tuwood

I finished dremeling out the wheel pants & test fit them. Nothing special, just a single 4-40 blind nut on the pant & one hole through the LG. Stan pre-installs sheets of ply on the inside of the pants so all I had to do was dremel, drill & mount.

I wet sanded them with 400 Grit & put a couple coats of primer on them. I'll wet sand the primer with 400 & then 600 prior to painting to take out small imperfections in the fiberglass.
The autobody class I took in high school is finally paying off.

Oh, 4-40 rods work pretty handy for holding the pants up while painting & make handy holders while drying.

Here's a picture of my aluminum spinner. I bought a 3" Great Planes Aluminum Spinner & a Dave Brown 8 x 1.25MM Long Prop Nut adapter. The adapter was a little long for the bolt that came with the spinner so I just cut about 1/4" off of the spinner bolt & called it good.
I also had to dremmel about 1/32" on the spinner to fit my 16x8 APC prop.

I ordered a couple 17x4W APC props today for my 3D experimentation. I believe I read that some are getting 13+ lbs. of thrust with them on the 1.25. That should hover a 9 lb. plane.
I plan on using the 16x8 on several flights before I get crazy. [sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

Timthetoolman1

My Feedback: (6)

Excellent, let me know how the ground clearance is. I thought we would have problems so I got a 15x7 for break in. What RPM are you getting with the 16x8?

Everything looks great, I'm happy for you, regardless of which spinner you use.

As far as starting, I'm a year into this hobby and I no longer am chained down by a starter. I even flick my 2 strokes backwards sometimes because they tend to run backwards.
Just prime it (it depends on the engine, my 1.25 takes 3 turns and Saito .91 takes almost 10-depends on the length of the fuel line). Use a chicken stick and flick it backwards. My .91 will start by twisting the spinner backwards against the compression stroke so if everything's right it should be really easy.
Anyway, I do remember a time I tried to use a screw driver and I got agrivated about starting an engine by hand but it just takes some time...just like it took time to learn to tune an engine.

tuwood

Thanks, I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out. My club's monthly meeting is this Friday & I can't wait to do show and tell. I just lost my father last May & he used to love my woodworking & model projects when I was younger. So, I get a great deal of pride when the older members of my club enjoy my work.

I have a ton of clearance with the 16x8 prop. I'll measure it tonight to see how much.
I only got two tanks through it before my plastic spinner gave out. I still had about 4 turns out on the high speed & got around 8000 RPM with the 16x8.
I'll get a few more tanks through it before I fly and will certainly post my numbers.

I just checked the weather and Saturday's looking great 64 degrees with 8mph winds. If that holds up, I'll be flying on Saturday.

Timthetoolman1

My Feedback: (6)

I was told to remember they like to drop out of the air if you slow down too much so if you loose the engine then head down and keep your airspeed up. I fly warbirds so it's second nature to keep some speed up on landing.
I'm getting excited just because you're flying yours so the pictures or video will help my fix

tuwood

I've heard the same thing about their glide slope. I'm lining up one of the instructors from my club to spot for me in case I need any advice. I currently have a Nexstar & a SSE which both float down like a feather, so this will be a little new for me.

I have a DV camcorder & will certainly have somebody filming & will post the video as soon as I get home. I like to watch rcdon's Ultimate smoke video for my fix. I have it on my hard drive & watch it about every other day. hehe

tuwood

Well, I got home a little late from work but still wanted to run another couple tanks through. I didn't lean it out any more because the sun had just set & I couldn't use my tach. [:@]
I took some video for you guys so you can see it run. I actually read about it being a bad idea to break in the bigger 4 strokes on the plane because it vibrates too much. I kind of like that because it vibrated one of my rudder cables loose tonight & I much prefer finding out about that on the ground versus in the air.
[link=http://www.uwood.net/video/rc/ultimate1.wmv]Ultimate run in[/link]

I also measured the ground clearance with the 16x8 prop. With the tailwheel on the ground (first picture) it's about 5" off the ground & with the tailwheel propped up so that it's level I have 4" of clearance.

RVM

You're doing a great job. Beautiful work.

Timthetoolman1

My Feedback: (6)

The smoke test went poorly so I used the time to run 2 more tanks. It should now be broken in.
The problem is that I connected a nipple to the exhaust where I directly connected the tygon line which melts at those temperatures! Would have been nice to know that!
But, the engine ran smooth and it produced an ample amount of pressure for the oil. The smoke diminished because of excess oil I think and then the hose melted so I need to get a regulating valve.
I'll work it out...Tim.

LSP972

My Feedback: (13)

Correct; and very important to remember. A dead-stick Ultimate, regardless of how much it weighs, has the gliding characteristics of a cinder block; all that parasitic drag, one assumes. Anyway, if the motor quits point the nose DOWN and leave it there until six inches above wherever you intend to land it.

Don't get too slow on approach; keep a bit of power on until the runway is made, then drop to idle and use the elevator to settle it in for a beautiful touch-down.

Good luck with those maiden flights. Built straight, this is one of the most honest, good-flying models ever designed.

SStrick

Just found this thread yesterday and think it is great to see the sharing of ideas. I am finishing up a CG Ultimate kit I started 10 years ago and will begin covering it later this week.

I've been flying RC for 39 years and most of the advice I've read here I would consider "time tested". I owned a LHS for many years and have heard many opinions on how to build. This forum certainly helps bring good suggestions to the table.

