RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
I think I'll move my batteries about 12" forward. Still using two 2000+ mA NMH packs, they are pretty light, but it will make some CG difference. The ignition module is already pretty far forward. Not much else can be moved forward, except the engine. The OS 40 4-stroke gasser sounds like a great engine for the GSS. It should also be pretty quiet.
Posted on: 5/20/2013 10:40 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11517263

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
Adding weight to an airplane is against my religion. Spent too many years as an engineer on the F-16, IDF and JSF. Same thing for drag counts, but at model speeds I'm not so anal about them. Before I mount the new cowl, I may add 1/2" to 3/4" standoffs to the firewall; according to my TLAR math it should make the balance close to neutral. It is interesting to fly like this. I made about 80 landings with no problems. If I don't give it some down elevator, it does not have enough forward speed to flare, it just plops down in a three-point attitude. With a little wind it will just fly back wards. Cool.
Posted on: 5/20/2013 5:32 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11516896

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
Had to send my old engine into the manuf. for repair. At this time of year, it takes a while to get it back, soooo. Decided to try the DLE 35R on the GSS to see how a little more power would be. Since the DLE weighed about four oz more than my old engine and it was going from a three-bolt engine mount to a four-bolt pattern, I decided to remove the engine box I had built for my Syssa 30 and mount the DLE directly to the firewall. I didn't check the CG before flight because according to my TLAR engineering math, a heavier engine moved toward the rear MAY cancel out and leave the CG alone or hopefully there would not be a large amount of change. Seems like there was quite a bit of change. It was hard to get the plane to land, it just wanted to float down like a parachute. It was pretty tail heavy. When going inverted, from level flight, the plane would climb out at about 2 or 3 degrees. Had the opposite effect with the old engine, always needed a little down elevator to keep level flight. I just measured it and it was 3/4" farther back than usual. Wound up at 71/4". It is still a great flying plane and no crashes or really bad landings, but I would not want the CG any more to the rear. I may leave it this far back, it may do some great flat spins now. The DLE had only 15 min. run time before the first flight. It was easy to start, ran great, sounded great and the idle was solid at 1,700 to 1,800 rpm. Great vertical performance. Got another hour of fun on the airframe. Using a 19x10 prop right now. May go to a 22" after break-in.
Posted on: 5/20/2013 5:18 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11516273

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
I forgot to post the picture of my Robart hinge point jig. I have a small hole in one end for the "pilot" hole and a 3/16" hole in the other end for the "finished" hole size. It is made from expanded PVC foam, the same material I'm using on the Bell Hop (AKA Faux Cat) build.
Posted on: 9/17/2012 4:26 PM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11231609

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
I filled in the holes with balsa dowel material the same size as the brass tube. I can't take credit for the brass tube removal method for the hinge points; that idea's been out there since they first came out. I saw it in the "tips" section of a model magazine.
Posted on: 9/14/2012 10:18 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11228442

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
I put the hinges in new holes. Since I used a brass tube to cut out the old hinges, the holes were at least 1/16" too large for the hinges. Even though the old holes were plugged, there were still some gaps and rough edges around the dowels. I moved the new hinge locations at least two hole diameters away from the old ones to get the maximum strength. I know that 1-1/2 is the minimum, but for soft wood I like to go to 2 or 3 diameters.
Posted on: 9/14/2012 6:21 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11228201

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
Wing half with the cutouts to make it lighter. That big expanse of wood next to the aileron cutout still bothers me, but I don't think it will be much of a weight savings if I take out a couple of square inches from there. It is hard to stop 52 years of "make it lighter so it will fly better, faster, and farther" practice. Got the hinges put on the tail feathers. What monkey? Need to get the wing covering finished. I hate that part, may need to rest up for a few days and recover, no pun intended, well okay maybe a little.
Posted on: 9/13/2012 5:22 PM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11227753

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
I don't worry about the lateral balance in a plane unless I need trim adjustments. Usually wing warps and control surface misalignments cause more problems than weight differences.
Posted on: 9/12/2012 7:40 PM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11226793

