P-40LUVR

I just found out that my Skyraider is on BACKORDER from Quantum!
They said they expect them in this month..

AMB

Try graves RC orlando Fl they had them last week and they ship

tIANci

Want one shipped to you from Malaysia? We have loads here ... hehehe ...

P-40LUVR

I bought a flight pack also at the same time got the flight pack yesterday and both plane and flight pack was on one order sooo... i think i will just wait till it gets here insted of having to call back and cancel.
I just wish that web sites would say "backordered" so you could look elsewhere!

jgraham10

My Feedback: (3)

I'm suprised that you did not check with "The Hanger" in Wichita for the airplane. George usually gets a few in at a time. With the last set of races that went on and the amount of carnage he had to order five more for replacements. He also has a deal that if you fly two races you get back 15 dollars of the price of the plane.
John

MOJO65-9or10

You are going to love your Mach-2. I have 28 flights on mine w/.46AX and its a GREAT plane/engine combo. I have even been able to get the thing to spin around once or twice while hanging on the prop. (BARELY) It will NEVER pullout though.

FurloughedAgain

I just got a call over the weekend -- my Skyraider Mach II has been shipped.

Guess I better start looking for a flight-pack and an engine for it. I have an OS40 that I was thinking about using from my Avistar but the Avistar has been a great airplane (and hasn't been significantly damaged during training) so maybe I should consider buying a new flight pack in addition to a new engine. (I like the evolution .46)

If I get a new flight pack, do I also need a new transmitter? or can I use the same one I use for the Avistar?

Anybody have any building tips for the Skyraider Mach II ARF for a newbie?

Thanks in advance!

tIANci

If you can't build this plane you should QuIT! Its that easy ... as for the tail fins, once you screwed it on, use thin CA to finish the job off. The plane is light and the OS40 will fly it. Have fun ok!!!

Backwing

My Feedback: (3)

No you don't need a new transmitter with the new flight pack AS LONG AS you purchase the matching receiver crystal.
If your transmitter is on channel 32, then buy a channel 32 receiver crystal.

FurloughedAgain

Received the model today. Looks great! I'll take pictures during the build. I'm going to pick up an evolution .46 and most likely a futaba flight pack. Any suggestions on how to make the assembly easier and/or the type of prop you would use, please let me know.

OH! In the instructions I noticed that all of the flight control hinges call for epoxy, but they also have a note that says "pre-glued".

So, do I need to drop some epoxy down there or are they saying that its already been done?

Thanks in advance!

tIANci

Dude ... just use some thin CA on the tail fins. My hinges came pre-glued. I don't remember if they were CA hinges. For props try 11x6 (for torque), 10.5 x 7 (nice in between prop) or 10 x 7 (for some speed).

FurloughedAgain

Here's where i'm at. This is my first "true" ARF as i'm finding out that my Avistar was more of an RTF than an ARF and this is somewhat more complicated. I'm not the most handy guy around!

Well I settled on the Evolution .46 for the airplane and a HITEC Laser 4 radio with 4 heavy-duty ball-bearing servos.

I started the build yesterday. Lots of "beginner" mistakes, but nothing that (I hope) should impact the flying qualities of the airplane.

#1. I decided to put the decals on the airplane first. I assumed that it would be easier to put them on first then later when the airplane was complete. The company doesn't give any guidance on where they should go, so I just put them where I thought they would look good.

Unfortunately as the build is moving forward i'm finding out that by putting them where I would like them i'm covering areas where the covering needs to be cut later, and/or placing decals in spots where they will be covered by the fuselage later etc. oops!!

#2. The wing-joiner needed to be sanded a little in order to slide into the retangular hole in each wing-half for it. After sanding it I mixed some 30 minute epoxy, coated the joiner and the wing and pushed them together. I used two clamps to hold them together. There is still a very tiny seam visible this morning, but they appear to be holding together quite well. I may drip some medium CA into the seam just to make sure everything's ok.

