In the "Pilots' raffle" I won a Smoothie ARF at the Palmer Memorial contest this weekend. First, which should I build first, the Oriental or the Smoothie? Second, same questions as on the Oriental - what needs work. I got some great tips from Bill Heyworth, who helped Bob Palmer check out the original prototypes, but I would love to get as broad an opinion as possible.
Bill's tips were basically:
1- punch out the bulkhead behind the tank area to allow a 4.5 ounce tank, and then mount the tank with the rear to the outside and front to the inside for killer engine cutoff.
2- the bellcrank and leadouts are OK, but replace the pushrods and clevises with higher quality arrowshaft hardware. I need to get the name of the source, as I forgot to write it down. Some guy in Texas makes a set to match the model.
3- reinforce the landing gear mount, it is hopelessly weak as made.
4- start with 1/2 ounce of tip weight, and if necessary, trim the inboard flap to prevent hingeing in hard corners.
5- the Brodak 40 is the ideal powerplant.
Any other suggestions or experiences out there?