PAU 42% Extra Rebuild
- Thread starter Tseres
- Start date
That is one very nice looking finished plane you have made there Pilot Tom Seres. Though it does appear that Deliah may be a little jealous of it. It may be wise to not leave them two alone for very long.
Tseres
Whiny Old Man
Yesterday, I tidied up the wiring inside of the 42% Extra. Then started repairing the wheel pants and replaced the two bent axles... The gear cuffs are so thin and shattered that I don't think I can repair them. Good news is that the new replacement landing gears are due to leave the factory in about 2 weeks.
Attachments
Tseres
Whiny Old Man
I'm re posting the before picture from a couple of posts ago for a before and after effect. Letting the paint dry over night. Mounted the Cowl, prop and spinner on the plane. I'll mount the wheel pants and balance it so I can mount the batteries next. Starting to look like a plane again. I see light at the end of the tunnel
Attachments
Those look like brand spankin' new wheel pants. Nicely done.
Tseres
Whiny Old Man
Finished off the wheel pants and balanced the plane so I would know where to mount the batteries.
This plane is going to be different for me. I'm going against my tried and true set up. I've been reluctant to use Lipos for powering my gassers. Mostly because I like to charge my planes with the battery in them. I have these Pulse batteries perfect for a high voltage setup. I thought I might as well use them. I had to make them easily removable so I made a pocket to keep them in. one velcro strap for each one and they can be charged outside of the plane. I no longer have a personal problem with using Lipos in my gassers.
This is only my second plane with what is now considered high voltage. 7.4 V. Another thing I'm doing different is I'm using a separate ignition battery. This is a Life 6V setup with a Smart Fly opto kill setup. I'm sure I will like this. I just seems like a lot more work to charge 3 batteries then 2. I'll get used to it.
This plane is going to be different for me. I'm going against my tried and true set up. I've been reluctant to use Lipos for powering my gassers. Mostly because I like to charge my planes with the battery in them. I have these Pulse batteries perfect for a high voltage setup. I thought I might as well use them. I had to make them easily removable so I made a pocket to keep them in. one velcro strap for each one and they can be charged outside of the plane. I no longer have a personal problem with using Lipos in my gassers.
This is only my second plane with what is now considered high voltage. 7.4 V. Another thing I'm doing different is I'm using a separate ignition battery. This is a Life 6V setup with a Smart Fly opto kill setup. I'm sure I will like this. I just seems like a lot more work to charge 3 batteries then 2. I'll get used to it.
Attachments
Nice pocket.
Make sure you double check your chargers voltage setting before pressing the enter button when you charge your ignition battery. :biggrin:
Make sure you double check your chargers voltage setting before pressing the enter button when you charge your ignition battery. :biggrin:
Xpress..
Hitec Sales
All I use now is LiPo because I can't find a light enough and large enough LiFe or LiIon that can handle the discharge loads I put them through :biggrin: They're honestly not as big a deal as everyone makes them out to be and the receiver specific packs are not the high c rated super discharge capability.
Tseres
Whiny Old Man
Back to working on my planes. The rest of the parts to finish the 42% Extra started arriving at 1pm today . It was the landing gear and Cuffs from PAU. I knew the cuffs were going to be the wrong collor but I told Herve Lejeune at PAU that I didn't care, I can paint them white.
I started on the Cuffs since they needed to be painted. I Cracked the new cuff right off the start. No I didn't cuss but came close. It's easy to repair them if they aren't Shattered. I just took a piece of .75 oz fiberglass Cloth and glued it to the inside with medium CA. You have to sand the inside before gluing. I used 150 grit dry paper. Spread the glue around with a baggie on my fingers to soak into the F/G Cloth. Almost an instant fix. It is now as strong or stronger then new... Wet sand the outside, one coat of primer and 2 coats of paint and its good as new still.
The pilot also got here about 2:30pm from Aircraft International. I always re color the pilot to match my plane with Magic Markers. Because my friend Pamela Marcum complained the last time that the hair and mustache wasn't gray enough to be me. I also used some latex white paint to color the hair and paint on the mustache.
Had to take the canopy outside cause the lights reflected to bad off the canopy to show the pilot. My trusty guard dog promptly decided to inspect it. I guess she liked it cause she didn't chew it up.
Had to take the mufflers out to change the gear. I put it back together as much as I could. I have to finish the Cuffs before I can go any further. Now it's like watching paint dry.
I started on the Cuffs since they needed to be painted. I Cracked the new cuff right off the start. No I didn't cuss but came close. It's easy to repair them if they aren't Shattered. I just took a piece of .75 oz fiberglass Cloth and glued it to the inside with medium CA. You have to sand the inside before gluing. I used 150 grit dry paper. Spread the glue around with a baggie on my fingers to soak into the F/G Cloth. Almost an instant fix. It is now as strong or stronger then new... Wet sand the outside, one coat of primer and 2 coats of paint and its good as new still.
The pilot also got here about 2:30pm from Aircraft International. I always re color the pilot to match my plane with Magic Markers. Because my friend Pamela Marcum complained the last time that the hair and mustache wasn't gray enough to be me. I also used some latex white paint to color the hair and paint on the mustache.
Had to take the canopy outside cause the lights reflected to bad off the canopy to show the pilot. My trusty guard dog promptly decided to inspect it. I guess she liked it cause she didn't chew it up.
Had to take the mufflers out to change the gear. I put it back together as much as I could. I have to finish the Cuffs before I can go any further. Now it's like watching paint dry.
Attachments
Now there is a pilot I could fly with.
And he's Delilah approved.
And he's Delilah approved.