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Well guys, it's almost ready for it's first flight. The Airwolf is a Vario body kit with X-cell 60 basic mechanics with a few upgrades, the latest one being a self aligning clutch.
It uses a Webra 60 on a Burley pipe for power and hopefully it'll be enough. It's NOT light :-)
The fitting of the mechanics had to be such that removal would be easy, to encourage maintenance, so the main frames are as self contained as possible. Once the frames are placed into the body, only the electrical connection to the retracts, tail rotor servo and switch need to be made, plus the silicone extension for the exhaust outlet.
It was necessary to design the mechanics mounting system to not only carry the mechanics, but to also distribute the load over as large an area as possible to reduce the chance of the fuselage "sagging" in the middle. This doesn't happen if you use Vario mechanics as that system is supported by the centrally mounted cooling shroud, which becomes part of the fuselage during the building process, but as I was using X-Cell mechanics, I couldn't use the shroud.
The main frames are held by only 2 bolts (4mm) at the normal front cross strut position and this was made possible by having the rear of the frames slide into custom built rails. By arranging for the frames to slide into position and by using a Kalt Baron Alpha tail drive coupler, which is also a slider, it takes about 5 minutes to remove or replace the whole of the mechanical sub-assembly.
The tail rotor gearbox is standard Vario mounted in accordance with the instructions and carries standard Vario tail blades.
A few rivets were installed to add to the effect and the whole helicopter painted with Glasurit 2 pack paint. This paint has proved to be fuel resistant up to 30% nitro and stands up well to years of abuse.
The guns don't work, but I'll put money on 'em getting ripped off more than once, just like the end-plates on the horizontal stab. These things look nice, but they cry out to be torn off at every opportunity.
So at this stage, I've just got the external fuel connections to do and it's ready to fly. (I hope)
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