Sport The 182 gets "Gassed"

[stangflyer]

I don't know if this really qualifies for a build thread, but I guess it's kinda sorta maybe a build in a way. Something a little different from what I have been doing lately. The Hangar 9 Cessna has been sitting in the corner for the better part of two or so years. (Not sure I remember exactly how long it's been) I lost interest with it when I started flying gas and giant scale. Plus it was one of those "drink Nitro by the gallons planes". But as time goes on, it is apparent that I have a need for a "just poke holes in the sky" plane. Plus, I think it would be another great plane to teach my grandsons to fly on. Oh sure, I still have my "pimped" out 70" trainer that is also getting gassed. But this one can serve many purposes. Fun flies, training, poke holes in the sky....heck, I might even see if I can "huck" it. LOL. Not really, but a cool thought.

First a little history on the Cessna. I wanted to do something just a tad different than what most people were doing for present day. Oh sure, a big Cessna powered by a glow (shudder) motor. That's been done. How about one with a big block four stroke glow? Yup, pretty sure that one has been done too. Well how about one with a Saito 180 four stroke with onboard starter? Well, it's been done but not by everyone. So, why not right?

I purchased the plane from Horizon a few years back and decided I would install all top notch equipment. Well for that time, it was top notch. Amazing to me how quickly, (like computers) our r/c stuff becomes obsolete and outdated in a matter of not months, weeks or days. But realistically in hours. LOL As mentioned, the Cessna was equipped with a Saito 180 four stroke, Hitech high torque metal geared servos. And, a FEMA on board electric starter. Oh heck, this was cool, I thought. For 11 total flights, it was cool. But alas, she went in the corner while I expanded upon the horizon of GIANT SCALE gassers. No regrets, just time to put her back in the air.

Here are a couple of videos of the original setup and maiden flight. Tomorrow, I will start installing a new gas motor and eliminating a ton of weight that she carried just to feed the hungry systems on board. Her all up ready to fly weight minus fuel was 19 pounds. Oh what a tank. She's getting a crash diet. LOL.

The motor I will be using will be the DLA 32cc single with Bowman ring. I promised I would do a review on the motor and since I have slowed down on some things, now is a really good time to get that ball rolling and completed.

So, away we go. Stay tuned...

 

[dhal22]

Excellent, I had a similar Cessna a few yrs back and enjoyed it thoroughly. I had a Moki in it so the sound was great and had plenty of power. A battery malfunction cost me the plane and I never replaced it.

 

[stangflyer]

Excellent, I had a similar Cessna a few yrs back and enjoyed it thoroughly. I had a Moki in it so the sound was great and had plenty of power. A battery malfunction cost me the plane and I never replaced it.

Ah man!! Sorry about that. I remember back in the day, right after I had taught myself to fly by trial and error. (More error than trial I think) I had a Midwest Cherokee. I bet ya'll remember that plane. Built from a box of sticks and gallon of CA. I "tanked" it up with retracts and nose gear light. Cut the ailerons and allowed for flaps. So lots of extra weight. Although it was a .40 size ship, I figured an O.S. 70 surpass would fly it just fine. And fly it, it did. She flew straight and true and hauled the mail quite nicely. Coming in for landings, you had to be on your game cuz she was no floater by no stretch of the imagination. I had her flying about a week. Maybe two. Went up and she's flying around very smoothly. That 70 was humming and the girl was turnin' and burnin'. Everything was going great....Until, Oh man.....no control. I couldn't do much except just watch her go in. Totally destroyed. Upon evaluating the carnage, The 6.0 volt Nicd showed zero volts in one cell. There was no damage to the battery upon impact from the crash. It was still safely nestled in the foam and tucked in the cavity I had placed it when building the plane. I remember many horror stories from the day with "Glow madness". Ah now though...so glad to be using better equipment. LOL

 

[stangflyer]

I got a little done on the Cessna today. My first order of business was getting rid of the mounting blocks for the starter, the throttle servo and mounting blocks and cleaning up the firewall.



I took a look inside the fuse and yup, still clean and still a wiring mess from removing components two years ago. But, it will organize up nicely I think. I obviously won't be using the fuel tanker sized fuel tank that was used with the Saito 180, so I will need to round up a more appropriate sized tank to feed the little 32cc gasser.



Once the mounting blocks and such were removed, I cleaned up the firewall a little and prepped it for sealing paint.



I had done a trial test fit of the little gasser to see what holes would need to be plugged or if I needed to install a whole new firewall. As it turns out, the mounting holes for the DLA 32 were pretty much right in accordance of what was already drilled, so no need to do too much to the firewall. Once I was confidant of the mounting holes, I papered and taped off the fuse and began making things black. LOL

The nice thing about this paint that I stumbled across is made especially for sealing what ever it is sprayed on. It goes on really heavy and wet. But once cured, it gives a real nice finish and adds to the looks of the engine compartment.

While the paint was curing, I used that time to make the needed adjustments to the standoffs to get the placement of the motor on the brass tacks. Once I was satisfied with fit and placement, I mounted the motor to see how she is going to line up. Not too bad. Since I have a brand new cowl, I used the original that was cut for the Saito to test fit the DLA. I really won't have to take any more out of the cowl to allow for cooling than would be normal on any smaller sized gasser plane. Once everything is exactly where I want it, I will cut the new cowl for installation. That will be a while yet though. I think the motor looks...umm, kinda cute on the front of the 182. Matched up with a Graupner 16x8 three blade prop, this little guy should haul the mail just fine.

