Scale RCM 1/3 Scale Champ Build

[Snoopy1]

Sorry to hear that it is specially hard to except on first flight. This past Wednesday I lost my Havoc on the maiden flight three minutes in and all of a sudden no control plane is to fast a little to far and the next thing I was into the ground at a good clip of speed. The elevator servo was dead. Plane gone total distraction. It happens.

 

[TonyHallo]

Sorry to hear about your problem as well.
I did find a RC Guys Cessna 150 Aerobat at AMR RC in stock. I called RC Guys and Dan said the factory in China that made their planes closed up and the planes are no longer available. AMR had three 150's in stock. should be here on Monday. The Cessna will get married to the floats as they sustained little damage. Another build for the future.

 

[AKNick]

Been working on the aileron hinging, once this is completed I hope to sand the wings and cover with Stits fabric. Will post a photo or two later.
On the flip side I lost the Cessna float plane on the maiden flight due to faulty plug on the switch. I had bought several sets of knockoff Deans plugs at Toledo many years ago, I thought I had got rid of them, I guess I was wrong. After a half dozen laps around the Acme Lake, got a telemetry lost alarm and the plane spiraled into the the ground across the lake. After impact received a telemetry recovered alert. Spent two days in the back yard trying to determined the cause, never would have guessed a Deans Ultra plug. When I was about ready to give up happened to bump the plug and got the alarm. The knockoff male plug has a satin finished spring while the genuine plugs are polished shinny. I can plug it in and work fine and wiggle a little and loose continuity. I'm petty sure the knockoff female plugs work fine, the problem lies in the male end.

It's nice to figure these things out for a piece of mind. This is the reason I've turned away from deans all together. It's hard to imagine four flat surfaces making a perfect connection polished or not as the springs don't make contact with the other tab. I've seen quite a few with uneven wear. But yes, the genuine Deans are much higher quality, I don't think they hold a candle to the AMASS XT60's or CC polarized 4.5mm connectors for that size rating... even the EC3's are a better option I think.
I gave my Icon A5 to a buddy, he was flying it last night when one flap decided to dump full deflection. Very strange, must have had water damage or something. It's never pretty when a float plane hits the water!

 

[TonyHallo]

It is amazing how hard water can be!!

Back to work!!! I have the wings about ready to cover, servos mounted, linkage complete, etc. I decided to use the original Steward System paint for the project and was even happier when I discovered they have the original colors available. I ordered a quart of yellow and a pint of orange to start. I hope to paint the wings and then determine if I will need more yellow to finish the fuselage. I'm sure the pint of orange will do for the bottom of the fuselage.
For the N numbers and other scale markings I plan to use http://www.aerographics.com/catalog.php. They can cut the graphics to any scale. I'm hoping their bright orange is a close match to the 7AC orange. I have a color sample here, I need to open the can and check. If not I will get them to cut paint masks and spray the numbers.

 

[TonyHallo]

Started putting the fabric down. Using Steward Systems Ecobond to attach the Stits lite fabric. Water based, no odor which is nice. Brush on two coats of Ecobond allowing it dry, then using an iron at 225F, iron the fabric in place. Very much the same as Stits. For the strut fittings I ironed the fabric around the perimeter, did a light shrink, painted the fabric where the fitting where sticking up with Ecobond, allowed it dry, then cut the slits with a double edged razor blade. After all the fabric is attached to the ribs and leading edge, a coat of Ecobond is painted onto the glued areas and immediately wiped off, this finishes the gluing process.
I did the bottom of one wing last night. The wings are under cambered, the bottom is shrunk to 250F and glued. Appears to be well bonded to the ribs.
Here's the top of the left wing ready for fabric. I'm wrapping the fabric around the leading edge rather than using the two piece blanket method.

 

[AKNick]

Beautiful structure work and it's super exciting to see the covering go on. The key to success with Stewart System is controlling the humidity environment. Very good/friendly product being water based, haven't seen too many modelers use it in place of the MEK based PolyFiber.

 

[TonyHallo]

Well I'm working in my air conditioned basement, about 62 F. It about the same as Poly Fiber, less stink.

 

[TonyHallo]

The top of the wing went on well. All the fabric is attached and shrunk to 250 F.

 

[TonyHallo]

The service manual states a new and simplified method of attaching the covering to the ribs is used on the Champion. 3/4" tape is laid over the fabric and ribs and fastened in place with #4 screws and washers over which 2" tape is laid.
I used 1/2" tape, #0 pan head screws and washers, and laid 3/4" tape on top. I have about 80 screws in and a long way to go. The spacing is 1 1/8" outside the prop blast area and 7/8" in the prop blast area.

 

[WMcNabb]

The service manual states a new and simplified method of attaching the covering to the ribs is used on the Champion. 3/4" tape is laid over the fabric and ribs and fastened in place with #4 screws and washers over which 2" tape is laid.
I used 1/2" tape, #0 pan head screws and washers, and laid 3/4" tape on top. I have about 80 screws in and a long way to go. The spacing is 1 1/8" outside the prop blast area and 7/8" in the prop blast area.

View attachment 115466
View attachment 115467

Very Nice!!