#3. While the wing was drying I trimmed back the covering over the slot for the horizontal stabilizer. I then slid it into place.

#4. I then trimmed the covering around the slots for the tail. I had to sand the small piece of bare wood that slides into a slot on the aftmost portion of the empenage. After sanding I coated both slots and the fairing with epoxy and slid it into place. I let the epoxy dry for an hour and then cut the covering on the bottom of the empenage in order to install the screws that will hold the rudder and horizontal stab in place. I found out the hard way that it may have been smarter to do that BEFORE I epoxied the rudder. Took quite some doing to get them snug and in place with the thread lock etc. I also cut the holes to get to those screws a little too big. For now i've covered them with clear tape. Down the road I may consider getting a yellow patch to match the covering.

#5. I trimmed back the covering over the landing-gear channels. The pre-drilled holes in place for the landing gear were just a bit too small. I tried to put both gear legs in place but I just couldnt force them flush with the fuselage so there was no way (in my opinion) that the nylon straps would fit over them. I tried to use a drill bit by hand to dig out the holes a bit, but there was simply too much balso in there to do it by hand. I elected to use my cordless drill....sloooowly and carefully to widen the holes. One of them did crack slightly (sigh) and there is a small bulge in the covering where it did. I dripped some CA in there and pushed it back into place before installing the gear and screwing down the nylon straps.

#6. The main wheels are held on by a metal collar in which there is a teeeeny tiny little black threaded "screw". Took me a while to figure out how i'm going to tighten that screw until finally my neighbor said, "hey that looks like a hex". Sure enough it takes a METRIC hex wrench to tighten them. I'll have to visit the local K-mart to pick up some metric hex's today to finish the job.

Thats it for day #1. Next... tailwheel, servos, etc...

FurloughedAgain

Day #2.

#1 Started today by installing the tailwheel. Its kind of an unimpressive installation. I held the bracket to the rudder and then ran a drill bit through the hole. I then screwed the bracket in. Somehow there was still a gap between the bracket and the bottom of the rudder after all of that but it didnt seem to impact the function of the tailwheel so I filled it with a CA/baking-soda mix and it looks ok.

#2 I installed the aileron servo -- that was the easy part. Was a bit tougher installing the servo arms. They are not pre-bent so I used two pairs of pliers to bend the 90 degree angle where they were to attach to the servo. 2 hours later in utter frustration I made a trip to the hobby shop, waited until the proprietor stopped laghing, bought more of the metal wire, and a tower-hobbies z-bender and 10 minutes later they were installed and tested perfectly. Being a beginner sucks.

#3 Then I decided to install the engine mounts. No major problem there. Had to widen the hole for the needle valve since the valve on the evolution .46 was a bit larger than the hole they had pre-drilled.

#4 assembled the fuel tank ($&%^#$#% piece of @$#%$ plug is a pain in my @$$ to try to get into the tank!!!) Once that was done I fit it into the cradle. It moved around quite a bit so I used styrofoam on all 4 sides to hold it in place. Then I epoxied the retaining bar behind the tank.

During a break I was reading ahead in the instructions when I noticed that the throttle arm and tube would need to go right where I had just put all of that foam. DOH!!!!

#4.5 Quickly REMOVED the retaining bar before the expoxy set. Removed fuel tank and all of the foam, installed throttle arm, REinstalled fuel tank, and REepoxied the retaining bar. (grumble grumble...)

Anyhow that was it for the day. I did try to see if the wing would fit -- for some reason it doesnt. I slide the leading edge into the slot and the trailing edge overlaps the rear of the wing tray for some reason. Too tired to diagnose tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

jgraham10

My Feedback: (3)

Here are a couple of pics from the races today.

P-40LUVR

Got my Skyraider today!
It looks like a nice kit for the money,I will start the build next week...im in the middle of building a NEW H9 Cap 232!
John, those pics from Afton look nice!
By the way,any suggestions on this model as far as tricks,fixs..or other?(Mach 2)

jcflysrc

My Feedback: (50)

FurloughedAgain, the first thing from now on...read the instruction manual first! That's why they are supplied with the kit. Most ARF's are on the simple side to assemble. They are after all aimed at the non builder. Don't think I'm picking on you, I'm not.

