The display box (attractive package) is unscathed after a 3 day ground ship via UPS. I'm impressed.
I just couldn't pass this one up. $279 intro price, a super saver coupon worth $40 off that and free shipping. YEAHHH!!
Inside everything is individually wrapped and tucked neatly into it's place. It was actually a lot neater than this photo shows since my buddy Brian and I had already rifled through it checking things out. Looked like everything is there but it's a lot of "stuff" to spread out for a photo.
A little better shot of the contents with decals set aside. The fuselage is tucked into a compartment underneath. It even has the vertical fin built right into it. Complete hardware with retracts are located in another compartment on the left side
Nice full "built up" construction on the wings, stab and vertical.
Got as far as skimming the construction manual which called for hinging/rigging the right wing 1st. (If you look closely, that's the left wing panel but I already had it unwrapped so shot it anyways. That's as far as I'll get tonight since by the time I make the web page it will be my bedtime or real close to it.
I'm a self proclaimed "jet-junkie" and can already feel the teasing coming since I call a plane with a prop on it "defective". <grin>
I do like warbirds too though and after doing the trim flight on Brian's Sunday before last decidied I wanted one.
His is the slightly smaller "Harvard" version from Hobby Lobby. I'm hoping this one will fly as nicely.
I almost went for the big CM Pro version (about the same price) but remebered something that big (82" wingspan) is an aggravation to store & transport. (at least, to me)
2/27/09
I'm not going to waste a bunch of photo's with things the manual cover. I wasn't overly thrilled with the "cut your own hinges" feature but it wasn't that difficult. It wouldn't have hurt my feelings if it had been pre-hinged. After all it is an ARF. Right?
I still think that every China ARF should include a cute little Chinese girl to assemble it for you. :-)
Before calling it quits for the night had both ailerons hinged, both outer flaps fitted and one side of the flaps epoxied in. Using 30 minute epoxy on the flap pin type hinges and letting each side flap insertion cure before attaching them to the wing took up some time.
2/28/09
After taking time to go flying this morning and taking care of other chores managed to finish up the rest of the flap installation as well as the retracts.
The manual calls for joining the wing sections before installing the gear but I thought it would be easier without all the extra area to worry about dinging up.
Hitec HS-75BB retract servo used. The throws worked out well using the long 2 arm wheel and the drive pins in the 2nd hole from the outermost ones. About a 2-3 second full travel time.
3/1/09
Right wing panel fully rigged. Just as a note here, the manual calls for the opening on the flap servo hatch to face toward the wingtip on the right and toward the wing root on the left. My kit was the opposite of that. If you're building, look for the hardwood block and rig it accordingly.
Right wing section attached to the center. The manual wasn't really clear on how the dihedral braces are attached. Test fitting reveals that the short side goes to the center and the bevel (on top in this photo) tapers from front to rear.
It was nasty weather so I spent almost all day on this thing. (I must be getting slow in my old age) The wing construction is finshed though. All that remains is to adjust high and low rate throws on the ailerons & flaps. The video clip is the gear cycling, flap and aileron movement.
Looks like I'm going to have to find another "place of honor" for my little tiger stripe EF-16 when I get the fuselage for this one done.
3/2/09
Not much accomplished tonight. Did manage to get the horizontal stab and elevator linkage fitted & epoxied in before calling it quits to watch "Heros'" though.
3/3/09
Tail group completed. The use of 30 minute epoxy on the elevator torque rod & tail wheel wire takes some time between steps. I guess the next step will be to tackle building a motor box for the conversion.
3/4/09
I originally planned to go the easy ways with standoffs from the firewall to the motor mount but couldn't come up with 8-32 screwa longer than 3". The new motor firewall is a simple 3" square 1/4" ply with 8-32 blind nuts installed.
The motor is a Turnigy SK 50-55 advertised at 1500 watts for 4 to 8s use, and equivalent to a .61+ glow engine. Brian's AT-6 has the same motor and makes 900 watts on 4s. I'll be running 5 or 6s and shooting for the 1200-1300 watt range.
Top & bottom (or right & left?) standoffs were made from 1/8" aircraft ply and are 80mm long by 3" wide. The construction manual calls for the prop thrust washer to be 145mm from the original firewall. The thrust washer to back of motor mount plate on the Turnigy is 65mm. (You do the math) <g>
With using 30 minute epoxy for the assembly, that's all for the night.
