SAP_2000

Hi.

My long awaited Skymaster F-18 arrived a few days ago. It is the flap/ ail version painted in two-tone gray after it it came out of the mold, so no seams can be seen..!

The paint job is awesome, and everything looks very good indeed, apart from some minor details. A few hardware items was also missing, like main wheel axles and bronze bushings, 3 screws for attaching wing, (impossible to get in Norway because of the UNF thread), two control horns.

It looks like I have to cut away about 1/6'' or 5 mm. of the the skin on the trailing edge of the wing to allow full movement of the flaps and ailerons (see pic). In other words: The control surfaces on the wing need to come about 1/6'' or 5 mm. closer to the trailing rib in the wings, and the it is too narrow between the top and bottom skins, so you get binding if you try to push it in...

I also ordered the scale gear with Robart retracts. The legs look very strong and are beautifully machined. On one of the 630 mechanics however, one of the air-nipples jams against the frame (see pic), so I am afraid it will break of or tearing through the air line....? Have any of you experienced this on Robart gear??

Hopefully I get this issues sorted out... Question is; Is this unique to my F-18, or have any of you who already have received your F-18 experienced some of the same things??

Other than this, I am super happy with the new F-18

seanreit

My Feedback: (60)

Hopefully Dave will chime in here. I believe we had this exact same problem on Johnny's Skymaster F-18 at FL. Jets this year on the retract air nipple. I beileve our problem was on the gear down side. And yes it leaked and yes it caused us a gear down failure.

Johnny might be able to remind us as to what we did. I can't remember.

Sean

PS, Beautiful Jet. I'm jealous!

pilot tw

Hello, SAP_2000

Thank you for order Skymaster F-18,

About the Robart retract problems that use your hand can moved the air-nipples angle very easy, and If you can not buy the screws for the wings in the Norway that I will send 6 pcs screws with main wheel axles and bronze bushings for replacement to you by air-mail as soon,

Please advise which parts are missing, i will send to you together,

SAP_2000

Hello, Anton!

Thanks a lot for the tip! I managed to turn the head of the cylinder But it was hard. Almost broke the nipple off...

Here is what I can see is missing from the kit:

Drop tanks and missiles (camo scheme)
Main wheel axles (2 pcs)
Bronze bushings for main wheels (2 + 2 pcs)
Wing screws (glad to have a few extra)
2 Control horns

Do you still have my address, or should I send you a PM??

PS: Can i buy 2 pcs. of aluminum nose wheels for the F-18 from you? If not, I can order them from Al. Such a nice plane deserves decent front wheels of aluminum, not the plastic Robart wheels.

Thank you for making such nice planes! I see the quality improve all the time.[sm=thumbup.gif]

Woketman

My Feedback: (6)

The cylinders will rotate to any position within the frames window. I rotate them all the time and all is fine.

pilot tw

Hello, SAP_2000

Yes, Please send your address to me again, but I will go to mainland China today so when I Back Taiwan will send these parts to you, Please wait a week that I will Back Taiwan,

About the Drop Tank with missiles that we still not make the paint out side yet, all gray color available only, Please contact to dealer Norway or Al's Hobbies,

and will send two front wheels of aluminum to you together, but you must pay the charge to Al's Hobbies,

pilott28

My Feedback: (27)

I had to do some trimming on the flaps and ailerons as well. I think this is pretty much normal with most ARF kits.

dbarrym

My Feedback: (47)

I have had to do the same on my SM F-18 (rotate retract cylinder, trim wing skins, etc). I also had to trim the front edge of the nose gear mount back about 3/16" to provide clearance fro the steering arm, and (assuming the Skymaster scale nose strut is the correct length) move the retract back a bit so the nose wheel(s) would clear the front of the nose gear opening.

I also fabricated a simple bulkhead mount for the rear nose gear strut - here's some pics that make this clear (no mention of this on SM's "instructions" Web site...

Barry

dbarrym

My Feedback: (47)

One more pic of the nose gear mount. I also sanded and filled my seams. While doing this, I found that the left side seam on the nose was open - there is no glass or reinforcement tape, only a "ridge" on the upper half that the bottom halves (quarters? It's a 3-piece mold) that the top appears to be butt-joined to. I would highly recommend checking yours and if necessary, add a thin fillet of Aeropoxy or filled epoxy to prevnt the seam from opening up later.

Barry

lov2flyrc

My Feedback: (24)

Hi Guys,

I should be recieving my SM F-18 this week. I will be writing the new instruction manual for this aircraft that will be supplied with all future kits. Please forward any problems you are having with the kit and/or difficulties you found with assembly. In addition, I will be forwarding any updates, changes or corrections that should be made to the kit to Skymaster/Airpac for their review. Please send any information you wish to provide to [email protected].
Thanks!
Todd

rcav8tr

Hi guys

Just thought I'd chime and let you know I received mine a little over a week ago. Been side tracked a little by other things, but construction goes well.

With respect to the nose retract. I found the same trimming required, which actually put the strut roughly in the scale position. I'll have more work to do on the support strut door to get it to pivot in the correct position.

Overall, very impresed with the quality. A few little things here and there, but nothing to shout about. I'll have some notes to go back to Eric when I'm done.

Ed

SAP_2000

Thanks a lot Anton!

I will send you a PM with my address. Please send me a e-mail when you have sent it.

