Not to be too snarky here... what happened to scat so that those of us invested in IMAC can better identify the issues before IMAC reaches the same fate.

no need to hijack the thread. If you want to talk, PM me.

Paul

Originally Posted by FGNewbie

SCAT was a contest series, not a stand alone event as is the case with IMAC. We were extremely well sponsored, with JR as our lead sponsor, again nothing like IMAC. A small contest was 35...I understand that a recent IMAC contest had 13. It was Bill who developed the 10 figure sequence, as is the standard now. And as Doug said, we introduced Intermediate in the face of serious criticism from IMAC. Oh well...

Al, you were instrumental in our donation of an airplane from SIG, and that plane was donated (along with an engine) to a young man with an interest in aerobatics.

it was 16,,,

SCAT was our introduction to precision flying as we lived in California at the time. Kevin was about 15. All we knew of IMAC is that the guys out west had a falling out with IMAC. We had a great time flying SCAT and meet some great people. We really did not get to know much about IMAC until we moved back east.

Back on the build for Tucson

Ok, so a couple of weeks ago I picked up on a build we started a while back. We had a basic fuselage framed but still need the turtle deck and hatch made, We had cut a new airfoil for the Extra about a year ago and tested it on one of our customers planes. It was quite an improvement.

We cut new wing for this fuse, I have made the new hatch and am in the proces of setting it up and covering.

Sorry Bill....I was given "alternative facts!"

We were experiencing very large turnouts in Sportman...over twenty at some contests. It was brutal for the judges. it made sense to at least experiment with intermediate, which we did. first year, the interest was minor, but the second the class was well attended. it fixed a lot of problems. Our lead sponsor (JR/Mike Mc Conville) had no interest in being dragged into the politics, so they continued their support. I don't think there's much a of chance that IMAC will follow the same path; as they may both appear to the be the same on the surface, the manpower commitment to continue SCAT was enormous. Oh well.....planes to fly and build!

Al, Kevin, glad you had a chance to participate...

What’s up fellas! Just started my 3.1 CS build this week. My first 40% build, with help from my father a more experienced builder. Everything came out of the box in perfect condition and we are happy with the quality of each part.

I am approaching the part of the build where I need to start fitting the turtleneck and build he hatch. Edge glued my sheeting, squeegeed on my epoxy, and sheeted the turtledeck with weight, no problem here.

After the cure I trimmed it up and tossed it on the fuse and realized it is about 3/4” too wide at the rear of the fuse. Up front by the rear hatch former it is perfect, it seems the angle that the turtledeck was cut at is too shallow and therefore too wide as it travels aft. . I am able to bar clamp it to the right width with some good pressure, but not sure this is supposed to be like this, haven’t seen this on anyone else’s build log. Sorry I don’t have the right pic to show the width but you can see I have t clamped and the bottom is bowing inward.

I looked back at my shucks and nothing is warped or bowed, any ideas?

Did the foam turtle deck fit the fuse correct before sheeting it?

I did not place it on the fuse prior to sheeting so that is definitely on me. Have any of you had to cut material off of the front of the turtle deck and push the whole thing forward? From where I am that looks like my best option. I realize that will also make it slightly shorter in height but as long as it’s long enough to cover the fin and the former i should be fine right?

Is the complete length of the turtle deck to wide? If so you could try dampening the wood all up and down the curve of the turtle deck with warm water. Let it get nice and soft. then clamp it back into position like you have it now on the fuselage and let it dry. This may take a few attempts and you may have to go slightly past the position to get it to relax back into the proper shape, this will also depend on how deep the epoxy soaked into your sheeting. I am assuming (which is always bad) that when you glued up the skins and weighted it down that things did not stay square. I see that you had clamps but it still may have spread. Good luck

With the front of the turtle deck butted right to the rear hatch former, the width at the front was right on, maybe an 1/8” wide. As it ran down to the tail it got wider until the end of the fuse where it was close to 3/4”. Clamped closed I got some curling up of the foam so it’s leaning on its outer edges.

I’ve decided to push the deck up and cut it back. I’m happy with the results as the fit is much better. I added a balsa stick at F4 and F5 to keep it flush all the way down. I am about 1/4” shorter now so I reshaped the hatch former and deck former. No big deal like I said I’m happy with how it came out.

I fully trust Al’s kit cutting more than my abilities so I’m gonna call this a rookie mistake. I just wish I knew why it was like that.

Once I get the fin ready I’ll set that and then set the deck and sheet the hatch

I would think it should fit near perfectly. I haven't built this kit, but for what they're asking for it, I would no doubt expect everything to fit as it should. I'm aware there are slight tolerances allowed for expansion/contraction, but a 3/4" deviance in the rear width seems very excessive, and combined with having to trim for length... well... I'm hoping the canopy still fits the hatch/deck formers as it should. I'm hoping also you received the correct turtle deck for the plane.

I've been studying around and contemplating a next build myself, and the JTEC kits are interesting. I had the opportunity to meet Al at the recent TAS in AZ, and he's a real nice guy, which got my interest going at looking at his kits.

