Pilot RC 40% 122″ Extra 330SC 150-170cc ARF Airplane

• Strong Light Weight Construction
• Professional designed for 3D
• Fuselage is set up for canister installation
• Cowl with cowl ring. No exterior screws exposed
• Complete hardware included
• Removable wings and stabs
• Removable rudder
• All control horns included
• Laser cut engine mounting templates
• Hinged wings and stabs
• Hinged Fin and Rudder
• Installed fuel tank
• Mounted and painted Canopy
• Drilled servo control horns 
• Pull pull wire with ball links
• Push rods with installed Ball links
• Carbon Fiber wing tube
• Carbon Fiber tail wing tube
• Carbon Fiber landing gear, Painted to match the color scheme.
• Carbon Fiber tail wheel
• Carbon Fiber spinner, Painted to match the color scheme.

Pilot RC Brings Customer Service to a New Level!
Free wood part replacements to repair your plane.

Damaged your Pilot-RC plane? Don’t worry about it. Send the damaged plane photos to Tony at pilot-rc@139.com and he will send you the pre-cut wood so you can repair it. The pre-cut wood is FREE. You only need to pay the shipping cost. if you want the pre-cut Ultracote covering, Pilot-RC will sell it to you at cost. All replacements are sent directly from the factory in China and shipping costs will be calculated prior to shipment. Offer applies to Pilot-RC airplanes only. Pilot-RC does not have the designs and drawing for other manufacturers parts.

Pretty cool!

PROs:

• Easy to fly 3D trainer
• Fun, fun, fun to fly!
• Very complete hardware package with titanium pushrods, et al
• Cowl attachment… it’s fast and easy to remove and replace, it shows no signs of wear at the attachment points after 20 flights (very different from the H9 Sukhoi)
• Hatch attachment… also shows no signs of wear at the attachment points (also very different than the H9 Sukhoi)
• Firewall not attached… making it easy to setup a DA-200, which I would love on this plane
• Ultra light carbon fiber main gear
• Carbon Fiber tailwheel that provides great ground handling and is holding up great, as well!
• Extensive fuse bracing!

CONs:

• All of these are assembly cons. But, don’t let that stop you from getting this ultra fun to fly plane!
• The plane should DEFINITELY COME with the aileron servos FURTHER from the hinge line!!! Like 2″ further.
• The aileron servos should also be 2″ closer to the root.
• The control horns should be closer to the servo body, and wider apart to accept a conical on each side of the ball link.
• The wingtube tubes should be checked and sanded at the factory
• The pull/pull setup should be worked out a little more completely
• The pull/pull should come with a 3/8″ offset servo arm of 4″ long (an offset fiberglass servo arm is shown in the manual, looks in the 3/8″ offset range, too)
• The pull/pull exit should not be so long and should have 10″ long plastic tubes to run each pull/pull wire through
• The thread (string would be nicer) for the servos should be a few inches longer
• The extensive fuse bracing (a pro) really makes it time consuming to work in the fuse
• There should be strings running through the fuse for the elevator servos. In a location that does not interfere with the pull/pull wires.
• It would be a lot nicer to work with the covering if it was genuine Ultracoat
• It would be nice if the plane came with a 2-piece cowl

With one elevator servo per elevator half, pull/pull rudder, and a DA-170 on RE3 tune pipes my plane came out VERY tail heavy. If I could do it over I would have put a DA-200 on there for that reason and also because the plane is such a floater. After initially building it light with minimal equipment… I am going back and adding equipment everywhere to get the plane to come down. haha

I really love this plane, and am having a blast with it! 🙂  Crankshafts are a blur, Poptops spin forever, harrier rolling loops on the deck are a breeze, Pin Wheels and Flat Spins are awesome. What’s not to love? 🙂  Knife edge flight is all over the place, but so what? haha

Okay, here’s how the review played out starting October 20th, 2015:

The plane arrived today, and here’s what I’ve observed so far!

* The wings weigh 3-lbs 10-oz each.
* The landing gear weighs 0-oz, haha, it’s crazy light… just 11-oz.
* It’s all hinged up, but not gap sealed.
* The pushrods are titanium and the balljoints are already on them.
* The control horns are fiberglass and are ready to be glued in.
* The fuel tank is plumbed, mounted, and has fuel line running to the engine area and T’d off for the fill line.
* A Desert Aircraft style fuel dot is included.
* A carbon fiber spinner painted to match the plane is included.
* Extension connector plastic keepers are included.
* Spoke’d wheels and big fancy wheel pants are included.
* The rudder is as big as a kitchen cabinet door (I love it).
* Ailerons are going to be more than enough for me.
* Elevators might be plenty for me, too.
* The pull/pull cables come assembled and ready to install.

