thepiper92

Sorry ahead of time for the fact that the build pics will not be great quality, or at least not as good as I wish they would. I will be using a really old camera, as I destroyed my good one while using it as a cam on my rc car. The kit came nicely packed, although unfortunately it was another $30 once I got it from the post office, for whatever reason Canada decided. In the box was my solite, and a small bag containing the plane. Hard to believe it will become so much larger. So far, I have built the left side of the fuselage. I wish I could do more, but I have to be up early.

CHELLIE

Looking good Subscribed

Unclebuck21228

Subscribed as well. I have been contemplating building this one! What have you decided on for power?

thepiper92

Somewhat. I was thinking of this motor: http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...ner_Motor.html

The issue is the shaft is not easily reversible, but I may be able to get an e-flite shaft in there. I have an e-flite 920kV, but I may have to go for a 10 inch prop,
and I am somewhat afraid that 10 inch would look a little large, but I'll have to see the finished product. The ESC I'll using is a 30a ESC that came with another plane from HK, and it will be used with a 1300mah 3s.

thepiper92

Thanks, unfortunately the pics are worse than expected. The flash doesn't work on the camera, and the lighting in the basement is quite poor. I'll bring a light down there to make pics better, as well as building easier.

BroncoSquid

Add my name to both Sunscribed and Contemplating building this one. Did you ever decide on a radio?

thepiper92

Yep, a Turnigy 9xr...if only I knew about the Pro. Even so, it was good time, I somehow broke my 9x antenna, had to superglue it. I did so at an angle so I could turn the base of it to adjust the angle of it in a way, but I can't adjust the actual angle. Not even sure how it broke. I was flying the Mini Switch, ran out of battery and went to land in the field of snow. There was a small snow mound, caused by strong winds, and the warmer weather caused to to harden a bit, instead of fluff snow. There were a lot of them scattered about, but didn't think they would pose a threat. Well the left ski hooked into the mound, and the ski exploded into pieces, ripped the whole landing assembly with it. Luckily no damage to the plane itself. I had to walk through the 3 feet high snow to get the plane and when I got back to the house, I found the 9x's antenna broken. I didn't tap it against anything.

thepiper92

So I'm progressing pretty fast, or at least I feel I am. I have the whole fuselage together, or at least up until it states to start gluing. I had a little mishap while gluing. I put it all together and then took off the left side of the fuselage to glue, starting with gluing the pieces into the right side and then glueing the left side on top. I guess I put a little too much pressure and broke a part. I used some wood glue to fix everything up, and using the other parts around it, as well as the stringers, to help the part glue in a proper manner.

I will be posting pics soon.

thepiper92

And some pics. I have now formed the sheetings, although they are not glued yet. The front one has a slight warp near where the canopy will be, although very slight. Gluing it down will probably remove the warp even more, as the elastic is putting downward pressure, rather than pulling the sheeting down.

Also, this is a better camera, although the lighting still doesn't allow for a amazing pic.

BroncoSquid

Oh yeah, been there, done that!
Most recent: While covering a wing, I finished the top of one side, and while flipping the wing over, caught the wingtip on the corner of the workbench snapping part of the wingtip off. Then I had to stop covering, make repairs, wait for glue to dry....ugh!

gramps2361

Piper looking good, and breaking parts try making a Older Mini Tele Master kit lots of sticks for this one. I don't know how many times I broke a piece and had to replace it. Darn ham hands.

road king 97

Alright you talked me into buying one to put together also and i am sighned up . I have carpenter big oaf hands and break stringers like there is no tomorow. Looking good Piper . joe

thepiper92

I'm lucky to have surgical level hands. I have the main wing together. One of the spars broke where the retract mounts go through...but the manual even said that it is highly likely they will break and can be glued, so no big deal

thepiper92

Some pics

BroncoSquid

Maybe it is just the camera angle, but the head on view (img 1813), makes it look like the plane will make a constant right turn. NOW is the time to fix something like that.

road king 97

Yea i could be wrong but it looks like camera lens bending . joe

thepiper92

Actually nothing is glued, they are all individual pieces.

thepiper92

So the retracts I have are nowhere close to fitting. Am I stuck getting GWS retracts, or is there some servoless ones that will fit.

BroncoSquid

Pics? Won't fit, or won't fit without modification?

buzzltyr

Any retracts other than the GWS ones will require you to modify the ribs. Unfortunately, as well, the GWS blue retracts are getting harder to find. GWS doesn't seem to be selling/shipping much to the US these days.

thepiper92

Well that's not a good thing. I really don't want fixed gear, looks bad on a warbird. I orderd some of the GWS from Mountain Models, though they are backordered.

I can't for the life of me use this solite covering. I have managed to cover the horizontal stab, but I don't know how to go about wrapping the fuselage. If I iron down a strip and use the heat gun to shrink, it pulls away from the edge and wrinkles up. Am I supposed to do halves, or a whole piece?

BroncoSquid

Piper,
Here this helped me a ton!
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=711624
Also, there are a lot of youtube videos.

road king 97

It most times takes me 3 pieces to cover a fuse but somtimes 4 ,i do the bottom first and then sides and top unless i can get one side piece to go over the top to the other side. joe

thepiper92

Guess I'll just have to keep trying. I was also thinking about the CA hinges, and whether to install those first. I gather I just carve out some balsa, inset the hinges, but it would seem effective to do this first and then cover the hinges with the covering.

I messed up bending the wire for the retracts (figure I should, though I don't have them yet). I couldn't bend it close enough, tried to redo it and snapped the wire.

thepiper92

Thanks, it does help, although my fuselage seems to be a lot more complex to cover. Building this plane was easy...covering not so much.