Wings aren't actually mounted yet, but it's nice to stick things together to make it look like you've made progress...

It's slowly starting to look like a cub, the yellow really helps. I just hope it matches the so-lite covering once it all comes together. The paint is Tamiya TS-16 spray can paint, according to someone on rcgroups it's supposed to match yellow so-lite well and indeed it looked like the closest match I could find in my LHS.

Getting interesting now. I am subd

Have you done a weight check yet? I am building a micro super cub and I am curious how it is panning out weight wise. I am shooting for 100 grams as well and this seems to be the goal of many folks building a small cub. Just curious to see how it is coming out.

Thanks,

Dave

I've checked the weight of a bunch of individual parts, but it was a while since I did a check on everything together. I'll try to remember to do that and post where I'm at. It might be in my best interest so I don't go nuts in the final stages and add unnecessary weight here and there. I struggle to estimate the weight of the covering, I've only used it once before and even though it is very very light, it does add a little weight of course.

I got a pm asking me if I knew where to get this kit outside of Sweden which I didn't really, but a bit of googling came up with:
UK:
http://robotbirds.com/catalog/produc...oducts_id=2335
USA:
http://www.rcbaron.com/acatalog/Hack...it-HC2301.html

I don't have a lot of experience with other kits as I recently got back to the hobby from a long break and all my other builds have been pre-crushed balsa kits. This cnc'd kit is of course a lot better than that, but I'm sure it's a long way off, in accuracy and fit, from something laser cut. So far it's been an enjoyable build, I hope anyone considering buying and building one can be helped to make a decision by this thread.

Originally Posted by XeCutor

I've checked the weight of a bunch of individual parts, but it was a while since I did a check on everything together. I'll try to remember to do that and post where I'm at. It might be in my best interest so I don't go nuts in the final stages and add unnecessary weight here and there. I struggle to estimate the weight of the covering, I've only used it once before and even though it is very very light, it does add a little weight of course.

I got a pm asking me if I knew where to get this kit outside of Sweden which I didn't really, but a bit of googling came up with:
UK:
http://robotbirds.com/catalog/produc...oducts_id=2335
USA:
http://www.rcbaron.com/acatalog/Hack...it-HC2301.html

I don't have a lot of experience with other kits as I recently got back to the hobby from a long break and all my other builds have been pre-crushed balsa kits. This cnc'd kit is of course a lot better than that, but I'm sure it's a long way off, in accuracy and fit, from something laser cut. So far it's been an enjoyable build, I hope anyone considering buying and building one can be helped to make a decision by this thread.

CNC cutting should be just as accurate as laser and in some ways it is better. With laser cutting you have burnt edges and if you are doing micro planes those edges will show right through the covering if you don't sand it all off and on a micro that could be a problem because it would change the overall shape or size too much.

Dave

Sounds fair enough, then it's just that the manufacturer hasn't done a proper job setting up their CNC machine to make perfect parts. It's still pretty good though, and the pre-laminated pieces are nice because laminating wood is a bit of a pain.

Current weight for uncovered airframe with pretty much all bits that needs to go on is 75g exactly. This includes all the electronics except battery, also missing:
- Some kind of battery hatch
- Stickers from decal sheet
- Push rods for all surfaces (using CF for long ones, 0.5mm steel for short stuff)
- Probably various small bits
- Covering

Might be possible to have the complete airframe minus covering and trim done in less than 80g, but 85g might be more realistic (time will tell). I should safely have the airframe done in under 100g, but with a battery, flying weight will probably exceed 100g.

Originally Posted by XeCutor

Sounds fair enough, then it's just that the manufacturer hasn't done a proper job setting up their CNC machine to make perfect parts. It's still pretty good though, and the pre-laminated pieces are nice because laminating wood is a bit of a pain.