That’s what I’ve noticed so far.

Oh, and the two boxes were delivered in perfect condition and the plane and all parts were in perfect condition.

The workmanship and quality are great, just like the last two 122″ ARFs I just completed. Everything looks very clean so far.

I’ll be running DUBRO TL tread light tires, but these included Pilot tires look good to me:

The ARF comes with sideforce generators and I’ll definitely be trying these out:

A bunch of connector safety clips are included:

Titanium pushrods (these save you a bunch of money) with balljoints already installed on them:

The included tailwheel looks like it would work great to me. It is a direct drive unit:

An included DA style fuel dot, too. Nice savings there, too:

I always wanted to build a bigger rudder for my 122″ H9 Sukhoi, I won’t be needing to do that with the 122″ Pilot Extra.

Lot of bracing, looks like a 20 season plane like the Aeroworks Yak55m:

Well… I wanted to go fast on this one… really I did. 😉 haha

Okay… like everyone nowadays, I guess, the pivot point of the control horn is over the hinge line (with the stock setup). The control horns are also like an inch away from the servo body. So, 1) I don’t get bevel to bevel travel because I hit the control horn on the wing (but I probably get enough travel, so I can live with this one), 2) I don’t get perfectly synchronized servos because I don’t have fine adjustment on the control horns (it is possible with the 3 holes that I have perfect geometry but the hard points would have to have been slid back and forth until that was perfect, and I haven’t seen where any manufacturer has done that yet, so I am just assuming this are not), which is sad because the Hitec servos are so perfectly linear and I wouldn’t get to take advantage of that fact, but I could live with this one, as well. But, 3) I don’t get proper leverage because of how far the control horn is away from the servo body. 3 strikes you’re out! I’ll have to put control horns in a better location. Although, I just want to do it wrong… but I just can’t make myself. haha

P1 Hobbies (www.p1hobbies.com) sent me some graphics, um, this plane is definitely purple. haha

Okay, I looked at the hardpoint and I would have really had to change it to be happy with a bolt style control horn (e.g., DUBRO) like I put on the YakittyYak:

And, I was feeling too lazy to change the hardpoints so I used the stock control horns and setup the geometry the way I did on the Suk:

So, here it is: (UPDATE: look to the end of the review, I changed this out) I used the middle hole on the control horn on the inboard servo. And, the high hole on the control horn in the outboard servo. I’ll check it tomorrow with a protractor and see how close that comes to correct. Probably not very, but you know…

I was asked to explain some of this in a video in the last review (of the AW Yak55), here’s that video:

I’m not using the radio or programmer. And, I end up with equal drag on each side of my airplane throughout the entire range of travel. Gotta love that. What’s really awesome about the Hitec brushless servos is that they are perfectly linear out of the box, the first servo I’ve ever seen that is. What’s so cool is that makes the protractor setup even more fun, because you don’t have to do anything but set it up protractor style and then just adjust your sub trims. After that you can make your end points all the same and you’re done! Very awesome!

More graphics from P1 Hobbies.

Are you guys using these servo screws? They sure make me feel more confident with these new high powered servos:

My inclination was to cut out the two inboard servo holes… but I talked myself into the far inside and far outside… for more durability in freestyle.

Ailerons and rudder will have 9380s… going with two D-950TW 32-Bit servos per elevator half.  They come with a socket head servo arm screw, as well. FWIW. haha

Joe Nolasco at P1 Hobbies ( www.p1hobbies.com )sent me another sticker, the Fromeco wings. Looks kinda cool next to the DA wings me thinks:

Okay… that was time consuming. First plane that has taken longer than a couple of minutes to work out. First plane I wasn’t able to get ideal geometry, resolution, leverage, linearity and synchronization without a total makeover. Leverage and resolution I had in the 3 pics I showed up thread. But, I still hadn’t put on a protractor to check synchronization and adjust for linearity.

First… linearity. I was not able to get it with the ball link where I show it up thread in the 3 pics. With the ball link on the side of the stock control horns like that the best I could get was 7 degrees different, up vs. down, off of center. I was able to get equal travel (47 degrees up, 47 degrees down) by putting the ball links on the opposite side of the stock control horns (the outside instead of the inside). But, that left me with no leverage, and lots of pry load vs. side load. So, that was out. I ended up going with the stock ball link location at 6 degrees different, up vs. down, off of center as a compromise between leverage and linearity. Reason for not getting it ideal, like usual? The servo location. It’s so close to the hinge line that the pushrods are very short (1-1/2″), so the angles get too severe. So, anyway, now, one of my ailerons will always be moving just a frog hair faster than the other one. Never have had that since I first figured all this out in like 2003. If I fall in love with the plane I could always, at any time, move the servos out another 2-1/2″. If I did that it would end up ideal like all my other planes.