It does get easier. After you build a few. Don't "QuIT". You will like the way your Mach II flies, just get some help if you haven't flown before. After the frustration of putting it together, you sure don't want to lose it after 15 seconds in the air. [&o]

jgraham10

My Feedback: (3)

P40,
As far as tricks and stuff you might check with Dean or Kenny and the other guys who are flying them out at afton and see what they have done. This would especially be true
if you were to join in on the races.
Thanks for the comment on the pictures I just wish I could upload the quicktime file of on of the races(at least 30 seconds).
John

ben flyn

Got my sky raider at our clubing meeting (we have it at our LHS, he always runs a special for the meeting). So 8 of us, got ours for $50 bucks each! So I suppose we will use them for combat or something like that.

FurloughedAgain

Day 3 - Project Complete

#1. Sprayed the elevator and rudder control rods with spray-silicon and slide them through the tubes, then used a razor to cut through the covering at the exit point.

#2. I screwed the engine mounts into the pre-drilled hole and used my dremel to widen the hole for the needle valve. I then adjusted the mounts to fit the width of the Evolution .46 I put some masking tape onto the engine mounts and used the drill bit to mark the masking tape and determine where to drill. I then removed the engine and drilled the holes. I then removed the masking tape. I took two large piece of fuel hose and attached them to the vent line and the fuel line on the fuel tank and draped them across the sides of the fuselage to get them out of the way. I then slid the engine over the throttle z-bend and screwed it into place with liberal use of lock-nut. Then I cut the fuel lines and attached them as well. Voila! Engine installed.

#3. Put the throttle servo in the tray, screwed it down. Turned on the transmitter and receiver and ran the throttle to idle and the trim to MIN. Then attached the servo-arm and adjusted it so that the carb would be wide open with the throttle at max, and completely closed with the throttle at min and the trim at min.

#4. One at a time I installed the rudder and elevator servos. Each time I neutralized the controls, enegerized the servo, and then attached the arm. I used a Hobby-zone Z-bend pliers to attach the rod to the servo. Worked great and the measurements were dead-on!

#4. With all 3 flight control servos and the throttle servo installed I drilled a small hole in the upper part of the receiver tray (ahead of the cockpit if the model is turned right-side-up) and slid the receiver antenna through there. Then I mounted the receiver, battery, etc in the foam, wrapped it in a rubber band and wedged it into the tray. I packed foam all around it to keep it from moving.

#5. I used double-sided tape and the screws and rubber grommets to install the cockpit. I slid the antenna beneath it so it looks as if the antenna comes out from behind the cockpit and then attaches to the tail.

#6. I screwed the wing on and she was done! Total time to completion. 3 days, approximately 4 hours per day = 12 hrs.

#7. Even though the evo.46 doesnt require a break-in I ran a tank of 10% fuel through it to make sure that there were no fuel leaks. Started on the first crank. I'm now charging both batteries and it should be ready for the maiden flight as soon as I can work up the courage!

Wish me luck!

FurloughedAgain

Aeronaut,

This is my first "real" ARF. My trainer was an RTF Avistar. Needed very little in the way of assembly. I flew it for two summers and soloed with it early this year.

I'm not a pro by any means so I intend to have one of the club "elders" fly it and trim it for me. (as much as it pains me to have someone else maiden the airplane)

Hopefully after that i'll have a long relationship with my new plane. I really enjoyed assembling it so, for me, its already been $79 well spent!

-Mike

FurloughedAgain

Maiden flight last night.

The more experienced pilot who I had fly it first in order to trim it out pranged it in on the first landing. Airplane cartwheeled. No MAJOR damage, but a hairline crack in the right horizontal stabilizer.

Had to cut some of the covering back, treat the crack with CA, put down a small piece of fiberglass, then CA and cover back over it again.

