Corehouse Li'l Hacker

That is exactly how I like CL planes. Fast! Fastest I have spun so far is 2.5 seconds per lap. Does the wing get glued in? Or does it clamp in some how?

From what I gather from the instructions, you check fit it inside the fuselage, make some reference marks, then remove it and smear glue all around it and push it back into place.

You have to understand how combat fliers operate - they go through several planes in a day's flying. The way it is made you can pull a damaged wing out of the fuselage, clean the inside and shove another wing into it and get back into the air.

The plans and original fuselage parts leave room for a bladder type tank right behind the firewall. Since I'm just using a regular Cox engine, I opted to completely box the sides in right to the leading edge of the wing with plywood.

I imagine not much CA is used on the wood parts? Seems like most of it would be epoxy.

I've built and flown many Lil Hacker's. I actually fly with Phil as well. I can only suggest that you build the plane as light as possible. I took a Contadina tomato paste can and cored holes in my wing which helps reduce weight but can also alter the strength of the wing. I will leave that entirely up to you. You certainly need your best running Black Widow. I fly them with Norvel's. The problem is the plane is designed for the Black Widow as it puts the CG out front to balance correctly. A Norvel needs about 3/4 oz. in the nose and I glue that in behind the firewall. I highly recommend doing one thing and that is to install blind nuts in the firewall. I would place them in the firewall to accept the radial Cox engine and if possible the bolt pattern for the Dave Brown composite mount for a Tee Dee or Norvel.

If the spars are not already glued in, I would certainly switch them to medium balsa or bass and make them go all the way to the edge of the wing as they come short. You can use the SLC covering as needed covering the wing prior to installation into the body. Installing the wing can be tight in the strap type fuse. I usually get the wing and center as needed marking the wood onto the covering with a fine tip pen. I slide the fuse to the side and put a tad of Gorilla glue or epoxy. Try and use epoxy as sparingly as possible due to weight and it really isn't needed other than the firewall joint. Don't go crazy as the fit is already tight and in the event of a crash the fuse to wing joint is sacrificial and can easily be reglued. This is why I use Gorilla glue and I glue the entire plane together using it aside from the firewall to fuse joint. The trailing edge can easily be stiffened with a strip of silkspan and thinned down white glue. I do the tips in silkspan also. Not a must but it certainly is light and the strength gained from it is amazing. I use a 3" strip carefully placed on the trailing edge allowing 1 1/2" on the top and the remaining folded over. Ken

I am definitely switching to blind nuts. I may use my Space Hopper and have a hole drilled into the firewall so I can use a regular mount. Probably also use a pressure system. Maybe bladder On the first one I will use my Killer Bee block on a Black Widow Tank. If more power is desired maybe RR1. If I had a Norvel I would use it but I have never really been able to afford one.

I mainly want this to have a real exciting plane to bring out. Something I can wring around the sky and make RC only flyers shake their head and say "Wow". I may also try and get my friend to fly one and try combat with him.

Does anyone have a video of this? I have seen one that is 54 seconds long. It has two guys competing.

Off topic question: Anyone got a Collet for a Tee Dee .049/.051?

I can certainly tell you this. I've experienced my fun using Cox reedies. All in all it was great fun but that fun didn't come without being problematic. They're a good learning experience for anyone. As I have no way of knowing what experience you have flying combat I can only tell you my experiences. If this is your first plane of this style using the Black Widow would certainly be a good choice. Unfortunately however the run is going to be short and certainly not without problems. A wing turns much faster than a conventional built up 1/2A. Therefore, fuel is going to be sloshing all over and the runs can be erratic at times which in turn means you may have to level out for a bit until things settle. This is why you should certainly switch to a bladder and learn how to use them. The plane can still be built to accept a bladder. I cored out my outboard wing directly behind the spar. I made a hole 1" x 3.5". You line the cutout with pieces of packing tape. You then cover the top and bottom with packing tape making a hole about 1/2" on the top piece of tape and the bottom.

This is done prior to covering with the SLC covering. After the wing is totally covered, you thin white glue down with water and pour it into that compartment constantly rolling it around. After a day or two the glue will be dried clear and the compartment in now fuel proofed. I have some excellent tips on how to attach your lines if your interested. All in all if your looking for eyebrow raising excitement choosing a modern engine such as a Wasp .061 with modification or a Norvel would be a better choice. Ken

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I provided a picture of one of my Hacker's I recently gave to a friend of mine. This is the picture with engine with the red spinner on it. You can see the bladder compartment as well. One thing to note as well is the way I cut out the top of the fuse ply directly behind the bellcrank. This was done top and bottom to save weight. The circular holes in the wing as well. In the picture of the bellcrank, you can see how I cut the bellcrank with a razor saw to the hole. I make my lines set with double loops on the terminations and these just slip onto the bellcrank as I provide no leadouts at the wingtip. The other pic is of the AP .061 with my custom made adapter that accepts a TD venturi. I shorten the needle valves and solder a washer onto them so they're not sticking out in harms way and won't be broken off during landings. The last picture of my plane is Lil Hacker wing cores but I made an arrowshaft body. This is an extremely competitive plane and is quite impressive. Phil actually liked my modifications and was really impressed on how it flies. Ken

I like how you have your bell crank set up. I always have just done lead outs. I do not mind then. I thought there was a hole in the fuse section behind the firewall? I figured I would set a tube in there to hold my pressure system. If I can get a collet for a Tee Dee I can use a Tee Dee .051. I am not really looking to compete with these. Just something to play with and train for Combat. I may end up flying against one of my friends. He has a ways to go before he does any type of combat. He has gone as far as trying to loop.