Next up… synchronization. Having the outboard servo traveling the same distance (104 degrees in this case) as the inboard servo in order to make the surface travel a specific chosen distance (13″, in this case). I always get this with finely adjustable bolt style control horns, but never so far with factory located non bolt style control horns. This case was no different. I used the low hole for the inboard servo and needed 104 degrees of travel on the servo arm to achieve 6-1/2″ of aileron travel up, and 6-1/2″ of aileron travel down, from center. On the outboard servo I needed 108 degrees of travel to achieve the same 6-1/2″ of aileron travel, up and down. At least it is only 4 degrees off, but the numbers let you know, that if anything, the middle hole should be slightly lower. So, for those that put in a middle servo in the middle hole, and the outside servo in the high hole… things would be way off.

So, now that I’ve returned to a normal stock setup… I’m only 6 degrees off on the linearity and only 4 degrees off on the synchronization.

Again, usually it doesn’t go like this… with the servos out far enough to use 2-1/2″ to 4″ pushrods I’m usually setup all perfect in minutes. But, on this one I took some time to sort it out and realize that I couldn’t get it perfect, but I could get it close.

Monkey is at it again, I see. Ordering parts without my knowledge! It is a cute little bastard, though. I haven’t seen a little motor in a long time. Just gotta figure out what I want to put it in… maybe the little brother to this plane, we’ll see.

Lowest hole on the inboard servo:

Middle hole on the outboard servo:

Three of these thin washers from microfasteners… on the side towards the servo body… to avoid binding throughout the range of travel:

The reason I like having all four (or sometimes all six) aileron servos traveling the exact same distance off center to move the aileron the exact same distance up and down is that it makes the servos synchronized so that they last longer due to not binding at any point throughout the range of travel. I’ve always had that until this plane because the servos are right at the bevel… too close to the control horns for perfectly synchronized servos. It’s fine, but if I keep this thing for awhile I’ll definitely move the servos further away from the control horns, about 2″ away.

I’m going pull/pull. I can change it out to push/pull later if I need to. I’m going with four elevator servos and I like my planes to be pretty neutral… so we’ll see how the pull/pull works out. Also, seems like when I use these tuned pipes I end up more tailheavy, as well.

There’s a lot of good glues out there… for me I’ve always trusted ZAP… you can get it at microfasteners.com now, too.

Still way impressed with the Hitec brushless servos. Here I’m running them on one Fromeco Lith-ion pack through a Futaba 7018sb RX (the 7018 turned out to have some design flaws).

I’ve seen one radio rep state that power distribution units do nothing and are a waste. That’s he’s tried them and feels no difference. I ran tests on this way way back in the day and saw a massive difference. 4volt drop vs 1volt drop to my elevator servos in my Carden. Been meaning to setup some tests and make a video. This Futaba 7018sb RX setup on my new plane made it easy to show a test which clearly shows there is a huge difference between what a standard RX can do and what a purpose built power distribution can do:

Definitely a lot of options for getting power to the servos these days, and in the old days. I’ve always wanted to make sure my servos were not starved for power. Today’s servos draw even more power than yesterday’s servos. I’ve always thought we’d get lower prices from servo manufacturers if the manufacturers got less servos in for repair/replacement. And, I’ve always thought that would happen if we had linkage setup that didn’t introduce pry load, had servos that needed to be synchronized actually synchronized throughout the entire range of travel, and also did not starve the servos for power. Putting a volt meter on a Y with my elevator servos (longest extensions) helped me realize I wanted a better power distribution setup. I dropped 1volt when using an Emcotec, I dropped 4volts just using the RX. Some RXs do seem much better at handling current these days, though, and some do not… e.g., Futaba 7018sb jumbo lead.

Futaba 7018sb exposed! Basically, shame on Futaba…

Finished up the stabs once I got done trying to figure out the troubles with the 7018sb:

So stabs and wings RTF, and got the fuse on the gear:

I used the stock axles… I ended up putting the axle in a vise to attach them:

I’m going with the stock tailwheel, too:

I decided I didn’t want any spacers off the firewall (like on the H9 Sukhoi) so I measured 3/4″ in on the motorbox sides and bottom and marked that:

Then I lined up the firewall there and bolted it on. I used my fancy drill block to keep the holes straight:

Okay… where were we?

