GREAT PLANES G-44 widgeon Instruction Manual Download Page 1

INSTRUCTION

MANUAL

Champaign, Illinois

(217) 398-8970, Ext 5

[email protected]

GPMA1151 v1.1

READ THROUGH THIS MANUAL BEFORE STARTING CONSTRUCTION. IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT

INSTRUCTIONS AND WARNINGS CONCERNING THE ASSEMBLY AND USE OF THIS MODEL.

WARRANTY

SPECIFICATIONS

Great Planes Model Manufacturing

®

 Co.

 guarantees this kit to 

be free from defects in both material and workmanship at the 
date of purchase. This warranty does not cover any component 
parts damaged by use or modification. 

In no case shall Great 

Planes’ liability exceed the original cost of the purchased kit.

 

Further, Great Planes reserves the right to change or modify this 
warranty without notice.

In that Great Planes has no control over the final assembly or 
material used for final assembly, no liability shall be assumed nor 
accepted for any damage resulting from the use by the user of 
the final user-assembled product. By the act of using the 
user-assembled product, the user accepts all resulting liability.

If the buyer is not prepared to accept the liability associated 
with the use of this product, the buyer is advised to return 

this kit immediately in new and unused condition to the 
place of purchase.

To make a warranty claim send the defective part or item to 
Hobby Services at the address below:

Hobby Services

3002 N. Apollo Dr.  Suite 1

Champaign IL  61822  USA

Include a letter stating your name, return shipping address, as 
much contact information as possible (daytime telephone 
number, fax number, e-mail address), a detailed description of 
the problem and a photocopy of the purchase receipt. Upon 
receipt of the package the problem will be evaluated as quickly 
as possible.

Wingspan:

51 in  [1295 mm]

Wing Area:

373 in

2  

[24.1 dm

2

]

Wing Loading:

25−28 oz /ft

[76− 85 g /dm

2

]

Length:

36 in [ 915mm]

Weight:

4− 4.5 lb
[1810 −2040 g]

Radio:

4 channel
transmitter & receiver
with four servos 

Motor:

RimFire

 400 (28-30-950),

two 25 amp ESCs
& two 8

×

6 props

Battery:

3200 mAh 3S,
11.1 V 20C battery

Entire Contents © 2011 Hobbico,

®

 Inc. All rights reserved.

®

Summary of Contents for G-44 widgeon

Page 1: ... the act of using the user assembled product the user accepts all resulting liability If the buyer is not prepared to accept the liability associated with the use of this product the buyer is advised to return this kit immediately in new and unused condition to the place of purchase To make a warranty claim send the defective part or item to Hobby Services at the address below Hobby Services 3002 ...

Page 2: ... please join The AMA is the governing body of model aviation and membership provides liability insurance coverage protects modelers rights and interests and is required to fly at most R C sites Academy of Model Aeronautics 5151 East Memorial Drive Muncie IN 47302 9252 Tele 800 435 9262 Fax 765 741 0057 Or via the Internet at http www modelaircraft org IMPORTANT Two of the most important things you...

Page 3: ...Motor Battery Recommendations We flew the G 44 Widgeon EP with the ElectriFly Power Series Lithium Polymer Battery GPMP0727 The 3200 mAh 3S 11 1 V 20C battery pack provided great power and flight times consistently more than 5 minutes The battery proved to be a good choice to help establish the proper weight and balance A Great Planes parallel ESC Adapter GPMM3141 is required to connect the two Ri...

Page 4: ...pollo Drive Suite 1 Ph 217 398 8970 ext 5 Champaign IL 61822 Fax 217 398 7721 E mail airsupport greatplanes com ORDERING REPLACEMENT PARTS Replacement parts for the Great Planes G 44 Widgeon EP ARF are available using the order numbers in the Replacement Parts List that follows The fastest most economical service can be provided by your hobby dealer or mail order company To locate a hobby dealer v...

Page 5: ...dder Assembly 8 Rudder 9 Right Wing and Aileron 10 Motor Mounts 11 Left Wing and Aileron 12 PVC Tubes 13 Fuselage Cradles 14 Horizontal Stabilizer Struts 15 Top Nacelles 16 Bottom Nacelles 17 Wing Center Section 18 Wing Joiners 19 Servo Trays 20 Wing Dowels 1 6 2 4 9 10 11 12 13 19 20 14 15 15 16 16 17 18 8 7 3 5 ...

Page 6: ... ASSEMBLE THE WINGS Install the Motors 1 There is a set of strings that are taped to the wing A string goes from the hole in the top of the wing by each of the motor mount locations and exits out the hole in the bottom center of the wing 2 Your kit includes six motor extensions Using the string on the top of the wing located by the motor mount tie the male end of three motor leads together and the...

Page 7: ...mounts with three 4 40 x 1 4 6mm screws for each of the motors Be sure to apply a couple of drops of thread locker to each of the screws before installing them 5 Locate the 1 8 x 3 4 3mm x 19mm wood dowels Glue them into the holes in the leading edge of the wing making sure that approximately 1 2 13mm of each dowel extends from the wing Install the Aileron Servos and Join the Wing Panels 1 Remove ...

Page 8: ...rm needs to be shortened so that the distance from the center of the arm to the outer hole is 3 8 9 5mm Modify the servo arm to match these specifications Enlarge the outer hole drilling it with a 1 16 1 6mm drill 5 Install a 24 610mm servo extension onto the servo lead Secure the leads with a piece of heat shrink tubing tape or some other method to secure the connections 6 Center the servo and th...

Page 9: ...ntrol horn 10 Use tape to hold the ailerons in the neutral position Make a mark on the pushrods where they cross the outer holes in the servo arms Make a 90 degree bend at the mark on the pushrods and cut off the excess pushrod 1 4 5mm beyond the bend Attach the pushrods to the servo arms using nylon Faslinks Thread the clevis up or down on the pushrod as necessary to center the aileron When satis...

