CTLS makeover

[bobbysbrother]

My CTLS (which I nicknamed "Quasimodo" because of the ugly time I had with it in the beginning) has been gathering dust for over a year. Put it on the shelf after all the hassle with its nose gear constantly stripping the servo, and the nose gear housing shearing apart due to its woeful plastic construction. Very unsuited plane for a grass field in its stock form.

But recently I decided to make some major changes to get it back in the air. Here's some of what I did.
- Evicted Ken and Barbie from the cockpit to make room for completely revamped electronics.
- Grafted the spare and wider landing gear from my Freewing Pandora on to the CTLS and added 2.75" Dave Brown tires. The wider stance prevents it from tipping over so easily on grass. Big improvement!
- Put the nose gear on its own channel and gave it dual rates. Turns way better on grass.
- Added flaps
- Added bright Flytron strobe lights on the wing tips for looks and improved visibility
- All new electronics placed topside in the cockpit. New Rx, separate SBEC, separate arming plug and RX on/off switch, 420watt 1350KV motor with 10 x 7 prop, and Eagle Tree Guardian.
- Sandwiched 1/8th inch plywood plate to landing gear housing base and secured to fuse with big screws.
- Used the discontinued nose gear from the CTLS grass kit, with larger wheel. Not perfect but it will suffice.
- And finally trimmed it with adhesive vinyl to give it a completely new look!

So far flies with a lot more authority than stock - and looks funky on a fly by.

[Rocketeer]

Re: CTLS makeover

Greetings,

One Sweet Mod!!!
Really nicely done! With the added benefit of enhanced flight characteristics to boot!!!

Awesome..... Thanks for sharing.......

Clear Skies

Bill L.
in Okla.

[retiredflyer]

RE: CTLS makeover

I have always loved the look of this little guy, especially the pilots, however because everyone hates the nosegear I have been reluctant to get one. I was wondering if I could rig a spring or something in the front gear. I see one for sale in the scratch and dent section for twenty bucks of and I'm tempted. I fly exclusively off a paved road so maybe those gear issues would not be too bad if I put a metal gear servo in too.

[CAPT.Mike]

RE: CTLS makeover

Man that looks really fun. If I seen this flying around, I would be completely entertained. Love it.

[retiredflyer]

RE: CTLS makeover

  Well I did it, I keep seeing the CTLS in the Scratch and Dent section of Motion and I ALMOST get it, but don't.  Then it disappears and I don't have to worry about it.  Well, it reappeared again today for 30 bucks off and I pulled the trigger.  Says I just have to glue the girl back in her seat.
  I was thinking about doing some mods to the front end too, like bobbysbrother, sounded like good fix.  I did buy an extra front wheel/housing and I also bought a metal gear servo to replace the original.  Maybe that will help even though I exclusively fly off a road.
Looking forward to getting her and checking it out.  Of course I can't fly for MONTHS, but I can get it all modified.

[Alpha]

RE: CTLS makeover

Doing modifications can be very relaxing, at least for me.

The CTLS' nosewheel is best for paved surfaces, as Pilot Mike pointed out in his video on the MotionRC website. Grass operation would require either of a couple methods to strengthen the nose wheel. It isn't always about strength; sometimes a design is better implemented with an intended failure point or flexing point, to dissipate the forces being exerted upon the wheel. Sometimes an overly rigid wheel strut will simply transfer all that energy up into the next weakest point, which can be the foam, resulting in the entire assembly tearing out.

On the CTLS, flaps helps to slow down landings and adjust for an ideal approach angle, and paved surfaces help minimize the friction forces caused by dragging through grass.

[retiredflyer]

RE: CTLS makeover

Doing modifications can be very relaxing, at least for me.

