It is still hot out but its never to early right?

Two years ago I built my first short kit - Pat's 60'' Pilatus Porter. Then I built his C180 and DC-6B along with two other kits. For my next project, I have decided to do the Porter again because it was one of my favorite flyers and I know I can make it much lighter visually appealing because I have gained some experience.

I am going to keep it simple with D-FREE, an all-white color scheme that is currently in operation with a German Skydiving company. My planned mods are extra wing magnets, removable LG for future floats, basswood wing struts and an improved tail wheel.

I will also make some skis because I crashed my Porter #1 when I added a heavy camera and left it on snow in light freezing rain for too long which caused the wings to accumulate ice. I need my redemption



Electronics from HeadsUpRC:

• Power Up 450 Slofly
• Power Up 20A ESC with an external 3A UBEC
• 9G carbon gear high torque servos for the tail (SG92R)
• 5G servos for the wing (iFlight iS500)
• 2S or 3S LiPo
• GWS 10'' or 9'' 3-blade prop

Covering is going to be done with Ultracote Parklite White with graphics from Callie.

Ethan

The kit arrived early so although my building table was full of 99% complete projects, I cornered off a small section to build the tail sections.

I added cross-bracing to the vertical stabilizer because that was one of the weak parts of my first Porter. The large tail is prone to hangar rash!

Ethan

looking forward to your build, I followed your first one and videos on youtube.

I have been debating building one of these for a while, I just finished his 40" J3.

The one thing i would do If this was my build would be sure to add the fixed slats he shows out of aluminum.

Good luck man, let me know when you maiden I live in Ballard but head out to Marymoore once in a while.

-Michael

Ethan,

It is always better the second time. You already know where the difficulties are and how you want to modify it. Go with the 3s on that 450, the real plane has lots of power.

I know you will have fun and produce a nice model and the crash of the first Porter will fade. This last weekend I almost lost the DC-6 80! A servo extension to the elevator became intermittent and I completely lost control for a time. Once I re-established level flight I used the throttle to bring it down. Real scary. No damage but it reminded me you can lose one at any time!

Also, I crashed my T-41 with a aerodynamic problem from a camera I put on it so don't feel alone.

Dave

Michael,

Welcome aboard - I bought some servo tape and litho plate yesterday to make the slats. They don't actually produce a large amount of extra lift but they do make the control surfaces especially the ailerons more responsive at low speeds which is what I need considering I want this baby to be at least 10 oz. lighter then #1. They probably would have helped me get back to the ground instead of hitting it too

Looking forward to seeing you at the Marymoor sometime including the maiden.

Here is the crash video from last February:

RC Pilatus Porter CRASH on Skis (0 min 52 sec)

Ethan

Originally Posted by payne9999

Ethan,

It is always better the second time. You already know where the difficulties are and how you want to modify it. Go with the 3s on that 450, the real plane has lots of power.

I know you will have fun and produce a nice model and the crash of the first Porter will fade. This last weekend I almost lost the DC-6 80! A servo extension to the elevator became intermittent and I completely lost control for a time. Once I re-established level flight I used the throttle to bring it down. Real scary. No damage but it reminded me you can lose one at any time!

Also, I crashed my T-41 with a aerodynamic problem from a camera I put on it so don't feel alone.

Dave

Dave,

Glad to hear the big 'six is ok! A few weeks ago I was flying at a large park with a Multiplex FunCub and one of the cheapo 9G aileron servos I stuck in went crazy by randomly jittering back and forth. I had to land with full rudder and elevator in front of a crowd that was gathering to watch This is why I prefer to fly 99% at a club.

The Porter crash was awhile ago and strangly enough I couldn't help but laugh after I saw the pile of sticks and later on, the video. By then the plane had a few smaller crashes and was overweight and falling apart with my poor solarfilm application and excessive thin CA.

Sorry to hear about the T-41. At least you got something to document it!

Ethan

Good luck with no.2. If I were to build another one, I would come up with a better way to attach the wing struts and have better access to the battery.

Thanks DropTank for the suggestions the larger battery hatch is now on my list.

Finished the fuselage frames today this weekend I will get some pictures up and add the formers.

Ethan

I was following your previous thread GliderGuy so it will be interesting for me to see what enhancements you come up with on this build.

I purchased one of these kits from Pat a while back but haven't begun to put it together yet. Maybe your build will inspire me to pull it out of my kit stack and pin pieces to the building board!

Even though I haven't begun building it yet, I have begun to accumulate pieces for it while I'm knocking out my other builds.

-Mike

Thanks Stone! I hope I can inspire you start you're build, with this thread, the main Porter 60 thread and Pat's second thread, there is tons of information and reference pictures to look at.

Finished both side frames and the LG mount, time to join them together with the formers.

Ethan

Got a lot of work done tonight. Except for the top nose section of the fuselage which I kept open so I can place the ESC, all the stringers, formers and aluminum/brass tubes are in place. Luckily I got everything nice and square this time. Tomorrow I hope to mount all the electronics, run the elevator and pull-pull linkages to the tail and maybe even start bending the LG struts

Ethan

Today I mounted the motor, ESC, UBEC, RX, servos, elevator push-rod and the tail block (carved out of balsa then sprayed with clear polyutherane). Then I cut and glued both side window/door frames out of heavy white matte paper and formula 560 white glue. Everything was smooth except one of the new carbon-gear TPSG92R servos I got was DOA so I replaced it with a normal TP9G I had around.

Ethan

subbed good luck eth

Thanks Kenan!

I decided to go up a size for the strut wires and tubes. Also, I modified the tailwheel design by lashing a aluminum tube with the strut in it secured with a wheel collar on top and the control horn on the bottom. The previous design (bare wire lashed to frame) was weak and kept bending sideways.

Ethan

... Edited.. Do not want a certain person to clutter thread