I reused the original wire, it will be fine. It is extremely strong now, there is no flex between my halves. I used the 3 hour epoxy and allowed it to flow down into the holes in the elevator halves. I also sanded the wire to roughen it up for better adhesion.

I had the very same minor issues with the struts mounting to the pre-defined holes for the screws. I would hope that the factory jig setup makes the hole placement in the wing the same location each time for each wing made. This would make wing warp an easy catch. Holes don't line up? then wing adjustment is necessary. Making new screw holes should not be required and the manual should point out that if the struts don't line up with the pre-defined holes then check for wing warp. Making new holes for a warped wing why do that.

Originally Posted by Jaybird

I find it interesting that almost everyone has had to add a little aileron trim (not too surprising) and also UP elevator trim. I had to a lot of up to keep level flight and on the ground it is noticeably in a slight up position. I did have to sand the stabilizer saddle to get it level with the wings so I don't know if it is partly my fault. I also find the connecting wire between the elevator halves to be rather springy and wonder if the airflow causes some deflection.

Jay

Jay,
I have the same problem with mine. I had a JR servo in mine that went south on me. When it was in I had about 4 clicks of up. Now I have a E-flite s75 that has so much in it you can look at the elevator and see it. I did get a bigger battery. I went from a 1500 mah to a 2100 mah. Could the battery wait make that much difference?

Hi bj,

I'm thinking the stabilizer saddle might not be aligned properly front to back. The extra weight, assuming it balances the same, would make the plane want to fly faster to generate more lift to carry the additional weight. The up elevator is an attempt to increase the angle of attack which would also generate more lift but at a slower speed. Unfortunately this also generates more drag as a result of the increased lift and form drag from the elevator deflected into the slip stream. My guess is that the leading edge of the stabilizer is angled up which would induce an upward force on the tail and point the nose down. We then have to add up elevator trim at the trailing edge to bring it back down. With such a short tail moment it would take a fair amount of deflection to get the counter force required...maybe. Without plans to varify alignment and incedence we are just guessing here. I wish ARF's would include just one sheet with a side view and angles to check.

Jay

If the tail is already glued to the fuselage it is a bit more difficult to glue the elevator connecting rod in. What I would recommend is cutting the CA hinges, clean up the hinge line, glue the connecting rod into the elevator halves while it is in place in front of the rudder post then just use hinge tape to hinge the elevator. Just leave enough room between the elevator and horizontal stabilizer so that there is no hinge binding.

bgfireman,
I would not trust an S75 servo on the elevator of the Taylorcraft. If you require more up elevator after going to a larger battery try moving it more to the rear to adjust the CG. I am using TP Extreme 2200's in mine and have to move the battery back quite a bit to even get the rearward CG. I also modified the hatch hold down slightly with my Dremel to make battery installation easier.
Gary

Originally Posted by marketvending

I had the very same minor issues with the struts mounting to the pre-defined holes for the screws. I would hope that the factory jig setup makes the hole placement in the wing the same location each time for each wing made. This would make wing warp an easy catch. Holes don't line up? then wing adjustment is necessary. Making new screw holes should not be required and the manual should point out that if the struts don't line up with the pre-defined holes then check for wing warp. Making new holes for a warped wing why do that.

This assumes that the the problem is a warped wing in every case. Not so. One of my struts fit on either side, the other did not. One strut was longer than spec. Several others have posted the same info about their models. My airplane flew fine with little trim adjustment - nothing unusual for a first flight. this illustrates that the wings aren't warped.

Cheers,

CR

Originally Posted by Gerry B

If the tail is already glued to the fuselage it is a bit more difficult to glue the elevator connecting rod in. What I would recommend is cutting the CA hinges, clean up the hinge line, glue the connecting rod into the elevator halves while it is in place in front of the rudder post then just use hinge tape to hinge the elevator. Just leave enough room between the elevator and horizontal stabilizer so that there is no hinge binding.

Good advice Gerry-
I attached the elevator without considering that the hinge was off. It'll be a lot trickier to cut and re-hinge while mounted. A case of "new plane" excitement and not using my head. Doh!