I marked the center line of the aluminum bracket and spaced out my machine screws 1/4″ offset from the machine screws on the firewall so I could easily get a wrench in there to tighten up the locknuts. I’ve been asked why I use a lot of stainless steel machine screws. I’ll use alloy steel, aluminum, or stainless depending on the situation. SS is harder than alloy steel. SS is heavier and doesn’t seem to have quite the same hold with locktite that alloy does, so I don’t use it everywhere. Aluminum breaks and strips easy, so there are only a few places I use it. Here I drilled my holes nice and tight for the 4/40 screws. So I went with SS because the head is hard to strip:

I used 3/4″ machine screws, but 1/2″ is all you need, I just didn’t have any handy:

I drilled pilot holes for the pilot holes, haha, and was pretty accurate drilling the Pilot RC laser marks for the DA-170.

Once you have your pilot hole you can run your drill in reverse to start your final hole and it will keep the wood from getting splintered up. Then switch to normal drilling direction and finish the hole off. You can start it in reverse on each side of the hole for a nice clean result:

 

Final hole after reversing trick:

I used 1/4-20 blindnuts for the engine bolts:

I trial fitted the motor without gluing in the firewall:

The Pilot manual said to space out the engine 1/4″-1/2″, but I went with an 1/8″ for looks.  (UPDATE: because of how the CG worked out, going 1/2″ here would probably be smart)

Also, I wanted to make mention of the material used for the firewall. It’s much harder and has many more layers than either the H9 Sukhoi or AW Yak. It has at least 8 layers and is super hard. I usually epoxy in my blindnuts but I thought to myself, “no need.”

Didn’t get much done tonight (things are looking sketch for a weekend maiden). I started by gluing in the firewall. I used Zap 30 minute epoxy. I’ve always used Zap. What do you guys use? I guess Bob Smith is good, too, yeah? I got this at microfasteners.com in the big bottles. I’ve always used the small ones but the way I’m going through the stuff lately, the big bottles are working out well. haha

I was talking to Dave Johnson today… you know, I really can’t believe how nice and upbeat and positive that guy is after all these years of dealing with us modelers. He was just a treat to talk to… like always for the last 14 years I’ve known him. No wonder everyone is so loyal to him, he’s awesome. Anyway, we were talking about baffling… so somehow that great vibe he puts out got associated with baffling in my sub-conscience. So, I hung up from him and had this visceral need to do some serious baffling to this one piece cowl. That Dave it good, man. haha Anyway, that slowed my progress big time, and this is as far as I’ve gotten on it. I’m trying to have all the baffling be on the motorbox (while still having the engine removable).

  

It’s like a science project:

With a variety of temp guns I get about 135F upon landing. The telemetry guys say they’re getting numbers during flight of around 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I can hold onto my heads right after I land… doesn’t seem like 350 degrees to me. Anyway, I mostly did this baffling job for Tony Russo because he told me baffling is a big deal. And, I like Tony because he’s ornery. hehe

I went with an 1/8″ gap in the front because that’s what I usually do. And, I went with 3/8″ in the back because that’s what Dave Johnson said works well:

I didn’t like how the cantilevered plywood was bouncing around so I used some velcro over the prop shaft housing to snug it up:

Well, Steve @ Chief told me if I wanted to run RE3s I’d have to knock out the back of the canister tunnel. Also, that tune pipe mounts were not included in the kit. Lucky for me he didn’t know about the latest rev planes. There’s plenty of length for pipes in the canister tunnel:

What Steve was right about was no pipe mounting brackets (only canister mounts). I used the Desert Aircraft mounts. They were a little too wide for the front mounting area, and not tall enough either. I spliced them together and also added about 1-1/2″ to the top. I also added some silicone fuel tubing to the tubing DA supplies because I thought the fit was a little too loose.

Aeroworks had drop in DA tune pipes, Hangar 9 had nearly drop in DA tune pipes, Pilot RC has the tunnel but you’re on your own for the mounts. But, what Pilot does better than the others is these covers to replace the holes you cut out if you’re going with pipes:

Last thing I did tonight was get the rear mounts glued in:

Didn’t work on the plane long tonight… spent six hours cleaning up and organizing after the baffling science project. Glad the pipe mounts are done though. Definitely in the homestretch now.

The stock wheels do look like they might wear out pretty quickly… so I’m going with DUBRO 4.5″ TLs:

Anyway… back to the purple monster… I was thinking of going with this power setup:

Couple little details:

I’ve put together over 100 planes and always ran the fuel line through the plywood at an angle with a dremel (chamfer’d nicely), and never had the fuel line look even the slightest bit worn. But, some guys were asking about using a grommet so I put a grommet on for fun.

