RE: TT 40Pro endplay?
This subject is dear to my heart, as Big Bruce will testify. I've grappled with this problem on and off since I started running the TT engine. Most of the time, you just tighten the prop nut gently against the prop, remove the prop and give the crank a light tap with a mallett, which moves the crank a few thou in the collet and there is your end play. However, sometimes the collet then slips on the crankshaft when the prop nut is retightened. Sometimes I've swapped the collett and fixed the problem, sometimes a different crankshaft fixes the problem, sometimes even washing everything in alcohol to remove all traces of lubrication between the collett and shaft. Sometimes nothing I try will stop the collett slipping. I must admit that I have not yet tried the shim trick. However, even with a shim between the shoulder on the crankshaft and the back of the front bearing, if the collett is slipping, you will still tighten the collett hard up against the bearing - which then compresses the front bearing - while leaving clearance between the rear bearing and the crankshaft. If anyone has found a bullet proof way of preventing the collett from slipping, I would like to hear it. Smokin Joe
Posted on: 11/20/2011 7:15 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10821624

RE: Thunder Tiger spare parts
Thanks for the comments. Here is what i found as I followed up the leads: Graves do not stock the TT46 parts, but replied to me straight away and were helpful. Tower Hobbies got back to me the next day and showed me where the TT46 parts were. They are listed in the marine (rather than air) engine section which is why I couldn't find them when I first looked. They have all the parts and the prices are similar to what I was paying from TT4U.com last year.
Posted on: 12/29/2010 2:58 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10225793

Thunder Tiger spare parts
Where are people getting their TT engine spares from now that TT4U are no more? I've been searching the web and cannot find a site that stocks the full range of TT46PRO spares like TT4U used to. Merry Christmas,
Posted on: 12/28/2010 4:07 AM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10222297

RE: Merlin 2016 Glo Bee Style Plugs
Dave, What torque settings have you been using when tightening the AX head down? I've been using 12'lbs and stripping threads in the TT. I got the torque wrench calibrated and it was actually "under torquing" for a given setting - so I know the torque wrench is not causing the problem Regards, Joe
Posted on: 11/7/2010 12:48 AM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10119815

RE: Viper landing gear mod
In addition to pulling the landing gear block out of the fuselage, we also used to loose the wheels off the axles. Our fix for this problem was to solder washers on the end of the axles to hold the wheels on. The best solution is to throw the Viper landing gear away and replace it with one from Darrol Cady.
Posted on: 10/29/2010 7:32 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10103170

Glo Drivers
Can anyone comment on using the RCATS Glo Driver (advertised at http://www.rcatsystems.com) for starting Q40 engines? I'm looking for a spare glo driver for Nelson and Glo Bee plugs for Q40 and all I can find on the web are Darrol's glo drivers and the RCATs unit. Any comments would be appreciated.
Posted on: 10/23/2010 6:01 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10089070

RE: Thunder Tiger Price gouging
To the guys who have been trying to get onto ThunderTiger4U, I've enjoyed excellent service from them over the last few years. They have the best stock of spare parts for the TT that I've been able to find. You cannot order and pay in the one action on their web site. You place the order and they get back to you in the next day to confirm it and organise the payment. While that is a bit different to other site, its worked OK for me to date.
Posted on: 9/23/2010 5:22 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10022680

RE: Strange Glitch with radio, receiver or servo?
I was getting glitches with my 8310 system after converting it to Spektrum. In addition to two crashes when the Rx went off the air, I was frequently having difficulty getting the Tx and Rx to pair when switching on. Despite several re-bindings, the pairing difficulty would not go away. After my second radio failure, I sent the transmitter back to the importer in January this year. The service technician found that the module case was loose in the Transmitter. When the module moved occasionally, I was losing the signal from the Tx to the Rx. Model Flight removed the electronic parts from the module case and fitted them into a newer style case that was a tight fit in the Tx case. I've not had any more problems since getting the the new module fitted.
Posted on: 9/11/2010 10:52 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9995746

RE: New TT Pro 40 prop data
If you are really serious about data gathering, you cannot beat the Eagletree system from http://eagletreesystems.com/. I've got the standard Flight Data Recorder recording RPM and airspeed combined with the Seagull airborne transmitter and handheld Dashboard. The Dashboard allows you to see the actual airspeed and RPM as you are flying. Last weekend I had a helper in the pits monitoring my speed and RPM during each race. I download the data from the Flight Data Recorder at the end of the day and study the graphs of speed and RPM vs time. Eagletree allows you see you maximum and average speeds. Then if you are really really serious about understanding what is going on, you get a serious weather station like a Kestrel 4250 unit that the drag racers use so that you can monitor the density altitude. It took me a long time to get the Eagletree system to work reliably but it has been worth it for the data I now collect. Even with all the data, there is still no substitute for flying the course properly.
Posted on: 8/27/2010 9:18 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Club 40"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9964422

