HK 1600mm DC-3 Build

[SfC Wade]

Well folks, the parts are coming in now. Will begin my winter build on this Kit from Hobby King soon.
Has anyone done this one? Have a lot of questions.

[xviper]

Would you be talking about this one?

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hobbykingtm-c-47-dc-3-epo-white-1600mm-kit.html

I had the PNP C-47 when they first came out. I think they no longer sell it anymore. It had some problems. Some of which included being underpowered (or overweight), poor prop design and balance, weak motors shafts, weak landing gear. It had a nasty habit of dropping a wing badly on take-off or when doing a slow banked turn and fall to earth.
I take it that you got the kit and you're building it up with your own selected parts? All I can tell you is give it strong propulsion. It needs to fly with speed or it stalls easily. Make better gear struts (read: thicker) or put in different retracts altogether. It was a beautiful plane when it flew but it was so quirky, I sold it after 1/2 a season. The next owner had a tough time with it, too. Don't know where it's at now. He sold it at an auction.

[TiredIronGRB]

Well folks, the parts are coming in now. Will begin my winter build on this Kit from Hobby King soon.
Has anyone done this one? Have a lot of questions.

I've got a few of them, good looking plane with the Parkflier Plastic's cockpit mod. Not the best flying plane though...fly it fast and flat.

[xviper]

I've got a few of them, good looking plane with the Parkflier Plastic's cockpit mod. Not the best flying plane though...fly it fast and flat.

So, you know of which I speak. ;)

[TiredIronGRB]

Great looking plane...I'll post up about the one I'm building from an airframe, didn't even have motor mounts.

[SfC Wade]

Yes Xviper2. Thats the one.

[SfC Wade]

There are usually always issues with stock; keeping in mind most manufactures build to sell then to fly them.
I have purchased the following; Motors= 2Turnigy D2836/9 950KV Brushless Outrunners, Props =Master Airscrew Propeller 8x6x3 (Counter rotating), ESC = HobbyKing 40A BlueSeries Brushless Speed Controller, Retracts= Dynam 3.0mm Dia 90 Degree Metal E-Retracts, (a perfect fit), Servos= 6 RC Gear Shop WinKing Micro Metal-Gear Servos and 2 Tactic TSX20 Mini High-Speed 2BB Servos.
First Question/Concern
Do the thrust angles change since I will be going with counter rotating props?
It looks as if they are set into the motor mounts? This is First time dealing with this issue.
I have read somewhere 2degrees down and 2 the right?
Open for any suggestions.

[xviper]

Do the thrust angles change since I will be going with counter rotating props?
It looks as if they are set into the motor mounts? This is First time dealing with this issue.
I have read somewhere 2degrees down and 2 the right?
Open for any suggestions.

The stock PNP had counter rotating props, so I wouldn't worry about it. You can see in this video that they rotated inwards (looking at the blade on top). Counter-rotating helps to negate incorrectness in thrust angle anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhnWA1RrQ1A

Take a look at this video. It shows what we were talking about flying this plane fast and straight. Note that the use of flaps can produce some very bad flight characteristics. When taking off, try to do it with no flaps so you can get lots of speed going before rotating. Flaps make this plane lift off too soon at too low of speed. Makes for a very squirly and tense take off. Landings can be equally tense if full flaps are used.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvtVPWLKUqw

I have since gone with the Dynam C-47. It doesn't have counter-rotating props (no flaps, no retracts) and it flies so much better than the HobbyKing. Admittedly, the HobbyKing is a nicer size and looks better and once flying straight and fast, it looks really, really nice. The PNP HK one flew on 4s and needed it.

[F106DeltaDart]

Got one of these kits at the end of the year and am in the same boat. Planning on building and painting mine as the lead plane on D-Day. After the tip stalling reports, I might try adding some washout similarly to how did for my Lancaster: https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc...build-and-mods. Hopefully that might enable a bit better tendencies.

[SfC Wade]

Thanksfor your input xviper, I also have the Dynam C-47. It crashed on Maiden. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKkAVf3opZY) This was my Bad. She held up better than I thought. I never did like the color scheme (Hard to see at a distance) so during repairs decided to add a few extras (https://youtu.be/sdFCdIryMhc). Looking forward this spring to give her another shot.

