Topic: ARTF Tucano mods

 Chaps,
        Step-son walked in on Christmas morning with the Pheonix models Tucano under his arm...very kind of him, will be perfect for a bit of light practicing at the field.
       Now, I"ve a set of tri-retracts sitting here, and, after a quick think, decided, that it would be feasonable to install them in this model, I know it"s just a sport-scale ARTF, but, it"s very well finished, and light..around the 5lb mark....maybe a little more, but, 61" is a very light wing loading, and I"m sure the model will cope no problems.
    It would be so much better looking in the sky in a low pass up the strip with the wheels tucked away, and will give me a good variety in the workshop, and a little break from the grind of the Shturmovik build too [which of course will continue as well  ]
     Much interest in seeing how this turns out?......fitting an OS 52 Surpass 



  Cliff 

Much interest in seeing how this turns out?......fitting an OS 52 Surpass 
  Cliff 

Yup!

Me too!  ::cc

There is a thread on RC Universe where somebody put retracts into a Seagull Pilatus PC-9. The models look quite similar so it might be some use. The thread is below.

www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3598534/anchors_3598534/mpage_1/key_retractable%252CRTF/anchor/tm.htm#3598534

hi cliff, had one of these about a year ago, am sure you must have seen it flyes a dream no vices sold it to a fellow modeler in belfast and is still flying, just a fixed undercarriage.
 Robert.

John,
       Thanks for the link, seems he never paid enough attention to the lengthof is nose wheel throught the modification?
       Right...the front lower coaming / sheeting has been sliced away....once done, gives ample room for working, although it still will be a "tightish" installation....befrore anything, I"ve installed the fuel tank, don"t want a fiddley job once the nose retract and bottom sheeting"s replaced...also in the pic, is 3 lengths of 1/4 sq Cyprias...to which the retract plate will be epoxied onto...
 

 next...the plate itself...shaded areas will be removed....there"s a small hollow out in the former, to clear the air cylinder too...



  if i cut out the shaded area before it"s glued in..it will end up in 2 pieces..so...epoxied it in place..and....drilled through the firewall...to accept 2 pieces either side at the front..this "ties" in the plate with the firewall, all I have to do now..is to set my drill bit at 1/4", so I don"t carry on down into the fuel tank!



  back soon...

    Cliff 

 Back with a little more chaps,
           Here"s the nose unit installed...will now get the wing retracts sorted..



   Now..
        .I"ve sliced open the wing where the original fixed u/carriage block was, taking note of the leg position, then, removed the rib parts, that are in line with the air cylinder, the original legs are 4.5"...I"m taking 1/4" off the length, this will allow me a little flexibility when the model is assembled, so I can adjust the nose wheel to have a very slight nose up attitude on the ground...thus....making it easier for the model to rotate on take off....at least that"s the idea 
      I"ll also increase the piano wire dia to a slightly more robust size, the heavy black lines indicate where ply doublers will be added to the original kit ribs....thinner lines show approx location for the actual retract mounting rails [1/4 ply]



   back asap...

    Cliff
 

It's nice to see this working out, the Tucano's one of my favourite aircraft. I had the Chiltern models version a few years back with an Irvine .46 up front and fixed gear, finished in the French trainer scheme. It flew well and had a long, fairly fast glide, although the flaps would slow it down. It was sadly lost to a stripped gear on an elevator servo, haven't used a 148 since!!

 Ron,
    Thanks for your comment  ....The Tucano is a cracking plane, and should be worth the trouble installing this set of retracts, I remember seeing the new ones being test flown from Shorts in Belfast, up along the coast and back again.
   If this works out ok, I"m going to have a long, hard look at the Don Smith 80" plan, with a South American colour scheme, would be a great model, but waaaaay in the future!

  Cliff 

big man
do the nose leg first
on the beech craft baron 58 they tell you to do the nose leg first an that determines the lenght of the legs on the wing

started building the SE5a have the four wing panels built and the bottom wing joined and sheeted
it's looking big

talk to you soon

andy

 Thanks Andy,
            Good idea, I"ll open up the other side, same as the first, but won"t finish the wheel well, till I eye her up on her u/carriage.
    hope to get out to the field this weekend, SE5 sounding nice 

  Cliff

 
     

If this works out ok, I"m going to have a long, hard look at the Don Smith 80" plan, with a South American colour scheme, would be a great model, but waaaaay in the future!

Cliff,

ColinM's just got the plans and kit for the Don Smith one   He's thinking 'petrol power' I'm saying 'turbo-prop'


Mark.

Do you know from whom he got the kit cut?

Hi Selleri,

He got the full kit from PCK


Mark.

