The guys name is Dave and his email address is promodbuilder@yahoo.com. It might help to let him know that he just made a set of these fairings for Ron Gaynor's Hostetler 150. Good luck.
An email has been sent, thanks!
The guys name is Dave and his email address is promodbuilder@yahoo.com. It might help to let him know that he just made a set of these fairings for Ron Gaynor's Hostetler 150. Good luck.
Weather this weekend is nice, so I brought the Cessna up and out of the shop again to see what happens. Some fuel was added, the carb primed, and a couple flips later she was running. The throttle pushrod adjustments I made appear to have done the trick as I've got much smoother throttle response, but the big news is that the flutter at the tail is GONE! My guess is that the former servo for the steering servo was the culprit.
I ran about 1/3 tank of fuel through it all at fairly low settings with a couple bursts of power to about 2/3 throttle to keep it cleaned out. After a little adjusting of the low speed from the servo it was idling very nicely. Tomorrow I'm taking it out to the sod farm to test with wings on. If things go well I *might* see if it'll fly. More fuel will be run through it first just to help it get broken in.
Please send photos of your plane and flight. For all of us other guys whose flying field was shut down due to the Coronovirus
I saw the pics of it on FB. Did you end up flying it?
That sucks!!The short answer is "no". The long answer is "nooooooooooo". I got it all set up to ground test and filled the tank 1/2 way so I wouldn't be tempted to try flying. It fired up easily with the Chicken Stick and I spent a few minutes just taxing it around on the ground. The engine has a ton of power, plenty for this plane. After a few runs back & forth I went in for a closer inspection.
Aaaaand, the servos started twitching again.... Since all of the electronics except the ignition module have been replaced I guess that's the next step. It's rated for 4.8 - 8.x volts and I'm putting around 6V into it, and it's completely exposed to the propwash so it shouldn't be overheating. The throttle pushrod is metal, but is connected to the carb with plastic to avoid interference.
I'll have to look at the plug to make sure it's a resistor-type, but if memory serves me it is. This is really irritating me, the plane runs very well and the weather was darn near perfect for a maiden!
That sucks!!
Second, the X8R receiver will be swapped with an X8R-Pro that is supposed to fix the problem when used with an electronic ignition.
I must have missed that you are using an X8R receiver. Yes, this is a very well-known issue and part of the issue with adoption rate of gas pilots. Given your symptoms, I would give a nod to this issue as well.
If you haven't gone too far on the L-19, it would be wise to use a wing tube instead of hostetler's joiner. You know of the issue with ours lol. My dad just ordered another hostetler skymaster from national balsaCrash damage is an interesting thing. Sometimes it's super obvious, and other times is completely hidden. The Cessna damage is leaning towards the hidden end of the spectrum, and at first I didn't even notice it. Then I thought it was just just a tear in the covering.
Both sides have the same damage, from so much weight at the tail getting lifted and dropped when the plane went over 180*. The more I look at it, the more I see this as a weak point that really needs some additional strength, especially if I want it to last on bumpy landings, during aerobatics, etc.
View attachment 166739
I'm going to sleep on this for a few days, but here's what I'm thinking for repairs. First, the doors will be removed (easy) and the covering along the pillars behind both doors needs to be removed or opened up to gain access to the structure. The tail will then be lifted which will close any gaps in the broken wood and put the tail back where it should be. The areas where it broke would be hit with thin CA to wick in and hold the pieces together again. The red lines added to the picture below show where I would then add carbon fiber tubes, epoxied in place. This would bridge the gap where it was broken, where I think the design is weakest. There would also be a CF tube added inside the rear window along the ply stringer. It would extend up into the wing's center section and down into the tail. Again, this is an area I think is under a fair amount of pulling stress just due to the way the plane is designed.
The last step of the repair (other than fixing the covering) is one I'm still kicking around. The design of this plane uses a "double wall" - the outer wall is the outside of the plane and the inner wall is the interior, and they're separated by about an inch of dead space. In this case it's fully sheeted inside and out, so my thought is to drill a couple holes on the inside, and squirt in some Great Stuff Expanding Foam. That stuff sticks to EVERYTHING, is reasonably strong, and weighs next to nothing. It would essentially tie the entire structure together where it is used. Thoughts...?
View attachment 166741
So overall the damage isn't too bad, and I *THINK* it'll be a fairly easy-ish fix. It also gives me some information that'll be useful for when I eventually get back to building my giant L-19 Bird Dog (also a Hostetler design). Since that plane is currently uncovered balsa it'd be easy to make some of these modifications before it gets covered.