted how it's coming.

Rod

flyst

Heli rod...that's an excellent idea...the fins for a more accurate drop..although I don't know if any of my buddies are willing to do the mods on them for me....rolling on the floor laughing...(cause I ain't puttin em on) long story short ...a small rival bunch from the mountains ..one of my buddies there ..we have been trying for years to drop the plastic vortex bombs on each other..never had a direct hit yet!..But soon I will have the two shots with the bomb droppers and the box with the bomb bay doors...should give me the upper hand ....accually I plan on purchasing a bulk of small lights sticks ..one and a half inch by 1/8 inch..to put in the box..and we have used the six inch stiks in place of the plastic bombs at night in the past ..always fun to go exstreamlly high and drop the six inch sticks and watch em fall...if you look close at the photo I posted above with lights on you can see the bomb bay door open and the light on the talble from the light inside the box...back to the lights..i said there are three light systems...main lights ...the ones in the pix...they can be switched to spot lights from wing tip and landing lights that will also light up the cockpit...and if ever a set of lights fail you have more...sure beats the start of our night flying when all we had was a spot light and someone shinning it on the plane while you fly!...oh and did I mention I wired all the lights myself ...I finally learned how to use the solder and flux..!..anyway here are a few more pix,,Joe

heli_Rod

I'm getting down to the nitty gritty now! I finished cutting and mounting the cowl's today and even got them painted. They were already painted white with LUSTER COAT, so all I had to do was mask, sand and spray the olive drab LUSTER COAT. One cowl has a few paint flaws..my cat knocked it off the stand between coats. It's not very noticable though, fortunately for the cat...LOL[>:]

This is what she looks like with the painted cowl's in place and the spinners on. I haven't pulled the nose cone yet, so that's the next job.

I am very happy that the balance point as she is in the pics, without the battery, receiver, elevator servo, rudder servo, bomb drop servo and the switch harness and missing the nose cone (which is very light), she balances right at the trailing edge of the front spar. She should balance on the front edge of the spar, so getting it right won't be a problem at all!

Rod

foodstick

I can't believe how nice you have dressed this senior up! can't wait to see some shots of it on the runway,and in flight pictures ....
very nice kit bash.

heli_Rod

This is the nose cone construction.

Pic (1), Everything ready to go. The Lexan is in the pulling ring, the plug is ready, gloves and my heat gun, just in case I need a little extra stretching.

Pic (2), I had to heat the oven to 475 degrees to get the Lexan pliable enough to stretch this far. I made the pulling ring inside diameter a little too large. I wouldn't have had to pull as far down if the I.D. had been smaller.

Pic (3), With the plug removed. Some of the primer came off inside the cone, but that doesn't matter as it gets painted on the outside. I really didn't take nearly as much time finishing the plug for the as I would have a canopy.

Pic (4), The finished product. I'll mount it tomorrow after it dries throughly.

The only things left to do now is finish installing the radio and connecting the linkages inside the fuselage.

Golly Gee Whiz....you're making me blush![sm=red_smile.gif] Thank you for the compliments. It has been fun building this plane .

Rod

BillS

Thanks for the very interesting and informative build progress.

Although not a builder my experience with the Kadet as a twin indicates thrust shims will be redundant but won’t hurt anything. The airplane just doesn’t seem to need shims.

Thanks.

Bill

scalemig

awesome job on that nose cone. You have a great looking plane, hope it flys well. Hey i have a quesetion for ya.. I don't know if i told you or not but i am now going to use my tt .61 engine, i was wondering if it is critical to have right thrust with this set up. i was hoping to avoid it because i will have to do some major work to get it to fit properly. I just don't want to go and take off and it get retarted on me. anyway thanks.

heli_Rod

Hi BillS, Yeah, the Kadet has a large vertical fin and rudder that should really help with single engine performance. I even increased the area of the vertical fin and rudder by about 10% over the stock one to give it more authority. I shimmed the engines with side thrust because of a fellow I had communicated with that had a twin Senior and that is what he used. He said it flew fine on one engine as long as you didn't use too much flaps and kept the speed up. I've had twins before and they needed the side thrust, so I didn't think it would hurt putting it in. Better safe than sorry with a twin...LOL

Hey scalemig, I figured you would use the larger engine. It will make the grass and short field take offs a lot easier. I would put the right thrust in. If you don't, you are going to have a lot of rudder trim changes from low throttle to high throttle. With the larger engine, it will be even more important to have the right rthrust. It may be a little extra work to put it in, but you really should.

Rod

scalemig

i have heard that big engines on light airframes can be bad on takeoff, i was even told that the torque on take off could cause it to kinda do a flip if it doesn't have right thrust. Is this true? Yeah i guess i do need to put the right thrust in, but i really don't want to, that means i am going to lose the cowl i was going to make. There is just enough room for the engine to be straight right now, so moving it to the left and adding right thrust will not work without cutting the whole right side out.

BillS

My Kadet would take off from grass with .25 engines and an all up weight of 10 1/2 pounds. In the air there was little reserve and the engines were changed to .45 and then to .40. If one engine spools up quicker than the other during take off roll then at lift off the airplane will flat turn towards the faster engine. A little room is needed to regain your composure. The Kadet will forgive most pilot errors if the throttle is used with caution.

Bill

heli_Rod

Well....she is done. All I need to do is tidy up the wiring harness after I checked the CG, Which came out exactly on target without adding any weight and no fuel. All I had to weigh her with was my old fishing scales. If you can believe them, she weighs in at 11 lbs dry! These will be the last pics I post until the weather breaks this spring and I can get her in the air. I hope the spirit of the build as a pseudo Aero Commander 520, out of a Sig Kadet Senior kit has been maintained. I posted a pic of the one I copied and let you decide.

I'm going to make a list of materials and parts use in this project and will post them when I have finished compiling it.

Thanks to all who followed along on this project.

Rod

McLeodAviation

My Feedback: (70)

Congratulations on completing your twin engine Kadet Senior! Your modifications certainly have created a remarkable resemblence to the Aero Commander 520! Great job!

TCrafty

Amazing! Definitely take this as a compliment, it doesn't even LOOK like a Senior anymore. I'll bet those twin 4-strokes will sound great in the air too!