KJ-66

My Feedback: (1)

Hi There

Thankyou you very much for your advice. The instructions are not well detailed,so one has to come up with one`s own solutions.

Regards
Craig

Scott Todd

My 83% Turbinator flies! Quite Well! I picked up an old Ram 500 from a local club member (Thank you John M) for a good deal. I read all the forums, manuals, and other notes I could find. With a little advice from Bob Price (SUPER NICE GUY), I got it running like a top

It came in right at 15 lbs including 1 lb of lead in the nose. I may try taking some out later. It has 4 flights on it with about 10 landings. The last two flights were just Touch and Go's to learn about flaps, crow mixing, and rates. It lands really nice. It can hold a slow roll the entire length of a pass at about 2/3 throttle After 6 minutes of flying, it has about 1/3 of a 50 oz Dubro tank left and the BVM UAT full.

I'll try to get some video at AZ Jet Rally and post a link. I was very curious about other installations so I thought it would be fair to post some of mine. On the 5th flight attempt, I left the manual fuel valve (no electric one) on during re-fueling and subsequently got a hot start. I won't do that again!. I also think I'll fabricate some simple metal start tube just in case...It took a few hours to clean it all up and repair the monokote. The wood is all fuel proofed with some Aircraft grade Epoxy Varnish.

H.Dale

My Feedback: (3)

Scott

I have finished an 83% Turbinator with a Wren 54 on it. Where did you balance yours for your maiden? I put flaps on mine and was wondering how much crow have you been using?

Hal - Spitfire Brotherhood #45

Scott Todd

The original size one I flew, pictured a few posts back, was right on the recommended spot. So I started there. I marked it 5.8 inches back from the rear of F-6. It took the 1 pound of lead to get it there. My elevator servos in the back and fairly thick aluminum heat shield didn't help. I think my Fin came out heavier than stock also.

I'll have to double check the crow. I'll fly it more on Wednesday or Thursday and can tell you more after that. I was using half crow of what I had programmed in and it landed nice on low elevator. It was probably about 1/4 inch but I'll measure it next time out. If I added more crow on the slider, I ran out of elevator on the low rate. I was about to try some landings on a higher rate elevator to see how much crow it could take when I had the hot start and had to quit for the day.

The nice thing about crow is it forces the wing to a higher angle of attack which immediately causes more drag. I also was only at about 50 degrees of flap and will add more as I learn more. When done, I want take-off flaps and landing flaps with crow mixed in and the elevator re-trimmed with the right throw. I want to be able to fly a normal short approach and throw all the drag out on short final. People are always amazed how fast and short my patterns are and then nearly come to a stop in the air when it coves over the numbers

I'll get it all dialed in and report the numbers when I'm done. Are you ready to fly yours? Can you post some pictures? I only found one picture of an 83 that I know of and I don't think it ever flew. You can see my weight in the front. Its some shot in a ziplock baggie wrapped in masking tape.

H.Dale

My Feedback: (3)

Scott

Here is a picture of mine along with the P-20 size.

Hal

Hot Rod Todd

My Feedback: (1)

Here's a picture of my start tube made from a stove pipe. It's good to have for the first start of the day. I normally don't use it for the rest of the starts.

Scott Todd

Great idea! I have every photo of your Iskra I could find on the net. Its awesome! I got to fly one a few times before it was sold to an Air Racer. It belonged to one of my very best friends. I helped restore it (a little). My name was on the side of it You can google it. N707LC. I wanted to get a bit of turbine experience before building one. Thank you for the reply!

So I saw Hal's a few years back without a canopy. I think his and mine are the only two I have seen completed of the 83%. Anyone else?

DMehalko

My Feedback: (42)

Good day all! Is anyone still building/flying these? After much debate between the Reaction 54, Jetmach SuperSport, and the Turbinator, I decided on the turbinator for my first venture into the jet world!

Mail came today and I am pretty darn excited

George

My Feedback: (57)

Congrats!!

Build it as light as you can and move as much as you can forward to limit the amount of ballast you'll need up front to balance. They fly very good!!