The CTLS' nosewheel is best for paved surfaces, as Pilot Mike pointed out in his video on the MotionRC website. Grass operation would require either of a couple methods to strengthen the nose wheel. It isn't always about strength; sometimes a design is better implemented with an intended failure point or flexing point, to dissipate the forces being exerted upon the wheel. Sometimes an overly rigid wheel strut will simply transfer all that energy up into the next weakest point, which can be the foam, resulting in the entire assembly tearing out.

On the CTLS, flaps helps to slow down landings and adjust for an ideal approach angle, and paved surfaces help minimize the friction forces caused by dragging through grass.

I think I will do the flaps, I have a couple of extra servos hanging around. Delivery is scheduled for tomorrow so I'll be looking at it closer. 

[retiredflyer]

RE: CTLS makeover

Received my S/D CTLS yesterday...thanks UPS guy!  The description at the Motion site said it was all OK except for an unglued female pilot figure.  Well, it was actually BOTH the figures.  The only way to get inside the CTLS cockpit was to (very carefully) remove the side window panel.  It came off fine, just attached with soft, sticky glue.
  I decided that if I was going to be inside the cockpit, it needed to be spruced up a bit.  To me, the figures sit in the wrong positions, their feet do not touch the pedals and the seat backs are too far away.  I raided my wife's scrap fabric bin and made some seat cushions. Just folded up some cotton batten and wrapped some fabric around them and CA'd it.  I even put the existing foam headrest back on the new cushions.
  I think they look a whole lot better now.  They are a bit forward, touch the pedals, and the cushions reach their backs.  The next thing to tackle is some mods the front end. 

  Keith

[Tom]

RE: CTLS makeover

You will want to do flaps before you glue the window back on. The flap servo wires are a major pain so now is the perfect time to do it. Love the mods you did. Clearly the factory did not use enough glue on either pilot!

[retiredflyer]

RE: CTLS makeover

You will want to do flaps before you glue the window back on. The flap servo wires are a major pain so now is the perfect time to do it. Love the mods you did. Clearly the factory did not use enough glue on either pilot!

I now see what you mean about running the flap wires now with the side window out. It will still be a pain to get them through the top of the cockpit cabin and down the frame to under the plane. I now have a different issue. I bought a Hitec metal gear servo to replace the original in the front, however the special plastic control arm from the original is too big to fit tightly on the knurled pinion on the top of the new servo. Even when really tightened up, it still slips. GREAT!  I'm thinking I may electrically center the new servo and very carefully apply just a tiny bit of CA or epoxy to the pinion before attaching that control arm. Will be tricky so as not to get glue on the shaft area, or drip down into the servo housing.  I'll let you know!

[retiredflyer]

RE: CTLS makeover

My mods to the front gear of the CTLS.  It doesn't look pretty, but I think it will be functional and help with strengthening up that area.  I took some thin aluminum flashing (95 cents at Lowe's) and cut and epoxied several pieces around the plastic box housing the front shaft and servo.  I also put epoxy to build up the front end area that is curved and houses the metal rod for the steering to give it more strength.  I will drill out the 4 holes in the aluminum now covering the mounting screws places.  I thinks having the aluminum around these holes will help also.
  I put in a metal gear servo (which had a nice long lead compared to the original).  I had to modify the throw arm to fit the metal gear servo pinion on top as the original was too big in circumference and slipped. Basically I ground down the round, raised part on the old arm and CA'd it to one of the ones that fit the new servo.  Works!
  The whole thing fits right up into the fuselage so you won't even see the mods.  Lets hope it works.  Have to wait till spring.....4 feet of snow on the ground. 

[retiredflyer]

RE: CTLS makeover

Finished assembling the CTLS.  Put in the flaps, and installed the older version Eagle A3 gyro.  I ended up installing the receiver and gyro in the back area behind the cockpit where there is an access panel for the rudder and elevator servos.  Made a nice area to stick everything and kept it out of the battery well which is tight.
  CG is right at the recommended 65mm with the Admiral 2200, and all the electronics are working fine.  Now I need to wait for all the snow to leave......maybe in June!