I always used to use 1/8″ fuel line for my 100cc planes and 5/32″ for my 150cc planes. But, the larger fuel line didn’t work well on the fuel dot and also was scary big on the Tillotson carb nipple (he said nipple, hehe). So, now I’m using 1/8″ on everything.

In the old days I never used a set screw and always got my canisters to stay attached. But, on the Sukhoi I ran 2 screws per clamp (8 screws total for the plane), and on this plane I’m trying 1 screw per clamp (4 screws total for the plane).

I used an Aeroworks vent dot… I used to use a fuel fitting nipple sometimes… they work well, but can get hung up on things, these are pretty slick:

I placed the dot and fixed the vent line where it would avoid the hot pipes and headers:

Gathered everything up for a quick installation of the Hitec D950TW throttle servo. You know the drill, pilot hole for the screw, screw in the servo screw, remove the screw, drop of thins CA, let dry, screw down the servo.

I thought I was so on the ball thinking ahead and buying a 1″ H9 servo arm to match (tried it in the 3/4″ hole).

But, it was too long for the short throttle servo arm (I keep asking Dave to lengthen that thing!). So I went with a stock plastic arm drilled at about 5/8″ out. That gave me 100/100 end points. I probably could get even drill it at 1/2″ but I’m not used to having such a short arm, and I’m not sure above the leverage, etc. I’d just rather have a longer throttle arm. But, 100/100 is not terrible. Also, if you go back and read QQs article on linkages you’ll see that you can adjust the throttle curve with the length of the pushrod vs with a curve in your radio:

I pinned the firewall:

And, here’s the whole business pretty much done:

Okay, I had four great fuel dots in stock to choose from. I had two DA fuel dots, one Pilot dot that came with the plane (nice!), and one Jersey Modeler dot that is very nice, as well. Yet and still I ordered a JEModel fuel dot from Aeroworks because they’re my favorite now… because they’re easy on the arthritis and fingernails.

I’m getting close… maybe RTF by tonight… but the wife may have other ideas.

Picked up these Nord-Lock washers after Terry’s Custom and several other guys recommended them. I’ll be using Nord-Lock washers on the header bolts and also on the prop bolts:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#91812a427/=10aeo0k

Didn’t get much done today…

Got the wheel pants mounted:

I wonder if I need to cut an opening in the cowl with all these openings cut out behind it?

I changed the stock tailwheel tire to a DUBRO 1-1/2″:

I attached the rudder and the tailwheel spring arm:

Big question now that the headers are on… would the cowl fit over the baffling and the headers, answer?, just barely:

Started on the pull/pull, it’s not going all that fast. If you go push/pull like Spats you’re also going to have to take some time to put in hard points and servo pockets… Spats probably has that down to a science, though. The whole rudder servo setup could use some refinement, imo, for a fast installation that works well.

It does have a very beefy rudder servo tray for the pull/pull rudder servos.

I need to go pull/pull because of four elevator servos and the tuned pipes. So, I’m going to have to sort it out. The AW planes are five minutes tops, done. This is going to take a little time. But, I’ve done pull/pull on over 100 planes of all shapes and sizes, so it’ll come out fine.

The pull/pull rudder turned out to actually be pretty easy. I…

1) took the dremel and chamfer’d a couple of ball joints real quick like to save some wear and tear on the cables.
2) I used some throw away cheap steel pushrods and the chamfer’d ball joints to make cheap easy “tensioners”
3) I cut off the end of the stock control horns on the rudder down to the middle hole. That left me with a 9/16″ offset behind the rudder hinge line, but now plenty of throw/travel.
4) I broke out some of the eyelet plywood in the fuse that was in the way of the cables.
5) I did a Mickey and Jerry (Micky Mouse, Jerry Rig) rudder servo offset control arm that had a 9/16″ offset behind the servo output shaft. The servo arm is 4″, so is the distance across the rudder control horn holes I’m using (the middle holes).
6) I picked up some 160-lb test stainless steel cable. I picked up some “double” copper sleeves to crimp on, too. I used two crimps per connection.

So, nice geometry, nice working action. The non pulling cable does not get tighter nor looser throughout the range of travel.

If anyone wants to go pull/pull rudder on this plane, and wants a super fast and easy time of it… with full travel… just get one of these:

http://www.aircraftinternational.co…/RtnTab/133/PageIndex/1/CatID/54/Default.aspx

I’ve used a bunch of them (even putting them on bushing bellcrank setups) and they would work perfect here… possibly even slightly better than what I did because of the thickness of the rudder.

