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Hangar 9 Decathlon

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barry h
Posts: 89
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 20:46
Location: Norfolk. Premier slope soaring country.

Hangar 9 Decathlon

Post by barry h »

Hi All
Has anybody fitted a tow release to a Hangar 9 Decathlon and if so whereabouts did you mount the release. It looks like I will have to fit it to one side of the canopy hatch release. Or I may do away with the catch altogether and modify the hatch so that I can screw it down at the rear corners. and mount release centrally. I know there have been problems with the hatch coming off anyway, so this is probably a good time to modify anyway.

Cheers
Barry
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Ray Watts
Posts: 128
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 06:31
Location: Basingstoke

Re: Hangar 9 Decathlon

Post by Ray Watts »

Hi Barry

You seem to have answered your own question there with a reason for a solution :-)

On my Decathlon, I took the lazy option of not messing around with the catch and this turned out to be a mistake.

Without dragging the fuselage out to check, I would say mine is about 1" to 2" off centre to allow for the strengthening of the former. This is fine for anything light or quarter scale, but immediately you get something heavy on the line, the tow goes off in the direction of the offset tow attachment and it is quite unbalancing for the tow. To get over this I have set a switchable rudder offset for the rudder to counteract this and that works a treat, but took a while to get right. I just switch it in and out depending on what is hooked up. You soon know if it needs it after take off.

The other thing is that the hatch is not level with the back of the wings so is too far forward, and again with a heavy glider on tow, it will pitch up a bit, requiring down elevator. So the rudder mix switch also has a touch of down added to compensate. Again it took a while to get right but seems fine now.

I have filled in the bay behind the bulkhead where the tow hook is fixed with a substantial horizontal ply plate. It is possible to peal the covering off around the top of that area to allow you to get in there to do this and it adds greatly to the strength.

If you look carefully you can see that the wings are constructed with flaps in mind, though they were never an option. I am told that you can cut the covering to facilitate this (I thing that even the servo box is there though not sure). I haven't done this, but it would be good as sometimes you think the glider might get down before you as it is such a big floaty beast. It does however do amazing sideslips and this helps to get it down a bit quicker.

Don't forget to fit the most powerful release servo that you can afford. You wouldn't want to loose it because a glider release failed and you couldn't save yourself.

Cheers

Ray
It's always calmer indoors :D
Elliot Howells
Posts: 333
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 08:18
Location: West Wales
Contact:

Re: Hangar 9 Decathlon

Post by Elliot Howells »

I'll have to post a pic of my decathlon Barry, will try and take a pic tomorrow if the shed is accessible!

Have 2 different styles of release fitted to plates which are easily removable and are affixed to the former at the rear of the hatch, plenty of depth to counter torsional stresses.

My only issue with the Decaff is the undercarriage mounting, absolutely B****y awful, after a slightly rusty 6 months off power flying due to dampness, my first landing was only slightly less than average this weekend, the undercart ripped straight out of what can only be described as liteply... I'll be using some nice hardwood ply when I fit it back.

Ell.
barry h
Posts: 89
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 20:46
Location: Norfolk. Premier slope soaring country.

Re: Hangar 9 Decathlon

Post by barry h »

Hi Ray
Thanks for the info. Its made up my mind to do away with the hatch catch and fit the release centrally.
There are a few forums from the states with measurements etc for the flaps and there are servo mounts for the flap servos as well.
Probably a bit to much trouble for me , so I will use the ailerons as flapperons . I have used this method on a 1/3 scale clipped wing cub successfully, otherwise its a sideslip in. I will probably fly it and see which works best.

Regards
Barry
barry h
Posts: 89
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 20:46
Location: Norfolk. Premier slope soaring country.

Re: Hangar 9 Decathlon

Post by barry h »

Hi Elliot.
7mtr ASH25 and a Decathlon , we must think along the same lines somewhere along the way. Its about time I came and had a fly on your hill.
As per the undercarriage I have changed the setup a bit and fitted captive nuts inside the fus so that I can remove the undercart for transport purposes. I have made a false floor about halfway up on my van so that I can carry tugs on the top area and gliders underneath. I have 70cm height on the top shelf and the Decath is 80cm tall so I will need to remove U/C.
This morning I have ordered from MTW a set of cannisters and manifolds to suit this model as most of the vids on YouTube seem to run standard silencers ( if you can call them that) making things a bit noisy

I will look forward to the pics.

Regards
Barry
Elliot Howells
Posts: 333
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 08:18
Location: West Wales
Contact:

Re: Hangar 9 Decathlon

Post by Elliot Howells »

Barry, been to cold to venture up to the shed this week, too busy fixing boilers too!

I'll take a couple of shots tomoz. The MTW cans are absolutely brill, if I had the cash spare I'd buy them too, whisper quiet with a decent prop.

Ell.
Elliot Howells
Posts: 333
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 08:18
Location: West Wales
Contact:

Re: Hangar 9 Decathlon

Post by Elliot Howells »

Barry, do these make sense?
Attachments
9A31CB4F-E4CA-44A9-BF21-77438CF79A46.jpeg
49FAB645-B1B9-4CAD-A9A3-CCCD050FF90C.jpeg
barry h
Posts: 89
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 20:46
Location: Norfolk. Premier slope soaring country.

Re: Hangar 9 Decathlon

Post by barry h »

Hi Elliot.
Re pics ; They both make sense but I am intrigued to know the purpose of the second system with the towline system fitted.

Regards
Barry
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Peter Balcombe
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 10:13
Location: Clevedon, North Somerset, U.K.

Re: Hangar 9 Decathlon

Post by Peter Balcombe »

Retractable towline?
Elliot Howells
Posts: 333
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 08:18
Location: West Wales
Contact:

Re: Hangar 9 Decathlon

Post by Elliot Howells »

The retractable towline uses a seatbelt tensioner as far as I can tell, the line is pulled back automatically on release. There is a servo to release. It’s a bit swish and I haven’t yet proven it, hence the spare setup, just in case.

Swiss manufactured it cost more than I’d like to admit.
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