.. Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Looking for some something a bit different to add to my fleet I've purchased a Seagull Decathlon 120. My fleet consists mainly of sports aero's and warbirds and I wanted something low maintenance to house an OS 120 four stroke that's been sitting in the box for to long. I chose the Decathlon as it's a fairly aerobatic for a high wing design , a member at the club has the 90 size and it flys well. I will but up a few pictures of the assembly for those interested. Edited By Justin K. on 26/02/2017 07:44:59 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted February 26, 2017 Author Share Posted February 26, 2017 First impressions when I opened the box were good. A large boxy fuselage with a removable door allowing access inside to secure the wings. I may hinge the door and add some magnets to secure it rather than the supplied thumb screws. I've chosen to replace the supplied hard foam wheels with some nicer rubber ones and I will fit a Du Bro tank in place of the seagull one. The supplied tank looks OK but I like the Du Bro tanks and have never had one leak as yet, unlike some of the kit supplied tanks i have used. The wheel spats are fitted and secured by clamping between the axle stub bolt and the leg so I have added some 3M double sided adhesive foam tape to hopefully prevent them turning into floats in flight. I'm using Hitec karbonite geared digital servos in this model for the first time , they perform nicely on the servo tester but the horn screws are incredibly tight to remove from new and care is needed to prevent rounding the head. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Flight1 has just got the smaller one powered by a Saito. He's happy! Just watch out for the windshield cracking over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted February 26, 2017 Author Share Posted February 26, 2017 With a wing span of 2 meters it should have a nice presence on the ground and in the air. Unfortunately this version doesn't have flaps just some pretty chunky ailerons taking up around 40% of the wing. There are 4 threaded inserts in each wing to take some brass turnbuckles that are used to attach the wing struts, 2 in my model were very tight with what seemed like excess glue binding the thread so a little care was needed to clear these. I was very impressed with the Hangar 9 100cc Decathlon when I saw one at an LMA show a couple of years ago , this version has a black & white striped covering on the underside of the wing so I decided to replicate that detail on mine rather than use the supplied chequered pattern supplied. I had some vinyl printed at work and applied it wet to the covering and I'm pleased with the result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Oh nice....should definitely know which way is down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted February 26, 2017 Author Share Posted February 26, 2017 Posted by cymaz on 26/02/2017 09:11:06: Oh nice....should definitely know which way is down Yes let's hope , on to the tail feathers next. I did the elevator hinges yesterday, not sure if I will get a chance to do much today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted March 3, 2017 Author Share Posted March 3, 2017 Tail section done , the aluminium boss mounted in the base of the horizontal stabiliser made this a simple task as everything lined up perfectly. The manual calls for the rudder to be hinged before assembling the tail section but this is incorrect as if you did it would make the bottom rudder to airframe hinge impossible to fit. Dry fitting the parts before committing with adhesive saved the day here. On to the engine mount next , sideways as per the book or inverted is the question ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Engine inverted...why spoil one side of that nice cowl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted March 3, 2017 Author Share Posted March 3, 2017 Posted by cymaz on 03/03/2017 18:34:46: Engine inverted...why spoil one side of that nice cowl Yes my thoughts too , it's a pumper so I will go inverted. Hopefully I will get some more done over the weekend, not as if flying is going to get in the way looking at the forecast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trebor Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Can you get it in your car ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted March 3, 2017 Author Share Posted March 3, 2017 Posted by trebor on 03/03/2017 18:49:29: Can you get it in your car ? Yes it's a fairly short fuselage Bob , I did check first tho as I have been caught out in the past 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 Hmm that's a pain, do I fill the holes with 5mm dowel and epoxy or replace the beam mounts with an adjustable one piece mount hoping for better hole positions ?? Edited By Justin K. on 04/03/2017 12:57:28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Dowel and epoxy...if it were me. Get a decent engine mount. Any triangle stock on the inside corners? Edited By cymaz on 04/03/2017 13:05:47 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trebor Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Dowel and epoxy will be stronger than the ply anyway should be ok. You could put some thin ply inside for the nutserts to go through as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Carpenter Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Looks very nice indeed , Justin. Colin 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 Posted by cymaz on 04/03/2017 13:04:23: Dowel and epoxy...if it were me. Get a decent engine mount. Any triangle stock on the inside corners? Edited By cymaz on 04/03/2017 13:05:47 Yes its not to bad for an ARTF triangle section on all 4 sides. So you would go the new mount route ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 Posted by trebor on 04/03/2017 13:04:37: Dowel and epoxy will be stronger than the ply anyway should be ok. You could put some thin ply inside for the nutserts to go through as well. The quicker route too Bob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 Posted by Colin Carpenter on 04/03/2017 13:05:30: Looks very nice indeed , Justin. Colin 😀 A bit different for me Colin, I've got some crew & passengers for this one too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 New mount..one of those long beam Slec red types. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 I would dowel the holes and then put a thin ply plate on the front to help keep the drill straight when making th new holes. I really like the wings though, is it one piece of printed vinyl? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 Posted by Jon Harper - Laser Engines on 04/03/2017 15:47:39: I would dowel the holes and then put a thin ply plate on the front to help keep the drill straight when making th new holes. I really like the wings though, is it one piece of printed vinyl? I've been offered an adjustable mount from a club mate so I'm going to give that a go tomorrow. Yes Jon I'm lucky to have my pick from the trade , it's a fairly thin vinyl and as well as looking what I was wanting it will offer protection to the underside covering as the struts collapse down onto the wing for storage & transportation. The chap who has the mount has just finished a plane that houses one of your twins so I'm looking foreword to seeing that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted March 30, 2017 Author Share Posted March 30, 2017 Ok so the adjustable mount did the trick & missed all of the original holes by a good margin. I had to remove the fuel tank brace from the rear of the firewall but its not an issue as I'm not using the supplied tank anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted March 30, 2017 Author Share Posted March 30, 2017 With the carb barrel & horn lower due to the inverted engine position I have mounted the throttle servo on its side and utilised this handily placed slot for the servo arm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted March 30, 2017 Author Share Posted March 30, 2017 Cowl cutouts shaped , I have used one of the excellent Just Engines 90 degree exhaust knuckle manifolds to angle the silencer down and out of the bottom. Just the fuel tank plumbing , balancing and control surface rates to do . And the on to the crew and passengers before giving it a go up at the field. Edited By Justin K. on 30/03/2017 16:53:56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trebor Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 That's way too neat how did you manage to cut the holes in the cowl without chipping the paint ? I've been putting my Cub cowl off for over a year. Mind you I like looking at the motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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