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
Back to the future, I mean recover job. The weight of the wing bothered me a lot and the new covering will add a lot of new weight. It looks like they used a hot glue gun to put the wing together, heavy stuff, maybe lead based. I thought it might be a good idea to cut out some of the uneeded wood and save a couple of ounces. I think I saved two ounces, not bad for about four hours of work. I did make a jig to cut the holes in the wing ribs to make that go a little faster. I also made a jig to center the hinge point holes. My little one just doesn't do the job on the big surfaces. Got the hinges on the movable tail surfaces installed. Didn't forget to clean them either. Used white Gorilla glue this time, it seems like it hold things well and does not expand and get all over things like the brown stuff.
Posted on: 9/12/2012 6:15 PM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11226698

RE: Hello Everyone!
That could be a problem.
Posted on: 9/12/2012 10:02 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "Forum questions or problems"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11226210

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
Maybe they could go to ebay and find a couple of old Commodore 64's and use them to replace their current servers; they would be way faster and more reliable. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, got to stay on the subject and not get off track, they are ruthless about finding that: Syssa, engine, airplane, got to work on covering my GSS, blah, blah, blah, etc.
Posted on: 9/11/2012 3:04 PM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11225412

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
[quote]ORIGINAL: wjvail Maybe I've spent too many years looking at (and sanding on) the nose of the original Super Sportster, but I don't think I could live with the square, glued on look of the ARF. The reason I built a SS in the first place was for the beautiful, long, pointed nose ending in a large fitted spinner. [/quote] Great looking plane, love the paint scheme. That is what I need for mine rather than the starburst. We have five GSS's at our field and they all look alike. Covering is going sloooooowly, but it is going. My goal for today is to finish the tail. Got about 1,000 other things that I'd rather do.
Posted on: 9/9/2012 12:50 PM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11222850

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
[quote]ORIGINAL: Twin_Flyer Love the rolling starting stand. Any plans online? Bill S. [/quote] You can see some in a thread that I started a while back. There are field and portable types of starting stands shown. To find them you can go to the bottom of the page here and put in "Model Aircraft Starting Bench" in the search RCU using Google box. That thread will NOT show up if you try to use the RCU search feature. The one shown in the picture is the "Meroke" sytle safety bench and it can be found by searching for it on RCU under "Safety Bench" or "Meroke." Wheels can be added to both benches.
Posted on: 9/8/2012 3:52 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11221556

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
I didn't order my canopy from Tower, hope it gets here in one piece.
Posted on: 9/7/2012 10:35 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11220801

RE: SYSSA 30CC GAS MADE IN USA
[quote]ORIGINAL: ahicks Kinda quiet, so I'll stir the pot a little, again... Regarding IBEC's- Have you considered the fact an opto switch will perform identically, and when it's ign. module output is set to the proper voltage level using a diode or 2, the cost to get this performance is significantly less than an IBEC? Granted, the opto isn't quite as simple, but once getting it's output voltage set properly is understood, it's value becomes pretty apparent.... -Al [/quote] I'm not sure how the opto switch alone is used to eliminate the ignition battery. The IEBC has the opto switch built in.
Posted on: 9/7/2012 9:04 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "Gas Engines"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11220709

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
I can't help with color suggestions, all of my color imagination was removed when I was in the Marines. The only color that seems "normal' to me is Marine green. It can have different shades though; white is just light green and black is dark green. Made the mistake of painting an airplane green one time, it flew straight "home" into the nearest tree, won't do that again. I managed to get the bottom and sides of the fuselage covered today and no sock monkeys were injured during the event. Okay, I did accidentally lay the covering iron on his tail one time; as far as he knows it was an "accident.".
Posted on: 9/7/2012 8:51 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11220693

