Carden 260 for '07

[rcplanefan]

This will be my 3rd 40% Carden build. The first two were 330's and they were two of the best flying planes I've ever owned. I decided on the 260 for next season after watching Wayne kick my butt repeatedly this year with his. Seriously, I love to build and built well, the Carden 260 is a tough plane to beat.

This build thread will likely be very similar to Wayne's BBW thread of the same airplane from earlier this year. They had some great ideas and methods and I will be copying much of their work. I've also got some other ideas for things I want to do, and I'll do my best to document them here.

First and foremost, this will be a precision IMAC airplane and will be setup with that in mind. A straight, light airframe is critical, and it will be built to that standard as best I can. I will not, however, sacrifice the thing that I love so much about Carden designs - the fact that they are strong enough to last several seasons with little or no maintenance!

This plane will be outfitted with:
DA-150
MTW cans
Mejzlik 30x12 prop with Mejzlik carbon spinner
Futaba 9152 servos on rudder and elevator
Futaba ???? servos on aileron (undecided as yet)
Fromeco batts, regs, and switches
Rocket City hardware
H9 titanium pro-links
Sure-Link servo arms (thank you Sam)

I am NOT a fast builder, so this thread may take a while to complete, but I will update as frequently as I can.

Ken

[rcplanefan]

The motor box in the Carden designs is the base from which the entire airplane is built. If it is not square, it is impossible to get the rest of the airframe square, so patience is key here. I use 3 hour epoxy when jigging up the box to give myself plenty of time to adjust and ensure things are right. I'll leave this to dry overnight.

I always wondered why everyone posted pics of the lightened pieces of the motor box. Well, after spending 3 nights removing wood I understand! I wound up removing 19.5 oz. from the motor box pieces. That's a little over a pound the airplane won't be hauling around. You can see all the wood piled up next to the motor box.

Once I receive the MTW can mounts from DA, I'll finish up the pipe tunnel. Those things make mounting cans so easy. This is also the first time I've used the SWB motor mount. That thing is the bomb and makes mounting the motor extremely simple. Neat.

[Wayne]

Awesome Ken.
Is it done yet??

[hubb]

Ken, you have mad building skills and more patience than I'll ever have. subscribed

Hubb

[rcplanefan]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Wayne
	Awesome Ken. Is it done yet??

Ask me that again in April, and the answer MIGHT be yes.

[DKnippen]

Ken,
Did you weigh your cutouts from the engine box? The two sides are 22oz before lightening. I got 9oz. cut out between the two sides.

[rcplanefan]

Dan,

I just weighed the pieces I cut from the motor box sides and got about 10.5 oz. Maybe I got a little more agressive than you did?

Ken

[RightThrust]

Hey Ken. The 9155's for the aileron's are awesome. Do you know what you're using yet?

-Kelly Gerber

[rcplanefan]

Kelly,

I had 9351's in my 330 a couple of years ago and they were great except they had mad oscillation at neutral after about 50 flights. My understanding is the 9155's are 9351's with a new pot made for airplane use to eliminate the oscillation - is this true? I'm trying to keep weight out of the wings - my current bird has 9152's in the wing - great servos but not light.

Thanks for the head's up on the 9155.

Ken

[yooki]

	Quote: Originally Posted by rcplanefan
	Kelly, I had 9351's in my 330 a couple of years ago and they were great except they had mad oscillation at neutral after about 50 flights. My understanding is the 9155's are 9351's with a new pot made for airplane use to eliminate the oscillation - is this true? I'm trying to keep weight out of the wings - my current bird has 9152's in the wing - great servos but not light. Thanks for the head's up on the 9155. Ken

I'm not Kelly but I can answer that question. The 9155 is indeed a 9351 with the new pot for airplane use. They won't oscilate around center like the 9351's did.

[Bill_Higgins]

Ken,

Great to hear and see that you've got yours going already !! I just started cutting out my engine box earlier tonight. Maybe I'll start a Higgins/Hueffmeier Carden 260 build thread here in a week or so. We're going to incorporate allot of Features / Techniques from the 43% 260 that should lighten it up a little more.

Bill

[rcplanefan]

Yookie - thanks, that's what I thought. I'll probably use them.

Bill - hurry up! I can probably use lots of that stuff in this plane.

Ken