Nice work Cliff and good to see you doing the Tincan justice. I'm a bit of a Tincan fan having scratchbuilt a 65 inch span one a couple of years ago and am now onto the Don Smith "big 'un"

And Mark's right I got a laser cut kit from PCK and I've now got the plans too so all ready to go. Retracts ordered from Fighter Aces and just waiting on delivery of them.

Must admit to being a little disappointed with the plans though. The model comes out at 86 inch span and Don's designed it to be a one piece wing.

Now we all know Americans have big cars but there's no way I could get a 7 ft wing in my car or come to that be able to store it. So I'm making loads of changes to it. The wings will be plug in using a carbon tube in tube joiner and I'll probably make the 3 ft span tailplane plug in too. Think I've got it worked out how to do it, just need to find a 1 inch dia carbon tube-in-tube. Any ideas anyone? I had a nice one on the Capiche 140 and have tried to get hold of Island Hobbies to buy one for this project but they're not answering their phone or e-mail. 

At the moment I'm intending to petrol power it but it's a very narrow plane and something like a ZG38 is just too big so maybe I'll weaken as I get closer to the time and have a look at a Wren turboprop. That'd keep my son happy

 :coGreat thread chaps. I a loving this and may follow suit once my workshop has been built. Keep it up! 

Nice work Cliff and good to see you doing the Tincan justice. I'm a bit of a Tincan fan having scratchbuilt a 65 inch span one a couple of years ago and am now onto the Don Smith "big 'un"

And Mark's right I got a laser cut kit from PCK and I've now got the plans too so all ready to go. Retracts ordered from Fighter Aces and just waiting on delivery of them.

Must admit to being a little disappointed with the plans though. The model comes out at 86 inch span and Don's designed it to be a one piece wing.

Now we all know Americans have big cars but there's no way I could get a 7 ft wing in my car or come to that be able to store it. So I'm making loads of changes to it. The wings will be plug in using a carbon tube in tube joiner and I'll probably make the 3 ft span tailplane plug in too. Think I've got it worked out how to do it, just need to find a 1 inch dia carbon tube-in-tube. Any ideas anyone? I had a nice one on the Capiche 140 and have tried to get hold of Island Hobbies to buy one for this project but they're not answering their phone or e-mail. 

At the moment I'm intending to petrol power it but it's a very narrow plane and something like a ZG38 is just too big so maybe I'll weaken as I get closer to the time and have a look at a Wren turboprop. That'd keep my son happy

Falcon Aviation do a good range of tubes
Stearman

 Ok, just a couple more pics,
       Here"s the two 1/8 ply rib doublers, takes time to get a "snug" fit for each, so a set was made for the opposite wing too,



  and the retract bearers in place...1/4 by 3/4 cyprias, shold be ok, and will be adding 1/4 sq below each bearer at the ribs for extra strength.



  now for the opposite wing.....back shortly..

  Cliff 

Well,
            never really got to model as much as I wanted the past couple of days...but managed enough for two pics to keep the thread going!
      Nose leg steering....simple brass strip, soldered onto a collet, and a little extra ply plate dremeled out for clearence...





   Next...will connect the servo up...and this will tell me the best side to which to mount the rudder horn on...ie...it will stop me possibly having to cross the wires to the nosewheel.
  Then...after a quick look, I"ll be installing the air-tank just below the cockpit, in the fuse.

  Cliff 

Well,
            never really got to model as much as I wanted the past couple of days...but managed enough for two pics to keep the thread going!
      Nose leg steering....simple brass strip, soldered onto a collet, and a little extra ply plate dremeled out for clearence...





   Next...will connect the servo up...and this will tell me the best side to which to mount the rudder horn on...ie...it will stop me possibly having to cross the wires to the nosewheel.
  Then...after a quick look, I"ll be installing the air-tank just below the cockpit, in the fuse.

  Cliff 

Suppose you know the spring on the noseleg is facing the wrong way?
Stearman

Hi  Stearman,
             Yes.
              did notice this, but can"t be helped as the air cylinder is in the way!!

    Cliff   

 Pk Chaps...little more,
       Got the air tank siliconed in place..and the valve, this was mounted on the edge of the servo tray, handy, and a small ripmax SD100 to operate it..
   Must try and get it finished, but working on a trailer at the minute too....between shifts!  :(

 Cliff

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 Another pic...
                          Here it is on it"s "feet"...I deliberately cut the main legs too long, then sat her on the bench, lifted her nose, to what i thought was "level", then measured the difference....was 2" too long in the main gear....
       So...just a matter of trimming the gear to suit...plus..an additional 1/4" to give that little bit of positive angle on the take-off run, with the retracts here for the Shturmovik, I really have to get this little plane out of the way pronto! 

