[sled]

New Year Update:

I was able to put some build time in on the fuse during the holidays. There are a couple of mods to the fuselage that have been incorporated in the build, along with one major disappointment.

Pic #1

Fuse assembled & glued up.
Firewall drilled for a side mounted Saito 91 . Unfortunately I could not figure out a good way to mount this engine inverted. The carved cowl on the Ultra Sport is taller than it is wide, and has little room in it, the changes required to mount inverted were just a little outside my skill set. About the only way I could find to mount inverted was to leave the chin block off, leaving the bottom of the cowl completely open. Not a look I care for, So if anyone has managed to get a Saito 91 mounted inverted in an Ultra Sport your help is needed.

Pic #2

The tail wheel assembly that comes with the Ultra Sport is a rudder hinge type, with a soft piano wire gear. It takes no time at all before this gear is all bent up & on its way out, especially if you fly off a grass field. I will be using a Sullivan tail wheel assembly which attaches to the fuse & uses a spring to connect to the rudder. So the rear of the fuse was modified to accept the new tail wheel bracket. You can just see on the left of pic 2 that the 1/4" tri stock used to attach sheeting to the fuse bottom as not been installed all the way to the rear fuse block. This leaves the required room for the tail block assy shown in pick #3

Pic #3

Shaped a fitted a piece of 1/4" ply to fit the opening the fuse tail. Added bottom fuse sheeting, & installed the 4-40 nuts that come with the tail wheel kit. The whole assy was then epoxied into place.

Happy New Year to all!
sled

[sled]

New Year Update:

Anyone who has built or owned an Ultra Sport knows that you end up stuffing about a pound of foam round the fuel tank to keep it in position. This is one area of the plane that just has to much room! So to solve this floppy tank problem I cut a couple of tank supports. These I attached to the underside of the turtle deck, the brackets will keep the tank centered in the space. Because I am using a Saito 91 the firewall is at its most aft position. The result is the 14 oz DuBro tank will not fit inside of F2. If you look at the last pic I have installed a piece of tri stock (right side, just to the right of the engine mount nuts) the space between the tri stock & engine nut re-enforcement is 3/32". This will accept a piece of 3/32" ply , for a tank shelf. The aft end of the "self" will rest on F2. There is enough room between the self, tank, & tank brackets to use a piece of 1/4" foam. The fuel tank will now slide into the space created, and saved about 3/4lb of foam!

sled

[sled]

New Year Update:

Here's a couple more fuselage mods I've incorporated into the build.

Pic #1

Installed the servo rails in as per plan location. The servo for the split elevators is installed on its side, using a JR servo aileron bracket (best $2.50 I ever spent). The servo is mounted so that the arm is on the center line of the fuse. The servo will be connected to the elevator push rods using a Sullivan split elevator dumbbell, you can see the part at the top of the pic, the punch is pointing at it.

Pic #2

This is a access hatch located just behind F4, on the bottom of the fuse to allow access to the rudder servo . Installed servo mounting rails for the pull pull rudder. Working out the vertical distance to mount the rudder did take some time. Never was much good at math

Pics #3 & #4

These show the tail controls mocked up. The pics are taken looking down from the top of the fuse. The outer tubes for the elevator push rods pass above the pull pull rudder cables. The rudder cables are crossed to improve the exit angle at the rear of the fuse. The pull pull is set up on a 2" rudder horn to horn distance. I hope this works out, after all I am a pull pull rudder virgin!

Just a couple of additional of push tube supports to install, and that should take care of that. Then its on to building the upper half of the fuselage - turtle deck.

Happy New Year to all

sled

[robpreston]

Looks good buddy.
I like the fact that you willing to try new stuff.

[E Smith]

I had one of the original kits for over twenty years. Last winter I decided to build it. It flies like all of the Ultra-Sorts do.

Ed S

[sled]

Turtle Deck Build Up

I've added some extra bracing between F4 & F5 to support the fuse sheeting behind the cockpit. This should reduce the chance of cracking the sheeting when you pick the fuselage up at this point.

Now its on to installing that nice block of balsa for the aft fuselage top & carve, carve, carve ...... sand, sand, sand, make an appointment for a lung vacuum

Can't sled Might as well build

[Cdallas2]

It might be too late but here's how I mounted the engine in my US40
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_85...2/key_/tm.htm# (starts at post #31)

I really like your tank & servo setup. If I do another one I'm goint to use your setup, very slick.

[robpreston]

Originally Posted by sled

make an appointment for a lung vacuum :

every thing is looking good Buddy. butt why don't you just turn on the Shop Vac ...that should do the trick...hahaha

[sled]

Another Update:

Here's a couple of shots of the cowl buildup on the Ultra Sport. As I mentioned before ........ dang there ain't a whole lotta room in there for the Satio 91, just have a look at pick #3. It's a good thing that comes in a small package.
:
:

[sled]

Cowl Shaping:

Well here it is, my 1st attempt at shaping the cowl. Lot's of shavings & balsa dust in the process. Well at least it does resemble the plans & the pretty picture on the box. Still some filling and sanding to do ...... but will save that for just before covering or next winter ..... which ever comes first.