Great Planes NEW 38% Extra

[krayzc]

tell me it's not so! in this day and age we want to build a kit! NOT!

[Mithrandir]

OK... 'nuff of the OOOO'ing and AWE'ing... lets Git'r'done!

If you open the instruction manual, it tells us to iron out all the wrinkles first. Well... there were no wrinkles! Really! (It actually took over a week and one flying session in the sun before any wrinkles appeared! And it only took 15 or 20 minutes to take care of those)

So, lets get started on the wings. How sweet... the ailerons are hinged and glue'd!!! Give'em a good tug to make sure the hinges are really secure...

Put some towels or other padding on your bench to lay the wings on. Grab your best X-Axcto with a #11 blade and trim the servo openings as shown in the manual. Leave about an 1/8" edge that you can iron down.
Notice the holes for the control horns are already drilled!

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Might as well grab the Stabs and do those Servo Boxes as well.

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[Mithrandir]

The next step would be the control horns... the wing and stab are identical process here.. so we did'em at the same time. The horns are made from long screws and a couple washers with a domed center and a dome nut... look at the diagram... the domed feature allows the washers to angle themselves flat with the aileron/elevator surface!

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Now you can take the Anti-Torque dowels and epoxy them into the root rib of the wing. Sand a bit of a chamfer on the exposed end to help it fit into the holes of the fuselage.

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[Mithrandir]

HOOORAY!!! My servos came in!!!
I was intending to use the FUTABA S9156 servos for this, but they are unfortunately back ordered. (About the best darn GS Hi-Tork Servo around IMHO!!)
So, I decided to try the servos John Glezellis used... Hobbico CS-170 Digital Ultra Torq 2BB Titanium Gear Servo.

You will need 2 for each aileron, 3 for the rudder, and one for each elevator... and a Throttle servo. (10 servos, 9 hi-torq)

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The timing is perfect on the servos as next we install the servos in the wings.

So, you will need a couple extensions. A 12 inch and a 36 inch. Connect'em up to the aileron servos and secure the connection with the supplied heat shrink. The extensions I used were some 3rd party product, and the female socket was too big to easily fit thru the wire conduits in the wing!

Well.. if you ever assembled your own connectors, you know that the female part can be removed leaving exposed pins. (See pictures below)
That is what I did... and then I used the heat shrink in the normal manner. As long as this connection is held straight, there will be no problems
(The third image shows the relative size difference)

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[Mithrandir]

OK.. so now that the extensions are secured to the servo leads, we need to thread the extensions thru the wing. Great Planes has graciously provided wire conduits as well as a draw string.
So, place the wing on your table with the servos and extensions and lets git'r done!

Tie the extension as shown so the connector won't fold over the wire and cause a jam-up. There is a open section of the conduit at the inboard servo box.

Once you have the leads thru, you can drill the servo mounting screw holes and CA Harden the holes. I also put a dab of RTV (silicone) on the screw to help prevent it from ever backing out.

Go ahead and repeat the process for the stabs/elevators too since you got all your tools and servos handy.

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[Mithrandir]

Next step is to assemble all the servo arms. I did use these and so far they have worked wonderfully!

Take a look at the diagram, and assemble all the parts needed. Again, might as well do all this for the elevators too while we are at it.

We never want these to come loose, so hit the threads with locktite to secure them.

Unfortunately, I did not have the round servo wheels, so I was forced to use the long double arms and kinda fi-nagle a solution. The arms are thick plastic, so there is a fair amount of meat for the screws to bear upon. Better to get the recommended servo wheels though!

Once I had'em assembled, I trimmed off the arm portions not needed.

And finally, Attach them to the servos. Be sure to center the servos first, get the servo subtrimmed to as close to 90 degrees as possible, and add a little bit of RTV to the Servo Arm Screw to keep it in. Once that is done, grab the remaining hardware to complete the pushrod assembly. This will include a turnbuckle, a pin and a cotter pin along with the clevis. The instructions provide good details on getting this done.

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[Mithrandir]

Because I am using the FUTABA 14MZ with the 14 channel 2.4 Ghz Rx, there is no need for match boxes. All of the centers and maximum throw angles are adjusted in the transmitter in the SUBTRIM and ATV menus.

