That's just embarassing....

Yeah... that's why it wouldn't start.

Last week I fixed the loose muffler and replaced the gasket.

No words.

So once I fixed that she started and runs perfectly. But of course I didn't notice the gasket when I took the engine completely apart, cleaned and rebuilt it. It was as I was putting the muffler back on, the first off-last on part, that I  noticed the gasket. The other good thing is that the black tank stopper was indeed leaking, so I replaced it with a brown gas compatible stopper.

Magnificent Sbach Maiden

I started my day with the Pulse XT60 not wanting to start. Spark good, looks like fuel good... I have no idea why.  I like to fly something else before a maiden, but here we are. I was not in the mood to try to figure it out and lose flying time.

So I put the wings on the Sbach, fueled her up, and she started, but would not idle, quit.  Finally had to take the cowl off and worked her for an hour before I got her running with a good WOT and a good idle. Really want a start and fly gasser. 

She took off with a perfect roll out and lift off, powered out like a demon. I would find her a bit nose heavy needing some trim. I removed that extra battery when I got home. She has good but not unlimited vertical. I had figured the gas would trim her out to CG and I think that's right. Looking forward to seeing how she flies without the extra battery.  I also had to lessen the DRs all around quite a bit, she is very sensitive. She takes off so nicely. I landed her a bit hot, fast and low, even with flaperons, and she rolls it out quite a bit. 

The vortex generators do soften the stall, its later, not as sudden. Power, aileron and rudder brought her out quickly but there needs to be some space underneath.

She is going to be a sweet flier and I am going to really enjoy her!

Now... that damn RCGF 20cc engine on the XT60.

SBach Evolution 10cc Ready to Fly!

I ordered these 2S 2700 mAh LiPOs from Bangood as they were cheap and I thought I could use them as a second battery in the Sbach and the Pulse XT60. They came in today. They were advertised as having a EC3 connector, but these are like EC2... that's an EC3 in the middle. Changed them out. Ends up I needed one to balance the CG in the SBach.

The header/muffler extensions came in and I installed them this morning. I had bought some gasket material from a car parts store, and used it to make the gaskets. Now she just barely clears the fuse.

Took her out to the garage today and started her up. She started fine and runs well.

13x8 Master Airscrew Scimitar.

She runs well, but here is a stutter just before reaching full throttle. No matter if I lean her completely, rich her, completely, it's the same. I have a 1 second transit speed on the servo, and it doesn't matter if I have normal or 1.6 sec, its the same. Nothing I can do to tune it out. We'll have to see how it goes after several flights. 

She runs rich and spews oil all over the side of the aircraft.

So I put the muffler extension on her. It is silicone, soft, so it flutters all over and sprays it everywhere, so I cut it short angled, and turned it down. We'll see how it goes.

Cowl on, looks pretty good! The muffler gets pretty hot, we'll have to see how it does against the cowl.

The muffler doesn't stick out as obtrusively as I expected.

I turned the extension to face down and out from this position.

All set up and ready to go!

I had to put the new battery in alongside the tank. I can fly one (the green Pulse) and then the other. All day flying! I needed the weight to attain the CG, she was very tail heavy. I think she will be a bit nose heavy with the full tank.

The turned down extension. It might be too short, so I have ordered a couple of replacements.

I am hoping to be able to maiden her tomorrow!

Still waiting

Waiting for the extensions... the got mailed today, should be here in a couple of days. The bolts arrived.

I want to mention these amazing and incredibly well priced wing bags from Hobby King. They come in a variety of sizes. They range in price from around $15-25. They are well made and the build quality is top shelf.

I have three of them, had to wait on the small one as they don't stay in stock for long.

This is where the muffler will hang out.

On a whim I painted the muffler black. I also cut the slot for the extensions. And I am waiting.

Pretty much done, Sbach update

Pretty much have the Sbach 10cc Evolution done! Waiting on the muffler extensions and the long bolts to attach it.

Tslil wheel and the steering bar installed.

Since the engine is pretty much inside the cowl, I want to increase the airflow through the fuse. I opended a hole on the back bottom of the fuselage and...

