DC 3 / C-47
03-22-2008, 12:32 PM
#26
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Wallkill,
NY
Posts: 596
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: DC 3 / C-47
Last weekend I took the DC 3 out for some taxi testing. I wanted to get a feel for how it would handle on the ground without a steerable tailwheel (poorly, although I DID NOT have a problem getting straight tako off rolls. I did not plan to fly her and I did not fly her, but I did hop her a few times. The batteries went south in about 10 minutes or less just running her on the ground. The pack is about 16 ounces. It is needed for the cg. It is two 8 cell nicds of 1100 ma wired in parellel. I am going to experiment with a few other options. I have two 5 cell nimh of 2200ma and a 2200ma 3 cell lipo. If I combine all 3 of those packs, the weight approaches 16 ounces. I am going to wire the nimh in series to make 12 volts, tape the lipo on, and use the resulting conglamoration. I can then fly the nimhs down, pull the wing, switch the battery pack and esc, and fly the lipo. Then i still have the 9.6 volt nicd pack.
All in all, I was satisfied with the testing. I never much liked the stock props tho, and they are now changed out with a pair of 9 inchers I bought from BP Hobby in Jersey. Both POLKS props tips shattered after the plane rolled into a pothole and they touched the pavement. Very brittle.
Here's a complaint about the decals. The TWA letters were on a yellow background. I figured that as soon as I peeled them they would be on a clear background so they would look fine on the silver plane, but no. The paper was yellow, AND the decals were yellow between the letters! With the giant TWA for the wings, and the slightly smaller letters for the tail end of the fuse, I cut the individual letters out. Tha made them usable. But I am NOT going thru all that trouble for the Small letters and words that were supposed to fit above the windows.
All in all, I was satisfied with the testing. I never much liked the stock props tho, and they are now changed out with a pair of 9 inchers I bought from BP Hobby in Jersey. Both POLKS props tips shattered after the plane rolled into a pothole and they touched the pavement. Very brittle.
Here's a complaint about the decals. The TWA letters were on a yellow background. I figured that as soon as I peeled them they would be on a clear background so they would look fine on the silver plane, but no. The paper was yellow, AND the decals were yellow between the letters! With the giant TWA for the wings, and the slightly smaller letters for the tail end of the fuse, I cut the individual letters out. Tha made them usable. But I am NOT going thru all that trouble for the Small letters and words that were supposed to fit above the windows.
03-23-2008, 11:46 AM
#27
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Wallkill,
NY
Posts: 596
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: DC 3 / C-47
Maiden report
Happy Easter to all. I flew mt DC 3 today. She got off the ground but was very twitchy with a tendency to drop a wing. I kept her in the air and had to apply full nose down trim, but she still wanted to climb. I flew her around for a while trying to get the feel of her. She was twitchy all the way thru. Finally I wanted to bring her in. She was downwind and low when a wing dropped. I managed to pancake her instead of cartwheel her and looks like the damage is one broken landing gear. Has anyone here gotten replacement parts? I sent an email to Polks. Just wondering. Rick
Happy Easter to all. I flew mt DC 3 today. She got off the ground but was very twitchy with a tendency to drop a wing. I kept her in the air and had to apply full nose down trim, but she still wanted to climb. I flew her around for a while trying to get the feel of her. She was twitchy all the way thru. Finally I wanted to bring her in. She was downwind and low when a wing dropped. I managed to pancake her instead of cartwheel her and looks like the damage is one broken landing gear. Has anyone here gotten replacement parts? I sent an email to Polks. Just wondering. Rick
03-26-2008, 01:31 PM
#28
My Feedback: (42)
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Tampa,
FL
Posts: 139
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: DC 3 / C-47
Glad you actually flew her. I have a feeling the twitchy-ness was due to overweight/underpowered...sounds like she was on the verge of a stall all the way through.
Yes, Polks has replacement parts. I believe one of the 'head' guys there is John (been a while, so my memory is not exact). In any case he was VERY helpful in getting any replacement parts I needed -which was a full wing kit after flying mine into the trees. I also believe they actually stock replacement landing gear for the DC-3 (online on their website) as I recall buying a few sets after breaking the original set when I was first building the bird.
My only recommendation - up the power and loose as much weight as you can. Reading 10 round cells and a 3S lipo pack made me shudder...that's a lot of lead in there!
Steve
Yes, Polks has replacement parts. I believe one of the 'head' guys there is John (been a while, so my memory is not exact). In any case he was VERY helpful in getting any replacement parts I needed -which was a full wing kit after flying mine into the trees. I also believe they actually stock replacement landing gear for the DC-3 (online on their website) as I recall buying a few sets after breaking the original set when I was first building the bird.
My only recommendation - up the power and loose as much weight as you can. Reading 10 round cells and a 3S lipo pack made me shudder...that's a lot of lead in there!
Steve
03-26-2008, 06:26 PM
#29
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Wallkill,
NY
Posts: 596
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: DC 3 / C-47
She is definitely over the advertised weight, but I can't figure out any way to change that. I HAD to put 16 ounces in the nose to get the cg at plans specs. Still flying it I used full nose down trim and needed to hold the nose down anyway. I am thinking about putting some positive incidence into the horizontal stabilizer. Steve, if you have any suggestions to lighten up the tail, I'd love to hear them.
She had plenty of power with the 9.6 volt packs, and got off the ground in good shape. I flew several circuits with her before I decided to bring her down. I look forward to flying her again, and hope I get the hang of it soon. Also, I don't know why my combo battery pack didn't provide the juice. They were all charged up...
I did contact Polks and got the info on the gear. They are ordered and hopefully will be here this week. And you're right about "John." John Gill is one of the main guys, and I purchased my DC 3 from him in person at the WRAM show. Rick
She had plenty of power with the 9.6 volt packs, and got off the ground in good shape. I flew several circuits with her before I decided to bring her down. I look forward to flying her again, and hope I get the hang of it soon. Also, I don't know why my combo battery pack didn't provide the juice. They were all charged up...
I did contact Polks and got the info on the gear. They are ordered and hopefully will be here this week. And you're right about "John." John Gill is one of the main guys, and I purchased my DC 3 from him in person at the WRAM show. Rick
