How do you turn the 1.5 Buck into a 2.0 Buck? By modifying it from wire to carbon fiber main gear:

Wire to CF main gear conversion notes:

Once the landing gear bay is opened up, it is filled in with custom cut spacers made from 1/8" thick Lite-ply, each glued in place with 30 minute epoxy.

The first spacer is carefully sanded and shaped to rest plumb against the bay sides and most importantly nice and level on fuselage's CF torsion tubing (the CF tubes that extend from the firewall back to F4). The remaining Lite-ply spacers are then fitted, stacked, and epoxied one by one onto the first spacer (and glued to all 4 sides of the bay opening) thus producing a sturdy main gear mounting block just over 5/8" thick. An additional spacer made from 1/16 hardwood ply tops off the stack / gear mounting block. This last spacer (#6) was required to provide the CF gear to fuselage sides clearance, to avoid trimming the fuselage's sides at the bay opening.

Attachment of the 47/48 Vyper CF main gear to the Lite-ply landing gear block is made via 4-40 machine screws and blind-nuts.

Additionally, I used the standard 3DHS aluminum axle kit made for the Vyper CF main gear, and cut slots in the wheel pants extending up into the original axle hole to allow the pants to slide in place on the aluminum axles. Have a look at the Vyper or other 3DHS planes (manuals) for details on how the wheel pants are slotted.

This modification is very sturdy as proven by repeated gear plopping harrier landings. No signs of stress to the fuselage or gear in many many flights / landings since completing the "upgrade" in early October 2011.

Building and flying radio controlled model aircraft has got to be one of the most enjoyable hobbies around, and has been a favorite of mine for over 25 years. There are easily hundreds of companies engaged in on-line retailing of radio control model aircraft, aircraft kits, parts, accessories and radio control systems in the USA alone. Here are a few favorites from whom I've purchased electric flight related r/c items and planes.

Amain Hobbies, web site: http://www.amainhobbies.com

Smooth web site navigation, good on-line ordering experiences, generally fast order processing and shipping.


Chief Aircraft, web site: http://www.chiefaircraft.com/rcmsec/index2.html

Wide assortment of r/c aircraft, radio gear, hardware, support equipment, all at competitive pricing, Good customer communication via phone and e-mail. On the downside; shipping charges are often higher than those of other companies. Website order status info. lags behind, in my experience. I.e. an order for small parts and props arrived in 3 days (nice!) but the website order status info. still indicated "processing" the day after the order was delivered:-/


Extreme Flight Radio Control, web site: http://www.extremeflightrc.com

Nice assortment of competitively priced high performance ARF aerobatic and 3D aircraft, both gas and electric models, available in a wide range of sizes from park fliers to large competition aircraft, plus hardware, brushless motors and electronic speed controllers. Fast order processing and really friendly folks to deal with. Excellent customer service.


Tower Hobbies, web site: http://www.towerhobbies.com

Has been in business for over 40 years and made the transition to the on-line Internet world. Large product line, often runs sales, and has monthly specials advertised via their Tower Talk flier. Tower Talk is available by mail through on-line request.