Current weight for uncovered airframe with pretty much all bits that needs to go on is 75g exactly. This includes all the electronics except battery, also missing:
- Some kind of battery hatch
- Stickers from decal sheet
- Push rods for all surfaces (using CF for long ones, 0.5mm steel for short stuff)
- Probably various small bits
- Covering

Might be possible to have the complete airframe minus covering and trim done in less than 80g, but 85g might be more realistic (time will tell). I should safely have the airframe done in under 100g, but with a battery, flying weight will probably exceed 100g.

Sounds about right, I am in the same ballpark for weight.

Thanks,

Dave

Progress has been slow because I haven't had a whole lot of time to spare for building, but I've managed to build a hatch (held in place by 4 tiny magnets, one in each corner) and cover it. It's below the servos. I'm hoping I'll be able to mount the battery above the landing gear which would mean that's the only hatch I need. If I need to cram the battery further up the nose, I'll have to make a second one somewhere.

I've mounted the servos for the rudder and elevator, 90% done with pushrods for those too, as well as guide mounts for pushrods.

The nose cowl is nearly completed, all that's left is to glue the exhaust pipes to it, the mock cylinder heads with cooling shrouds are in place. The material for the shrouds isn't included in the kit, the instructions mention making it out of cardboard which I didn't agree with. Instead I found that the small disposable black plastic container that cole-slaw is served in at a burger place I often eat lunch at, was ideal as it was thin, didn't require painting and responded reasonably well to bending it to shape.

Landing gear is 100% completed. The yellow on the landing gear is not paint, it's from covering the 1mm kit balsa pieces in Solite film, my guess is that it gets at least twice as strong from being covered when it's that thin. Note how well the color of the covering film matches the TS16 spray can color. Thanks to someone here at rcg who posted this fact, for me to take advantage of!

Hello XeCutor,

You mentioned in one of previous posts you used 2mm prop adapter for 1811 motor. I build the same kit with the same motor just now and have problem with obtaining so small prop adapter to suit Piper front cover. Do you have any 2mm prop adapter left? If it is possible I'd like to buy it.

Marcin

Hi

I do have a a few left, but I'd suggest buying directly from where I bought them instead, that'll be cheaper and easier. You can see in the last picture what the prop adapter looks like, the propeller mounted in the picture is a GWS 5043, not sure that'll be the one I fly with but I might. The axle on the prop adapter is thinner than the 4mm hole in this particular propeller, so slight adaptations may need to be made.

Here is my source:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-x-2-mm-RC-...item27c1679af6

I got an offer of 4$ accepted, so that's 4$ for 5x shipped worldwide, that's less than I pay for just an international letter here in Sweden.

Hi,

Thank you for information about the source of the adapters. I'll buy them directly.

I've not been super-productive on this build the last few days but I've managed to do a few things. Primarily I've been working on the tail which is pretty much complete except for a bit of covering, some of it is covered though as you can see from the pictures. All of the electronics and linkages is sorted and ready for final assembly.

I've started covering the fuselage. For now, I'll leave the bottom of it, and the mid-section (not so sensitive center of gravity wise) uncovered so I have easy access to the electronics and can adjust weight distribution as easy as possible. The white plastic nose cone and the covered balsa wood would have had less of a color-transition if the balsa had been painted white before being covered, might be worth doing if you repeat what I did and happened to have a some white paint, which I didn't.

I'm aiming to get the wings mounted and at least partially covered before the end of the weekend.

Looking fantastic....been patiently awaiting updates...

Ok, with a slight delay, here's the promised update with wings covered (mostly) and attached. I've got a very good excuse, I've been buying a house. Come summer, I'll have plenty of space for building and storing planes, and probably no time to build them...

Left to do:
- Cover a few pieces
- Sort out some sort of battery mount, velcro might be good enough
- Build + cover + mount wing-supports, definitely the biggest job left since I want to get the wings perfectly straight with the same amount of dihedral etc.
- Make and mount some windows
- Apply stickers
- Test-fly

I've already performed the obligatory ground-tests on the floor, as soon as the glue on the wings dried. The turning circle is quite wide, so taxiing this little bird won't be brilliant, but it's better than it would have been without a steerable tail wheel at least.