More unpacking. I am pleased with the streamlined aluminum wing strut. The nuts on one end rubbed a bit on the other strut during shipment. Not a big deal, but a little piece of cardboard on them would help protect better during shipment.


The finish is very nice. Looking forward to assembling them.

Everywhere I look, it's 13...


I think my plane might be number 113.


I just happened to notice that the firewall is angled with preinstalled right-thrust. What's even more cool is that the cowl has the right thrust accounted for in its shape. Might be a common thing with planes of this size, but I'm glad the rough work is done for me. I am short on time these days. Never thought I would be an ARF guy.


At this point I started following the directions downloaded from the website. I found a few things that I'm hoping will help Bill make this aircraft even better on the next run. I'm not complaining, because I've been really happy with this ARF so far. It just blows me away in size and fit/finish.


I began with ironing the seams and shrinking the covering in a few places. I really didn't need to do this just by looking at the airframe. The covering was taught and the seams were careful. I also cut out the opening for the overhead window. With the doors off and no windows this thing is wide-open for working on. I really like this giant scale thing, you get so much room to work with.

I tried to fit up the wing just so I could ogle the Xtreme and appreciate its splendor, but I had a little trouble getting the locating dowel into its hole in the fuselage. The wing tube went in just fine, but I had to put a vey slight chamfer on the dowel to help it find its way in. As is turns out there are two sheets of ply laminated together on the fuselage with a hole in each to receive the dowel. They didn't line up by the smallest fraction of an inch. I rounded the hole out a little with an exacto blade. It's not 100% right yet because I worked very slowly. I do not want to oblong the hole.


After I let the fuse fall over once too many times while sitting on the ground it was time to get some gear on there. I cut out the oracover over each of the screw holes on the landing gear mounting surface. You use the 4 larger bolts, 4 washers, and 4 smaller locknuts. It looks like the washers in the part bag for the main gear were the wrong ones. They were too small for even the 4 smaller screws that hold the wheel pants on. I grabbed some #6 washers (IIRC) from the garage and they worked swell. I was able to get a socket wrench inside the fuselage to tighten the locknuts. You have to be careful not to overtighten.


The axles are quite easy. Just be careful not to overdo it and crush the CF gear.

Well I ran into a little craftsman's opportunity. I test fit the landing gear cover and found that the shape of the carbon gear prohibits a flush fit. My impression is that the aluminum gear was much flatter and the change to the more shapely carbon gear requires some relief to the hatch. I'll just heat up the oracover and pull it back so I can dremel some of the sheeting away. Then I can lay the oracover back down. It's a simple step but one that ought to be done by the builders before covering takes place.

Something sweet appeared on the doorstep...




I went with the DLE 35RA. It's not much heavier than the 30 with a bit more power.

I skipped ahead to the landing gear installation including the tailwheel. I want to get the fuselage off the ground.

Even though it is assembled you have to check all fasteners as part of ARF assembly. There are opposing jam nuts that hold the wheel pivot together and they were snug, but needed to be fully torqued (carefully as always)



The gear spring had two punches in it, but is not predrilled. I drilled them out but didn't check the spacing first. The front-most hole was just right, but I had to mark and drill the rearmost one again. I had to use my own washers again because the ones provided were too small. After that it bolted up just fine with some blue loctite.





Starting to look like something!

Originally Posted by toc pilot

This has not been our experience with engines under 100cc size. That is why we have kept the C/F backplate.... For our spinners 5" and bigger diameter we have C/F cones with Aluminum B.P.

Hi guys. I'm putting together BH 38% Decathlon and I just got my 5" CF spinner yesterday with a carbon fiber back plate. I will be using a DLE111 with a wood prop. I guess I should be looking for a aluminum black plate. Bill do you sell any of these? Thanks.
Had a hard time finding a 5" spinner anywhere on the web.

will you have these Xtrem Decathlons in 40% size Bill

Originally Posted by 19pointbuck

Hi guys. I'm putting together BH 38% Decathlon and I just got my 5" CF spinner yesterday with a carbon fiber back plate. I will be using a DLE111 with a wood prop. I guess I should be looking for a aluminum black plate. Bill do you sell any of these? Thanks.
Had a hard time finding a 5" spinner anywhere on the web.