If I had known what the situation was with this ARF I would have had one of these ready and been done in a few minutes with tons of throw and good geometry. I just thought, 2015, it’s going to be plug and play.

Here’s a picture of some of the Nord-Locks I got. I used Nord-Locks on the prop bolts and the header bolts:

I use flat head screws and countersink them to attach the headers to the tune pipes… then put the clamp over them so they can never work their way out.

Even a reaching tool was not going to help me get the elevator extensions through all that X bracing… I removed the covering off the bottom of the fuse like I’ve done a million times before to get my wires attached where I want them. I needed to make sure they were not going to get sawn in half by the pull/pull cables.

Is it just me, or did covering get crappier? It just seems like junk compared to 8 years ago. Back then cheap ARFs had junk china coat, but GS pretty much all had real Ultra Coat. You could easily remove it and re-apply it. I do not recommend trying it with this stuff. Either these guys are not using real ultra coat anymore, or ultra coat isn’t very good anymore. ???

Even with the covering removed it was still a challenge to get the wires run and attached how I wanted them:

When my wires are running down the fuse and I want to zip tie them to the cross members, e.g. formers, I don’t like to zip tie them directly and the zip tie cutting into them at basically a 45 degree angle. I’ll put a zip tie on the former and then zip tie the wires to that zip tie. Seems like a lot less cutting into the insulation:

I had trouble with the wing tubes being too tight. Barely got it through the fuse (hope I can get it out) and can’t get it in the wing:

Maybe maiden over the weekend if I can free up some time. I glassed the baffling tonight. I put in the Tech-Aero IBEC, too.

I tried tonight… here I am in my “I tried” pose. haha

99 out of 100 times I don’t even have to range check… just start it and go on the maidens. But, I got unlucky here, not sure what I did, but the engine had no spark. No spark, no start, no maiden. haha Maybe tomorrow… but the wife has her arms folded as she’s looking at me right now. :O lol

So after a weekend of working on starting the engine, which meant chainsaw’n off all that custom baffling, et al… Tavis (aka Buttface) got my engine started. I did the first part, I checked and had no spark… I luckily had a spare DA ignition that took care of that. But, the engine still wouldn’t start or even pop. I called Tavis and he said, “Walbro carb?” I said, yeah. He said, “was the carb drip’n gas like a fountain after you kept trying to get it to pop with the choke on?” I said, yeah. He said, “remove the plugs and tell me what you see.” I said, perfectly clean and dry like they just came out of the factory box. He said, “you have a dollar?” I said, what? He said, “paypal me a dollar and I’ll tell you how to fix it.” I said something that can’t be repeated here. haha He said, “drop the carb, pull it all apart, use some 2-stroke oil to lube all the gaskets, especially the 1/2 circle ones under the two screw metal plate. Start the engine. Send me my money.” lol

I got off the phone with that redneck and just shook my head. But, I had tried everything I could think of, so feeling like a fool the whole time I did what Tavis said. I put it all back together and the motor, she fired right up! Well, after about 30 flips (which is 270 flips less than I already had on the motor). It still wouldn’t pop, and was hard to start. I called Tavis back and reported what I had done and experienced. Tavis said, “run it up good for a couple of minutes, and let it run at low throttle for awhile. Then let it cool down, try to start it again with the choke and it will pop and always start easy after that.” I did, it did. :O I will be giving a little more credence to what Tavis has to say from now on. haha

I put the plane back together (my whole weekend spent trying to get the engine to start) and it was around 3pm and getting dark at just before 5pm with the field 35 minutes away. I was putting on the cowl when it started to rain, it had been storming all day with gusty high winds. The devil on my left shoulder said, “just go.” I obeyed, as I usually do. I got to the field and all went well with setup, engine starting, and range check. But, the wind was trying to flip the plane over in the pits. It was getting dark, and the angel on my right shoulder did a nice job of convincing me that tomorrow is another day. But, the devil on my left shoulder said, “just do it!” The hearing in my left ear always seems just a little more clear than that of my right ear. I almost took off down the runway, but thought to top off the fuel. While I was doing that I remember I had set no rates nor expos. Five minutes later I had those programmed in. Thanks god because on low rates this plane can do more than any plane I’ve ever owned on high rates.

It was dark, it was cold, it was blowing gusty, I was alone with my new plane and engine… I punched it. I can’t tell you much about how the plane flies, the wind had better control over it than I did. I was just grateful that five minutes later… when I decided I had pushed my luck beyond all reason… and was now porpoising up and down the runway looking at some kind of smackdown (bad or worse than bad)… that I somehow picked the perfect gust to settle the plane down on. The tires touched down the runway like a feather landing on a pillow. I got to it just before the wind was going to pick it up and flip it over. I put my headlamp on, packed up, drove off, and smiled. Another uneventful maiden.

