The Pilot: I decided I would try and paint my own pilot. Big mistake, I am not that talented. After painting the helmet, jacket and belts I decided to have someone else paint the face so I gave it to a girl that works for me who is an amateur artist. Should be finished today.

 

 

I did a pre balance test and figured out where best to place the batteries, smoke system and regulator. I am going to try and install the radio without visible wiring. So I cut out the factory rudder servo try I am not using and place a light weight solid ply and also cut a 36” piece of balsa to run the length of the fuselage to cover the servo extensions. I do recommend doing this unless you have small hand (I don’t) and long skinny arms. I almost scrapped this idea a couple times. In the end it did come out nice but it was an added 4 hours of work.

 

 

 

My father use to say “you need to put a little blood into every plane” well, I have put my blood into this one three time so far.

 

I am still waiting on the correct headers so the engine installation remains on hold.

Moving onto the wings:  I ordered the wrong size headers for this plane. I got 90mm drop headers and they drop too much so until the correct 70mm drop headers arrive I cannot do much more around the engine. The 90mm hit directly into the firewall former.

 

 

 

When I was at the Joe Nall I came across some very cool connectors for multiple servos from Taildragger RC. They eliminate plugging in several servo leads per wing and possible plugging one into the wrong lead from the receiver. They are made either to order or two connections, three or even four.  They cannot be plugged in backwards; I love the clean simplicity of these.  

 

One thing I have started doing is wrapping my connections in foam. Although the connection has a safety connector on it they are a place of weak link so the foam should help it even more under vibration and high G maneuvers.

 

On my last 100cc plane I used only one servo per aileron but these aileron’s are so big (almost 8”) I am using two per control surface.

 

Next will be programming/matching the all the wing servos.

 

 

Thank you for all nice compliments in your emails. It feels good that so many people actually got something out of my building. I think you all will notice the difference with the rudder on push/pull. And yes these are carbon fiber pushrods not the fiberglass ones you get at the local hobby store.

Finishing the tail section: The horizontal stabilizer is pretty straight forward. After enlarging the cut out for the servo to fit the bigger servo case on the BLS157’s I just drop in the servo and attached a 2” SWB arm that is the same used on all of the servos. 

 

The business end of things:  To get the GP123 ready I disconnected the return springs on both the choke and the throttle. I then cut the plastic automatic stopper on the choke. This is put in place to keep the throttle on while chocking but for our purposes it could cause a blockage or strain on the servo with the worst being in flight so off it goes. 

 

After measuring the distance required for standoffs I found center and drilled the firewall for mounting the GP. After scuffing up the wood that will be epoxied together on the firewall I glued it in place using 30 minute epoxy and top and bottom clamps.  Even though the epoxy dries in thirty minutes I leave the clamps on for 24 hours. The epoxy may be dry but it is still bendable and parts can shift so the longer we wait the more confident I am that nothing can move.

 

So far fit and finish has been what I have come to expect from Pilot RC everything is tight and no corners cuts.

Thanks for reading, Spats

Push Pull Mod: I’ve had a couple people ask me how I do my push/pull modification so I am detailing this on today’s post for them.

On my 40% I used two servos, one on each side but on the 35% I use only one high torque servo and it seems to be enough.

Ok so what I do first is locate a solid spot of wood on the fuselage that can hold the servo and not interfere with any other functions on the tail and still have a clean direct functional connection to the rudder via the pushrod. Some times this can be the hardest part.

 

 

After marking out and cutting the hole I then epoxy a reinforcement piece of plywood inside the fuse to give more bite to the servo screws. The rudder on these planes are very big forcing lots of blow back and lots of vibration can weaken the screws in no time so I also use a drop of CA on each screw on final installation of the servo.

 

I use carbon fiber pushrods from Central Hobbies with a 3/16x4/40 insert. After using a small file to sand the inside of the carbon fiber they are glued with JB weld. I also sand the metal threaded insert and clean it with denatured alcohol before gluing it in. 

 The end result is virtually no slop in the rudder and a much stronger connection with a crisper response on the feel of the rudder.  Where I mostly notice the difference is on flying a knife edge it is smoother/easier as I can feel the planes reaction to inputs much better.