And I agree on the notion that ARFs ought to ALWAYS include decalage/incidence readings. This is as basic as CG. If these flight requirements aren't tuned in, there's going to be some frustrating compensation. Most, if not all of my slopers are 0º/0º, both wing and tail set level. Not all the powered planes I've built and flown- either electric or fuel- are the same.

Definitely not an expert here- would love to know what the seasoned flyers think on this.

All,

While I haven't been able fly my Taylorcraft yet do to the weather, I am pleased to say that all assembly went very well without any issues and my struts fit perfectly to the holes provided in fuse and wing.

Although it is a minor flaw, I do have the small gap where the bottom of the wing meets the fuse, which also was mentioned by several others.

If the Taylorcraft flies as well as it builds and looks, I will be extremely pleased

Joe

Got to see a friend maiden his today, he has an Eflite 480 in it as he plans to fly it from floats. He used the wheels today to get comfortable with it but the next flights will be on floats. Flew and looked great.

Will try to get some pics of it with the floats.

Just got back from the field and I must say, this model is everything everyone said it was. She flew just fine with just a few clicks of trim. I was using an old 2500 mah 3s lipo that would not take full throttle without cutting off. So, my takeoff was at a tad over 1/2. Still flew super with my AXI 2808-24 outrunner. Flew for about 8 minutes and did some loops, rolls and inverted flight. Handled everything just fine, and greased the landing. Looks sweet in the air, and handles great. Guys at the field were impressed, to say the least. Tom

Great news Tom. Glad it went well for you. I was out at noontime today as well. Can't see quite see as much grass though...covered with more than a foot of snow. It was nice because the last storm ended with some rain and freezing rain (if you call that nice) so the soccer field had a hard crust over the whole surface. The snowmobilers hadn't been all over so I had unbroken surface to land and take off from. Oh, it was 27 degrees and calm...yeah baby!

Another storm arrives this evening with 6 to 8 more inches coming Thursday..global warming?..what global warming?

Jay

Got mine done except for the installation of the struts. Mine look like they line up. Of course what eflite should have done was not even put holes on the wing. They should've left that up to the flyer to use a 1/16 inch drill. The struts are for looks anyways as they don't really do anything since there are 3 hinge points in each strut. I also had to drill a slightly larger hole for the wing hold down screws. They didn't quite line up with the holes for the mount. This way, I have a bit more room to juggle the screw to find the blind nut to hold the wing down.
As far as I can see, my wing wasn't warped. I also busted off the balsa tab for the vert stab to go into the slot. I hate the tab/slot into the fuse deal. This is the 2nd model I had this problem with. Its fixed and the tail looks straight to me.
Gary, good mod on hatch door. I am also gonna use 2100's and its a batch to get a pack in there.
And, how are you guys keeping on your wheel pants? A puny little wood screw is a poor way to keep it on. Especially those of us that fly off of grass runways. Sure you can put a drop of CA on there but I don't think its gonna hold up that long. I'm keeping mine off until I find a more sturdier way of doing it.

Dave...

Jay, my kid sister use to live in Maine, Hampden to be exact, just outside of Bangor. Summer was nice up there, all 6 days of it. She spent two winters there freezing her arse off in a 1780s farmhouse. She now lives in PA in a geo-thermal heated house.

It was 72 out at the field today. Once I retired in NY in 2000 we started looking for a warmer place to live. The west coast of Florida is where we settled and don't regret it one bit. I fly three days a week, every week. Plus I race sailboats on Tuesday afternoons. Man, ya gotta love retirement.

Would like to see the T Craft on floats. I did lots of float flying in NY. Full scale and models. My buddy owned a seaplane base on the Hudson River and has a Champ, Cub, and Piper something on floats, plus his Ultralite. They were the good old days. Tom

Hi Tom,

We have friends who live in Wildwood, Fl that we visit during the winter. We have visited a large club up in Ocala several times...great folks to visit. I have just started float flying this past year and have the Mini-Ultra Stick on floats (water and snow) and a Hanger 9 J-3 Cub that's about 8 years old. My father built some floats and never used them so I installed them on my Cub. Great fun after I got the the incedence between the wing and floats right. I've taken it to several ponds and float flys this past summer. My brother flies with the Skymasters club in michigan that hosts a huge regional float fly each September.