My Ultimate will have a Saito 150GK with pump, Slimline in-cowl, RC City cowl, pants and aluminum LG. The wood was mediocre quality and I had the same discrepancies between the manual, the plans and the actual parts. Never did figure out why there is a gap aft of the horizontal stab and under the fin..?

I did beef up the fuse with triangle stock at the fuse sides, top and bottom joints. I also beefed up the firewall and added tri stock in the nose too.

I was going to use smoke, even bought the Slimline muffler and smoke pump but decided I'd rather preserve the weight.

Keep up the great dialogue!

tuwood

Thanks, I really do appreciate all of the positive feedback!

tuwood

That stinks, but I know you'll get it working.

I don't want to lean out my engine any more because it has a nice smoke trail now. hehe
Oh well, I'm sure I'll be putting a smoke system on it soon enough.

tuwood

Thanks for the advice Steve. This was one of the reasons I wanted to have an instructor near by while I'm flying. I'll be dropping it to idle a few times to practice some dead sticks.

tuwood

Thanks for posting your setup and it's good to hear I haven't been getting bad advice.

I thought that gap under the fin was a little goofy too.

SStrick

I have not seen any discussion on motor mounts. As a rule, I usually use some type of vibration mounts on 4C's over 120. Most mounts I feel have too much movement and make setting thrust alignment impossible when the mount can move +/- 5 degrees. Not to mention the fact openings in cowls need to be larger to accomidate the movement.

I am using a Sullivan Dynamount, it is tighter then most allowing me to dial in within 1 degree accurately. Unfortunately Sullivan has always had problems keeping up with production. Mine was on BO for 3 months.

What are others using?

Thanks.

Timthetoolman1

My Feedback: (6)

I used a Hayes. They are symetrical, strong, and it's an exact fit for the 1.25. The only thing I don't like is that the bottom is solid but I'll fix that someway so the intake gets good air. Probably a small air scoop built onto the bottom so it gets cool fresh air from one of the cowl openings.

Timthetoolman1

My Feedback: (6)

That's what I though yesterday, 'hey, that's a lot of smoke when it's rich; maybe I'll just run it rich and say I've got a smoke system!'

tuwood

I looked into other motor mounts but settled on the stock one. It certainly has a lot of vibration now, but hopefully it will be less after I lean the motor out.

LSP972

My Feedback: (13)

My admittedly limited Saito experience (four; 150, 100,91,56, all NIB and broken-in on a test stand) has been that the motors come out of the box excessively rich on the low-speed needle. And that makes the engine pound itself big-time.

As long as you adhere to the don't-exceed-4000-rpm-for-the-first-ten-minutes rule, and use fuel with plenty (20% or more) of oil content, you won't hurt the engine by immediately adjusting the low end mixture. IOW, while you need to be careful with the main (high speed) needle at first, you should be able to lean the low end out considerably, thus smoothing the run up quite a bit; especially idle.

Just a thought...

Timthetoolman1

My Feedback: (6)

Once broken in, how many RPMs towards the rich side do you go once you find max RPM?

tuwood

That's a good point. I haven't actually touched the low end yet it's still at the factory setting. I've got 4 tanks through it now so I'm probably ok to lean it out a little to smooth the idle out.
I did keep it under 4000 for 10 minutes on the first tank at 5 turns out on the high speed needle.

tuwood

I finished the wheel pants & mounted them tonight. Now that it's completely together I threw it back on the CG machine & it was exactly 2 3/4" for the CG. The range on the plans is between 2" & 3" so I'm at the back quarter of that which I think will be fine.

I took some pictures of the inside for you guys now that it's all finished. You'll notice that I have ball joints for all of the servo connectors.
In the second inside picture you can see where I ran the antenna. (the top of the picture is the bottom of the plane)
On the others you can see my cable set up for the throttle & the battery is zip tied to the bottom of the fuel tank (on top wrapped in foam)

I plan on running a few more tanks through tomorrow & tweak the low & high speed to get ready for Saturday's maiden. I'll post my tach numbers for those that are curious.

Come on Saturday!! I can't wait!!! [sm=cool.gif]

Now that it's complete, I want to take this opportunity to tell you all how grateful I am for your assistance!!

I can't wait to show this off Friday night at my club meeting.

Thinn

I'm folowing this thread with great interest, as I'm soon to build my 2nd CG Ultimate...
As for the engine mount, I'm planning on using a similar setup as on my F3A plane. Hopefully, I'll build a Hyde-Mount and mount a nose-ring for correct thrustline. My first Ultimate was powered by an Os1.20, and needed quite a lot of right thrust. The new plane will be powered by a Saito 1.50, so even more right thrust may be needed...
Here is a link to the Norwegian F3A Champion with instructions on building your very own Hyde-mount:
http://home.online.no/~ofremmi/HowTo.../HydeMount.htm
Same person with a low-tech nosering arrangement:
http://home.online.no/~ofremmi/MyHan.../funtana_s.htm (scroll down to "the new engine mount, June 2001" )

I'm looking forward to seeing some Ultimate videos from across the pond -Keep up the excellent work!!

tychoc

The Ultimate looks very nice and the radio installation very clean.[sm=thumbup.gif]

Good luck on the maiden this weekend.

-tychoc

RVM

He says that the mount will last a season. I wonder if it is durable enough to last longer than that. Where I fly, the season is year-round. I'd hate to have to rebuild an engine mount every few months.