 

Tomorrow will be finishing the tail section.

Thanks for reading.

Why stop now, might as well build another one.

Pilot RC Yak 54 Custom Race Green scheme

GP 123 on Prow Flow cans

Skywriter Smoke system

White Rose Ground package

Futaba guidance with BLS157HV servos No regulators since I am using all HV

Fromeco batteries and switches

I am starting this one as I usually do most of my planes after un-packaging, with the wheels and gear. I toss the factory tail wheel and mains for Whiterose titanium axels and carbon fiber tail wheel. The kit comes with a carbon fiber main gear so no need to replace it. Keeping with my trademark I will be using spats for wheel pants to show off the bling.

 

Today’s tip: When drilling fiberglass it helps to keep it from chipping or splitting if you put masking tape down first and if possible both sides on the entrance and exit.

 

 

I will once again be customizing the rudder servo configuration to a push/pull instead of cables. (I hate cables, pull/pull) This plane is not set up for it so it will be a complete modification to the rudder for the horn and fuselage to mount the servos.

Thanks for reading,

Spats

Finished: Well after another late, late night I got her done and to the field the next morning.  I must have nailed the CG because it needed no elevator trim just two clicks right aileron and one click right rudder probably due to the big engine.  The smoke is awesome and was not as hard to program as I thought it would be thanks to the capabilities of the Futaba.

It fly’s very stable and very forgiving.  Landing speed is almost a standstill with full flaps.  Here is a link to the test flight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFrUMUD1Eg0&feature=player_embedded

Again thanks for reading.

Spats

Got in a late night last night:  The smoke system is installed and ready to be program.  The Sullivan smoke pump has two leads coming out, one for a battery and one to plug directly into the radio which can be programmed at variable flow levels at different throttle positions.  This might be a bit of a learning curve as I have never done a smoke system before.

 

 

The header arrived. I needed one with a 2” drop and wrap around to center. Several hours went into customizing the mounting system for the header and can. I could not install the factory screw on the rear bolt on the header.  The curve in the pipe was so tight unless the screw could bend forget it. I had to cut the head off the screw, clean the threads up and use a nut to secure it.  Lots of Loctite and nord-lok washers should hopefully keep things snug on this single shaker. 

 

I have a small problem with how I am going to adjust the needles as you can see below. If I install the cover over the engine box I cannot get to them so I may have to drill a hole in the side for access.

 

Hopefully I can get another successful night in tonight and wrap it up. I am hoping for a test flight this Saturday.  I still have some big steps that need to be completed before that can happen.

Moving along with the firewall:
I got the firewall installed. It needed to be moved back 14mm to fit the 88evo engine. The plane is set up for a 50cc-85cc but to put in the larger engine some small mods need to be executed.  For this I use slow cure epoxy and large clamps.

This is such a slow critical process to get the correct down and right thrust for the engine.

 

 

Of course the first mounting hole I drilled was incorrect so I had to plug it with a dowel and re-measure to drill a new hole.  At least it was only one (the first) hole screwed up on.   Eventually I was able to get it spot on as you can see buy the spinner too cowl alignment.

 

I am waiting on some parts that are ordered.  I couldn’t order the header for the muffler until I mounted the engine.  I couldn’t get an accurate measurement for the drop to enter the exhaust tunnel directly in the center until the engine was in place.

 

Next up was the engine and radio switches. Because the Decathlon has large scale doors on both sides I had what I hope to be is a great idea. I made a cross mount to put both switches on and the fuel and smoke dots in leaving the outside to look as close to clean scale as possible. The only drawback I can see is it’s getting a little crowded inside there with the extra smoke tank and pump under the switches.

 

 

Even the throttle servo is pushed to the side. It is also moved back to help compensate for the added engine weight.



 

This week I will be reading up on smoke systems and hopefully learning everything I need to do a clean and proper working installation. With all the added engine weight and custom smoke I need to start evaluating where the batteries will going in order to keep the CG as center as possible. I really do not want to add any weight.