Thunder Tiger threads
I've stripped threads on more than a few Thunder Tiger 46 engines in the last few years. I am now very sensitive to binding threads and can generally tell now when a thread is going to strip. Generally I've not had threads strip the first few times I undo and re tighten the threads. So it was a surprise to pull two new engines apart today and have threads strip the first time I went to reassemble them. Has anyone else experienced this thread stripping problem on TT engines? The general manufacturing quality of the TT engines has been good. The only reason I can think of for the thread stripping problem is that the threads are galling. I've been using lots of graphite grease on the threads to prevent galling. I was caught with the engines this morning as I didn't expect the problem on brand new engines.
Posted on: 12/19/2009 9:09 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9344616

TT46 bearings
I got a new TT46 in June that had a phenolic bearing cage. The fit and general quality of the engine was superb. It is the best TT engine I've had to date. It was stamped BK. Unfortunately, the three TT46PRO engines I got for our group in November had reverted to the steel caged bearings and the backplate cap screw threads are binding. These were stamped CD. Does anyone know what Thunder Tiger's standard bearing now is for the 40/46 - steel or phenolic? I've had two steel cages come apart on TT46 engines and replace the steel cage before running the engine.
Posted on: 12/19/2009 9:01 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9344600

Piston and liner fit and performance
All my beliefs were stood on their head last weekend at our Rockhampton Q500 competition and I would appreciate any comments. After the comp, the top three TT46 engines were inspected for any illegal modifications. There were none. The winning engine posted Australian record times of 76 seconds on the short course. On inspection of this remarkable engine, there was no shiny narrow band around the top of the piston side wall where it would normally pinch at TDC. The piston was badly carboned - real sooty black - indicating significant blow by on the down stroke. My TT46 is very tight at TDC and has a 1 to 2mm shiny band around the top of the piston side wall where it pinches at TDC. The loose engine is performing better, with lower race times, on a standard muffler and 10x6 prop than my engine does on a Magic Muffler and 9x7 prop. The standard engine was running without a shim while mine had 0.005" under the head with the MM and 9x7 prop. I had always thought that the tighter the TDC fit, the better the engine would perform. Not so in our case. In fact, its quite the opposite. Any comments would be appreciated.[&:]
Posted on: 3/12/2009 2:52 AM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8569367

RE: AR7000 Receiver lost its bind to Tx
Turned out I not only had the binding issue, I also had a dodgy connector between the battery and switch. It took me a few hours and iterations to isolate the problem. Everything working fine now. One thing I did notice - my Rx will not power up until the Tx is turned on. I can turn the Rx on, but the light doesn't come on till I turn the Tx on. Is this normal?
Posted on: 2/22/2009 6:53 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "JR Radio & Spektrum Radios"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8506476

AR7000 Receiver lost its bind to Tx
I would appreciate any comments on something that happened to me yesterday. I am using an AR7000 Rx with a JR 9XII Tx in my Quickie 500. Its been bound and working fine for 6 months. After two flights yesterday, the Rx would not power up. Over the last few weeks, I have sometimes had to switch the Rx on and off a few times to get the Rx to power up. I checked everything today and it appears to be fine. I'm running a 730mAhr LiPo through a voltage regulator. There was 5.3v at the Rx. No lights would come on the Rx when I connected power to it. I went through the binding sequence with a binding plug in the Rx and it worked fine and continues to work OK. Here is my conundrum: I checked another AR7000 Rx and it had unbound too. It easily rebound. Is this unusual? Could I have a problem with the Spektrum module on my JR 9XII Tx? Should I regularly re-bind my receivers to my Tx module to be on the safe side? Any comments would be most appreciated.
Posted on: 2/22/2009 7:00 AM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "JR Radio & Spektrum Radios"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8504170

RE: Radar guns
After talking to the pros here, I'm looking for a Stalker Sports radar gun. One of the Australian F3D team members has one and he swears by it. He has no trouble tracking his F3D models up to the high 300 km/hour range coming out of dives. I'm told that the Stalker Pro is better, but not necessary for what we do.
Posted on: 11/15/2008 4:44 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "General Racing Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8150626

RE: T-tail Quickie
I agree with Bro. Two fingers under the tail with thumb on top and you can give it a powerful push. The fingers are clear of the elevators so there are no servo problems. We launched both Q500 and Q40 T tail models this way with no problems.
Posted on: 11/15/2008 8:06 AM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8149420

RE: T-tail Quickie
I raced two Taipans in 424. They had some very strange habits in the turns in the way they waggled and dragged their tails through the turns. Having said that, they flew very well (rock solid) with a Nelson up the front.
Posted on: 11/13/2008 8:29 AM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8142864

RE: Radar guns
Randy, Thanks for the comments. I finally got some advice back from a member of the Australian F3D team, who has had no trouble tracking F3D models up to 350km/hour on the course from over 100m away using a Stalker Sports unit. He reckons you do not need the Stalker Pro to measure the speed of anything we fly. I recently got an Eagletree Flight Data Recorder to see what my models were doing. While the data is great, it is a pain to download at the field and try and view on a computer screen in bright sunlight (lots of that downunder this time of the year). I concluded that if you want to do a lot of experimenting to determine what works best, you need a radar gun. The only question was what sort of gun. By the way, I am told that speeds measured with the Stalker Sports Unit have calibrated very well with Eagletree results.
Posted on: 11/6/2008 5:56 AM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "General Racing Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8119980

