BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

What motor are you putting in that costs 1500?

Electro Dynamics has great lighting systems

Lifer

My Feedback: (1)

It would seem to me that adding an engine 50% bigger than called for, the extra weight for firewall reinforcement, and the added tailweight to balance it would be self-defeating. The 60cc Saito would be pushing it weight wise as well. Just about every flight report states the same thing; flying at half throttle most of the time. In any event, enjoy the project as it is a good looking, great flying plane!

CK1

My Feedback: (60)

thevirginian , I have no problems with you posting anything related to the Waco on this thread. Please post any pics that you wish .
I am very curious of the choice of engine you have in mind . I have a PTE 72T in mine and it has insane power for this plane . I do believe that anything over the 70cc range is way overkill !! I fly at 1/4 to 1/2 throttle with a 24x8 prop .

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

I have a 61 on mine and its more than enough power.

thevirginian

Thanks CK1 for allowing me to use your thread for my build. The motor I am planning to use is the Saito 90R3. It is a four stroke gasser and fits nicely under the hood. I know a good 60cc single, or 70 twin would do, but I like a radial up front. I am sure you guys agree with me on that. I am planning on 3D-printing the Saito cylinder three times and make it look like a full blown radial. But that's down the road for right now.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

Hehe ya, that will be a cool motor for that plane for sure. I fired my Saito radial (H-9 Corsair) at a war bird fly-in at a field I was visiting last week and it was like a bunch of Meercats snapping their heads around to see what was taxiing out.

thevirginian

I started this project by following the instructions in the very detailed manual. Gluing the hinge points of the ailerons into the wings. Next was the installation of the aileron servos. I went with the powerful Hitec HS-5585MH, since each of them have to control two large aileron surfaces. BTW, I like the way Phoenix arranged the servo push rods. The servos are completely hidden. I changed the fabric hinges of the elevators for hinge points, as well. I simply don't like these kind of hinges on a plane of this size. The rudder has hinge points installed by the factory. I don't understand, why they couldn't do them for the elevators also. But no big deal here.

Aileron servo



Hinge points for the elevators

thevirginian

Next step: The landing gear. When cutting the ABS fairing parts care must be taken. The plastic will crack easily and the white paint will chip off. I heated the parts with the heat gun clamped between my knees while cutting. Worked pretty well. No cracks, or chipped paint. The manual suggests to glue these plastic parts to the fuselage and wheel covers. That was a NO-NO for me. If you ever had to do something with the landing gear, you are screwed. So I decided to screw them on, using little #2 self tapping screws. After I am finished with plane I will paint them white. It will also enhance to a more realistic scale look.

CK1

My Feedback: (60)

Virginian , Very nice work !!
It does look like they have improve a few things with the servo mounts and control horns on the later versions such as yours .
Nice touch with the screws on the LG fairings. You will be very
please at how well these things fly .

thevirginian

Thanks CK1, I am already pleased with this ARF. You cannot complain about the quality of this ARF. Especially not for the price it costs. The plane is not missing anything that you may have to purchase separately. The hardware is superior for a plane that size and the completeness is second to none. Here is what I put in this plane as control components. Hitec Servos and the latest Spektrum iX12 radio.

thevirginian

Here is one issue that had to be corrected. The small wing brackets for the N-struts are right angle aluminum pieces. Since the N-struts are slanted to the wing surfaces these little brackets had to be bent to match those angles. After bending I sanded and painted them to match the white covering of the wings. Looks a lot better too.

thevirginian

Oops,
one picture didn't attach. Here it is.

thevirginian

Although I had planned to put a Saito FG90 R3 in this airplane, I changed my mind due to quite a few less encouraging posts about this engine. First, the gas/oil mixture is different compared to a regular two stroke, and then there are too many cases where rods failed and caused lengthy interruptions. Lastly, the price. 1500 bucks is no pocket change, by any means. So I opted for an EME 70 twin from MilehighRC in Colorado. Their service was flawless and their prices are second to none. Motor already mounted. Perfect fit under the hood.

thevirginian

As good as done! Mine came out to 25.5 lbs. No additional weight needed in the nose. The EME 70 was a perfect match, weight wise. With fuel, ready to fly she'll be 26 lbs. I am happy with the overall results, so far. Can't wait till spring arrives.

Godhelper

Hi Guys,

My Waco arrived with black plastic moulded banana shaped rudder control horns.
Unfortunately two pieces were missing. Does any of You know where I can get hold of those? The distributor who sold me the plane doesn't have them...

Happy flying!

Pitsbros

My Feedback: (13)

what size hinges did you use? Are they holding up? I’m really not a fan of CA hinges on this thing.

Lifer

My Feedback: (1)

I used Radio South heavy duty c/a hinges on mine. They are up to the task of hinging a plane of this size. No failures in more than a decade of using them.

Pitsbros

My Feedback: (13)

great! How about linkages? Did you switch over to DuBro ball links at all? I am thinking about it. These linkages seem chincey to me.

Lifer

My Feedback: (1)

I used the factory supplied linkages and all the hardware included with the kit. No issues. Mine was one of the first production runs, so if any changes were made since then, I can't advise.

I noticed that some of the later Phoenix releases use really short control horns so they are less visible. To me, this is a recipe for surface flutter. I checked the length of the control horns on mine and the are nearly an inch long.

Pitsbros

My Feedback: (13)

Thanks for the quick response! I’m not so much worried about the horns, but the threaded rods they gave me had weak threads (almost like they were cut with a dull die) and they were actually too short. I bought a pack of ball links and titanium pro-links and all seems better.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

Mine was a review so I had to use the supplied hardware and it's still flying with no issues

Pitsbros

My Feedback: (13)

So, I messed up. I drilled my prop for my DA-70 and drilled the backplate for the spinner not even thinking about the positioning for the spinner screws. What a dope! Can’t get a replacement. What spinners have you guys used on your Wacos?

Godhelper

Ahhrr, that will cost You a new prop
I haven't mounted a spinner on my Waco as I think it's blocking the view to my radial engine.

Happy flying!

CK1

My Feedback: (60)

There's your solution ! Just buy a radial and a new prop and you can just forego the expense of buying a new spinner .

haefeli

hey guys, my Phoenix waco flies terrible. very pitch sensative
incidence as follows
top wing negative 2
bottom 0
stab around positive 2.5
engine -2 thrust line
2 to 3 degrees right thrust
needing left aileron and rudder to fly straight and it is so pitch sensative its not funny and i have around 10 degrees stab movement on landing approach
any ideas?