DMehalko

My Feedback: (42)

Ya I noticed that on the plans, packing weight in the nose block, ill keep this in mind throughout the construction. Building a Top Flite Spitfire kit at the moment, but will order up a laser short kit here soon and this is next on the table!

Plans include, K80g, Robart 630 series retracts (or are the 550's shown on the plans sufficient?), Pro-link struts, and glassing with the recommended 1oz cloth.

Also want to consider 'rounding' the plane out a bit more, but not a big deal, the boxy turbine exit bothers me the most, so will address that while building also.

Will paint it in a bright sport scheme that has yet to be decided, lots of work ahead!

George

My Feedback: (57)

The 550's are too small for this plane, stick with the 600's.

aquaskiman

My Feedback: (46)

I am building one now. I have it about 70% done

Hot Rod Todd

My Feedback: (1)

I used the tri-gear set that's made for the Top Flite Bonanza/Mentor. They are based on the 630 Sized Mains. It was not a difficult mod to get them to work, and they have performed perfectly after 200 flights. My plane weighs over 20lbs and the gear handles the weight no problem. I like the forward angle of the nose gear, it looks and works better than a straight up arrangement. They cost less than $400 for the entire set at Tower Hobbies.

Hot Rod Todd

My Feedback: (1)

Here are a couple of install photos if you're interested. I have added a gear door to the nose since these were taken.

DMehalko

My Feedback: (42)

Very nice, thank you! Ill stick with the 630 series retracts then, maybe some pro-link struts. In the meantime, ill begin collecting all the parts for this aircraft while I finish up my spitfire, then will be full bore into the turbinator

Scott Todd

Nice! Go find some photos of Todds Iskra. Its awesome! I keep thingkng about building a new 85% one and see if I can shed a few pounds. It flies well at 15 but it would be a total blast at 12-13. I don't mind the squarish exhaust but would like to move the motor forward a few inches to support the weight reduction plan. I think I could lose 2 pounds just in ballast and batteries if I could re-distribute things a bit. Anyways...Keep us posted on your build

CARS II

My Feedback: (7)

Nice to see that the Turbinator is the choise of some builders, sad to say that my Turbinator is still in the bones but it looks like soon I will have a place to build again and the Turbinator is going to be my first build at the new home, after seven years I think it is only fair to finish the Turbinator that started this tread.

Rich Few

Can anyone please clarify how the cardboard ducting, marked as D1 on the plans, be glued in. The plan and instructions are not very clear
Thanks, Richard

Scott Todd

Here are some shots. The red bottom is the full size one and the blue is the 85%. The point is to just make the transition. We both used some really thin ply. I think it was 32 or even 64th. I seem to remember putting on two layers so it could have been the 64th on the blue one.

I think Nick used cardboard because it rolls well and you will end up making a pretty good curve to get it to lay down.

Hope the photos help

Scott Todd

Well that was an epic FAIL! Would a moderator please delete it?

Try again....Here are some shots. The red bottom is the full size one and the blue is the 85%. The point is to just make the transition. We both used some really thin ply. I think it was 32 or even 64th. I seem to remember putting on two layers so it could have been the 64th on the blue one.

I think Nick used cardboard because it rolls well and you will end up making a pretty good curve to get it to lay down.

Hope the photos help

Jetdktr

My Feedback: (21)

What ?????????

Rich Few

Thanks Scott, pictures are worth a thousand words

Rich Few

Hi Guys

My Turbinator is coming along quite nicely. I decided to go with trailing links, as I fly off grass, and therefore using the Xcalibur retract set. I have had to do some mods to make them fit but these retracts are good value for money.

I am stuck on how to join the wings. Once the top sheeting is on I can't see how you can epoxy the hard wood wing joiners in. Any advice on how you have done this would be appreciated.

Richard

Eric D

Richard You have to do all the wing joining before you sheet. Eric

Rich Few

Eric,
The top sheeting has to be done over the plan, to put in some washout ,and I thought that might be difficult with the wings joined,The instructions say to sheet before joining!!
I am thinking of just part sheeting, so I can get to the wing joiners, and then sheet the rest after joining the wings. I just wondered how others have done this.