I'll take up the issue with the drop tanks/ missiles with Al or the Norwegian dealer. They were ordered over 6 months ago together with the plane. I will pay for the nose wheels through Al or the Norwegian dealer.

Thank you so much for your help!

SAP_2000

dbarrym:

Thank you for the info and pics! They will be helpful when I start building in a few weeks[8D]

I will check my seams from the inside. Great tip!

basimpsn

My Feedback: (5)

Hi guys

I also have the skymaster F18 nice jet. The only problems I encounter was with main gear doors warping and door HINGE location . I have to change from the factory location to get the maximum 90 degree door opening.

Still questioning the main tank cap location. But all and all I love the ARF. For the price I will do it all over again.

POCKET-ROCKET

Nice jets guys.
Can we see some pics of the main gear struts?

SAP_2000

Sure. Here is one....

dbarrym

My Feedback: (47)

You're welcome, Staale!

I will post some pics of the rudder and flap servo installs later - I've spoken to a few people who have flown the SM Bug with the kit-style indirect flap linkage setup and it does not appear to work as accurate as I'd like, so I am going to install the servos (4721's) in the wing. Ditto on the rudder servos - I'll cut hatches in the inner fin surfaces for a thin wing servo (3421's). I've also found that the inner screws for the elevator servos is a pain to get to - you'll need a long thin screwdriver, the hex-head Allen servo mounting screws with a ballhead driver are required (or drill some access holes in the fuse).

Overall I am very happy with the kit, the detail is great and the price can't be beat. Hopefully my nose seam issue was unique.

I did not get a bypass with mine, but will be getting one from AirPac (US distributor)...anyone else use one or are you running without?

Barry

SAP_2000

dbarrym:

Strange about the fins.... Mine has the hatches already cut out. My SM F-15 also had them pre cut. (See pic)

I have also seen the tight location of the elevator servo, so the hex-head servo screws from Microfasteners will be handy as always[8D]

Today I mounted the landing gear, so I had to 'borrow' the bronze bushings that was missing in the kit from the Viperjet, which use the same Airpowernet wheels as Skymaster do. I added some 4 mm. plywood to strengthen the nose gear mounting plate a bit. Nice to have it up on the wheels...

I'll try to use the in-direct flap linkage system, but if I find there is too much slop or lack of precision, I will mount the servos in the wings too...

I am going to use #8511 (8611)'s on the elevators, #8401 on flaps, #3301 on aileron and possibly Hitec HS 85 MG's on rudders as I did on the F-15.

What servo are you using on the rudders?

Building will be a bit slow the next few weeks because of 3 big events the coming month....

AirPac Models

Staale,
Congratulations on your new FA-18, I’m sure you will enjoy this plane. Thank you for all of your nice comments. I know those were not major issues, but I’m sure Anton will make some improvements for our next batch of planes. He wants to make sure the new batch of planes better than the first. I will also take into consideration all of the comments given.

For the servos you plan to use, it looks fine, but I think you may consider to change the aileron servos from 3301 to 3421s. The 3301 should be ok, but we’ve had a couple experiences where the plastic gears on the 3301 had stripped. The 3421 is metal gear, so there will not be these problems.

For the rudder we recommend use Multiplex super (thin) Wing Servo or JR DS168 Digital Thin Wing Servo.

P. Richards

My Feedback: (3)

My F-18 arrived. Those guys sure can pack them in those small boxes can't wait to take her out and tape everything together.

P. Richards aka SWAT TEAM

yeahbaby

My Feedback: (21)

Patrick

that Hog better be in Mesa!!!!

take care

buck

P. Richards

My Feedback: (3)

Hey buck it should be ready for Mesa if it goes together as fast as they say.
you are funny. See you in Arizona...[8D]

P. Richards aka SWAT TEAM

SAP_2000

That is a bit late to change now, because I have already ordered #3301's for the ailerons since they were recommended in the Manual...on the Skymaster web site

What happens to them..? Do they strip the gears like suddenly in flight, or are they just very sensitive to outer influences like if you bump in to the ailerons with your legs??

Can you describe what happens to them, and have they caused planes to crash?

AirPac Models

Staale,

As I mentioned before, the JR DS3301 servo works just fine. I just think that the JR DS3421 may be better. This just my opinion.

We don't have any knowledge of anyone crashing a plane because they used the 3301 in aileron. We've just had 2 small accidents where the 3301's plastic gear had stripped. This happened one time during shipping to jet meet, and the other time someone had accidentally bumped aileron with their leg when the radio power still on. [] Therefore, I don't see any problems with using the 3301, especially since you've already ordered them.

dbarrym

My Feedback: (47)

Staale -

Here is what I have installed for servos:

Rudders: JR DS168 (DOH, the hatches were already cut, I was looking at the wrong side of the fins!)

Elevators: JR DS8411

Aileron: JR DS3421

Flap: JR 5131 (analog), considered using 2721's but the flaps are not that big...

Steering: JR 5131

Brake and retract: Hitec HS85

Hope to spray primer this weekend...should be flying in a month or so, really only a week or so of work left not counting paint. Waiting for a few parts to arrive, I will fly without trim paint or graphics first. I've also decided to fly without gear doors for now, so have not cut out the openings larger than necesary. There is not much room to work with around the mains and mine will be a sport jet, don't want to deal with the hassle of setting up and maintaining doors.

Barry