Missing Parts from the Kit.

I was surprised that the manual tells you to fit the switch, but does not include it in the box. The exact holes are already cut out for you. I spoke to another person who built this plane and they confirmed that it was missing.

Maybe the quality is poor and you would be better off with a more reliable one. I have contacted Seagull for an answer.

The other item missing was one of the push rod connectors. You should have 3 and I only had 2. One of the packets had a hole at the bottom, so I presume the part fell out at the factory. I bought another brand for the servos from a local hobby shop, however the ones provided looked better.

This kit needs a check list of parts. This way you could check for missing items before you build the plane. I have started one which is included with the costs spreadsheet.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Installing the Fuel Tank

This was relatively easy. The guide first tells you to bend the plastic stopper pipes, then heat them. I used a heat gun and noticed they started to melt rather quickly. It may be worth keeping the heat low. I did not want to use a lighter, but suppose it would work. I had the remove the tank and increase the bend. The vent pipe had 45% cut made to it to prevent it from getting blocked on the top of the tank.

The diagram shown of the internal tank configuration is not the same as the stopper. The lower filling tube will not go to the bottom of the tank. This is not a problem anyway. The top vent that connects to the silencer does need to be correct. I made sure the brass fuel pickup was at the end of the tank, to make sure it will always work.

I had trouble getting the silicon tube onto the brass fuel pickup unit. The guide does not specify a fuel line size. Mine seemed ok, but tore when first fitted. The second attempt was fine. The other pipes were easy to fit. I did mark the pipes as suggested to identify them once in the plane.

A recent article suggested adding protective foam around the tank to prevent air bubbles. These apparently appear if the tank moves in the plane. I have added foam to help prevent any movement, however not like my photo. The push rods would be in the way. I cut the foam and fitted it under the tank.

Before fitting the tank, I painted SIG dope inside the fuel area to prevent any damage from the engine oil and fuel during flight.

The last part is glueing in the piece of wood around the tank. It only goes one way. The plastic aerial tube fits on the left, if looking from the front of the plane. The pushrod goes through on the lower right. The little block of wood keeps everything in place.

I may still fit a fuel filter like the JR version that eliminates bubbles.

Next is the servos.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Installing the Fuel Tank

This was relatively easy. The guide first tells you to bend the plastic stopper pipes, then heat them. I used a heat gun and noticed they started to melt rather quickly. It may be worth keeping the heat low. I did not want to use a lighter, but suppose it would work.

The diagram shown of the internal tank configuration is not the same as the stopper. The lower filling tube will not go to the bottom of the tank. This is not a problem anyway. The top vent that connects to the silencer does need to be correct.

I had trouble getting the silicon tube onto the brass fuel pickup unit. The guide does not specify a fuel line size. Mine seemed ok, but tore when first fitted. The second attempt was fine. The other pipes were easy to fit. I did mark the pipes as suggested to identify them once in the plane.

A recent article suggested adding protective foam around the tank to prevent air bubbles. These apparently appear if the tank moves in the plane. I have added foam to help prevent any movement.

The last part is glueing in the piece of wood around the tank. It only goes one way. The plastic aerial tube fits on the left, if looking from the front of the plane. The pushrod goes through on the lower right. The little block of wood keeps everything in place.

I may still fit a fuel filter like the JR version that eliminates bubbles.

Next is the servos.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Installing the Landing Gear

After correcting the Aileron pushrod problem, I moved onto the landing gear. The user guide gets worse, as it shows removing the covering in 2 places. This is wrong. You only remove the relevant covering depending on your wheel setup. I did not use the tail dragger, so did not need the front covering removed.

After removing the covering it was evident that the wheel landing gear wires will not sit flush and protrude a little about the groove. I cut the remaining covering on the edge to help get the wire to sit more flat. The plastic straps are flat, and bend once pulled down with the screws. I may add some CA glue to the screws to avoid loosing my landing gear. The user guide has labelled a Plastic Trap instead of Strap.

Fitting the wheels and landing gear was easy. I upgraded my wheels to lightweight Du-Bro 2-1/2 rubber tyres. The required 3/32" drill bit was a perfect fit for the screws.

The front wheel was relatively easy to install however the push rod connector is not long enough to fit through the horn. The tiny bolt hardly fits on the screw, so I will need some CA glue to keep it from falling off.

Next is the engine mount and Fuel Tank.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Installing the Aileron Linkage

My JR servos and OS engine arrived today. The JR servos have no instructions and the Boomerang user guide photographs are hard to see in B/W. It is well worth downloading the colour PDF version to zoom into the colour photos.

After a Google search I found out the brass collets are installed from the bottom up. This is not in the guide, however is important to stop the collet cutting into the balsa. This prevents extra vibration on the servo. The photo below clearly shows them fitted from the bottom up. I fitted the rubber grommets the wrong way round. I removed all my servos and turned them so the flat part is facing in.

Another tip found online was cutting the covering just in from the servo mount. This looks better, and prevents anything going into the balsa. Fitting the JR 539 was easy as it was a perfect fit without having to cut any part of the wing. The only extra cut was for the servo wire as shown in the guide.

The 5 minute epoxy set quickly, however I was unable to get the mount to make a perfectly flat bond. I did not want to exert too much pressure on the wing whilst it dried. It still looks good and will work fine.

Using the 1/16 drill bit worked well. I just made sure I did not drill too far into the wing. The screws pulled down without any fuss. I have not glued the servo into the mount as suggested by someone. I would like to get a second opinion on this. After reading RCMN, I have added the 2 drops of CA glue per hole after the screws have made a thread in the ply. The glue needed to set before putting the screws back in. I made sure the CA glue did not fill the hole with a paper clip.

Next was adding the pushrod wires. This seemed a bit confusing as they are so long, and you only use a small amount of the rod. The threaded side was easy to understand however the connectors provided are not the same as the guide. I am not 100% happy that these will be good enough as they look very weak. I had to drill the horn hole out to get the connector to fit. The tiny plastic pin looks very fragile. I may replace these before I fly my plane.

I had to remove the plastic connector from the aileron rods to connect the push rod connector. It was not easy getting the plastic pin in the hole, and it looked like it was going to break. After screwing the 2 connectors back onto the rod, I bent the tips of the rods to help screw them in. This worked fine.

The next step was cutting the rods and fitting them. I used a Dremel with a small metal disc to cut the rod. I think it may be best finding something that can cut the rods in future. The sparks may damage the wing if not careful. I still need to get some advice on finishing this servo installation. I will need to align the aileron and then ensure the connectors and horn are all setup correctly. I am sure this can be trimmed on the transmitter, however will make sure it is all correctly installed.

After looking at the colour version again, I see my installation was wrong. The plastic connectors used on the servo and push rods are different. You a ment to slide a small plastic ring over the side that the rod screws in. The other side should bend down into the servo horn. I will need to buy 2 new push rods and change this.

Till then

Sean

 

Posted with Blogsy