Page 10: ... nacelle 13 Locate one of the plywood wing joiners and test fit it into the opening in the wing center section Slide the outer wing panel onto the joiner to check the fit When you are satisfied with the fit of the wing panels remove the outer panel from the center section Pull the servo lead through the wing center section and out the hole in the bottom of the wing center section Apply epoxy to th...

Page 11: ...ng tape to the bottom half of the nacelle to hold it tight to the wing Repeat this for the other nacelle When you have both nacelles installed set the wing aside to allow it to dry 4 Install two 1 8 x 3 8 3mm x 9 5mm screws into the sponson and through the mounting tabs in the wing Tighten a 1 8 3mm nylon lock nut onto the screws to secure the sponson 5 Repeat this to install the other sponson ASS...

Page 12: ...covering from the stab Important Be sure you cut only through the covering and not into the stab How to Cut Covering from Balsa Use a soldering iron to cut the covering from the stab The tip of the soldering iron doesn t have to be sharp but a fine tip does work best Allow the iron to heat fully Use a straightedge to guide the soldering iron at a rate that will just melt the covering and not burn ...

Page 13: ...8 Install a hinge into each of the four hinge slots in the stab Test fit the elevators to the stab When sliding the elevator halves onto the hinges be sure that you install the elevator joiner wire into the hole in the trailing edge of the elevator Check to be sure that the two elevator halves are aligned with each other If necessary slightly bend the joiner wire to bring the elevators into alignm...

Page 14: ...through the top of the elevator 13 Secure the control horn with 5 64 x 3 8 2mm x 10mm screws Tighten the screws into the nylon control horn plate on the top of the elevator 14 Apply a couple of drops of thin CA to the exposed balsa trailing edge of the rudder The application of the glue is to waterproof the balsa Allow the glue to harden without the use of CA accelerator You do not want any glue b...

Page 15: ...way you installed the elevators 20 Install the z bend end of the remaining 3 64 x 20 1 2mm x 508mm pushrod wire into the outer hole of a nylon control horn 21 Slide the wire into the hole at the back of the left side of the fuselage Place the control horn on the rudder using the same technique used on the ailerons Mark the location of the clevis mounting holes onto the rudder Drill a 5 64 2mm hole...

Page 16: ...03mm adhesive backed Velcro cut a piece approximately 1 1 2 38mm long Apply the softer fuzzy side to the speed control and place the opposite side on the inside of the fuselage as shown When positioning the speed control be sure to feed the three motor leads and the signal lead back through the bulk head and into the area of the servos Repeat this on the opposite side of the fuselage for the other...

Page 17: ...ce approximately 3 1 2 89mm long Place the more rigid half of the Velcro onto the plywood the fuzzy side of the Velcro will be applied to the battery Insert the non adhesive Velcro strip through the slots in the plywood plate 10 Turn the transmitter on and set the throttle stick to idle Then install the battery and plug it into the parallel connector that the two speed controls are plugged into 10...

Page 18: ...the motors check to be sure that the motors are both turning counter clockwise If they do not turn counter clockwise unplug two of the three leads from the motor and reverse them This will change the direction of the motor rotation When both motors are turning the correct direction disconnect the battery FINAL ASSEMBLY 1 Install the drain plug into the bottom of the fuselage Use this plug to drain...

Page 19: ...he sides of the fuselage Drill a 1 16 1 6mm hole through the floor and into the blocks Secure the floor with two 5 64 x 3 8 2mm x 9 5mm washer head screws 6 You may wish to install a pilot We used a Williams Brothers 1 8 scale Sportsman Pilot WBRQ1130 Glue the pilot on the plastic floor on the left side 7 Mount the wing to the fuselage securing it with two nylon wing bolts Install the props onto t...

Page 20: ...ve the servo arms from the servos and reposition them so they are centered Reinstall the screws that hold on the servo arms 2 With the transmitter and receiver still on check all the control surfaces to see if they are centered If necessary adjust the clevises on the pushrods to center the control surfaces FULL THROTTLE RUDDER MOVES RIGHT ELEVATOR MOVES DOWN RIGHT AILERON MOVES UP LEFT AILERON MOV...

Page 21: ...C G Machine use a fine point felt tip pen to mark lines on the bottom of the wing on both sides of the fuselage 2 51mm back from the leading edge Apply narrow 1 16 2mm strips of tape over the lines so you will be able to feel them when lifting the model with your fingers This is where your model should balance for the first flights Later you may experiment by shifting the C G 1 4 6mm forward or 1 ...

Page 22: ...o cause your fuel to foam which will in turn cause your engine to run hot or quit We use a Top Flite Precision Magnetic Prop Balancer TOPQ5700 in the workshop and keep a Great Planes Fingertip Prop Balancer GPMQ5000 in our flight box Ground Check and Range Check Run the motors at full power for a couple of minutes Afterward shut the motors off and inspect the model closely making sure all fastener...

Page 23: ...sewhere anticipating the excitement of the first flight Because of this you may be more likely to overlook certain checks and procedures that should be performed before the model is flown To help avoid this a check list is provided to make sure these important areas are not overlooked Many are covered in the instruction manual so where appropriate refer to the manual for complete instructions Be s...

Page 24: ...r to counteract engine torque Gain as much speed as is practical before gently applying up elevator lifting the model into the air Be smooth on the elevator stick allowing the model to establish a gentle climb to a safe altitude before turning into the traffic pattern Flight For reassurance and to keep an eye on other traffic it is a good idea to have an assistant with you Tell him to remind you t...

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