stangman67

My Feedback: (1)

All together and ready to go, she's begging to be flown!

bladebender

My Feedback: (5)

x

rctom

Relax, it's just fine as it is. This is a 10 lb. plane with 90 oz. servos, the hardware he's using is fine.

TF

stangman67

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks, but I do think they are more than adequate. They are extremely stiff with the carbon rods over the steel rods and the z bends are plenty strong. I don't think they will fail anytime soon.

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Sharp looking airplane, Zach!

stangman67

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Took her to the field today to get the engine broken in, ran 4 tanks through the DLE 30. Started up the first time after 10 flips with the choke on and a few with it off. Subsequent starts were much easier as well. It idles very nicely with the Jtec Pitts muffler and sounds pretty good too. It spits out quite a bit of black stuff, I am guessing it is carbon. Is this normal?? I am running Lucas 2 stroke oil at 30:1 mix. Planning the maiden for Saturday!

Heres a quick vid of the the first run. Wow I just realized how choppy I was on the throttle, got a little excited I guess.

[link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUsZtoBAmW8]DLE 30 first run[/link]

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

<div>All the DLEs I own/have owned have spit out their fair share of black "soot".  I worried I might be running the first one hot, but a temp gun allayed those fears.  I've since just chalked it up to one of their little quirks...got one pushing past 10 gallons now, still strong as an ox, so...*shrug*</div><div>
</div><div>Good to hear that you got her running!  Can't wait for the maiden report Saturday.  Good luck!</div><div>
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stangman67

My Feedback: (1)

Off to the field! Wish me luck

stangman67

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Well it could have goes worse I guess : / Day wasn't the best as the wind was pretty wicked at times. I waited until it calmed down a bit and put her up. The first two flights were uneventful, except landing it in a stiff crosswind wasn't too fun. Third flight was a different story. Fle here around a few times at altitude in case the engine died on me, brought her a little lower and on the first turn the engine died. I have done plenty of dead sticks before so I wasn't too worried. The wind was quite strong at this point, I had to turn downwind unfortunately because the engine died on that side. It was coming in WAY too hot to think about putting in down on the runway, so I had to make a quick decision, either float her down past the runway and land it in the bushes or turn back upwind and pray. I decided to do a rudder turn upwind so it would come down as flat as possible. After she came down, I was quite worried the airframe would be toast. Walked up to it and found severely mangled landing gear and wheel pants but since I managed to bring it down flat and the airframe is so solid there was no other damage to be found. The LG plate is in tact, one of the metal l brackets is minorly bent but that will not be a problem. Only other damage was some stretched rudder pull pull cables. Kudos to Tom for building such a strong airframe, she will be back up and ready to go with a new set of gear and pants. Never again will I fly it on a day with wind gusts this strong, and I need to figure out why the engine died before I try again.

PWRDrill

My Feedback: (1)

Sorry to hear about that.

The wind has been pretty wicked around here lately as well. Seems we've both had recent trouble. I'm glad it's just your LG.

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Ugh, Zach...sorry to hear about the misfortune!  Sounds like you proved what we WH owners know, though...you ain't gonna rip the gear out of one of Tom's planes!  *heh*<div>
</div><div>Does seem from your description that it won't take much time OR cash to get her back in the air.  That's good news!</div><div>
</div><div>Be curious to know what happened to that motor.  let us know if you learn anything.</div>

stangman67

My Feedback: (1)

I think I may know why the engine died. After bringing the plane back to to the table at the field, I opened the hatch and saw that the throttle linkage had come off the servo arm. I figured that the impact had knocked it off but I think the vibration of the engine might have wiggled the linkage loose causing the butterfly to close completely and kill the engine.

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Certainly possible, zach.<div>
</div><div>Can you give more details, or some pictures (or both) showing how the control rod was hooked to the throttle arm, etc?</div>

stangman67

My Feedback: (1)

No pics at the moment but I was using these [link=http://www.shopatron.com/products/productdetail/E-Z+Connector+for+Rod+or+Cable+(QTY/PKG:+2+)/part_number=121/101.0.1.1.5161.5165.0.0.0?]dubro[/link] . They came in Tom's hardware package so I used them. The black semi sphere is press holding the gold connector to the servo arm. I used some ca on the bottom as well as extra insurance. It seemed pretty sturdy but who knows with the linkage connected directly to the engine. The linkage is connected to the throttle arm with a nylon clevis with fuel tubing over the end to keep the clevis from coming off. I know for a fact that this is secure enough, it was not the issue

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Ok...where'd it come loose?  Did the Dubro rod keeper come out of the servo arm?  or the rod out of the keeper?  Or the clevis open up on the throttle arm?  Or....???

stangman67

My Feedback: (1)

The black retainer came off of the rod keeper so the whole thing separated from the servo arm. I may just go ahead and do a zbend instead for extra insurance for the next time around.

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Ok, I can believe that happening due to vibration, yeah.  In fact, I'd say it's MORE likely it happened in flight than during the impact.  nothing to back that up, of course, just a gut feeling.  <div>
</div><div>I think the Z-Bend, or something similar, is probably a good idea as well.  One thing gassers have taught me...I'm a BIG fan of things that CAN'T come loose due to a single failure of a connector.</div><div>
</div><div>Worth noting....I know this was covered earlier as well...nothing inherently wrong with z-bends imo, but on gassers I WOULD just keep an eye on them.  By definition, there's a little play in there, and the vibration can "wallow out" holes over time.  Again...not saying not to use them by any means (especially with Tom's blessing)...just one of those "hey, keep an eye on it" items.</div><div>
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Wingman26

If you are using a z-bend on a metal throttle arm it can generate electrical noise as well, metal to metal plus vibration can be problematic.

stangman67

My Feedback: (1)

Not a z bend on the throttle arm, there is a nylon clevis. Just a Z bend on the plastic servo arm

weezle

TOM

do you think the brison 2.4 would be a good fit for this air frame?

thanks

josh

rctom

It will fit I think but is way too much power, the plane only weighs 10 lbs. with a dle-30. If you have the 2.4 I'd say OK use it but be careful using the power. Weight should be OK though.

TF

stangman67

My Feedback: (1)

http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemId=634568 Unfortunately I have had some medical issues over the last 2 weeks and the bills are haunting me. i am trying to sell everything that I possibly can so I don't go into serious debt. I wish I didn't have to. The little flying time I had was great and the build was a blast.