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
[quote]ORIGINAL: dwreel Put the monkey to sleep and get on with the thread subject, please.[:D] [/quote] Good idea, this is a serious subject here, quit monkeying around. No pun intended, at least as far as you know. Do you guys think this forum is put up just for fun? I could have solved all the world's problems if I had not been distracted by useless posts and wasted my valuable brain power. At my age I don't have many active brain cells left so I need to be selective about what I focus on. Oh yea, I almost forgot, got to stay on the subject and not get off track, they are ruthless about finding that: Syssa, engine, airplane, blah, blah, blah, etc. If you have two batteries, you need two switches. Maybe I could have had my plane covered by now.
Posted on: 9/7/2012 5:58 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11220541

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
The covering job was going very slow, so I brought in an "expert." He told me not to monkey around and get busy.
Posted on: 9/6/2012 7:10 PM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11220189

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
I added some balsa to the wing saddle area. The lite ply was cutting into the wing, this will provide more area and reduce that in the future. I had to fill in the slots they made in the wing. Did I tell you I flew from a wet muddy field? You can see the stains on the wing where the dirt got past the covering which was cut by the lite ply. At least I got started on the covering. Temp outside was 102, only 107 in the shop. Part of my weight loss plan.
Posted on: 9/5/2012 3:52 PM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11218725

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
I did a "fair" covering job when Monokote first came out. No painting, no wet sanding, etc. Lots of colors, easy to trim. It looked great with very little work. Last year I got rid of a Goldberg Eagle that I covered many, many years ago. It looked brand new, it was still drum tight and there was not a wrinkle on it, even after hanging in my garage in the Texas heat for several years. The "new" Monokote just does not stick to the wood as good, it does not stay taunt in the heat, nor is it nearly as flexable when heated. The old Monokote needed to be sanded off, if you pulled it off some wood would come with it, the new stuff just pulls off. This will be my first use of Worldtex, hope it goes well.
Posted on: 9/5/2012 5:53 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11218118

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
I wish I enjoyed covering and putting on trim like most people, but my plan is to cover it with basic white and try to get at least one star ray on the top of the wing and a stripe on the bottom so I can tell which is which in the air. Back in the sixties, I used to fly CL stunt and spend hundreds of hours on a fancy design and trying to make silkspan look like glass. I guess I got burnt out. All I want now is a functional plane.
Posted on: 9/5/2012 4:56 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11218072

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
I got the big holes from the landing gear block removal covered up, sort of. Hey, it's on the bottom, I never see that anyway.. Maybe the heat got to me, but I did drill some holes in the 3/4"x4" pine landing gear block to make it a little lighter. Took off about 3 oz. That should make up for some of the weight that will be added with the new covering material. All the holes from the Robarts drill points are also plugged up. Seems like I can't put off the covering any more, so I guess I'll start that tomorrow. The temp in the shop was 105 degrees today, maybe I won't need the hot air gun, just lay the fabric over the plane and let it shrink on.
Posted on: 9/4/2012 6:20 PM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11217675

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
So far I haven't found any reinforcement necessary. I also checked the wood in the horizontal stab, it is way harder than the wood on my first stab. The stringers behind the cockpit are pretty hard wood, never had any of them break. I have brass tube inserts where the flying wires bolt on, those points have also held up well. I may take off the fuselage LG block and hollow it out some to cut down on the weight. The Worldtex and paint are going to add more weight to the plane. I'd like to cancel out some of that gain by reducing some weight in other places. My old fuselage, with the rudder and stab, came in at exactly 4 lbs. I would like to not go much over that with the new covering.
Posted on: 9/1/2012 9:45 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11213537

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
Got all the Monokote striped off the plane parts. Found a couple of spars in the turtle deck that were not glued in. There were quite a few places around the hinges that showed indications that water had gotten past the covering material. I fly from a grass field and my plane gets wet about 80% of the time due to flying in the morning right after the sprinklers shut off. It also picks up a lot of dirt. Getting the Robart hinge points out was easy using the brass tube and drill method. I just had to remove the old LG blocks in the wing, don't need them since my gear is fuselage mounted. They were easy due to being glued in with hot glue instead of epoxy. No, the removal of them will not weaken my wing enough to cause any concerns. The D-tube construction and wing-tube provide more than enough strength for the wing. According to my engineering TLAR math, there is at least a 50% safety reserve.
Posted on: 9/1/2012 8:42 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11213506