I place the wing vertically so that I can match everything up. The weight of a control surface is enuff to cause a servo to buzz, and orienting it vertically takes the weight of the aileron off the servos.
When both servos are perfectly matched, there is no buzzing sound from either servo. A power meter can be a good tool also as you can read the current as you make adjustments... when the current is minimized at center or full throw, the best match possible is achieved.

And... assemble the pushrods for the elevators now too...

DO NOT FORGET THE COTTER PINS!!!!

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[Mithrandir]

The Great Planes 38% Extra 330S comes with a nice tail wheel assembly as well.

First step is to remove the wheel collar that retains the wheel fork on the strut, and dremel a little flat for the set screw to engage. Reassemble it and loctite the setscrew.
I had to open the hole on the bottom of the fuselage a little bit for the tail wheel strut to fit snug, but that took about 35 seconds. Once you have done a test fit, locate the small nylon mounting straps and drill the holes according to the instruction manual. CA-Harden the holes.

Next, remove the strut, and put a bead of RTV in the channel as well as the hole and replace the strut into the channel. Put a dab of RTV on each screw and screw in to place the two Nylon Straps. Done!

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[Hinckley Bill]

Mithandir,

Excellent, excellent build thread.......

I'm stopped on mine at the moment, as I'm out on the road up in Calgary AB.....

Nice place to visit........looks like there'd be lots of open space to fly from!

Keep up the good work..


Bill

[Mithrandir]

Alright, the tail wheel is done, now to the main gear. Locate the strut, pants, fairings, axles, collars and screws. Oh yeah.. the main gear cover should still be taped to the lower front of the fuselage.. remove that as well.

It is helpful at this point to have a fuselage stand that will safely and securly hold the fuselage upside down. Especially with the wings attached.

Making sure you have the main gear strut oriented properly, bolt it to the fuselage using the supplied 4 bolts and washers. In this instance, I prefer RTV on the threads, but loctite is good too.
Now bolt on the landing gear cover with two 1/4-20 Nylon screws.

Now you will want to put the wings on the plane. Don't need to bolt'em tight, just slipped up to the fuselage at the root. Once that is done, slide the fairings into place over the strut. There is a "Left" and a "Right" fairing. Hard to tell until you fit'em in place, then it is obvious. Now, slide the wing off enuff to slip the fairing up against the fuselage, and carefull slide the wing ack into position until it just touches the fairing. Now trace around the wing with a fine tip sharpie and that is the trim line. Use a Dremel with a Structured tooth tungston carbide bit to trim it, and smooth the trimmed edge with a sanding drum or sand paper. Be sure to use adequate personal safety equipment... Safety Glasses and dust mask!!!

Once they are trimmed and the wing will fit nicely, use some RTV on the strut to secure them in place.

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Now lets finish up the wheels and fairings.
The included diagram shows the required parts and how they go together.

Be sure to grind a small flat for the wheel collar set screw at the very end of the axle. then you can put on the inboard wheel collar and washer, the wheel and the outboard washer and wheel collar. Don't tighten things down yet until you test fit the wheel pants. You will notice the wheels must be as far out on the axle as possible. Once you have verified this, loctite and tighten all the wheel collars and again test fit the pants.

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[Mithrandir]

We now get to the wheel pants. You will notice they are very nice parts. The plywood hardpoint on the inside is laminated into the fiberglass, within the layers. This goes a long way to prevent the wheel pants from cracking adjacent to the strut. Great Planes has also predrilled and installed the T-Nuts as well... and they are in the correct place!!

But first, clean out the threads by test fitting the screws thru the T-Nuts.
Before you screw them into place, put a small dab of RTV between the two mounting screw holes. This will provide a vibration resistant adhesive bond between the strut and the pants. Put a dab of RTV on the screws and tighten'em up. Repeat for the other side.... Let the silicone dry and you are DONE!

The plane is now "On Gear"!

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[Mithrandir]

The next step is to prepare the rudder. Locate all the rudder "Torque Rod" components. (Control horn stuff yuh'know) and the small tiller arm for the tail wheel steering and small screws. Sand the aluminum threaded part so you are sure to get a good bond and then test fit the assembly in the rudder. If it all fits nice, use some EPOXY to bond it in place as shown. Now tighten up the Conical nuts. Be sure to use the middle hole on the plastic clevis part! While that is curing, locate the tail wheel steering tillar arm on the bottom of the rudder. I tacked it into place with a couple drops of CA and then match drilled the three holes. CA-Harden'em and the Rudder is ready for hinging!

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