Thanks guys. Of course, now my dilemma is - a challenge has been presented. And it’s hard for me to walk away from those, LOL! And, do I make life easier on myself or save $100 accepting said challenge? This is going to be a tough one.

I may do both and have a spare cowling in case I need it. Or, I’ll repair the original cowling first and if it doesn’t turn out the way I want it, I’ll purchase a new one. We shall see.....

I’ve got one plane in front of getting into this one deep so I’ve got a little time to think about it.


JAM

Playing around with this a little. Used contact cement to adhere low density EPP inside the cowling. This will serve as a base for the initial layers of glass. Once these are built up, I’ll bridge everything together with a layer or two inside and outside. That’s the plan anyway. We shall see....

That should work but you will want to tie in the center piece with original cowl on the inside after you have the outside somewhat done. You could melt the foam out with acetone and then put another couple layers inside that over lap the patch and the original cowl. That should tie everything together nicely.

Thank you. Yes, I plan to tie it in with a layer or two inside and outside. More specifically, once the layers in the middle are down, I will sand off the paint around the opening (should have done that already but didn’t) and add a layer on the outside. Then, I will remove the foam and begin tying in the middle with a layer or two on the inside where nobody will see it. Only one layer on the outside will make it easier to blend during final sanding. Again, that’s the plan. We’ll see, LOL!

It sounds like a good plan to me!

Well, I got two layers in and discovered Fibertech N More has a two-piece cowl that I think will work. Rick at FNM is checking to see if the one and two piece are the same. But going off the dimensions on the website, it would seem they are. If that is the case, I’m going to spend the money and abandon this project.

So yeah... I brain farted... I realized this evening there's information stamped on my wing tube.

Zoom in on this and Google it and see what comes up. At least you know the O.D. and thickness... and length from previous posts..

Jason, speaking of wing tubes.. haha.. I'm wondering how the wing retention is done on your 540... just curious really.

I'm working on, and about to finish up my wing retention system, which is old school, and many were done like this in the era of this plane.

On the stock system, you glue a block into the ID of the wing tube at the location where there's a hardwood-block already imbedded in the wing(s) on the bottom. The hole is even pre-drilled through that block(mine was covered over with film, but I found it via info in one of those manuals), so you just use that as a pilot hole to drill/tap the final screw hole, and the screw(6/32) goes up into/through the wing-tube into the threaded block(that I'll thread after drilling).

I'm going to initially go with this system, knowing I can probably change to root-rib bolts somehow, that will go through the fuselage into the wing(s) at a later time. The pain is they put the bolt blocks into the bottom of the wing, so I think you have to crawl under the plane, or stand the plane up to secure the wings with the screws into the "bottom" of the wing.

I have a 33% Extra 330L(GreatPlanes) that has this same system(again an older era plane), only the screws are through the top of the wing... and it's actually a snap to secure the wings on like that... so I'm not particularly opposed to the system, rather where they put the screws/blocks on these types of AeroWorks planes.... on the bottom.. grrr...

So how was yours done?... or how/what is your plan for this particular assembly?..
Just curious and for conversation purpose... Thanks

Dale

Hello Dale,

So my plane had the same system as that is what Aeroworks used on this an other planes at the time, apparently. However, some previous owner incorporated (very poorly I might add) threaded inserts in the ply root rib for using retention bolts inside the fuselage like we more commonly see. These inserts were of the brass furniture variety, are heavy, bulky, and don’t appear to be installed straight. Soooo, those will be coming out but I will be going back with something similar. The previous owner/s were using the through-bolt from the bottom on the horizontal stabilizers. I will be capping the root rib on each stabilizer half with a phenolic rib which has one or two tangs off the bottom, which align with 4-40 nut plates I will install in the fuselage sides in that area. Typical installation there as well. In short, I will not be using Aeroworks’ retention system. Not because it doesn’t work. But because I don’t like it and I can change it due to the refurb. Can’t wait to get started on this one!!

I jettisoned the one piece cowling and purchased a two-piece from Fibertech N More.

Very cool.

I finally finished my 540T last week. It came out pretty decent considering what I started with and being incomplete and damaged through the years it was passed around.

It's ready to fly, but our weather tanked here in the valley and holidays are pretty much here.. but after Christmas I'll get it up..

