Originally Posted by TMO

Here's a few shots of my customer's installation. He really did a nice job imho.

Great to have some pics. Looks like a nice solution.Thanks for sharing .

Brgds
Terje

TMO

What is the motor box "bolted" to? It looks like it's slotted to allow forward/reward adjustment?

Nice work indeed.

Tommy D

Tommy,
The motor mount is held in place by four bolts, which you can see in the picture above with the title: "the firewall". The bolts attach it through the existing siderails. It's only "sort of" adjustable. Bob (12lolo) made a plug which I attached pictures of, that held the motor shaft so he could get an exact fit for this motor, but if he wanted to, he could reposition it for a different motor. It's tough to get that big 3 1/4" spinner to sit nice and flush, so this was the best way for him. The screws shown in the "firewall" picture were just for test, and for the finish, he ran the bolts out through the side- so that they hide underneath the exhaust manifold on the outside-You can see them in the photo above called "nose art." On the inside of the motor box, he just used lock nuts and washers. If you look at photo number one below, the long slot running fore-aft on the motor mount is where the screws go through, and allow perhaps an inch of total adjustability. It's very strong. But I called it "sort of" adjustable, because it's a bit of a pain.

The battery box is the best way, in my opinion, to get this plane to balance out. We're using a 4s 3600. The box is custom made for this pack. Using Velcro or straps wouldn't be strong enough, and it would be too hard to get it in and out. We haven't balanced it out yet, but we've budgeted all the weight as forward as we can get it. I rather add an ounce or two to the tail than a pound up front.

The vents are also something future builders should think about. We weren't crazy about making holes, but anybody who builds this thing electric will find is that that engine bay is sealed up pretty tight, and you're going to have to figure a way to get some ventilation. What the pics don't show is that the scoop has a little "ramp" that blows the air right up onto the back of the motor and ESC. Without some air getting up there, I think you'd be in trouble. The battery needs it less, as we're not really taxing these batteries at all with this setup.

At this stage, he's got the retracts working (swapped out for the nice hobbico ones that have the brass adjuster), and he removed the interior plastic wheel wells to allow a better operation. It's shaping up like we're going to come in at or under 5 lbs. We're going to start out with a 12x8 APC E, until we can get an appropriate 3 blader that has a 3 1/4" spinner tested and spec'd.

I'll keep you up and feel free to ask questions,

Tim

Originally Posted by Wind_of_Change

http://www.emaxinc.com/cmpsp5054nig.html

These guys have them for $130.

How does one get that price?
if you add it to your cart, it's 260 bucks

Whee, and 85 bucks for shipping!
Total: $345.48

Originally Posted by CarreraGTSCS

I just want you guys to know that I went on the Nitroplanes support forum on RCUniverse ....

I think the one fellow must be "Super Pilot!"

I wonder if they realize just how much they shoot themselves in the foot. A little tiny itty-bitty customer support goes a L O N G way!

Originally Posted by mike early

How does one get that price?
if you add it to your cart, it's 260 bucks

Whee, and 85 bucks for shipping!
Total: $345.48

Wow, that sucks. I've never bought from them, but you're getting two planes at that price, not one. I guess they can't separate the two planes out of the case it comes in.

I'd buy two of them anyway, but the $85 shipping is ridiculous. I love Nitroplanes for that reason, good prices AND good shipping. Too bad they're out of stock! hhahah! Glad I got mine on the Thanksgiving sale.

Originally Posted by Tommy D

I think the one fellow must be "Super Pilot!"

I wonder if they realize just how much they shoot themselves in the foot. A little tiny itty-bitty customer support goes a L O N G way!

You couldn't be more right. I guess they make the one time and newbie sales a move on. Doesn't seem like they're hurting so I guess it works for them. Can you imagine a local shop doing business like this? The doors wouldn't be open for long. But I do suppose we get these low prices from them for a reason.

I am so enjoying hassling that support mod over there. He deletes my post, I write another. I'm waiting to get banned. LOL

Tim-- I like the mount and battery box.

Originally Posted by Wind_of_Change

Wow, that sucks. I've never bought from them, but you're getting two planes at that price, not one. I guess they can't separate the two planes out of the case it comes in.

I'd buy two of them anyway, but the $85 shipping is ridiculous. I love Nitroplanes for that reason, good prices AND good shipping. Too bad they're out of stock! hhahah! Glad I got mine on the Thanksgiving sale.

Ahh, that is for 2 planes. I see.

you guys seen my cmp p-51 .50 progress?

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...5#post13975825

Originally Posted by CarreraGTSCS

I am so enjoying hassling that support mod over there. He deletes my post, I write another. I'm waiting to get banned. LOL

Well Rats, it looks like they deleted the entire thread

Has anyone balanced one yet? Bob did a trial balance on his rig and it took 8oz of lead to get it to sit at 3 3/8"

We thought we were doing so well with the weight, but it's looking like 6lbs now. I'm sure everyone that has seen the instructions has cringed at the convoluted balancing method that they propose. Our measurement comes from as close to the root as possible (the fairings are in the way of being exactly at the fuse intersection) with the plane upside down. It is basically right on the spar. Are there any thoughts as to the recommended 3 3/8" cg location?

-Tim

Tim-- Is there room to go with a larger/heavier lipo or motor?

Tim

Thanks for the report. I think we have all be there at one point or another. Hats off to you for being the first build on here.

Tommy D

I have an update:

Bob brought it over to the shop today to program up the radio etc. I took another look at the CG issue. The instructions call for 82-86mm (3 3/8") from the leading edge, but measured way out on the wing- approximately the last invasion stripe outboard on the wing. Since it is an elliptical wing, the leading edge has already moved aft significantly at that position.

The long and short of it is, the stock recommendation, if measured from the wing root, is 100mm (4"). In that position (which looks "right" if you know what I mean), we removed ALL the weight (12oz is what it took to get it to balance at 3 3/8" measured at the root!), and now the plane sits perfectly with 14g weight in the tail. The overall weight dropped back down to 6lbs.

I'm much happier now, since I probably have to maiden this thing, and I was looking at that 3 3/8 CG saying to myself- no way! Plus, at 6 lbs, 800 watts will give a respectable 133 watts/lb. I was puckering a bit thinking about launching this thing at 7.5 lbs. Not that it wouldn't fly, but it wouldn't pull itself out of much of a hole either at that weight.

Carrera GTSCS:
There is room to go up in both motor and battery size. I'd say a 41mm motor will fit no problem and that should really be the "stock" electric motor for conversions. I chose this motor(the U3620-6) because I wanted to stay with packs Bob already had- and it's hard to find 41mm motors that are "hot" enough to get this thing's speed up on 4s voltage. As far as battery, we're running the 4s 3600's, but we weren't really constrained by size. Our pack is 133mm (7 1/4") long, 42mm (1 5/8") wide, and 32mm (1 1/4") thick. Alot longer than that, and you'll have trouble getting the hatch closed, but if you went with a different battery box setup, I don't think think there's anything stopping you from going up to 5s, or up to ~5000mah on 4s.

Hope it helps,

Tim

Great Tim. Thanks for the info. Best of luck on the maiden. Fingers crossed.

Mike