The camera made it look lighter than it was:

Reality was that the carb had a problem somewhere and would only start at half throttle. Oiling up the gaskets really didn’t do anything to help. DA replaced the carb and all was/is fine.

Well, until I can get some video, I thought I would list off the parts on the plane:

* Pilot RC 122″ Extra 330 SC ARF
* DA 170 on RE3 Pipes (DA pipe mounts)
* Hitec 9380 Brushless servos (thanks to ZDZ Joe… not sure I’m suppose to mention where I got them :O ) These servos are crazy good in so many ways, I’m so glad Joe got them to me or else I wouldn’t know what I had been missing.) I’m looking forward to Hitec getting them back in stock! I don’t want to have to run anything else!
* H9 2″ Servo Arms
* Associated blue titanium push rods
* DUBRO blue ball links
* Smart-Fly PowerExpander Competition 12 Plus
* Smart-Fly Failsafe Pin Switch
* Futaba 6014 Receiver
* Tech-Aero Ultra IBEC
* PSP Manufacturing Fuel Tank
* Fromeco 5200mah Batteries
* DUBRO TL tires
* Nord Locks on the headers and prop bolts
* Assorted MicroFasteners.com nuts, bolts, and Zap glues
* 160lbs test non coated stainless steel pull/pull cables
* homemade tensioners out of DUBRO ball links
* stock tailwheel with DUBRO tire
* home made 1/2″ offset rudder servo arm (these should be included with the ARF, imo)
* stock fuel dot (I was too lazy to use the AW one that I bought specifically for this plane, haha, and the stock fuel dot is actually pretty easy to get in and out)
* no spinner mounted at the moment, may try the stock one and/or get an anodized TruTurn.

Poptop on 2nd flight of plane and engine:

I went out to the field around 3pm today to get some gas through the new engine. Seems already broken in, though, as it is ripping the Falcon 31-12 prop. I didn’t plan on video just yet, and I was out there alone, but Butch showed up and got some video from the cell phone.

Capture from the cell phone video… pretty amazing these cell phones:

The balance is good for 3D, it’s tail heavy. If you flip it inverted going along level it will do an outside loop. haha That’s with pull/pull rudder and only one servo per elevator half. Imagine if I would have went push/pull rudder and two elevator servos per half! It would have been a wild ride! I might have liked it. haha I toy’d with moving my RX packs into the motorbox after day one (yesterday). But, feel like this CG is alright where it is at after day two (today). I can’t fly a precision rolling circle with it… but it’s good fun! haha

I’m still trying to get used to the plane, comparing it to the AW Yak I was just flying the pendulum has definitely swung the opposite way. It’s still unpredictable to me, but I’m working on getting familiar with it. What’s slowing me down a little is this monster engine. :O I had a 31-12 on it yesterday and it was ripping that on the maiden. So, today I tried a 32-11w and it was a little better, but it ripped it too. I put a throttle curve in so that I’m only at 50% servo travel when the stick is at 80%. That calmed it down a bit, too. I guess I’ll try a 32-12 or a 34-10… maybe I just need a more inefficient prop. Anyway, I need a prop that will tame this beast a bit. It just honks a lot harder than the last one I just got a couple of months ago from DA. Same DA-170 model… but this one is stronger.

This isn’t the official video, or anything, I have some ideas for one when I get the prop sorted out and get a little more familiar with the plane…. but Butch shot this one today so I thought to post it:

The color scheme is really working for me in the air… I need all the help I can get because my eyes, they are not so good. I never saw, in any video I’ve watched, a 122″ plane spin like this one does! I think I could get away with more tail weight if I really wanted to get crazy. But, I like to “fly” my plane, too. And, already knife edge (and some other flying) is a bit unpredictable. Which is why you see me doing so much knife edge in the video… I’m trying to get comfortable with it in knife edge. The H9 Suk is a rock in knife edge. But, it won’t poptop like this will! haha

This motor is still not broken in and already it has ripped the following 3 props:

32-10 Mejzlik
31-12 Falcon
32-11w Falcon

Also, as previously mentioned there is a lot of X bracing up and down the fuse. I’m so glad it is there now that I am flying it, but I was wishing I had tiny hands and long thin flexible arms when I was putting gear in there! I was cursing Tony, haha, but now I’m happy for all that bracing. I did chop some wood out of the way to get my hands in there to put on the wing bolts, I may chop some more, you can’t stop me! haha

Also, this plane needs to come with a tube on each side of the fuse with elevator servo pull strings in it. (and not in the way of the pull/pull or push/pull rudder setups). And, longer ends on the strings than the pull thread used for the ailerons, that thread was just barely long enough to be usable. And, the hatch… I’ve worked on mine a lot, but it is still not that easy to get on.

