Okay, I am a beginner, but I read alot! and I talk to old timers alot and look for problems that I can correct. My wife helps me alot, she understands alot about Aero engineering, she studied 2 years at the aerospace engineering center in Aachen Germany, since she was 16 at the time and the first women ever to be accepted in this field here in Germany she was eventually driven out by the male oriented professors, but thats another story. Soo here goes! tell me if I am barking up the wrong tree here folks, criticism is the basis for learing.

1. Motor: I traded the .60 OS max out for an MDS .68 with a Penter Carb, MDS is a good engine, they just dont do carbs well. I think the extra power will give me a better chance to get out of trouble, which I know will happen, gotta get away from the barn!!

2. Landing gear: I traded the tiny foam rubber wheels out for 9/16th wheels (90mm) and increased the size of nose wheel. The wheels that came with the kit are great for asphalt but dont do much for the grass I will fly off of. My wife said this will increase the downward attack angle causing a quicker moment of lift and a better roll off the landing gear, do I know what that means? No! but it sounded like something that would be cool and give me a shorter take off. Plus, I think, it will allow a rougher terrain take off. I also noticed that the wire provided for the stearable nose wheel was so rigid that it would bind BADLY when trying to steer the aircraft, if the nose gear binds I thought that it would affect the free movement of the rudder, so I used small flexble bowden cable and dubro connectors. These are the connecters that the cable passes through and you tighten the screw and it hols the cabel, just to be safe I used loctite to make sure it wouldnt loosen up.

3. Servos and control rods: I replaced the clunky wooden dowel control rods with smaller lighter Carbon Fiber control rods, seems they are more rigid. I got some high carbon steel wire and threaded them to accept nylon clevises. I threaded them abit longer to give me more adjustment at the end points. I shimmed the servos so that they would be on a direct line as possible to the respective control horn, this also eliminated the binding I had.

4 Fuel tank: I replaced the fuel tank with one with the same outer dimensions but shorter in length. I took a piece of round PVC pipe and welded a back onto it, i placed a fuel line feed into this and will mount it forward of the tank. The other portion I took a swivel compressed air fitting and soldered an entry and exit line too it. On the interior of the tank I placed a fuel filter and a tank clunk which i cut 2 groves into. The pressure from the exhaust will push the fuel from the main tank into the round tank, the clunk and fuel filter will give it the weight to be able to get fuel in no matter which attitude the plane is in. I know this aint no aerobatic plane but I am assuming that I will be in some pretty wierd attitudes when learning.

5. Wings: What I did here is a good ballance job, I always hear that planes have to be balanced from nose to tail, I think the same shoudl apply for wing tip to wing tip.

6. Battery and receiver: I think that Tower wanted to mount the battery and receiver under the servo tray, thats way too permenant for me. What I did here is I took two ceder beams one inch high, half inch wide and three and half inches long. this way I can put hooks in the beam and mount the receiver and battery, wrapped in foam naturally, on an elastic suspension system that would protect it from crashes and vibrations.


So far thats what I am doing or planning on doing. Oldtimers, am I insane? Or will this enhance my flying and learning experinece? I know this is alot of work fo an ARF trainer, but, what the heck!! I love to fiddle, improve and experiment.

I need your opinions on this stuff! I am a beginner, but I love airplanes!! Maybe one day I will tell the story of the Guillows DR1 I built and slapped a cox half A on and never saw again!!!

You have some really good modifications and ideas there. It sounds to me like you hit the nail on the head in every aspect of your trainer. I like the carbon control rods and the suspension type receiver and battery mounting. Good deal on your better half and her aerospace background, I am sure you are very proud of her. Good luck to you when you get this bird airborne. I'll bet it flies great.

Now, let's hear the story of the fly-away DR1.