I had some of my Hackers with the hole behind the firewall. It works but I like placing mine in the wing due to the fuel load being on the CG. I would recommend the tube behind the firewall for starters as it is closer to the engine and keeps the fuel line out of harms way. You could drill the required hole in the ply sides prior to installing your wing and at least have it prepared if you choose bladder. The reasoning for my decision of why my lines are attached directly to the bellcrank is for competition use. All lines must be 42' center of plane to center of handle. I can switch lines to every plane I have except for certain models with internal bellcranks which require a set of different lines which allows for the 42' length.For a Cox engine such as the Black Widow, I would keep the line length no greater than 35'. When leadouts are used a clip must be used. You would certainly be surprised how these can get tangled with your opponents lines and themselves. I even place tubing over my connections at the handle as they get caught up with your opponents handle and clips as well. The Hacker is a tough little plane and I've stuffed mine several times. Your certainly going to like it. Just flying two in a circle can be difficult without even maneuvering, I strongly feel if you both can fly two in a circle your going to get some ear to ear smiles. I just read your above post, If you can use your Killer Bee block with a Killer Bee backplate you would have the advantage of the 128 TPI. needle valve which is absolutely needed to run bladder. I would certainly try and give yourself many advantages to use for power plants. This would give you near like TD performance. A rubber ducky 5x3 is a good choice as well . Ken

I checked Texas Timers and the only no TD nva they have is $10. Above that they say it is not for reed engines. Are they implying it is only not for tanked engines? Also, does someone have one slightly cheaper? If I can get one of those then I can use my regular Killer Bee.

Rolla

Rolla, you can use a red production backplate or a postage stamp backplate with your Killer Bee. This would have the required fine threads for bladder usage. I'm sure someone on here would have one as they're readily available and certainly inexpensive. Ken

I believe it was a 290 backplate. Anyone have one? I would probably take out the nva and put it in my KB backplate. I cannot decide what to use in this plane. I am gonna see if I can get my Tee Dee .051 going. The collet on it is completely mangled. I could always use the smaller wing version. My main worry is lack of power. I want this plane to go where I point it. Since it comes with two I can always experiment with it. Killer Bee on one. Space Hopper/ Tee Dee on the other. How big is the space between your fuel system and engine? That is a rather large gap.

For starters, I'm assuming you already have a complete Killer Bee? If so is it the Estes version or the original? It should already have the appropriate needle valve installed within it. The distance from my bladder compartment is long, but with the bladders I'm using this isn't a problem. One thing that is important though is that the excess fuel line shouldn't be flopping around as this will change the run. I even had it pinch off the fuel flow entirely in a hard maneuver. I mentioned above about drilling the ply sides of your fuse for the bladder tube. This can give you access to the back of the firewall if nose weight is needed. If you choose to use a Killer Bee, this is certainly going to need nose weight. Your quite correct in your assumption of power. It's a must. This is why I was trying to stress weight concerns above. The TD would be a good choice in the engines you own. However, the plane has been flown with Black Widow power and other reedies. I've never flown any of mine on a reedie so I can't comment. Ken

I have the 1996 version. .049. I currently have it on a BW tank. I did not know they had high speed needle valves.

I completely understand now. You may very well be correct. However, a Killer Bee backplate and needle can be purchased. I realize your position though and I certainly don't like to buy anything if not needed. One thing to do is just try and bench run it on bladder and see if it does work. I believe the other thread size is 80 TPi which although may work the needle setting may just be too critical or it may leak causing all kinds of problems. The 290 or production backplate had some of the 128 TPI threaded needles in them. You could certainly swap it out. I believe the size of the venturi hole is 11/64" or a #16 drill for the intake size. I could be incorrect on that. Certainly keep your options open on your firewall. The more bolt patterns you can provide initially makes engine swapping that much easier. Ken

I have run my Red Killer Bee back plate on pressure and it was rather difficult to tune. I think for first flights I will use my Killer Bee on BW tank. Then I will move on up to the Tee Dee. I think with it I will just have to deal with the difficult tuning. I do not own a high speed for it either.

Even the Tee Dee can be problematic using the stock needle, this is why the Texas Timer needles are the best. Having the finer thread needle is certainly important. In case you were not sure when running bladder pressure, give your fuel feed line a quick pinch prior to launching. If the engine speeds up your needle is in the ballpark. If the engine hesitates or quits for that second, your too lean and you must open your needle. Setting your needle is done without the battery attached and give the engine a few seconds to get some heat into it. Ken

I will try running my Tee Dee on pressure tomorrow. Gotta find some ear plugs first. I have it mounted on a nylon mount. Just for fun I lined it up with an 8cc engine. I was very surprised to see that the Tee Dee is actually shorter. I always thought they were longer.

I am also going to try pressure less. See if I can get some good results.

I picked up some balloons and tried the Tee Dee. It was running nicely. I had it rich. When I went to lean it out I got hit by the prop. I had just used my inhaler which gives me the shakes. Cut is not too bad. More of a graze. Skin had already reattached itself. I will just have to watch it. I will wait till tomorrow to run it again.

Does your inhaler have a notice on the label that says "Do not operate machinery"??

I do not believe it does. I have two of them. One makes me shake. The other does not. Thing about the first one, when it does make me shake it is rather random. Usually immediately after I use it. It does not always make me shake though.

When that TeeDee gets leaned out it can take a finger off.

Sorry, but I have trouble seeing that happen. Maybe a real hot Tee Dee. But I doubt mine. I have seen guys get nailed in the hand by much bigger engines and keep their fingers. Mine was being run on 15%. It is a rather rough looking Tee Dee. I have not run it much.