Installed a louver I had sitting around.

Installed the cowl, and it fits perfectly with some cut outs. The only cut out left is for the muffler.

Carb inlet and cylinder head/spark cut outs.

Installed the 13x8 Master Airscrew and a carbon fiber spinner that fits. The kit didn't come with the spinner, but I didn't bother to write them as I was going to use this or a chrome spinner. As always, considering a 3 blade prop, but I may stick with this one, I expect it to scream.

For the time being I took off the cowl so I can start the engine and make sure it runs well. Didn't have time today, and I need to wait for the extensions and screws. They should be here in the next few days!

Who puts a giant torpedo muffler on a gas engine?

The only issue I have with this otherwise remarkable Evolution 10cc gas engine is, who puts a torpedo muffler on a gas engine? Why don't they at least sell an optional normal side mounted Pitts?

I installed the engine on the Sbach last night, and learned that its historically wide fuse leaves the side mounted torpedo muffler INSIDE the cowl. The exit lays right on the front bulkhead.

Nice installation. Enough room to install an electric starter and air conditioning....

What's this? Dad-gum-it... It's always something.

The other issue is most mufflers are about 32-34mm on center even for up to 50cc engines, this one is a fricking 36mm spread.

Look at that thing. It's about 15-20 cm long and sticks out about 8 -10 cm!  So I have a few options. It would need a 40mm extension to clear the fuse. Nope, can't find one, most are 10-20mm*.  DuBro has a 6 inch extension that would fit and can be cut to size, but no drilled holes and I can't drill that, so no go. I could install it, cutting the bulkhead and creating an exit for the rubber muffler extension. That could work, but if it doesn't I have messed up the fuse, and it looks like the muffler would push the cowl out a little. I could change to an OS muffler, if I can find a shorter one. Hmm... kinda hit and miss, if it doesn't fit I own a muffler shaped brick. The webs show a 46-55 size muffler will fit the cylinder, but it will still need something to exit the cowl, like a rubber extension, but no bulkhead modification, though I am not sure its short enough to stay forward of the bulkhead. I could install a Pitts standard or wraparound. The NGH 9cc engine Pitts would fit, but the only place to get one is Hobby King Hong Kong, so a $18 marvelously priced perfect fit and solution will cost me $35 to ship and take 4 weeks.  $53 is steep, yet i's the going price, but there's the principle of paying twice the cost of the part to ship it. Buttercup may need to just suck that up. Other Pitts are set up for a 90 degree mounted engine, and wraparounds that might fit are $180. 

There is one other option. I could move the troublesome RCGF 10cc off the Stik (the good one is staying in the Sukhoi) to the Sbach, and the Evolution 10cc to the Stik, which has no cowl so easy-peasy. Yeah... Kinda really want this Evo 10 in the Sbach.

Who puts a torpedo muffler on a gas engine? Who does that?

* A thought occurred to me... what if I stack two of these shorter extensions?

UPDATE  I decided to try two extensions and M3 x 80mm screws. I found a very good price on the extensions, on eBay essentially 2 for the price of one, $10 shipped to arrive in 2 days, and Amazon Prime a pack of long M3 assorted from 60 - 80 mm 50 piece set for $11. Wide range of prices for the bolts, lucky to see this set. Now I have to wait. 

 

Hobby King Orange RX 9 Ch DSMX Reciever

Last night I installed the 6 ch Orange RX 3-Axis Stabilization DSM2 Reciever into the Sbach. Its a great unit, has plugs for the L and R Aileron, the usual Rud, Elev, Thr, Aux1, and bind. I needed every single plug. I figured if it has a separate plug for each aileron I should be able to program Aux1 to the second elevator. Nope. Aux1 acts like a 3rd aileron, which makes no sense. Each of the separate aileron channels works, but Aux1 with the other elevator servo plugged into it, moves as a third aileron. I know Aux 1 is always the other aileron, but it has a separate channel for that, so why isn't Aux1 free? There was no way, and trust me, I spent an hour trying different  combos, to reprogram Aux1 to the other elevator using the mixes.

