Pitts S12 by CompArf BUILD

[wc524]

Well I got started tonight building a brand new Pitts S12 by CompArf in the stars and stripes scheme. This plane is for one of my good friends, Kevin Wilson, who will be the proud owner when she's done. Tonight started by going over the parts to make sure everything fitted well and was compatible with only a few nuisances.

- Got the motor mounted up.
- TruTurn 5" spinner and gorgeous Mejzlick 32x10

I ran into problems when I realized the headers I had did not have the correct drop (too low by 25mm) and then the axles for the wheels had too short of a threaded section to allow for the thick carbon gear. After the problems I decided I can fix those tomorrow and moved on to the next task. The cabanes and custom running the servo leads inside the stainless tubes. Once done, the servo leads will be invisible and it will look very clean.

I taped off the areas to be drilled to keep from getting scuffed and broke out the Dremel Tool and the dust mask and I went to town making nice holes just big enough for two servo leads to fit nicely inside. I found out that using a titanium carbide drill bit worked best when used like a router bit, and the bulk of the metal could be taken away with a cut-off disk. After making sure the leads fit through the cabanes I started on making the holes in the fuselage in order for the leads to pass through. This is where it started to get a little tricky, so I got the first hole drilled in the fuse to realize I would have plenty of room around the blind nut assembly that holds on the cabanes. Tomorrow I will finish the cabane/servo leads and move on to servos and other fun stuff. Here are some photos from tonight's work (3:40am now).

Comp-Arf Pitts S12 (Stars and Stripes Scheme)
3W 170 CS
Pefa Cannister Mufflers
Hitec 5955TGs all around
Fromeco Li-Ion batteries
Power System (?? brand) still deciding
TME Smoke System
TruTurn 5" P51 Spinner
Mejzlick 32x10 2-Blade

[Mokken]

	Quote: Originally Posted by wc524
	Well I got started tonight building a brand new Pitts S12 by CompArf in the stars and stripes scheme. This plane is for one of my good friends, Kevin Wilson, who will be the proud owner when she's done. Tonight started by going over the parts to make sure everything fitted well and was compatible with only a few nuisances. - Got the motor mounted up. - TruTurn 5" spinner and gorgeous Mejzlick 32x10 I ran into problems when I realized the headers I had did not have the correct drop (too low by 25mm) and then the axles for the wheels had too short of a threaded section to allow for the thick carbon gear. After the problems I decided I can fix those tomorrow and moved on to the next task. The cabanes and custom running the servo leads inside the stainless tubes. Once done, the servo leads will be invisible and it will look very clean. I taped off the areas to be drilled to keep from getting scuffed and broke out the Dremel Tool and the dust mask and I went to town making nice holes just big enough for two servo leads to fit nicely inside. I found out that using a titanium carbide drill bit worked best when used like a router bit, and the bulk of the metal could be taken away with a cut-off disk. After making sure the leads fit through the cabanes I started on making the holes in the fuselage in order for the leads to pass through. This is where it started to get a little tricky, so I got the first hole drilled in the fuse to realize I would have plenty of room around the blind nut assembly that holds on the cabanes. Tomorrow I will finish the cabane/servo leads and move on to servos and other fun stuff. Here are some photos from tonight's work (3:40am now). Comp-Arf Pitts S12 (Stars and Stripes Scheme) 3W 170 CS Pefa Cannister Mufflers Hitec 5955TGs all around Fromeco Li-Ion batteries Power System (?? brand) still deciding TME Smoke System TruTurn 5" P51 Spinner Mejzlick 32x10 2-Blade

I'll follow along, looks good so far..

[wc524]

Got a little more done today, but most of the day was spent organizing parts and figuring out what type of headers to get since it is 1 1/4" drop and there are none made in that size. So we'll have to make a custom pair with parts from KS headers from Aircraft International. If you want something done right you have to do it yourself.

All the servo trays are made and ready to be installed, also a balsa support was placed under where the canopy attaches to the fuselage in order to stiffen that area that was extremely flexible.

The big achievement of the day was finishing the cabanes and servo leads. Man what a clean look it will have now without having the servo leads exposed. A first for all Comp-ARF Pitts. It almost was fun putting a hole into the fuselage....... Hey it looks awesome now though so I can't complain. Now to make custom servo leads and get this baby flying by the end of the month.

- Parker Gilbert

[wc524]

Got the fuel and smoke tank worked out. The main fuel tank will probably be the B&B 64oz tank on the bottom with the Dubro 50oz tank on top for smoke. The current position will not be the final place...it's just for visuals. Did I mention that the inside of the fuselage is HUGE. Also, the TME pump will be here in a week. All the servos will be in on Wednesday, and we will get moving on it this week.

[wc524]

Got some more work done today. Got the wheel pants put on and all the servo trays made, and I also finished the custom servo leads that run through the cabanes. I installed the top wing aileron servos and got the geometry almost perfect on the first try. I only will need to tweak the resolution a little, but it is almost dead on. Finally now that I've got the wings almost ready to put the wires on it is starting to look a lot more like a plane.

What's left:

1. Epoxy Elevator trays in and mount servos and hardware.
2. Epoxy Canopy and cowl mounts in place.
3. Make/buy headers for engine.
4. Install canister mounts
5. Install gas and smoke tanks and TME smoke Pump
6. Run Pull-Pull Cable and outlets
7. Finish making wing support wires.
8. Put in a Power System and program all the servos with programmer.

After this we can start breaking in the engine and get it tuned well for the maiden. Probably another week and we'll be ready to crank her up.

- Parker

[wc524]

Some more pictures.

[JagerBomb]

	Quote: Originally Posted by wc524
	Got a little more done today, but most of the day was spent organizing parts and figuring out what type of headers to get since it is 1 1/4" drop and there are none made in that size. So we'll have to make a custom pair with parts from KS headers from Aircraft International. If you want something done right you have to do it yourself. - Parker Gilbert

Save yourself the trouble, Desert Aircraft has the headers in stock for the 3W 170 with the correct drop

Mark

[Jcarte]

Looks like to me you have room for another B&B 64 on top of the other one for smoke, just as well have as much smoke as gas.

[wc524]

	Quote: Originally Posted by JagerBomb
	Save yourself the trouble, Desert Aircraft has the headers in stock for the 3W 170 with the correct drop Mark

I emailed them, so I should know later if they have them in stock. It's just a weird drop with the Pefa cans. If it were Greves pipes it would be a different story, and a little easier.

[JagerBomb]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Jcarte
	Looks like to me you have room for another B&B 64 on top of the other one for smoke, just as well have as much smoke as gas.

Ever weigh a B&B fuel tank empty?

Mark

[JagerBomb]

	Quote: Originally Posted by wc524
	I emailed them, so I should know later if they have them in stock. It's just a weird drop with the Pefa cans. If it were Greves pipes it would be a different story, and a little easier.

Are the inlets offset?

Mark

[pitviper51]

this beast is huge! great trim scheme!
mike

[Zach_T]

It's looking good, that engine is sweet. Where are you going to maidin it?

[andywynn]

WOW, that colour scheme looks great. Any idea what the weight will be??????

[FastnLow]

A 64oz fuel tank seems way overkill. A 50oz is alot and will give a little more room up front, no? Gerhard at AI has some nice round 50oz tanks that would fit side by side in that fuse real nice.