The weather slipped a little so I figured it was a good time to do some modifications. First on the agenda was to add a DA170 carb plate with the nipple fitting and balance tube to the GP Evo 176. Plenty of power, but midrange just a little dirty. This should help it out nicely.
Next, I wanted to move the flight packs back some as the upline inverted showed the Sukhoi was a bit nose heavy. Upon balancing her, she was perfect neutral with no added weight. But I forgot there is about three pounds of fuel in the nose upon take off. Sooo.....Move them batteris. I originally had them tucked up under the top motor box plate. They fit nicely, but this was an easy move to get the CG a little better with fuel onboard. And, it should help in nose up maneuvers. I also loomed the battery leads down the sides of the fuse with the rest of the harnesses. You can see in the first picture up under the cowl where the two slots are cut out, that is where the flight packs originally were placed.
Next on the agenda was to also move the flight packs in the PAU. As it also showed perfect neutral in original CG balance. But again, I forgot the fuel load weight. Because the fuel tank is smaller holding less fuel, the battery move was less extreme than on the Sukhoi. I also removed completely the ignition battery from the inside fuse side just forward of the fuel tank. I ran the ignition straight through my Smart-Fly board. I figure with only using about 900 mah out of each pack for about four flights and about 200 from the ignition battery, the 10,400 mah flight packs will handle it just fine. Plus, redundancy is not an issue with the SF.
Now I am waiting for exhaust couplers from DA to show up so I can reconnect my 157 in the 260 to my mufflers. I am thinking in the meantime I will remove the ignition pack from my Pilot Edge and connect it also to the SF. At just a smidge over 16 pounds now, removing the battery from the nose will make it a few ounces lighter and even more "Sketch" and more "twitchy". I love it. LOL