Most of the failures I've seen or read about were engines larger than 120's running carbon fiber backplates with carbon fiber props. I don't think a wood prop has the same issues.

Originally Posted by majik hat

I've been out of the hobby too long and it's time to do something about it. I just threw down on the Xtreme Decathlon. I'm cheating here using Bill's stock photo, but once this baby arrives I'll catalog my building exploits here appropriately.

You might have already seen this, but here is a link to my blog with some photos of the full scale Xtreme Decathlon.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=486

It's a very nice flying airplane. I managed to win an Intermediate competition with it, and I'm practicing for Advanced, but the plane isn't really up to that category. Even with the stick all the way forward, to the point where I'm grabbing the bottom of the instrument panel with one hand and pushing hard forward with my other, I can only get it to about negative 3.5 Gs. The seating is very vertical so that feels more like negative 6! I have enough performance to make it through the Advanced known but the unknown is probably going to throw something at me that I can't do. It's all in good fun.

The Xtreme Decathlon adds just a little bit of needed oomph over the Super Decathlon which is really great for air shows. I can get a full vertical roll out of it with a clean hammerhead on top if I do things just right.

I have my eyes on this model as well. I'll be watching your build thread. Enjoy!

Jim

It's been quite a fun challenge. But getting closer.

Wow, the Michael Ford pics are your plane? That's excellent! I did see your blog but did not make the association. Congratulations on your win, that sounds like a blast. Between your pictures and my build thread we are filling up the google image results for "Xtreme Decathlon".


I've been staring at the M.F. pictures trying to figure out various scale details I would like to incorporate into my BH Xtreme. I was going to use that [your] tail number and everything if you don't mind. Perhaps I could use your assistance from time to time getting pics of certain details?


I'm hoping that the DLE 35RA will give me a power profile similar to what you describe for the full scale plane, i.e. I do not need to torque roll. I would like to do more scale flight at this time. I rather like the maneuver Greg Koontz does at the 1:00 mark here (I forgot all the maneuver names I once knew):

Greg Koontz 2012 Super Decathlon Airshow Routine (2 min 27 sec)

I hope to be in the air someday soon, before the best part of flying season is over. Good luck on your next performance!

Originally Posted by jbourke

You might have already seen this, but here is a link to my blog with some photos of the full scale Xtreme Decathlon.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=486

It's a very nice flying airplane. I managed to win an Intermediate competition with it, and I'm practicing for Advanced, but the plane isn't really up to that category. Even with the stick all the way forward, to the point where I'm grabbing the bottom of the instrument panel with one hand and pushing hard forward with my other, I can only get it to about negative 3.5 Gs. The seating is very vertical so that feels more like negative 6! I have enough performance to make it through the Advanced known but the unknown is probably going to throw something at me that I can't do. It's all in good fun.

The Xtreme Decathlon adds just a little bit of needed oomph over the Super Decathlon which is really great for air shows. I can get a full vertical roll out of it with a clean hammerhead on top if I do things just right.

I have my eyes on this model as well. I'll be watching your build thread. Enjoy!

Jim

Let me just link in the two youtube videos I took at the Arlington show.

Arlington Fly-In 2014 Air Show Head Cam (14 min 37 sec)

Arlington Fly-in 2014 Cockpit (13 min 28 sec)

The Cravat is about 10 minutes into the videos.

Greg is a great pilot. He flies a nice low show and does the ribbon cut and everything. I don't like outside loops in the Xtreme Decathlon because the stick forces are very high and if you get near Vne there isn't enough elevator to keep a high negative G loading. My CG is a bit too far forward which doesn't help.

The Xtreme Decathlon is very similar to the Super Decathlon. The gear are a bit longer because of the bigger prop. The cowl is different. The wingtips are different. Pretty much all the scale details will match the Super Decathlon except for those.

I think I saw that Hempel's model has flaps, which of course the Decathlons don't have in real life. The ailerons on the Xtreme Decathlon are of the "Super Stinker" design style, so no spades.

When you get a little closer and you want scale detail let me know.

Jim

Scale detail I'm in

Sub'd to the Thread!!

Also very interested in this plane with a DLE55!! Anyone mount this up yet?
What's the distance from outside of the cowl to the motor box??
Will a DLE55 fit without the prop/spinner sticking way out from the cowl?

Thanks,
D-Man