[xviper]

Better than new. :cool:

[SfC Wade]

Would you be talking about this one?
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hobbykin...600mm-kit.html
I had the PNP C-47 when they first came out. I think they no longer sell it anymore. It had some problems. Some of which included being underpowered (or overweight), poor prop design and balance, weak motors shafts, weak landing gear. It had a nasty habit of dropping a wing badly on take-off or when doing a slow banked turn and fall to earth.
I take it that you got the kit and you're building it up with your own selected parts? All I can tell you is give it strong propulsion. It needs to fly with speed or it stalls easily. Make better gear struts (read: thicker) or put in different retracts altogether. It was a beautiful plane when it flew but it was so quirky, I sold it after 1/2 a season. The next owner had a tough time with it, too. Don't know where it's at now. He sold it at an auction.

Yes that is It.Thanks for the info.

[SfC Wade]

The stock PNP had counter rotating props, so I wouldn't worry about it. You can see in this video that they rotated inwards (looking at the blade on top). Counter-rotating helps to negate incorrectness in thrust angle anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhnWA1RrQ1A

Take a look at this video. It shows what we were talking about flying this plane fast and straight. Note that the use of flaps can produce some very bad flight characteristics. When taking off, try to do it with no flaps so you can get lots of speed going before rotating. Flaps make this plane lift off too soon at too low of speed. Makes for a very squirly and tense take off. Landings can be equally tense if full flaps are used.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvtVPWLKUqw

I have since gone with the Dynam C-47. It doesn't have counter-rotating props (no flaps, no retracts) and it flies so much better than the HobbyKing. Admittedly, the HobbyKing is a nicer size and looks better and once flying straight and fast, it looks really, really nice. The PNP HK one flew on 4s and needed it.

So what you are saying is that when I mount the motors to the fire walls, the angles of the prop shafts remain the same on each side?

[SfC Wade]

Got one of these kits at the end of the year and am in the same boat. Planning on building and painting mine as the lead plane on D-Day. After the tip stalling reports, I might try adding some washout similarly to how did for my Lancaster: https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc...build-and-mods. Hopefully that might enable a bit better tendencies.

Let me how things go for you.

[xviper]

So what you are saying is that when I mount the motors to the fire walls, the angles of the prop shafts remain the same on each side?

That's the way the stock PNP came. However, with counter-rotating props, side thrust angle is not so important, so you could leave them as is or use washers as shims to even them out to face straight ahead, but keep the down angle. I suspect whoever designed this plane wasn't thinking about counter-rotating props and did the thrust angle accordingly. Then HobbyKing picked up the product and decided to do it with C.rotating props and didn't change anything else. I don't believe that tip stalling tendency is related to the thrust angle. It's more associated with the way the wings are designed. The previous suggestion about putting in some wash out has been used on this plane to resolve the problem.

[SfC Wade]

That's the way the stock PNP came. However, with counter-rotating props, side thrust angle is not so important, so you could leave them as is or use washers as shims to even them out to face straight ahead, but keep the down angle. I suspect whoever designed this plane wasn't thinking about counter-rotating props and did the thrust angle accordingly. Then HobbyKing picked up the product and decided to do it with C.rotating props and didn't change anything else. I don't believe that tip stalling tendency is related to the thrust angle. It's more associated with the way the wings are designed. The previous suggestion about putting in some wash out has been used on this plane to resolve the problem.

Thanks for the info. I will keep up the research as for now I'm working on the wings.

[F106DeltaDart]

Let me how things go for you.

Will do. Haven't started yet, got a few other projects to finish up first. Looking forward to your build!

[SfC Wade]

The Build is on! So Far so good. Please feel free to look over my work thus far. Any and all advise/comments is appreciated.

[Alpha]

Nice workshop, SfC Wade. I may have missed it, but what livery do you plan on depicting? I recommend Callie Graphics; she collaborated with Hobbyking on this plane's release and she has a variety of decals to choose from. A tip would be to apply a coat of clear Varathane over the decals to help lock them in. Other than that they look great.

[Kloverzero]

While I am not a fan of HobbyKing, I do love the C-47. I have the old Royal kit, but it got a little banged up. I had thought of buying the Dynam kit, and replacing the fixed gear with the retracts from the Freewing Mosquito. It would be pretty close to correct, and I can do some minor modification to make them even closer to scale. I was going to get the white DC-3 version, and do my own paint job on it. I think I like the looks of this one better, so now I am on the fence again....decisions decisions...LOL