I ordered a Falcon 33-11W and DA is sending out a new carb and ignition. I got a new trash can for the shop, for some reason I liked the brand. haha

Gotta say, this included tailwheel setup is working great… and holding up fine so far:

I think it’s a good tailwheel, though. Ground handling is solid, and I’m on a paved runway (anything works on grass). And, it’s lighter than a lot of aftermarket versions… and it is holding up well. I tie my planes down by the tailwheel in the back of my pickup and they’re blowing around in the open air. I’m really hard on tailwheels, and can’t use a bent wire axle style; they bend and break quickly. But, this tailwheel is holding up to it just fine. I’ve also done a couple of harrier landings and no signs of weakness. Yeah, it was fast and easy to put on, and I’m totally happy with it so far.
I want to get another one of these 122″ Extra 330sc’s and put a DA-200 on it…  

Did I ever show the radio gear? I still haven’t neaten’d it up:

I picked up some long thin cable ties… should make it easier to get them in hard to reach places.

New carb should be here today. 33-11w prop showed up yesterday, also a 30-13evo light. Gotta try all that. I have a model picked out for the photoshoot… so plenty to do still!

Got the new carb on and lengthened the pushrod to change my throttle curve manually. Got the 33-11w on there, might go try all this out today.

Bolted on the carb… everything still looked clean and tight under the hood. I was too lazy to drive out to the field but I started it up in the driveway. It popped! Which has only happened maybe once with my last carb. And, that carb pretty much always had to be started at half throttle. This carb popped and then started at low throttle. With the change to the mechanical curve I think I’m going to have to take out the radio throttle curve.

I couldn’t convince myself I was fine on exit air. So, I opened up the bottom of the cowl and put an air dam there

I went with some blenderm tape on gaps (I prefer covering but I was too lazy) to get some more control surface authority… even though I have about 70 degrees on the elevators after a rework today. We’ll see how it works out:

One pro, one con:

Pro: IMO, Jase would win all the freestyle events if he flew my 122″ Pilot Extra. How’s that for a strong statement about how much I like the plane?

Con: Could use some refinements at the factory to make user assembly easier and with a better result.

The new motor ripped the 33-11w, as well! The prop felt pretty good hovering and flying around… but it seems to have a lot of braking action in the tumbling maneuvers. I switched back to the 31-12 and the crankshafts were a blur. Pop tops got really good. And, I nailed a couple of great pinwheels. I started worrying about blowing up the air-frame so I’ve eased back on all the high G maneuvers. I have a photo-shoot tentatively scheduled for this Sunday. And, hope to make a cool video in a new location soon. I was thinking to hire a student videographer, or something. As this time around I’m finding it impossible to get usable footage (from just having guys at the field try to film). Here’s a little video from this afternoon from another first time camera guy at the field:

Photoshoot and more video still coming up on this one. Then, yeah, onto the next one. haha I have a DA-120 looking for a home. But, I want a four cylinder, too. Trying to figure out which plane next. Of course the dream plane would be a Krill Sukhoi.

Okay, I need 3 servos per aileron, for sure. So, the stock horns are not going to work out for synchronization at ‘tul. I grabbed the dremel and they are now history. Viva el bolts!

DUBRO 10-32 bolts… all 7/8″ from the hinge line, all in a line, all squared up in each direction… or as we say in construction, they are “square with the world.” haha

Going with two on each elevator half, as well. And, probably 3 on the rudder while I’m at it!

Did the shoot today!

Cut off the stock control horns and drilled in some bolts! Man, ssssssooooooooooooooooooooooo much better! Fast, easy, setup. Exactly 53 degrees off the TBD center each direction yields exactly 6″ up and down. Synchronized servos with equal drag on each side of the plane anytime, all the time.

BTW, no question about it, the servos should be 2″ closer to the leading edge of the wings, and 2″ closer to the root of the wings. Absolutely, end of story… they need to be moved. If you want your servos synchronized you will have to work it out some way other than stock. You can measure and cut the stock control horns before gluing them in… or whatever… but something will need to be done beyond the stock setup.

Hey, I didn’t realize the spinner was already cut… doh!… haha… it was easy to put on. I didn’t even put it on for the photoshoot because I thought it was going to take all day. haha

Had the field all to myself this afternoon… it was heaven!