A Dremel roto tool was used to grind the clearance openings in the cowl for the muffler and rocker covers. Also a cool air inlet was added to the front.
	You can see the openings in the cowl that let air circulate around the cooling fin area of the Saito 150. We will add the remote glow and the remote fueler to the model later.
	Here you can see the quality of the construction of this ARF. The glue joints seem to be well done and the structure is straight and sound.
	As specified in the instructions, the fillets were added to each side of the fuselage. The covering material on the fuselage was marked and removed using a razor knife. 5 minute epoxy was used to glue the pieces on. The balsa pieces were pre-covered, which is a nice touch. Later it was noticed that the fillets should have been installed further toward the front of the fuselage. In the position we put them in, they interfere with the elevator movement. Not a big problem, but putting them further forward would have saved sanding and recovering the fillets later on.
	A welding wire in a plastic sleeve was used for the throttle linkage. A Z-bend was used at the engine's throttle arm and an Easy Link at the servo made the throttle setup easy to adjust. We connected the throttle servo to the receiver and made the low and high throttle adjustments.
	The throttle servo and linkage can be seen in the photo. The receiver was connected temporarily for the throttle adjustments. A Futaba S3004 was used for the throttle. The rest of the servos are Hitec HS615. Yes, the servos can be intermixed with no problem. The Futaba servo connector was modified by cutting off the key with a Dremel and rounding the plug corners. Now it fits the JR receiver with no problems. Notice the triangle blocks added by SIG to reinforce the landing gear block.
	The excellent packaging was already mentioned in the first page, but here you can see the bubble pack and plastic bag the horizontal stabilizer and elevator assembly came in. Really nice.
	The fuselage was leveled side-to-side as measured at the main wing saddle. Then the horizontal stabilizer platform was checked for level. We used our long t-bar sander to true up the stabilizer platform. This helps to make a better mating surface for the 30-minute epoxy we will use later. The covering was marked and removed from the area of the horizontal stabilizer to be glued to the fuselage.
	We mixed the 50-50 30 minute epoxy. A microwave oven was used to heat the epoxy (15 seconds on HIGH). Heating makes the epoxy thin like water, much easier to apply to both mating surfaces. The green box under the tail was used to level the horizontal stabilizer platform from front-to-rear. We will make many measurements while the epoxy sets.
	This is a view of the level on the horizontal stabilizer. The bubble is centered.
	The photo shows the two levels in use to check that the horizontal stabilizer is level. These levels have been checked and calibrated to each other. Also, the string in the photo is attached to a pin. The pin is pushed in the center of the fuselage into the balsa that is glued between the fuselage sides in the wing saddle area. The string is then stretched and marked at the elevator opening (the corner) and the distance is checked at both elevator corners. They must be the same distance from the pin. Also, a ruler was used to make sure that the horizontal stabilizer was centered (we measured each side of the stab to the fuselage). When the stab is level, the distance from the pin to each corner of the elevator cutout match and the distance from the fuse side-to-side match, the stab is in the correct position. A little tricky, but necessary. The 30-minute epoxy gives us the time we need to check and adjust all these measurements. It also is stronger than the 5-minute epoxy the instructions mention to use.
	Getting ready for gluing the vertical stabilizer. Getting out the tools and removing the covering from the glue area.
	Here you can see the two squares being used to make sure the vertical stabilizer is 90 degrees from the horizontal stabilizer. The wood shims are used to keep the squares away from the fillets, while keeping the parts aligned. Tape is used to hold the vertical stabilizer while the 30 minute epoxy sets. It will take 24 hours for the epoxy to achieve maximum strength.
	Here's a view of the progress so far... Looks really good. We've received some reports of the CA hinges failing on these planes, so the aileron hinges will be replaced with the Robert hinge points. The hinges used on the rudder and elevator will be the Robert design.
	During the February - June timeframe, our digital camera died. We now have a new Olympus C-5050 for future photos. We finished the model as can be seen. The control surfaces in the tail were installed using hinge points. The elevator and rudder hinge gaps were both sealed using clear tape. The supplied pull-pull rudder system was used with the Hitec HS-615 Servos. The elevator is also controlled by a Hitec HS-615 with a push wire system shown in the instructions. The CG came right out where it should with the battery as far forward in the cabin as possible. The plane weighs 13.5 lbs empty.
	You'd hardly guess this is a model airplane. A 6-volt 5 cell 1800 ma NIMH battery with a 5volt regulator is used. A JR PCM 10x radio system controls the plane. With a 16x8 prop, the Saito 150 powers the plane with no problem. It seems that a 16x6 might be a better match for the engine/plane performance. We will try some other prop sizes to see if a lower pitch, higher diameter might match the plane's flight envelope better. We used a 32 oz fuel tank and put the fueler at the top of the firewall. The Saito 150 seems to like this OK with a pressurized fuel tank system. The engine should be able to run 40 minutes or more with some throttle management.
	The plane is a gentle flyer with almost no stall. The manual mentions getting used to the incredible glide ratio during landings. They weren't kidding. This plane wants to keep flying. It is good to make sure you have a very reliable low idle on the engine you use. Our first and subsequent flights were uneventful and we got more used to the stable smooth flying characteristics of this plane --> even with the wind gusting up to 15mph. This kit is highly recommended!

Last Updated: 6/16/03

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