Build Thread (including all Hop-Ups) - HobbyZone Super Cub LP

OK, so most of you know I've had a couple of these GREAT airplanes. And after nosing-in a couple weeks ago, I have decided to do a full-blown upgrade and post pics and specs as I do it as I get asked A LOT what plane to start with and my answer is always this plane
This plane in stock form is an excellent trainer. It is designed to be crash-proof (yes, it can still crash  ). It is VERY forgiving and as you'll all see, it lends itself to EASY upgrades and provides a solid platform to build-in more performance as a pilot's skills increase I promise you cannot go wrong with this plane. Even as my skills have increased and I am now venturing into 3D flight and pattern competition, this is still one of my favorite airplanes - and I have over 30 now

I am down for the night - gotta get my beauty sleep I'll get this ball rolling in the morning. Stay tuned...

Shhh - don't tell anyone LOL!!

OK, so here we go. This is what I am starting with so far...


This is a complete airframe with the damaged nose. Everything else is in good condition with the exception of the tail end of the fuselage. This is a common weak point for this plane. It typically breaks just in front of the horizontal stabilizer. Its an easy repair using foam-safe CA glue and as you can see I have already fixed this one. A good tip here is to use some strapping tape (the kind with the fibers in the the tape itself) and run a piece along the full length of the fuselage on both sides. This will greatly increase the durability of the fuselage and help to prevent further breaks.


This is the underside of the main wing. As you can see it has already been repaired several times. It is still a very usable wing, but as I will be adding ailerons and flaps, I will just pick up a new one in the next couple of days and keep this one as a spare.


This is the inside of the radio compartment. The stock servos have already been replaced with Hitec HS-55's (any 9-gram servo will do). I am using an OrangeRX D610 receiver.


This is the replacement firewall and cowling, both purchased locally from Mild to Wild Hobby House - I'll also get the wing there as they stock replacement parts for this plane regularly The firewall you can see was only $1.75, and the cowling was only $2.99. I think the wing runs about $16. As you can see, parts for this plane are CHEAP!


This is a closeup of the damage to the foam firewall. Pretty extensive, but the new plastic firewall provides more than enough strength to handle the MASSIVELY overpowered motor I will be installing along with it's billet aluminum mount ;D


These are the stock optical sensors that are part of the anti-crash technology built into this aircraft. As they only work with the stock radio setup I won't be using them. I could have just left them in place, but every plane flies better with less weight and so they are out of here!

Hey Erin, good to here from you! The old ones with the FM radios are indeed discontinued. However, they have been replaced with new model numbers that include Spektrum DSM radios. They include a BNF version as well as a RTF version that includes a Spektrum DX4e Tx. Here is a link to the RTF version...
http://secure.hobbyzone.com/search/HBZ7400.html

And the BNF version
http://secure.hobbyzone.com/HBZ7380.html

The DX4e radio is a VERY basic transmitter. Obviously I would recommend the BNF version and at minimum a DX6i radio. The 6i offers computerized trims and mixes that are (IMO) essential when properly setting up any aircraft.

As for similar planes, yes there are of course MANY very good options and people have their own preferences and style. However, this will always be my recommendation as parts are available locally, they are cheap, and as this thread will demonstrate they are VERY upgrade-able for little money! This plane will be with you for the long-haul, saving aspiring new pilots (and old) a ton of money from having to buy new planes to advance their flying skills.

Alright, so here is the list of upgrades I will be performing over the next several days to get this plane back to the rocket-of-fun that I so enjoy!

New brushless motor
http://www.headsuprc.com/servlet/the-1530/Power-Up-480-Plus/Detail

New billet aluminum motor mount
http://www.headsuprc.com/servlet/the-1669/Motor-Mount-for-HZ/Detail

New firewall and cowling - Available locally at Mild to Wild Hobby House

New main wing - Also available locally at Mild to Wild Hobby House.
I will be modifying this wing to include ailerons and flaps which will require installing three servos into the wing. The servos I will be using are my new favorite!!
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=16342

New aluminum wing struts - Again, Mid to Wild. This is an airfoil-shaped aluminum tube that will replace the VERY breakage-prone plastic pieces.

Decreasing main wing incidence - In stock form the main wing incidence (angle) is purposely very highly exaggerated to aid in keeping the plane from crashing.

Maximizing control-surface throws - Obviously I want this plane to perform to it's fullest potential!

Larger landing gear - More stability and to take-off and land from grass.

