Bird Dog Build

[ADW 123]

the rudder has not been shrank yet, and i want to fly this thing rubber powered. i was thinking about painting it blue (airbrushing). i did finally buy a geared rubber winder, so that will help me greatly. plus i got more prop shafts and not the little one that comes in the kit. i bought the kit on ebay a while ago, and the wood was ok but not great. it was also an old kit, and the decals were just paper bits and the tissue wasnt very good but i still used it.

[ADW 123]

I airbrushed a dark blue onto it. i made a huge error on just one of the formers on the fuse (the one that is angled at the rear of the wing) that completely threw of my wing by about half a cm. i had to make some mods on just the front and back window patterns, but right now that are looking like they are going to fit just fine. i plan to fly rubber powered (3/16" wide) and i got myself a winder for it too... somthing i have been needing. i got a wrinkle on the left wing after airbrushing... i suppose i used too much paint at once, but everything is built strait and true. i plan to put clear tabs onto it to make it go into a neat circle. i also added a pretty good nose block, and FYI i sealed with 2 coats of bannana oil thinned 50%

[Phugoid]

Looks super, looking forward to seeing some flight pics

Andrew

[ADW 123]

how do i know i need down thrust? also, i hope my tabs are looking ok.... i made it easy to be able to make them smaller if necesarry.

[supercruiser]

Looking really nice.

You will most likely need down thrust. How much is hard to say. I used 8 degrees or about a 1/32 inch shim under the thrust button. Looks like you made an adjustable nose block, very nice.

Your clear tabs are a great idea to help with trimming for flying. They can be much smaller.

[ADW 123]

always good to have to much than too little.....

how thick should rubber be on this? im going for somwher inbetween 1.5 and 1.25 times hook to peg distance

[supercruiser]

how thick should rubber be on this? im going for somwher inbetween 1.5 and 1.25 times hook to peg distance

Anywhere in that range, I usually go with 1.5

[ADW 123]

what about how thick the rubber should be? i was thinking 1/4"...

[ADW 123]

tabs adjusted, all windows on.

[supercruiser]

1/4 inch will work, might be too much. But, hey can you have too much power?
For the 900 series models, I have been using 3/16 inch wide, 1/16 inch thick rubber. On your plans there should be a note that says something like:
for longer flights use 36" by 3/32" by 1/16" rubber. I think this size will be the best overall.

[ADW 123]

two loops of 3/32" rubber?

[supercruiser]

2 loops of 3/32 that is 1.5 peg to hook distance sounds like a good size to me.
Be sure and lube it.

[ADW 123]

and my tabs on this thing, i am trimming for a left turn, but was having trouble. to i need to move those tabs a lot for anthing to happen, or will it be better to keep it down/up an left just a little?

[supercruiser]

Just a little bit should do it. For a left turn, the left aileron tab should be
UP, the right aileron tab DOWN, and the rudder tab LEFT. Most of the time the model wants to turn left anyway, so again, just a little bit of deflection on your tabs should get what you want.

[Bean]

What kind of glue do you use to attach the plastic windows?