Ordered my Su-26

[Smitty]

You must have hit real hard, cause I have really tested mine. But I am getting better with the landings.---Smitty

 

[rmyers]

We didn't think it was that bad of a bounce. I don't like the look of the plywood they used. It almost looks like the stuff they packed the plane in for shipping. The aircraft ply I used will be much stronger and i wanted to move the cg forward anyway.

 

[rmyers]

Well the gear is on! At least for tonight. Waiting for some balsarite to dry before one last sanding and re-covering. I still need to figure out how to cover the holes. Either hatches or just covering. The wind out here decided to act like it's March for the next week so I'm in no hurry. Tom what did you use lite-ply? And while I'm thinking about it Herve told me to use Monocote Missile Red do you concur? I haven't used Monocote in years.

 

[Tseres]

Yes I used light ply. But I used 2 pieces of 1/64 ply. . This allows you to keep the curve of the fuse. Put some covering down in font of the gear that you can take back off. Cut out 2 pieces of ply about 1/8 larger on each side... (TIP= You can use scissors to cut the ply.) put some wood glue in between 2 ply pieces and tape them down over the monocoat in front of the gear directly in front of the cut out you left open. Now you go away and let it cure over night. Then you can make a cardboard template of the opening and trace it onto the ply and cut it down to size.

If that sounds like to much trouble just span the opening with covering. You cant see it when its on the ground anyway. Up to you.

 

[Rudolph Andersen]

We didn't think it was that bad of a bounce. I don't like the look of the plywood they used. It almost looks like the stuff they packed the plane in for shipping. The aircraft ply I used will be much stronger and i wanted to move the cg forward anyway.

The plywood used on this old plane is terrible, we pinned the firewall and it felt hollow when drilling.

The landing gear plate is held in by some balsa tri-stock. Notice the tri-stock is not even well fitted and notice how one side looks so much worse than the other.

 

[Tseres]

This is an old design from the BME days. Had many discussions about it with a few people. Everyone agrees that there is no way to beef up the gear area and have a canister tunnel. People put up with it cause they like the way the plane flies. I'm one of them. However I eliminated the canister tunnel by putting a ply all the way across. I believe if I don't do anything stupid again, it will last me a long time.

 

[sweetpea]

Missile red is right also.

If I ever hurt mine I'll do what tseres did and remove the canister tunnel and do hatches

 

[Tseres]

Missile red is right also.

If I ever hurt mine I'll do what tseres did and remove the canister tunnel and do hatches

You had yours longer then anyone I know that has one.

 

[sweetpea]

I love mine. I've splayed the gear a couple times but never broke anything. Just lucky.

 

[rmyers]

Yes I used light ply. But I used 2 pieces of 1/64 ply. . This allows you to keep the curve of the fuse. Put some covering down in font of the gear that you can take back off. Cut out 2 pieces of ply about 1/8 larger on each side... (TIP= You can use scissors to cut the ply.) put some wood glue in between 2 ply pieces and tape them down over the monocoat in front of the gear directly in front of the cut out you left open. Now you go away and let it cure over night. Then you can make a cardboard template of the opening and trace it onto the ply and cut it down to size.

If that sounds like to much trouble just span the opening with covering. You cant see it when its on the ground anyway. Up to you.

Thanks to the weather out here I've got the time. I'm trying to make the hatches the way you suggested. The laminated ply is drying up now. I agree based on the way this plane flies it makes sense to overlook the design flaw. This fix ought to work well. I was hoping to see some aluminum angle around that gear plate. But it just wasn't there.