A few good friends of mine recently built the Giles, and although the plane came out beautifully, there were bumps in the road I'd rather not go into here... but I have been looking at these kits, as well as other high end kits.

I hope to see how your plane turns out, and how it all fits when it's complete.

Also, I'm curious, if you haven't glued that turtle deck on, you can probably use the shucks to glean/gauge the match of the deck to fuselage relationship. Seriously I would think it would be very close. If the shuck or deck doesn't fit, double check your rear fuselage structure and make sure it's what it should be. If the fuse rear is narrow, that might reflect in the stab-tube/stab/fuse relationship.

Knowing that rear bulkhead is pre-cut though, it's not likely your fuselage is the problem. I'm just a bit suspicious of your deck though for a few reasons.

I'll be following along... I'm very curious about this plane lately.

Originally Posted by DGrant

I would think it should fit near perfectly. I haven't built this kit, but for what they're asking for it, I would no doubt expect everything to fit as it should. I'm aware there are slight tolerances allowed for expansion/contraction, but a 3/4" deviance in the rear width seems very excessive, and combined with having to trim for length... well... I'm hoping the canopy still fits the hatch/deck formers as it should. I'm hoping also you received the correct turtle deck for the plane.

I've been studying around and contemplating a next build myself, and the JTEC kits are interesting. I had the opportunity to meet Al at the recent TAS in AZ, and he's a real nice guy, which got my interest going at looking at his kits.

A few good friends of mine recently built the Giles, and although the plane came out beautifully, there were bumps in the road I'd rather not go into here... but I have been looking at these kits, as well as other high end kits.

I hope to see how your plane turns out, and how it all fits when it's complete.

Also, I'm curious, if you haven't glued that turtle deck on, you can probably use the shucks to glean/gauge the match of the deck to fuselage relationship. Seriously I would think it would be very close. If the shuck or deck doesn't fit, double check your rear fuselage structure and make sure it's what it should be. If the fuse rear is narrow, that might reflect in the stab-tube/stab/fuse relationship.

Knowing that rear bulkhead is pre-cut though, it's not likely your fuselage is the problem. I'm just a bit suspicious of your deck though for a few reasons.

I'll be following along... I'm very curious about this plane lately.

The canopy is extremely flexible and was no problem to fit to my new shape. I made this a place and a half hatch instead of the straight two-place, just personal preference and it trimmed up fine.

I just set the fin about an hr ago so I’ll attach some pics and show you what I got going on so far. The only reason I cut the deck short was to accommodate the width in the rear so the length in and of itself, was totally acceptable. The more I measure and look into this the more I think it may just be the wrong deck. But close enough to make work. I hope Al will chime in and correct me if I’m wrong but I want him to know I’m not upset. On that note, Al was super helpful and knowledgeable and happy to answer all my questions about this build. I did not go to him about this because I figured it was something I did without noticing. And like I said, we made it work

The fuse was inherently easy to keep straight while building and is true in every measurement. Would be very difficult to build it wrong unless you didn’t have a proper bench.

I included a couple pictures to show the deck/fuse matchup. About 3/4 too wide at the 34” mark (from rear of hatch to front of fin) my solution was to cut 2” off the front and bump the deck forward, with plenty of length to spare past the fin.

The wood and foam pieces included in this kit have been premium quality and aside from the deck issue, it’s been a pleasure to build. The stabs were 100% precut for servo box and tube/false rib. Wings precut for spars, tube, false rib. They left servo boxes up to the builder for flexibility. The sheeting is consistent, and all of the laser cut pieces fit perfectly. I’m moving intermediate this year in northeast IMAC and am very much looking forward to getting this plane in the air specifically for that. Ill periodically post some progress of this if you’re interested!

John

I am interested, thanks. I found Al to be a real nice fellow, that was very willing to share a bit about what's going on with his planes, and things he's done with a recent new line/brand of plane he's acquired in the last year or two. It's all good. I'm sure by the tone of your posts you're fine with it, and working it out.

Post up pics if you like, I'll study them all. I've got another plane I'm working on at the moment, and am gearing up for my first year in Sportsman. We have our regional finals in Havasu next month also... I'm still in Basic, but in doing the math, my friend and I are in first and second plane(he's in first by 15 points), and nobody can touch us... so I've got to try and beat him... it will be close. Either way, we're both being moved out of Basic(in our first year). It's been fun, and we've dominated, but I'm pretty sure Sportsman will be another wall to climb, and I'm up for the challenge I think. I've been flying/practicing the Sportsman sequence along with my Basic sequence since early this year. It's seemed to be a good curriculum I've ran across.

As I am now, I've got 2 100cc planes for next year, and will be looking to build a larger one by middle of the year, to try an climb a bit higher on the ladder. .It's not all about the plane, but a good plane no doubt comes into play, and can be an advantage in the right hands. I'm now seeing how the game works a bit more.

My dad and I both got bit by the IMAC bug this year! I started in basic with my 35% and after the first contest bumped up to sportsman and convinced him to fly basic with his aj laser. I watched my friend Tom fly the JTec extra through the unlimited sequence at our regional final and it was phenomenal.. really looking forward to next season. Should have this ready to rock