killioughtta

So, I was a little sick of flying from the lake and decided to take the floats off. As I was doing that, I noticed I could use the rear struts for the floats to make a trike gear setup! So I did!



The front gear is not steerable; I have to pick up the set from the hobby shop later. I made it out of some thick wire and other parts.

Can't wait to fly it today!!! I'll see if I can get some video.

UPDATE 1: I took the SC to the park to see how this gear holds up. The front wheel is not big enough to ROG off short grass. I hand launched it and checked its behavior (AOA, Trim, etc.) since I had not flown on wheels since like 6 months ago and had to re-balance it. It's a little rocket, this one! And she floats, too! I love this setup I have now.

I came in for a landing and the gear was just perfect. I've never flown a model with trike gear; it IS a lot easier to land, constantCrash! It settled down easy and came to a stop quickly Tomorrow I have to run to the LHS and get that front gear!

The two flights were fantastic and, short as they were, I had a blast. Love the new gear; it's a keeper.

UPDATE 2: Added the steerable nose gear with a 9g servo. I'm using Dave Brown Lite Flite 2¾ inch wheels now. Pics are up and video coming today.

UPDATE 3: Here's a video where I test the nose wheel steering using my T6A Radio. The nose wheel has its own servo on channel 6 while mixed with the rudder channel 2 at 100%. A switch deactivates the steering.

firemanbill

Very cool!

constantCrash

I really like that, good job.

We could really use some more pictures of how you attached the front landing gear.

I think tricycle gear are a little easier to learn for beginners because nose-overs aren't as bad and ground handling is much improved. This would be a good mod for a trainer.

killioughtta

The front gear is just a wire glued inside a CF tube held in place by pressure and a bit of glue (so I can remove it later) in the foam. I reinforced it a bit with a plastic washer for rough landings.

But the whole nose gear will come off in a couple of days; it's not steerable. I will pick up a steerable nose gear later from the local shop.

tarheal63

And another question if you would, what type of prop is that on your cub? Are you running the stock brushed motor also? I have the LP version.

killioughtta

My Cub is running a TP BM2409-18T Blushless motor with a 9x6 prop.

killioughtta

I took the SC to the park to see how this gear holds up. The front wheel is not big enough to ROG off short grass. I hand launched it and checked its behavior (AOA, Trim, etc.) since I had not flown on wheels since like 6 months ago and had to re-balance it. It's a little rocket, this one! And she floats, too! I love this setup I have now.

I came in for a landing and the gear was just perfect. I've never flown a model with trike gear; it IS a lot easier to land, constantCrash! It settled down easy and came to a stop quickly Tomorrow I have to run to the LHS and get that front gear!

The two flights were fantastic and, short as they were, I had a blast. Love the new gear; it's a keeper.

III Bones Air Force

That is really a neat idea. I could see you moved the main wheels back a little. Did you have to do anything with the battery placement or is it still in the same location as stock?

killioughtta

The back gear is actually the back wires for the floats. They are inserted into the stock slot for the floats. This is a new feature in the SC LP fuselage which I bought when building this Cub from scratch. You get this MOD (the parts and instructions) included with the float set and you can install it on the older SC fuselage.

I have the mounting plate and instructions that came with my floats and can send it to you (or anyone who wants to do the tricycle gear mod) but you'll need to make the wire gear yourself.

killioughtta

So, I'm 90% done with the mod. I replaced the nose gear with the DuBro steerable nose gear and put in a wire-type pushrod that I was going to connect to the rudder servo but I changed my mind since I'm using 9g servos with nylon gears and I know that'll strip the gears. I'll be adding another servo in the cowl by the gear next week when I get them from HK.

killioughtta

UPDATES are up! Pics and video...

Cwpowell

Looks kinda like a Piper Tri pacer. a little work on the windows and some wheel pants and strut covers and Viola.
[media]http://grubbyfingersshop.com/images/Tri-PacerVH-MTSDF.jpg[/media]

Great job by the way.

I have a friend with a Tri Pacer you have given me some ideas.
Thanks

killioughtta

Hey, it does... a little. Take pictures, man! And post them here. Let me know how it turns out.

WingingIt74

reminds me of a Tri-Pacer or Colt, but the mains are too far back.

killioughtta

The mains are on the slot for the floats so I can't move them forward without a lot of modifying. I'm not up for that right now. lol