Hey Herb,

That's great info on the servo torque required! I always knew I was going overkill with these servos on these planes.

Regarding the struts... I'm pretty sure the HK struts originated from ProDesign... but many vendors are selling them now.

The other one's shown from Sonic Electric are the RC Lander struts made for their new Mig 17. A buddy of mine has one and it weighs in the 7-8lb range and the struts seem plenty strong. Of course the only kicker is that the nose strut is shorter due to the wing being midway up the fuse on the Mig 17.

I have yet to find decent struts for 90mm EDFs.... but I'm really leaning towards trying the EPF Titans with the new trailing link struts!

Chad

Indeed Prodesign.

The S-E/RCL nosegear strut came apart on my 8lbs F-86 on a landing ... the nosegear strut is held together by a screw, it is not one piece

The screw broke in half. Replaced by another stainless steel screw + jb weld.

Yes those EPF's look like nice struts ... similar to the Eurokit ones that are very popular in Europe (sold by Graupner).

http://www.sonicelectric.com/Merchan..._Code=DSR-MAIN

I don't have those, maybe I should order an oleo set

http://www.epf.com.tw/dsr46/dsr46_R46161.html

.

I've seen threads warning about using reversers with 2.4 radios?

... Spectrum advises not to use servo reverser in their 2.4GHz radios (possibly because of signal integrity issues with digital servos).

I have Futaba FASST and use analog servos for the Hawk elevators ... Futaba even makes their own servo reverser :

http://www.futaba-rc.com/radioaccys/futm4150.html ... no known issues with FASST.

Been flying servo reversers for ten years in almost every other edf jet ...

But then, in case of lingering doubts about electronic mysteries, reverse the position of one of the two elevator servos

yes I use JR 9303 with XPS 2.4 and never an issue but heard about the Spektrum woes

T-45 fever :

Rolf's beautiful video (not the CMP one) : < Video now apparently removed by user >

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idxOKKO-3Ek

nice video!

Who's kit is that?

Okay,

My kit arrived a couple days ago and I've been racking my brain deciding how to outfit it. I finally said fudge it, went outside, got a rubber mallet and smashed it all to bits.....

Ooooopps....Did I say that out loud?.....

Actually, I couldn't decide what I wanted because I REALLY, really wanted to use electric retracts. So, I started writing down the weights of the stuff I had, and the stuff I wanted. After some juggling I was surprised to find that this thing will come out at around 6.7lbs with my Midi/Hacker XL/Castle 85/8S-4000 batts. I use 8s-4000 packs in my Trex600E so I have a bunch of them. The plane will be even lighter once the 3300s I want get back in stock.

I'm going with the RC Lander electric retracts with the metal mount plate from Sonic. Sonic shows two AUWs for finished aircraft, 6lbs and 7.5lbs so since I'm gonna be in between I'm hoping for the best.

I ordered the HK struts and as I needed servos as well, went with an Ino-labs suite to combine the order and dull the shipping charge pain a bit. I've used Ino-labs in my helicopters and they're pretty good and reliable. Made in Korea just like Hitecs.

Everything I need is ordered so I should be able to start building next week.

Thanks for the help Herb!

Mike

Originally Posted by Herb

CMPro intends to sell a set of air retracts (air up, spring down for reliability, like the Springairs) & struts.

They look very nice, it would be interesting to know what the weight is (and the price). My guess is the whole setup is $200+.

.

Herb,

I spoke with Norman over at Nitroplanes, and he said that the retract system won't be in stock until February and should be around $100.00 U.S.. Their main containers coming from China are mostly helicopter items for the Christmas season.

BTW, VERY nice thread! Thank you for taking the time and the money to do this for the rest of us, and not closing the thread but simply kicking the distraction posts.

Jonathan

Originally Posted by CryHavoc

Okay,

My kit arrived a couple days ago and I've been racking my brain deciding how to outfit it. I finally said fudge it, went outside, got a rubber mallet and smashed it all to bits.....

Ooooopps....Did I say that out loud?.....

Actually, I couldn't decide what I wanted because I REALLY, really wanted to use electric retracts. So, I started writing down the weights of the stuff I had, and the stuff I wanted. After some juggling I was surprised to find that this thing will come out at around 6.7lbs with my Midi/Hacker XL/Castle 85/8S-4000 batts. I use 8s-4000 packs in my Trex600E so I have a bunch of them. The plane will be even lighter once the 3300s I want get back in stock.

I'm going with the RC Lander electric retracts with the metal mount plate from Sonic. Sonic shows two AUWs for finished aircraft, 6lbs and 7.5lbs so since I'm gonna be in between I'm hoping for the best.

I ordered the HK struts and as I needed servos as well, went with an Ino-labs suite to combine the order and dull the shipping charge pain a bit. I've used Ino-labs in my helicopters and they're pretty good and reliable. Made in Korea just like Hitecs.

Everything I need is ordered so I should be able to start building next week.

Thanks for the help Herb!

Mike

If this plane truly comes in at <7lbs on 8S then E-flite .15-.25's will work fine! I've seen my buddy's Pro-Design 90mm Mig clock 120mph on 6S and it comes in at 6.5lbs. Heck, it even flies great on 5S! It is just a tad smaller than this plane (1127mm wingspan vs 1140mm for the T-45).

With retracts, struts, pilots, tail hook, with 10 cells and a Stumax fan I think it will be right at 7.1lbs

great Thread Herb ...did you add some 1/64 or 1/32 ply doubler to the balsa rib you spoke about for the gear mounts? also if trailing arm struts are used ,when weight is on wheels you'll get the wheels a little bit further behind the C/G . on my sapac i put the gear in the scale location and it is a handful on the ground .so you are right the gear need to be in the right place . looking good thanks for your effort.

Originally Posted by balistc1000

Who's kit is that?

Not sure .. My guess is that i's the Daniel Schuebeler Hawk ... very lightweight (airex sandwich full composite) : http://www.schuebeler-jets.com/index...=77&Itemid=128

Maybe Rolf can answer that

Originally Posted by FireryPhoenix

Herb,

I spoke with Norman over at Nitroplanes, and he said that the retract system won't be in stock until February and should be around $100.00 U.S. ...

Jonathan, I suspect that's for the air retracts only ... double that for the wheels & struts ?

Originally Posted by chalmrast

If this plane truly comes in at <7lbs on 8S ...

I hope so Depends on the motor & esc weight though ... When I estimate the weights during the build for some reason I always end up above the target. Nevertheless this paryicular airframe needs no prime & paint ....

Originally Posted by AIR SALLY

...did you add some 1/64 or 1/32 ply doubler to the balsa rib you spoke about for the gear mounts? also if trailing arm struts are used ,when weight is on wheels you'll get the wheels a little bit further behind the C/G . on my sapac i put the gear in the scale location and it is a handful on the ground .so you are right the gear need to be in the right place . ...

Rodger, I think some reinforcement there is absolutely crucial

There is NO way those main mounts can hold up to repeated abuse .. on Thursday I flew in 25mph winds so there's always that harder than normal landing . I think V2. needs stronger mains mounts.

I started putting some jb weld on the mains rails to get clean drilled holes for the retract mounts. Some 1/64 or 1/32 ply & laminating epoxy will go in there as well.

Regarding the main gear angle, things are not trivial unless you change the gear opening location. See what I mean:

.