 Cliff

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Pk Chaps...little more,
       Got the air tank siliconed in place..and the valve, this was mounted on the edge of the servo tray, handy, and a small ripmax SD100 to operate it..
   Must try and get it finished, but working on a trailer at the minute too....between shifts!  :(

 Cliff

Geez, how do you find enough time in the day, what with the Sturm, this and a trailer lol. Do you live alone?...Guy

 Hi Guy,
          Well, if you notice, there is nearly always a slight delay between posts / updates, just me bogging myself under as usual! but, keeps the brain ticking over!
   Another bit done with the Tucano modifications...
   The finishing off of the retract wells are just about done, and I"ve added a little extra "covering land" of 1/16 sheet, to help me tidy the bottom wing up...wheel well bottoms are of 1/32 ply...



 

     Forgot this little pic....
            .the air line "T" piece....not too much room to spare, and, had to drop it into the wing a little to stop it kinking..
     but, was a bonus, as the two "mounting holes" on the T piece...sat just nice for a couple of small dowels to hold it in place with a web of cyno...the sun was shining in the shed window...and they disapeared in the pic, so I"ve added red lines to let you see a little better what I mean...
  next..get the engine installed, and everything hooked up...

  Cliff 

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 Well, nearly there, and should have a bit more done by tomorrow too..
        Here"s the OS 52 surpass installed, with servo etc...and most of the air connections done....pic should explain better..getting tight, but only the switch left! and the nose-wheel steering closed loop to route in..


    I never thought...but it being a trike u/carriage...I need another one of these !...will ask at work tomorrow night if I can "borrow" one...[some of the robots at work use these connectors, they must have spares surely!!]....
     failing that..anyone out there got one to spare?   



  hopefully be back with more asap!

  Cliff 

I've enjoyed this, looking forward to seeing in finished, and most importantly, fly!

 Ron,
  Thanks for the encouragement...here"s what I got done this morning....coming near the end now.
  The steering closed loop installed, I"ve added a couple of balsa strips to help mounting, along with some masking tape to let the cyno have a better "grab" at the cable outer..took this pic before the sheeting is started on the nose, to help you see what I mean...



 Next, the sheeting added, and trimmed to suit retraction...



  and the whole lot filled with lighteweight filler before re-covering...



   

 Next, the cowling,
             nice, crisp moulding in fibreglass  the cowl edge will be cut away to give both access to the low-end adjustment, as well as the main needle, handy with an inverted set-up



  and...I"ve got an aluminum spinner to hand, just that little bit better 



 I"m working this weekend...but will / should!, be able to complete the plane over the few days..[decals etc][...and should be flying her Sunday week..
   Will be back a.s.a.p. 

 Cliff

Cliff, what is the black thing with the blue ends?

   Kinda had me confused there winch!  is it this?..
   ...it"s a "T" piece for the airline, distributes the air around the system, I need one more to connect to the nose wheel / main gears 

 Cliff

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Ah, got it! Thanks. Sorry to confuse you, I saw your post from a little earlier with the big closeup and wondered what it was.

 Ok Chaps,
                I"ve been busy trying to get her ready for this weekend, here she is with the u/c retracted, which, really "cleans" her up well.
        Another note...on the box....the AUW gives..2.8kg [= 6.16 lbs]...now...I weighed my model...which is just about 5lbs spot on, the only thing that i have to add, is the two aileron push-rods, and these won"t show up on the scales!...maybe Pheonix Models have over-estimated slightly, I really don"t know....but, I"m happy that the wing loading should be more than reasonable at this weight.  Slight nose down attitude was achevied by tucking the nicad beside the air tank ...[ just about in the C of G position].
     So...hope the weather is ok for this Sat / Sun.....then should be able to get some flying pics..and report posted....





  Cliff   
     
   

Superb mate 

Very pretty mate....ganna go like the clappers at 5lb on the .52

Looks great. Hopefully the weather will be kind for you this weekend.


Guy

Very nice looking Tincan Cliff. Excellent result and well done. Good luck with the second maiden.

It looks awesome. Can't wait to see some flying shots. Great work mate!

Nice job Cliff - looks very clean

 Hi chaps,
                   Tucano flew very well..
          ...flight pics in the scale modeling section 

 Cliff   

I've just won an eBay auction for one of these!!  ::cc Ready built, never flown and ready for an engine. I also have a set of spring air retracts too..... do you see a plan forming?

Cliff, any top tips that you have thought of since this build finished?

Does it have or need flaps? I am thinking of putting in an ASP65FS, what do you think? Or perhaps an Irvine 53?

 Hi Winch.
       ..65 four stroke is perfect. ...no need for flaps, main thing...get your nose wheel sorted first, this determines your main wheel size, if you feel you need any more pics, I"ll get them for you no problem..
  good flying model, and worth the work with the retract modification...

  Cliff