Jon :)

ps. WATCH OUT FOR THAT BARN ! :D

Sorry, but I have a few problems with some of your ideas. I agree that the foam wheels that come with the kits are crappy. I am not sure what you mean by the 9/16 so I will tell you what has become standard at our grass field. For grass fields the size you should have for a 60 size trainer is 3" wheels for the mains. It sounds like your trainer is a trike gear. If the original front wheel is smaller than your main wheels then make the front wheel 2 3/4". If it is the same size as your main wheels, then also make it 3". Buy the either Dubro Lite Weights or Sullivan Skylights. The weight difference is worth the few extra dollars! On your engine, I wouldn't trade an OS for any MDS! OS engines are easy to adjust and keep running. The FX series have gobs of power and usually turn the same size prop 2500 rpm faster than other engines. I found out after I bought a tach. MDS seem to be short lived engines with various problems popping up, but maybe its just been the ones that have been tried at our field. The standard engine at our club is OS FX. On the fuel tank I wonder why the mods?!? How much does your tank hold? By making the tank shorter, you basically cut down the fuel capacity of the fuel tank. To get a standard 10 minute flight out of the plane with a 60 size engine you will need at least a 14 oz. fuel tank. By going to the larger 68 engine it might even need a 16 0z. fuel tank. Balancing the wing is a good idea. To do it properly you have to have it mounted on the plane with everything in the plane. You are actually balancing the whole plane, not just the wings. What I mean is the engine, muffler, fuel tank, wheels, battery, and the receiver all have to be installed to check the lateral balance. Reason is the muffler or servos on one side of the plane may affect the balance. You can't just balance the wing if it isn't installed on the plane. And then don't forget to check the CG. How does this sound so far?? Any other questions, feel free! Fast!:D

Fastsky

The wheels are 3 inch, and the nosegear wheel is just slightly smaller, we have mostly grass areas here for flying. One of the clubs here has asphalt runways at their flying area, 4 strips each one 50 meters long. I dont want to play with them because they have some very extensive, and I mean real extensive, noise rules, to the point where it would cost me about as much for the noise abatment equipment as I paid for the motor.
The tank has not really lost any capacity, as a matter of fact the capacity is abit more that the original tank. Please remember there are basically 2 tanks in the aircraft, the round tank being basically an aerobatic tank to relive any fuel flow problems. Understood, that a Tower .60 trainer is NOT an aerobatic plane, I just have a feeling that it might help save a situation in my present learning phase. I have also taken into consideration additional fuel consumption. I was going to add a smaller impeller/ducted fan tank. The crescent form would fit in the body of the plane nicely.
MDS .68, Gawd! I know what you mean!! I did some research into this motor and found out that most of the problems are caused by the carb, I replaced this with a Penter Carb. By the way, MDS is now, as of the end of April, releasing a complete 2nd generation motor line. Ripmax in England apparently were swamped with complaints, which prompted better materials and better quality control in the factory in Russia. Ripmax also extended my gurantee on the present motor. "Just Engines" in England has also been a big help, if all fails I will replace the MDS with an Irvine .61. I have no problems with OS, I have a very old one in my Duraplane that really shocked me as far speed goes!! That Old Durabrick was booking!!! other than that, they are really expensive here in Germany. You have the Import tax, and then add 17% for Value Added Tax.
Balance, I did what you said, I did a pre installation on everything and balanced it that way. I only balanced the wing separetely to insure there would be no surprises on the final balance.
I appreciate your comments! I really do! I am still a beginner and any advice I receive is valued. My biggest problem is I love to fiddel and improve, at least I think I am improving!!!

I gather from what you are doing that you really do like to fiddel and improve. I am just wondering if you should leave forget the fuel tank ideas until you get trained. As long as you have a fuel tank good for 14 oz. then you should be able to get a standard 10 minute flight. Having mutiple tanks and fuel pumps going allows more things to go wrong. Testing on the ground doesn't gaurantee anything either. If your fuel quits flowing and you get a deadstick you are in a forced landing situation. Most of the time, the plane can be landed with no problems back on the runway but why take the chance? For training you want 6 continuos flights per day with a reliably running engine. The 60 minutes flying time is standard to allow a safety margin for the Tx. and Rx. batterys. Once you are trained and very familiar with your trainer, then I would say go ahead and experiment.
On the Irvine engine; they are very nice. A buddy has an Irving 72 on a Senior Telemaster. It runs really well and you gotta love that Red head! Have you found an RC Club to fly at? Its getting the time of year to start flying. We had snow last week but it should be nice and warm to start next weekend. Let us know how you make out. :D