3/5/09
New engine box completed. Sides are 3-1/4" wide by 80 mm in length. 30 minute epoxy used again and has 1/2" triangle stock in all the inside corners. Centers of all 4 sides marked for alignment.
The alignment marks on the new extension will align with the scribed in lines of the old firewall. The hard part is cutting out the center section of the existing firewall. I knocked the blind nuts and used a dremel with cutoof wheel to cut between them. Then used a sanding drum to finish the opening. Also to rough up the areas where the epoxy will go.
I opened the hole up to almost flush with kit supplied the fuel tank tray. (Not yet "permanently" attached).
Plenty of room for a 5000 ma 6s lipo pack.
Possibly even an 8s (pair of 4s) if needed since I still have some cleanup to do. But the dremel was getting so hot I had to put it down for the night.
3/6/09
I didn't want to trust an 1/8" wide glue joint to hold the box to the firewall so added some 1/4 x 3/8" spruce to the base. Also added a 1/8" ply "battery stop" to make sure the lipo wouldn't get impaled by the motor shaft.
A generous amount of 30 minute epoxy applied to the motor box base and firewall. At this point I was wising I'd done this step prior to adding the tail feathers since I had to hold it until the epoxy cured.
Motor and ESC attached. The ESC is a Turnigy 80 amp. I've actually had very good luck with these running them on 90 mm EDF's.
Front cowl mounted along with the cockpit "bling". I probably won't be using the dummy radial engine insert right away. I want to make sure it cools properly and that all the thrust angles are right 1st.
Canopy is attached with clear silicon RTV adhesive. It holds well and will still be removable in the event it needs to be. I made the left side air scoop functional by opening up a portion of the fuselage underneath it.
3/8/09
I accomplished nothing on the AT-6 yesterday after getting up at 5:00 am and driving to Ocala for the electric fly-in. It made for a full day and I was just too tired to mess with it last night. Got in 7 flights and shot some video though. Check the video page for those.
So, today I slept in then went to work on finishing it up. Decals got applied and the fuel tank (battery) tray mounted. I still have to come up with a smaller or at least lower pitch prop. The 16X10 is over amping and exceeding ratings even on a 5s pack.
All up weight with flight battery came in at 9.5 pounds and it balanced almost perfectly with no added weight. It balances on the factory marks, but the tail hangs just a touch low. I still have room to shift the battery forward too so it should be just fine.
Radio install uses a Castle 10 amp bec mounted so the air from the scoop flows over it. Also used one of the MPI arming switches since the wing has to be removed in order to install the battery.
Now if I could just come up with a spinner adapter to fit the large diameter shaft I could install the nice spinner than came with the kit.
3/9/09 The test flight.
After borrowing a 15X8 prop from Brian and testing it last night (still a little high on amps at full throttle) loaded the Texan and needed support gear up this morning taking it to work with me.
At 5:00 Brian met me at MCRC to shoot video of the 1st flight. It was a little breezy but went for it anyways since it was at least right down the runway. I wound up aborting the 1st takeoff run as with the wind & bumpy runway it rotated before I was ready for it to. I was probably only at 1/4 throttle when it left the ground.
The second attempt worked out much better and it left the ground at 1/2 throttle which is where I flew the majority of the flight. With no clouds in the sky it doesn't show how well it slows down with the flaps at half and about 1/4 throttle but after testing them at a safe altitude landed with them at the same setting. For a plane of it weight it's really a great flyer once trimmed out. I had to put about 2 clicks of down and probably 3 clicks right to get it flying straight and level.
I still need to work on getting the landing down a little better as it has some bouncy gear, but liked it overall. After landing the 5000 ma 6s battery was barely warm and checking it with a watts meter showed it to still be at 23.4 volts.
With that said, click on the photo to the right for the flight video. Thanks again Brian for shooting it.
3/14/09
Finishing touches. After a couple more flights and knocking the lower scoop loose every time I removed or installed the wing, cut it off flush with the wing leading edge.
Then attached the rear portion of the scoop to the wing itself. Males pulling the wing to change the pack between flights (only drawback on this conversion) much more hassle free. I just hope the 2 piece design doesn't whistle in flight.
Dummy radial engine installed as well. Openings cut out between all the cylinders and center opening enlarged to the full diameter of the windings of the motor behind it. I used clear silicon adhesive insted of epoxy just in case it causes an overheat problem. This way it can still be removed if need be.