Many of you know that my beloved Pilot Sbach 30cc met an untimely end (well sort of) on January 1st.  I was talking to folks and not watching carefully and oops - the spar got left out of it.  I was surprised it flew pretty well until I came out of the bottom of a loop and the wings folded!  Fortunately, I killed the motor before it hit (thanks Adam),and it missed the grape vines and wires completely.  The motor was buried about 10" into soft mud and the fuse from the nose to the rear canopy former was in very tiny pieces. 

The motor and electronics survived.  The rudder servo had a stripped gear but that has already been replaced.  Tony Tran, the president of Pilot RC has a free wood guarantee.  If you crash your Pilot RC plane, send him pictures and he will send you free wood to repair it (you pay shipping from China - $40).  I was skeptical that it could be repaired but I went ahead and contacted him.  Nice guy.  He truly loves the hobby and was super supportive.  I received the wood and was amazed at the detail in the "repair" kit.  Pretty much will be rebuilding the plane from the nose to the rear canopy former.  However, all the parts are there to do it.  I've purchased a 2nd 25% Sbach and will use it for a pattern to assemble with.  I can't say enough good things about Pilot RC. 

I expect to see it fly again.  When I start the rebuild, I'll post some pictures of the progress.

Nice work Jon! 

John, I don't think I could crane my neck up to watch an airplane that long... seriously, the competition sounds like fun, but it's hard to get enough time to fly, let alone keep one plane up for nearly (or over) an hour!  I commend you guys for your abilities!
Paul

Hey Tony,

Would you find out what lighter colors are available?  The black ones were just too dang hot.

Thanks,
Paul

OK Tony, just to clarify, are we required to fly the same plane in all 3 events?
My plans are changing for travel, so it looks like I can join the fun. 
Thanks,
Paul

Thanks for taking and posting the pics of my dearly departed Sbach.
Paul

I guess we have to link to YouTube... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdcxbFerwzU&feature=youtu.be

This past Sunday, Wylie and I got a chance to try out the tug and the glider.  We had Paul K there to record some incriminating evidence!

Our first attempt was aborted when the tug took off and at about 10' off the runway and my prop started slipping.  Wylie was quick on the glider release and since it was powered just kept flying.  I ditched the tug (also released my line) and got the tug down just as the wing touched the grape vines on the south side of the runway.  Luckily, no damage at all. 

We tightened the prop and tried again.  With our 50' tow line and this time an easy hand on the throttle, the two leaped into the air with ease and before you know it they were both dots in the sky.  Wylie kept the glider up and to the right so it wouldn't cross the tug's tail all the way up (great job Wylie).  He hit the release and I landed.  I think I made some turns that were a bit tight, but thankfully Wylie is an ace pilot and he kept the glider in the right position the whole time.

Paul K took some pics and some video from my phone (thanks Paul K).  The video wouldn't upload, so I'll edit it and post in another reply.  Thanks all for making this happen.  Sorry John that we didn't get to try this out together as planned!  Maybe we'll give it a try one of these days.

Paul E

OK, my "newbieness" to gas and glow planes showed big time today!   Came down to fly the Sbach after the pylon races.  It was windy, but Gabe talked me into flying it.  Warmed it up and took off.  The flight was uneventful but when I did a roll or loop the engine almost died.  I noticed a falter yesterday too when I rolled or looped.

John came over and was helping me look into it and we found that the clunk was hanging up on the end of the tank.  Explains it all.  Took about 3/8" off the clunk line and I'm good now.  Will fly it again next weekend - hope to see some of you guys around.

I'm hooked on gas... really fun stuff. 

Flew the Pilot Sbach today and it was truly awesome!  This plane flies amazingly well.

A special thanks goes to Adam for his help and encouragement getting this thing airborne.  Wylie and Bill Walters were a huge help today too.

Congrats Wylie on your maiden, looks like your plane is a real winner too.

Paul

BTW - the little Sbach was fun too.  It should be a good traveling plane.

I also got my big Sbach a little baby sister...  See y'all this weekend.

OK, finally going to get to fly this weekend!  Adam and Wylie should have their gassers there.

Some weeks back, Adam was kind enough to help me get the tuning set up initially and taught me the ins and outs of starting and trimming the plane... now I have to remember that stuff and get back to it.

We had a couple problems on the maiden: loading up when the plane was in flight, and poor ground steering performance.  I researched a bit and found that pressure built up in the cowl can cause the engine to load up during flight.  I also realized that I didn't nearly have the 3 to 1 ratio of exit to inlet size that is recommended.  The Sbach has vents on the bottom of the fuse that were simple to open up.  I also decided to add a static port as an additional precaution - we'll see how well it works.

I removed the goofy spring setup for the tail wheel connection and used a ball-joint coupler sliding on a rod.  I've seen this done before - it works really nice.

Great, will be there a bit later in the morning.  Still have balance issues - will have you look at it.  We can run/tune the motor if you don't mind.  I'd really appreciate any help, this one's been a struggle.  Paul

You're right Greg, had I known that the CG was going to be this tough I would have shopped for the largest motor I could fit.  The cowl is tight with the 30, and the 35 DLE is about the same weight.  I built an electronics tray above the gas tank that helped a bit, and made some foam covers for my dual LiFe batteries that allowed me to push the batteries to the step in the firewall.  Going to add weight to balance.

Ready to run the motor a bit this week, will follow up with pics.  Plan to maiden it next weekend.  Adam - will you be around Saturday AM?

Progress?  Pics?  Did the cutting get done?