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
[quote]ORIGINAL: ahicks I have a new one here that's been getting dusty for quite a while. A year at least. I checked to make sure the tripes lined up and then put it away! I'm tellin' you guys, putting a new cowl on is bad ju ju! One that's showing a few battle scars is much less likely to attract more of them! Just sayin.... -Al [/quote] I just hate to put on the old beat up dirty cowl and canopy on a newly covered airftrame.
Posted on: 8/31/2012 7:47 PM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11213148

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
My GSS is down for maintenance. There were around 2,200 flights on this plane and it was looking pretty bad. Since I need to have a rod bearing in the engine replaced, I decided to pull off the old Monokote and recover it with Worldtex. I also ordered a new cowl and canopy since they are pretty beat up.
Posted on: 8/31/2012 3:42 PM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11212944

RE: SYSSA 30CC GAS MADE IN USA
[quote]ORIGINAL: JohnB96041 [quote]ORIGINAL: hyflyer9 I as well did the adding this forum to my favorites and i works very well for me now no waiting for it to load only about 10 seconds now and like you said what to do about the sight loading the new post reply's [/quote] Not sure if this is the right spot, but, I have griped about RCU web response via email notice for some time now. I finally ran the good old ping plotter on www.rcuniverse.com and here are the results. Maybe this will help the IT department. [/quote] Letting the IT department know about the problem only works if: 1. There is in fact an IT department and 2. They are actually interested in fixing a problem. They still have the worst search engine in the world. I don't know how they can not find items on their own site, but any other search engine in the world has not problem. I think they would have to pay big money to make parts of the forums "invisible" to searches. Looks like some of them belong to the Federal Witness Protection Program. Oh yea, I almost forgot, got to stay on the subject and not get off track, they are ruthless about finding that: Syssa, engine, airplane, blah, blah, blah, etc.
Posted on: 8/30/2012 3:37 PM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "Gas Engines"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11211953

RE: SYSSA 30CC GAS MADE IN USA
[quote]ORIGINAL: hyflyer9 Ho folks To save my self the head ecke i chose to just go with two A123 1100mah packs on seperate switches and use a 4.8 2300mah nimi on a seperate switch for the ignition . And because i am using all hitec gear there is no need for a voltage reg. one pack goes into the batt plug and the other goes into any other channel i choose and that is y'd in with my rudder and with that set up i can fly all day with no problems at all plenty of power for sure . [/quote] A much simpler, lighter weight, and safer setup would be to not use the ignition switch and battery and just use an IBEC. That will also give you control of the ignition from your transmitter. Also if you have a receiver fail or brownout your engine will shut off or go to low throttle. The battery and mechanical switch for the ignition module are high failure items compared to the IEBC, not to mention the issues and hassle of charging two different battery technologies. Having the LED to show when the ignition is ON has saved me a lot of problems. It alone is worth the cost of the IBEC.
Posted on: 8/30/2012 3:05 PM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "Gas Engines"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11211926

RE: SYSSA 30CC GAS MADE IN USA
[quote]ORIGINAL: pettit Well, I can see now why the IBEC is so easy to use. It doesn't even come with instructions! Two labeled cables and a third that goes to an LED. The two little jumpers are probably used to set the regulator output voltage. Mine is set for "A" and the "B" one isn't jumpered. I take it that to change the voltage out, you jumper "B" and put the "A" jumper on only one pin. I'll leave it like it is. Off we go...... [/quote] You don't need to guess or do any testing. The users manual is available at: www.tech-aero.net/ultra-ibec
Posted on: 8/30/2012 2:44 PM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "Gas Engines"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11211911

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!
All of the modification details are in my gallery.
Posted on: 8/29/2012 11:42 AM by Author "Joystick TX" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11210470