I flew it twice after that. It's an extremely FAST airplane and is much smaller and harder to see than the Avistar i'm accustomed to. It needed only a slight bit of trim and basically goes where you point it. Very stable. There was a bit of a crosswind so landing were tricky, but the grass field is very forgiving. I agree with those who called it a good second plane.

I'm extremely pleased with the evolution .46 which again started on the first turn and provides a marked increase in power over the OS.40 i'm accustomed to.

Overall I love the airplane and I hope I can keep it in one piece for quite some time.

(Snif -- but its got a PATCH on it ALREADY!! -- cry)

FurloughedAgain

Well I've had 3 full flight-days with my Skyraider.

On the last flight-day I experienced two engine-failure/dead-sticks with the Evolution .46

I figured after the second one that there must be some reason why it would fail twice. Upon closer examination I saw air bubbles in the fuel line between the tank and the needle valve. I shook the airplane and, sure enough, the klunk was not moving. I suspect it got stuck somehow.

I drilled holes in the wood bar that secured the fuel-tank in place to make it easier to remove. Darned epoxy! Once I got it out I removed the fuel tank, replaced all of the fuel lines, and shaved a few milimeters off of the fuel line attached to the klunk to prevent it from getting stuck again (I hope!).

As long as I had the tank out I decided this was as good a time as any to replace the wire landing-gear with a more substantial aluminum gear with a wider wheel base.

I found one that was roughly the same size as the wire gear at my local hobby shop. I used thick-CA to secure some hard-wood to the lower part of the fuel tank-bay. After it cured I drilled the holes. The new gear had three holes pre-drilled in the shape of a triangle. Even though it is technically "backwards" I installed the gear with the two-holes forward. I assume that with two screws forward (where most of the impact stress occurs on landing) I'm less likely to rip the sucker off the airplane!

I mounted the gear with three blind screws and decided on rubber tires (in lue of the sponge-material) even though it added a little weight.

After it was complete the airplane is a breeze to taxi and remains upright in even the most severe of high-speed turns. I have not flown it yet (tomorrow?) but I noticed that the CG is a little bit further forward than it was before... maybe a half inch further forward (if that). I dont believe that i'll make any changes to bring the CG back -- I figure a forward CG is better than an aft CG.

All in all the airplane has been a wonderful second plane so far. Easy to fly, very forgiving, lands nice. I haven't been that brave with the aerobatics so far but the Evo .46 pulls it around with authority so I believe it would do very well.

I'm pondering buying another just because if (when?) I crash this one, I know that I wont be able to go back to my Avistar and be satisfied.

MOJO65-9or10

Hey guys the mach-2 is a great 2nd plane. It's ground handling is good and it does go where you point it in the air. AFTER getting used to it feel free to turn up the throws on the control surfaces and it will move around just fine. I actually lost track of mine in a "high rates" extended roll and damn near put it in the ground. Anyway it is a TON of fun and anyone new or old will enjoy flying it.

I am going to use it for our clubs fun fly comp this fall.

2mistakeshigh

My Feedback: (1)

I was just wondering how much weight you had to add to the tail in order to get the Mach II to balance. I have installed a Evolution 46 and the Receiver and Battery forward of the servo tray and balance it on a Great Plains CG Machine. The plane balanced slightly nose down with plane inverted using 6 oz of lead weights. However, when I hold the plane approximately at the same CG point using my fingers, it seems to be tail heavy.

I have not flown the plane yet due to conflicting honney do's and fear that it may not be balanced correctly. If you can help let me know what you had to do to get it balanced for good flight I would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

John

outlaw

My Feedback: (4)

hi just one question with the sky raider.i am training with a superstar with a mds 38 engine on it. i orignally had a os40 on it but i burned it up.crazy huh.but would a mds 38 engine pull good on a sky raider mach ll.my trainer has a arf for 85 dollars.i have had my mds 38 clocked in at 16000 rpm's.