Battery compartment modification - This part limits the size battery you can use and is very prone to being pulled out of the fuselage on hard landings, especially in grass. The recommended battery is a 3s 1300mah lipo, which is fine (lighter is better), but sometimes I want to use a 2200mah battery for longer flight times.

Optional float kit installation - Just because I already have the floats and this is a somewhat tricky item.

Just spent some time with Highlandcrawler, he has the original Super Cub (red & white). He is hoping to get it flying today and will, I hope, join us Sunday out at Redwood School. He has some heli's and some really nice crawlers. Nice to have someone with his knowledge join us in the air! Woot!! OK, so on with the rebuild...


This is the battery compartment all removed from the fuselage. I will be cutting the rear of the box out to allow more room for the bigger batteries.

A close-up before...


And after...


And a cross-section view of the airfoil-shaped aluminum tube I'll be using for the new wing struts...

Glue the bottom outside plate back onto the fuse with 5-Minute Epoxy for Plastic. This epoxy has a better bond to the foam, and actually flexes slightly rather than drying to a hard, brittle form. Before the glue sets, screw the battery box back in.


While I'm at it, I also glued the front plastic firewall into place with this same epoxy.

So now I'm going to make the new wing struts. We start with some aluminum welding rod (any small diameter rod will do, I just happen to have lots of the welding rod ) Cut two pieces 3.75" in length to go between the mounts on the wing (you'll need to rotate the mounts 90 degrees so the holes line up). I put the rod in place so you can see what I mean, but we'll actually screw the new strut to it before mounting to the wing.



Next take your aluminum tube and cut two pieces 16" in length with a pair of diagonal cuters. Using a pair of needle nose pliers, flatten 3/4" on both ends. Keeping in mind to keep the fat part of the airfoil forward, wrap one end around the rod and secure with a small screw and thread the rod through the wing mounts.




You can hold the rods in place with a small rubber band to keep them from slipping out of the mounts. Then secure the other end to the fuselage using the rear-most screws in the battery box mount.



That's it! You now have solid wing struts allowing you more strength when doing aerobatic maneuvers such as full-speed outside loops

So while I was doing all this, look what arrived from my good friends at HeadsupRC...




Looking at the closeup shots of the billet motor mount, you can see that it is angled to the right and down. This is intentional to counteract the thrust of the motor (true for almost all RC planes). First mount the motor to it's new mount with the supplied screws and some blue LocTite. Then mount to the firewall.




In the last shot you can see the angle of the motor. The pic was taken looking directly down the center line of the plane. Cut a hole in the fuse from the front into the radio compartment that is big enough to push your ESC through.



This last shot shows the original wheels (left) and the new ones (right) that I will be installing.



I'm off to Mild to Wild to pick up my new wing so next up is the modification to add flaps and ailerons

Thanks for visiting my thread Bill People ask me all the time if I can make things like this billet motor mount, and my answer is " yes, of course". However, I can't hardly buy the raw billet stock for what I can buy the finished part for ($15.99), much less take the time to program it and run it through the mills. I know I bash on the Chinese from time to time, but there's just no way to compete with forced child labor and government controlled material costs I am convinced they are doing to us what we did to the Soviet Union back in the Reagan days. Anyway, enough poitics :-X

As for the photos - my pleasure. I can say something a dozen times and maybe someone still won't understand, or I can post some pics and hopefully dismiss all doubts.

DOH! I hate when that happens

[quote author=highlandcrawler link=topic=1582.msg10819#msg10819 date=1342978513] Ive been lookin at a lot of builds on these and wondered if the upgraded wing supports will cause more damage in a crash? I guess if you are upgrading all everything your over crashing a lot. Are you going to flatten the wing also?[/quote]

Yes, the stiffer wing mounting would assist in lending more damage in a crash. The purpose of a "break-away", soft mounted wing is to minimize potential damage. But, the reason for all these upgrades is to improve the way it flies! So we'll leave the crashing to everyone else

As for "flattening" the wing, I will be decreasing the wing incidence, but not (at this point) decreasing the wing's dihedral. I'll describe the wing incidence when I get to that point in the build but the dihedral can easily be changed by shortening the aluminum struts to "pull" the wing flat.

Not at all, but you would actually have to cut it into thirds as it has a flat center center section where it meets the top of the fuse. I've got lots of extra carbon tubes, maybe I'll do this as well - I'll give it some thought. I like the stability the extra dihedral adds, taking it out would make it too much like so many other planes I already have.