I've now got my Carden about ready as well.. next year is looking better already..

Here's a few pics...

Awesome edge Grant.

Moto, The New cowl looks mint.

Dale -

Thanks for the pic!! Highly inspirational! I am still collecting parts but the full-on refurb will commence soon. Just bought a DA-100 with KS headers and canisters this weekend. Need to get a landing gear and wing tube. Then, it will be on like Donkey Kong.

Can you tell me about your experience with balancing? I am adding canisters and have the opportunity to move things around so I want to make sure I plan well. Thinking mostly about whether I do pull-pull on the rudder or servos in the tail. I’m guessing with the added weight of the cans, I will be fine with rudder servos in the tail. But getting your input will be nice. Thank you!!

Originally Posted by The Hodge

Awesome edge Grant.

Moto, The New cowl looks mint.

Thanks Hodge! It’s pretty sweet and definitely light! They did an outstanding job on it.

Hey Jason, you should end up with a nice plane when you're done too. These planes seem quite popular even today, and have a pretty good size fan base, and many people recognize them.

So.. balancing. I pondered that for a bit myself, and after studying dozens of pictures I found over several months, as well as those pics in the back of the builders manual(as cheesy as they are) I ended up placing components very near to what's in the pics in that manual.

I noticed, even though the plane has provisions/cut-outs for rear mounted rudder servos, many of them had the rudder servo(s) in the mid-section set up as pull-pull, as well as the example in the manual had dual-rudder servos in the mid section(also pull-pull). I compared the engines in the pics as best I could with the BME I had to work with, which is similar in size/weight to a DA or DLE type, and all seemed to be using stock mufflers as well.. Like my BME does. What somewhat stood out to me was everything was pretty central to the CG, and not far from the wing-tube, which of course is a good starting point when planning a CG initially.

So, from that I concluded I was best to put the rudder servo(yes one 620oz servo) in the mid-section as well and proceed with the pull-pull system I've used in all my aerobats... which I use coated kevlar(kev-cord), and I make the crimps from aluminum tubing. I've done several like this over the years, and nothing has failed yet.. even on my other 100cc planes.

With all that said and done, my CG ended up just about right where the builders kit manual suggested, right in front of the wing tube... actually they say 1" in front, but I could split hairs its so close. I didn't have to add any weight or shift things around very much at all.

What I did though, when I was planning for final battery mounting/securing, I made a lightweight/small rail system, where I can easily shift the batteries if I need too. Just simple strips of ply I screwed down(in case I want to move/remove them for whatever reason, and velcro hook on those, with velcro fuzzy on the batteries, and then simple velcro straps fully secure them.

The 32oz tank just buts back against the wing-tube, with the ign box in front of that... all that, and it balanced really right away. Close enough that I'm going to fly it before I change anything, and if I need to it's just a matter of shifting batteries. I'm thinking if anything the batteries will be shifted toward the tail a fuzz, but as it sits, CG is right at the front of the wing-tube and the plane is dead level.

I'd be careful putting too much weight in the rear. I can see if I would have put 2 rudder servos in the rear I would have pulled my hair out trying to achieve CG, and would have to add weight, or shift things. With the cans you'll be using, they will hinder that CG a bit too, as most of that weight will be aft of the CG under the pilot area, so I say proceed with caution on that man.

What's nice with your plane is you're now wide open with it, and not trying to preserve covering, and you have room to work and plan. The rudder servo can go mid-section, it would be the weight of your cans I'd be concerned about. Remember too, since you have cans, you won't have the weight of mufflers on the engine either, so that also creates a shift.. whereas I have the muffler weight that helped, and probably made it work. I'd probably be tail heavy if I took my mufflers off. As it is, I checked CG with everything on the plane as it would be RTF.

So I have some more pics to share when I get on my other device, I'll throw a few up of my placements and interior. You'll see my battery rails and some of the tank area.

Keep plugging away though. These older planes are a bit more work when they aren't all nice and arrive with everything in a big box. I think we'll both be pleased with them though. I got some really cool "likes" on FB, and a "like" from one of the more famous names in the RC community so I feel pretty good about that.. haha..., so yeah, these are pretty cool planes.