Tomorrow I will finish up the motor installation and start adding electrical components. From there, I will be re-installing servos, harnesses, fuel tank, fuel dot, receiver and get her set on the balance stands. My plan is I am shooting for this coming weekend for a re-maiden with the 32cc motor up front pulling her along. I am hoping it will be a "gas" (pun intended) of a good time flying it again.

More to come tomorrow.

 

[stangflyer]

Sorry everyone. I totally planned on a little more work on the Cessna tonight after work. I chose instead to have dinner with a friend. Hey, she was cooking... LOL. Just don't think it will work though. She's not a "Redhead".

Will definitely have some progress tomorrow.

 

[dhal22]

Sorry everyone. I totally planned on a little more work on the Cessna tonight after work. I chose instead to have dinner with a friend. Hey, she was cooking... LOL. Just don't think it will work though. She's not a "Redhead".

Will definitely have some progress tomorrow.

Progress with the 'friend' or the plane?

 

[stangflyer]

Progress with the 'friend' or the plane?

Plane. Just the plane. Only the plane! Lol.
Been pretty tired after work this week. Not much done on the Cessna. Other than mount the ignition and Opto-kill. I did open up the firewall just a tad more to allow for free travel for the choke arm. I think all this modification is going to be a lot easier than first anticipated.

I'll try to get more done tomorrow.

 

[BalsaDust]

Looking good. Just to put it out there though in the pics where you painted the engine box it kinda reminds me of the dinosaur from the first Jarrasic Park that ate the fat dude in the jeep. LOL.

 

[stangflyer]

Looking good. Just to put it out there though in the pics where you painted the engine box it kinda reminds me of the dinosaur from the first Jarrasic Park that ate the fat dude in the jeep. LOL.

You are a sick and deranged individual sir....lmao.

 

[stangflyer]

I had planned to go flying today, but the weather decided against it so....I decided to see what I could get accomplished on the Cessna. I finalized the motor installation and then on to other tasks. I gave away all my smaller tanks for a setup like this, so thankfully @Shayne Epley had a new smaller one from his Pilot Yak he didn't use. Normally I would have ordered a TDRC tank, but figured the tank is going to be pretty much hidden so no sense in "blinging" that area. I don't care for the fuel line and klunk that comes in those tanks. In fact, I noticed with all three of the tanks I have gotten lately, the klunks still have metal shavings in side. Some where the metal from the cross hair split is still inside. Into the trash with those. Also, the fuel line is just way too small in my opinion so I replumbed the tank with slightly larger Tygon and one of my nicer Dubro Super Klunks. Got the tank installed and built a throttle servo mount and got that all hooked up. Cleaned up all the wiring inside the fuse, positioned the batteries and got the subfloor put back in place. I decided to do something I have not done before but pretty sure it is going to work awesome. Since I am utilizing the original servos that only had 11 flights on them, I figured I would continue to use them. At first I was going to use a Lipo and reg, to step down the voltage for the low voltage servos. But I got to thinking, I have all those brand new Nicd 6 volt batteries, so why not use one for the radio. Plus, it will eliminate another possible failure in the system. I am running a 7.4 volt 2600 LiIon on the ignition going through a HD switch to the Opto Kill. For the receiver and servos, I am using a 3300 mah 6.0 volt Nimh battery going through a second HD switch. This way it allows me to continue using the servos and the basic setup I had on it before, but still able to use HV 2S on the ignition. Since this is going to be just a "poke holes in the sky" plane, I should still be able to get a good four flights with no problem. Once the wiring was done, the throttle servo was installed and dialed in, I finished up adding back in the interior parts. I really like the Hitec servos more and more. I was not able to dial in the throttle servo perfectly sooo....dig out the Hitec servo programmer and "boom". Perfect.



The rain let up later this afternoon so I figured it was time to "gas" up the Cessna and see how that little DLA 32 runs. As expected, it was pretty dry and took a little longer (not too much though) than most the DLE's I have stared new. But it sure wasn't very tough at all. I did have to readjust the needles though. They were both on the lean side from original settings. Since this had the Bowman ring installed upon purchase, I figured once started, it was going to be very impressive. And impressive it is. I warmed her up for a couple of minutes and started checking rpm readings. Holy crap...twisting that Graupner 16x8 3 blade at just a tick over 8000. Hmmm, this is going to be quite the performer. Transition is very consistent and smooth. No stumbling and no dry spots. After running it a few minutes, I shut her down to let her cool a bit. (Heat cycles) It will get plenty more in the air, but a quick dial in is usually my normal procedure. I was very amazed at how well this little motor runs. And actually, noticeably quieter than the DLE 30's I have heard run.

About all that is left is to re-install the flap and aileron servos, cut the new cowl and install that. Toss her on the balance stands and blast her off. I will be waiting a few days for the three blade spinner to arrive. I will use that time of waiting to re-stripe the fuse and wheel pants. I bought a complete re-stripe kit two years ago because I "knew" the glow, (shudder) fuel would eventually loosen them. I was right. 11 flights and most of the stripe edges are lifting off. Oh well, she's a gas plane now. LOL

I will post more as I continue. I am actually getting kind of excited to fly her again. My son and I set a mix on the flaps and elevators. When I flew it before, it really ballooned a lot. So we'll see how she does with more of a scale setup. Funny thing, she seems to have lost about five pounds Gee, what a surprise. LOL