soarrich

My Feedback: (98)

Is your the purple or pink? It looks great.

bluemagic98

Ive had 2 of them and one was recovered. Originaly both where pink. Ive suffered another engine failure and I may be recovering again.

Zort86

Well I havn't gotten to much done so far. I have the control horns installed on the tail and the wires also installed. Last night I started getting the throttle and choke servos ready to mount. There is no place to mount the servos so I had to make a servo mount plate and cut out the shelf where the rudder server mount is. I am planing on getting some work done the next few days, so we will see. At the rate I am going I should maiden it in about two weeks.

Zort86

Here are more pic from when I set the wings

rctom

Wow! Owning 3 incidence gauges is cool, I only have one and I have to keep moving it around.

However I use a digital level with mine instead of the Robart swinging needle gizmo, so I get accuracy down to 1/10th of a degree, not that that level of accuracy is needed. It's just fun to brag about it.

TF

RCNUTKNOY

My Feedback: (2)

Hm..three incidence gauges...I was more impressed that Ken had the correct month on his calendar and that he got a picture of his work ID badge in one of the frames. Get that thing done, Ken, so we can fly two of these things together. Should be an awesome sight.

John

Zort86

Ya it is getting there, I think I actually remembered to change the calender on the 1st this month.
I am working on getting the radio mounted, so I have to take some of it out of the other one.
I should have her ready in two weeks.
As for the incidence meters, I had to borrow them from my Dad, and any one who knows him, it is not surprising he has 3, but it worked out good.

Zort86

Hey guys, just wanted to give an update. Things are progressing, I am getting all the odds and ends setup now. getting the radio mounted and the fuel system. I have to wait for a few things, I decided I want to put the pitts muffler on for the 3mm instead of the stock one(will have to order that this week, so Tom I will be calling you on Friday for it.) and I want to add a smoke system, so I am still working on planning all that out.
So far I have everything else setup and I will getting some more pics up of the progress this week.

Zort86

Well the time has come for the maiden flight. I finily got the pits muffler for the TOC engine last Friday and I worked on getting it ready. I had a little trouble getting it balanced. Working with the CG at 6.5" back I had to move my main battery under the pilot and I mounted my rudder servo in the tail. After that she balanced out fine.
So the day was Saturday, I figured it was going to be nice out and I would have a good day for a first flight. So we headed out to the field and when we got there it was a bit windy. So I figured I would at least be able to get it started and running and make sure everything is good to go. Well the gods must have liked me that day, the wind blew for about an hour as I was able to get the engine running and made sure nothing was going ot shake off. Then it happened, the wind dyed to just about nothing, so I decided to get one flight in.
I cranked it up and taxied it a bit to get the feel of the controls and then I gave it about 1/4 throttle and that was all it needed to get it off the ground.
Flight characteristics were very predictable, it seamed to have no bad tendances, she went were you pointed it. I flew it around for bit, getting it all trimmed out, she was just a dream to fly. As for the landing, I brought her down and pulled the throttle back and she just glided in with out any issues.

Zort86

Here is a couple more pics.

soarrich

My Feedback: (98)

In that last picture even the plane looks like it's got a smile.

rctom

Yeah it does, doesn't it.

So the TOC-53 is a pretty good match?

Why did you decide to use the Pitts muffler instead of the standard muffler that comes with the engine?

TF

dredknot

Very nice Zort86 ,one quetion,is it not a no no to hard mount the ignition

rctom

It IS a nono, get some foam around that ignition box.

TF

Zort86

Well I was originally going to use the standard muffler but when I got ready to mount it and cut the cowl out I found that it would stick out to the left pretty far and I figured that the pitts muffler would look better and fit a little cleaner.

I know about the ignition, I have already fixed that and wrapped it up and zip tied it to the side.
Yes the TOC is a very good combo, I only flew it around at maybe half throttol and have not really pushed it very far yet, but so far I can tell it will have plenty of power for anything I want to do with it.
we are going out to the field tomorrow so I should be able to get a lot more stick time.
It is going to be 71 degrees and 4mph wind so it should be a good day

chuck l

My Feedback: (17)

Nice looking plane. You should keep an eye on the ignition wires where they will be rubbing the inside of the cowl.

Rush7

My Feedback: (74)

Zort86 can you show a picture of the bottom wing bolted to the fuse.

Thanks

Zort86

I had to do a little repairing to the bottom wing, due to a unfourthunite engine flame out causing me to land a bit short of the field. Good thin is I have it pretty much repaired.
I will get some pics of the bottom as soon as I get it finished, should be the end of the week.

Rush7

My Feedback: (74)

Zort86 I would really appreciate it. I have this plane about 1/4 of the way done. I was hoping to have it up and flying before the cold weather got here but I guess I am just going to have to wait.[]

Zort86

Rush7
Here are some pics of the underside. Let me know what you are concerned about and I can see if I can help.

One thing to look for is the bolts holding the center cabanas mounts. While you have the fuel tank tray is out I would go a head and put thread lock on the bolts. Mine loosened up and it was a pain to do while the tray is in.

Rush7

My Feedback: (74)

Zort86 thanks you very much for the pictures. The pictures answered all my questions. I have already taken your advice and thread locked all the bolts on the fuse side of the cabanas.
My main concerns were the plate that is on the wing that the bolts run through and how you added the blocks to the fuse where the wing bolts go. That part just looked like it would add stress to the wing bolt area since the wing would not sit flush with the fuse.

Thanks again for the pictures. It was a great help!!!!!

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

The two angled blocks that Zort added to the wing mounting plate prevent over tightening the wing bolts and deforming the trailing edge of the wing.

I did the same on the one I had after noting that the when the wing bolts were tightened the trailing edge would deflect up into the open space over the wing mounting plate between the fuselage sides. It's an easy process that only requires a couple of small balsa blocks that have the bolt holes pre-drilled before installing them. All that's left after glueing them in is running a 12" ******* file across them using the fuselage sides as a guide to match the angle and height. Use a couple of playing cards or low tack masking tape to protect the covering on the edges of the fuselage sides when using the file.

Rush7

My Feedback: (74)

Pat thanks for the pointers. I hope to put them to good use as soon as I get my Extra finished.

yufasa

My Feedback: (16)

Great thread guys!
I just ordered mine. X-Mas gift from me to me
Winter time is build time (and fixing time) in NW PA so this is my new project.

Zort86

Yufasa, I think you will really enjoy the plane, I know I do. It goes together pretty easy, just follow the manual and you should not have any problems.
One thing to point out is to make sure to thread lock the center cabane mounting tabs on the inside of the fuse, it will be easier to get to before you have the fuel tank and radio in.
Also One thing I spend a lot of time on was getting the wing incidences right, you have to measure and measure again, and once you thin you have it right measure it one more time. I think that helps make this plane fly so well and if it is off I can see it making it a handful.

What engine do you plan on putting in it?

I have the TOC 3mm 53cc gasser from WH, and I almost have my first gal through it and I can see that once it is broken in it will be a great engine. I should be able to have it broken in by spring, hopfuly.