RE: Radar guns
Anyone have a view on wether or not the Stalker Sport is OK or do you need to go the extra dollar (or three) and get the Stalker Pro?
Posted on: 11/5/2008 9:20 AM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "General Racing Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8117361

Radar guns
I'm looking at getting a radar gun. Is the Stalker sports gun good enough or do I need to get the Stalker Pro?
Posted on: 11/4/2008 9:32 AM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "General Racing Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8114115

Allowable cell voltage variation
I am new to LiPo batteries and have just started trying to balance charge packs. I'm noticing that most of my 2S and 4S pack voltages are varying about 1% when fully charged. I'm using a Thunder Power LBA 10 balancer for balanced charging. Is 1% cell voltage variation about what it should be?
Posted on: 6/29/2008 12:58 AM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Batteries & Chargers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7673001

RE: 428 pylon and foam wings
We use full span 3mm fiberglass dowels in the top and bottom of RC combat wings. This produces a very strong wing.
Posted on: 4/18/2008 7:25 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7390551

RE: Viper Pitch issue
We used a spirit level on a flat peice of balsa laid on the tail, combined with an incidence metre on the wing to check tail incidence. We started with two incidence metres and realised after a while that the spirit level bubble on a flat plate was just as accurate for what we were doing - and a lot quicker. Andy Lucket has an excellent article with photos on the Cowara MAC web site at http://www.cowramac.asn.au/viper_mods_4a.html Interestingly too, Andy sets his tail for -1 degree. Both my Slingshots fly with downtrim that is probably equivalent to that - and their incidence is 0-0-0.
Posted on: 3/7/2008 5:24 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7191010

RE: Viper Pitch issue
Of the 20 Vipers I saw put together in Perth, about 80% needed the tail shimming. All the early ones needed shimming but some of the later ones did not require any shimming. I would caution against shimming up the tail without checking the incidence first. You may be creating a problem when none existed to start with.
Posted on: 3/6/2008 9:29 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7187210

RE: 156Setting up a new workshop
Randy, What is in the Sheet Rock? I've not seen that in Oz. I like the idea as I've just about destroyed a Melamine bench top with spilt epoxy over the last 5 years.
Posted on: 2/27/2008 5:36 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "General Racing Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7146645

156Setting up a new workshop
After 15 years in Western Australia, I've moved back east to Brisbane in the very wet Queensland (home of Chris Callow). I'm in the process of setting up a new workshop, which is quite a challenge. The one I had in Perth evolved over several years. I need to get set up very quickly in my new home if I'm going to get back into racing any time soon. I'd appreciate any thoughts or photos of how other racers have set up their workshops. Whatever I do now I'll have to live with for maybe 10 years, so I'm interested to learn about what others have done to establish effective work shops.
Posted on: 2/26/2008 7:21 AM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "General Racing Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7138986

Props to suit TT46 with Ultra Thrust muffler
Has anyone experimented with different props to see what gets the best out of a TT46 running an Ultra Thrust muffler? I've just moved to Queensland and the QMARA has a Q500 class that allows any muffler and prop as long as the 46 engine remains standard. My Ultra Thrust arrived today and I'm off to get some props to experiment with.
Posted on: 2/21/2008 6:07 PM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7114724

RE: Q40 successful first flight
Eco, Congrats on the successful flight. Have you had any problems with the Perry carby coming loose? The aluminum sleeve on mine comes loose allowing the carby to rotate or move. My Nelson engine idled well while the sleeve was tight, which was not for long unfortunately.
Posted on: 2/12/2008 3:54 AM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-40 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7062424

RE: TCG.
I've got two Slingshots. With the c of g at 3 1/4", they would turn very tightly, but were a handfull to fly smoothly. Moving the balance point forward to just under 3" smoothed them right out, but did widen the turn around No. 1 out a bit. All in all, I'm wrapped in my Slingshots.
Posted on: 2/11/2008 3:15 AM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7057011

RE: Viper covering problems
Steve, I've made the move to Brisbane - right in the middle of the biggest wet season for 20 years. Not even the ducks are flying today with the monsoonal trough working its way down Queensland from the Gulf. If you ordered a Slingshot from Bruce, you won't go wrong. I (and everyone else) was very impressed with it at the Nats. Mind you, Mark Giggins posted best time for the day with a Viper. I paid a premium for mine to have Kevlar laid in the fuselage so that they would withstand my landing technique. It was well worth it as I've made a few landings already that would have broken the tail off a "normal" Slingshot. With the kevlar, they just kept bouncing. It was the covering coming off your young bloke's Viper tail at the Nats that prompted me to post the question, and everyone elses at one time or another.
Posted on: 2/11/2008 3:01 AM by Author "SmokinJoe" in the forum "Q-500 Racing"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=7056985