Damn. I really wanted the stabilization, and Orange stablization systems have been NIS for almost a year at least. They say they are coming back this summer, and if they do I am buying a dozen. Other companies, like Eagle,  make these and they are reliable, I will just have to go search for them and find a reasonably priced one. Nothing beats the HK stabilizer prices. I pulled one of the two Spektrum Alpha 6 units I have, but really didn't want to spend hours trying to get it to work. I may revisit that tonight. I have a feeling that most don't allow for separate ailerons programming, let alone elevators.

So at midnight last night I bought an HK Orange 9 ch DSMX Full Range Telemetry reciever with 2 sat plugs, $30. I ordered it from an Amazon reseller who had it Prime, because I didn't want to wait 2 wks to get it from HK USA. They take 3 -4 days just to get it out of the warehouse and then some guy on a bike brings it cross country.

This one will be here in 2 days, no shipping.

Sbach 10cc Build Day 2

I finished the wings, will post a pic tomorrow, just forgot to take pics. I decided not to go with all of the stock stickers as I really don't like them and I am certainly not going for scale! Have a couple stickers coming in the mail and when they are on will post pics.

The damaged corner came out okay. The cote they use is heavier duty so it takes more heat to shrink it back, and if I am not careful the lighter Monocote wrinkles. A couple of layers of Monokate helps.

The patch on the dented leading edge using lightweight spackle.

Like new. 

The kit comes with a bunch of epoxy servo extensions with were about 0.5 cm longer than the special blue aluminum ones I had, so I used my blue ones on the ailerons. On the two elevator servos (its dual servo on the elevators), I remembered I had these long red aluminum ones I ended up not using on another project. I chose the middle attahment, but think I will move it to the closest one, still a bit longer than the stock epoxy extension. The range of motion is incredible so the resolution will be a bit low and she would be quite twitch as small control moves would lead to big elevator pitch changes. I want range, but better resolution, so I will go with the closer attachemenst.  I think they expected micro servos on the elevators, standards on the wings. I had to cut the openings a bit larger, but there is a lot of room forward of the stock opening and this was no thang.

The epoxy rudder control horn was pretty much the same size as this Tactic stock long bar, so I uses it. Good range of motion with it, a bit unbalanced at the servo (more left than right) which I can adjust in programming travel on the DX8.

I had some frustrating CA runs putting the CA hinges in, even though I had dammed up the sites to prevent it. That super thin CA just goes everywhere. I decided I didn't want to futz with Du-Bro plastic hinges and just use the CA one. The lower half of the rudder was the only part that didn't stay where I put it so there is a small gap there. I will use hinge tape, its a small gap.

This frame is built for electric... its not very robust, though they sell it as electric/glow. There is no place for the fuel tank. I am going to have to build it up, and it will likely be a bit further from the engine than I like. I may be able to get it forward, but there will be a lot of weight foreward of the CG.

Sbach 10cc Day 1

This evening I opened the box with the 70 inch Sbach. The box had been damaged, which given its thickness took some doing. Turns out something penetrated the box and damaged both wings just enough to be annoying.

Very nice parts package. I sanded down the epoxy control horns and am painting them gloss black.

Damage to the proximal end of the right aileron. Cracked internally.

Something penetrated the box while USPS had it... Had to be strong force given the thickness of the box.

The proximal end of the left leading edge took a dent too.

Cracked all the way through when the trailing edge got nailed. This is reduced and thin CA'd. Some sanding and spackle. I don't have this red... Letting it dry overnight.

Opposite side of the same break.

Leading edge uncoted.

While the repairs were drying and the spackle setting, I made and installed the vortex generators using L-styrene. I discussed them in an earlier post.

Cut into 1 cm lengths.

Pointed one end.

5 pairs and one end fence, just because. I put down a piece of Scotch Tape in case I don't like how they work. Roughly an inch apart on center. I didn't stree precision. I guessed where the boundary are wound be, its suppsed to be about 1/16th of the chord.

I did the other leading edge the same way.

There is no manual, maybe one online, but this isn't my first rodeo.