Troy,

I was wearing polarized sunglasses, as I always do. Maybe that had something to do with it but I just had a hard time seeing it in the air compared to my genesis. The genesis is done up in the "classic" scheme offered on the pinnacle but with the white instead of light blue and a dark blue instead of the maroon/purple color. I've got four big checkers on the underside of the wing and it shows up GREAT. A huge plus to the scheme I'm using is visibility and I'd like to have that same visibility on all of my models now that I've seen the difference it can make.

I'm thinking we're going to get the all white version just to be safe and paint it up in the same scheme. We've gotten a lot of complements about the simplicity, looks, and visibility. Not to mention I love it myself.

Thanks for answering my questions, now go finish that pinnacle

Brett

Ok now for the Motor Install....This took the most time. Much of this time was scratching my head and trying to figure out how to do it. Reality is nothing too much different than others have done. I used a piece of basically 1/8" ply that was laminated with CF on both sides for the Nose mount of the motor.

Because the Nose was so rigid I felt this would work for mounting. Not all "electric" kits out there are strong enough for this type of mounting but the Pinnacle has held up great so far.

I then used some stand offs to space the motor back to get the Spinner gap correct. I don't remember the actual spacer size but it was like 5/8" I think. I made them and put them without measuring...

Tail ring is held in place using a "false firewall." I chose to use CF Nomex laminate for this. Its very light and stiff. I wanted to make sure I was not adding too much weight. I produced what could be considered a firewall and then modified it to connect the tail ring and give some open air passages on the sides.

I used cardboard to make a template for the firewall in the right spot. It took me about 2-3 tries to make this Cardboard template. Cool thing is cardboard is cheap and you can work it like wood with a dremel and some sand paper to get the shape just right. Once I did this I transfered it to the CF-Nomex plate and started fitting it carefully in place.

It was attached to the model with Aeropoxy from BVM. This stuff is awesome for holding things into a composite fuse. It can get a little heavy so if weight is a really big concern, West Systems Epoxy with some Micro Balloons works too. I chose the Aeropoxy as it is so easy to use.

Then the cross supports were cut away after the epoxy cured. This gave a lighter product and essentially two "ears" that attach to the fuse sides. Its worked really well so far.

Troy

Now the motor is installed its time to finish up all the little details like hook up linkage and so on. Motor took a couple of days to sort out and much of that time was thinking about what to do. Now that it has proved itself in the model for a few flights there are no signs of it being weak or having issues. I estimated about 8-10hrs in the motor install and making the parts. Much of this was getting glued up and then having to wait for epoxy to cure.

Total on the model we are about 18hrs so far.

Radio setup and rates was the next big thing along with Battery mounts. I used just some simple rails to hold the ThunderPower 42V battery pack.

In the photos show the elevator linkage connection and also one of the mods that was added to this model.

The stab is a little different than most. I spent a bunch of time talking with the factory and their experience as well as others. The idea is this is suppose to help in the rolling circles and rolling loops. After 20 some flights I would say this model does it better than the glow versions with straight tails. This plane has zero mix with rudder input.

As in I can take my hand off the right stick and do knife edge loops with the rudder and throttle only. Its kinda cool. Even my glow versions have a very slight mix of rudd to elevator on one side or another. This is like 2%...well the electric has absolute zero and needs none to get pure yaw at any rudder deflection. Its like drugs to fly this model on Knife edge. Its pretty effortless.

Final programming and battery mounts take around 2-3hrs. This includes a little time adjusting the balance of the model. I have 2 other planes that have the CG right and I matched it with the L'ectric version. I shifted the big THP batts back and forth a little to get the CG where I wanted it and then glued in the rails.

A little motor programming and some prop testing for max current draw and we are set about 22-23hrs total to have it in the air. Too bad it took me 2 months to find the time for that 23hrs.