Accel Hobby Pitts S2C ARF User manual

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Accel Hobby
Pitts S2C ARF
Electric Almost-Ready-To-Fly 3D Aerobatic Model
Instruction Manual
Electric Almost-Ready-to-Fly 3D Aerobatic Model
TOTAL LENGTH 32 in
WING SPAN 28 in
FLYING WEIGHT 14-16 ounces
MOTOR Himax 2015, 2025, Razor
350 or equiv
READ THROUGH THIS MANUAL BEFORE STARTING CONSTRUCTION. IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS AND
WARNINGS CONCERNING THE ASSEMBLY AND USE OF THIS MODEL.

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Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………………………......2
Important Safety Precautions .....................................2
Decisions You Must Make............................................3
Engine Selection.............................................................3
Radio Equipment ...........................................................3
Additional Items Required...........................................3
Hardware and Accessories.............................................3
Building Supplies and Tools...........................................3
What is 3D? ..................................................................3
Kit Contents .................................................................4
Wing Assembly.............................................................5
Install the Stabilizer and Elevator...............................7
Install the Fin and Rudder...........................................8
Control Surface Installation........................................8
Radio Installation ........................................................9
Motor and Battery Installation ..................................11
Landing Gear Installation ..........................................11
Final Assembly ..........................................................12
Control Throw Adjustment ..........................................12
Control Surface Throws ..............................................12
Balance Your Model...................................................13
Balance Your Model Laterally...................................13
Construction Checklist..............................................13
Introduction
Remember: Take your time and follow the instructions
to end up with a well-built model that is straight and
true.
If you have not flown this type of model before, we
recommend that you get the assistance of an experienced
pilot for your first flights. If you're not a member of a club,
your local hobby shop has information about clubs in your
area whose membership includes experienced pilots.
In addition to joining an R/C club, we strongly recommend
you join the AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics). AMA
membership is required to fly at AMA sanctioned clubs.
There are over 2,500 AMA chartered clubs across the
country. Among other benefits, the AMA provides insurance
to its members who fly at AMA sites and events.
Additionally, training programs and instructors are available
at AMA club sites to help you get started the right way.
Contact the AMA at the address or toll-free phone number
below:
Academy of Model Aeronautics
5151 East Memorial Drive
Muncie, IN 47302-9252
Tele. [phone]
Fax [phone]
Or via the Internet at: http://www.modelaircraft.org
Protect your model, yourself and
others. Follow these important safety
precautions!
1. This airplane should not be considered a toy, but
rather a sophisticated, working model that functions very
much like a full-size airplane. Because of its performance
capabilities, this plane, if not assembled and operated
correctly, could possibly cause injury to yourself or spectators
and damage property.
2. You must assemble the model according to the
instructions. Do not alter or modify the model, as doing so
may result in an unsafe or unflyable model. In a few cases the
instructions may differ slightly from the photos. In those
instances the written instructions should be considered correct.
3. You must take time to build straight, true and strong.
4. You must use an R/C radio system that is in first-class
condition, and a correctly sized engine and components
(fuel tank, wheels, etc.) throughout the building process.
5. You must properly install all R/C and other components so
that the model operates properly on the ground and in the air.
6. You must check the operation of the model before every
flight to insure that all equipment is operating and that the
model has remained structurally sound. Be sure to check
clevises or other connectors often and replace them if they
show any signs of wear or fatigue.
7. If you are not already an experienced R/C pilot, you
should fly the model only with the help of a competent,
experienced R/C pilot.
8. While this kit has been flight tested to exceed normal use,
if the plane will be used for extremely high stress flying, such
as racing, the modeler is responsible for taking steps to
reinforce the high stress points.
Note: We, as the kit manufacturer, provide you with a top
quality kit and instructions, but ultimately the quality and
flyability of your finished model depends on how you build it;
therefore, we cannot in any way guarantee the performance
of your completed model, and no representations are
expressed or implied as to the performance or safety of your
completed model.

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Decisions you must make
Engine Selection
There are several motors and batteries that will work well in this
plane. The plane has been tested with a Himax 2015-4100 in a
6.6:1 gearbox using an APC 12x6 SF propeller using 1200mah to
1600mah 3cell LiPo batteries. A Himax 2025, Razor 350 or other
similar geared brushless motors would all work fine. Also, many
of the AXI outrunners would work if you have a mount for it to fit
the GWS style stick mount.
Radio Equipment
This plane will require a good 4-channel radio with four micro 9
gram servos. A micro receiver such as the GWS Pico is also
required to reduce weight.
Additional Items Required
Hardware
 Four-Channel Radio with four micro servos (9 gram)
 "Y" Harness for Aileron
 Motor - See Motor Selection
 Propeller(refer to your engine's instructions for proper size)
Building Supplies and Tools
 2 oz. Pro CA – Thin
 2 oz. Pro CA - Medium
 #1 Hobby Knife Handle
 #11 Blades
 Masking Tape
 Electric Power Drill
 Slip-Joint & Needle Nose Pliers
 Screwdrivers – Flat Blade & Phillips
What is 3D?
The normal motion of airplanes occurs in the 2D plane, or a
imaginary plane that parallels the wings and extends to
infinity. There is no "depth" to this 2D plane. All motion in
normal 2-dimensional flight is restricted to that infinite plane.
In other words, there is motion in 2 axis of the aircraft. Rolls,
loops, knife edges, and hammerheads (among many others)
constitute 2D flight.
3D flight is when the motion of the aircraft extends to all 3
axis, where the aircraft has a motion that moves out of the
plane of flight. Examples of this are spins, hovering, harriers,
blenders, rolling loops or circles, and lomcevaks, just to
name a few.
© 2004 Accel Hobby
All rights reserved.
For additional information, please
contact:
Accel Hobby
P.O. Box 6188
Chicago, IL 60680
www.AccelHobby.com

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Kit Contents
Before starting to build, use the Kit Contents list to take an inventory of this kit to make sure it is complete and inspect the parts to
make sure they are of acceptable quality. If any parts are missing or are not of acceptable quality, or if you need assistance with
assembly, contact our support staff. When reporting defective or missing parts, use the part names exactly as they are written in the
Kit Contents list on this page.
Kit Contents
Upper Main Wing
Lower Main Wing
Fuselage
Upper Wing Ailerons
Lower Wing Ailerons
Wood Wing Braces
Motor Mount
Horizontal Stabilizer and Elevator
Vertical Stabilizer and Rudder
Pushrods
Clevises
Screws

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Wing Assembly
Trim away the covering from the 2 servo mounting holes on the lower
wing and then slide the lower wing into the fuselage cutout and get it
centered by using a piece of string. Tape the string to the tail of the
aircraft and mark the distance from one wingtip and use that mark to
line up the other wingtip. Use a yardstick or meter stick to make sure
the distance from tip to fuse was the same for the leading edge and
trailing edge on both sides of the wing. Be very careful when putting
the wing in the fuse because the fit may be extremely tight and if you
push too hard you can damage the wing, fuselage, or both.
A A
A=A
B B
B=B
Using a pencil, trace around the top and bottom of the wing/fuse joint
on both sides of the wing to make the marks of where we will trim of
the covering for a good wood to wood glue joint when glueing the wing
in. Slide the wing out and use your knife to trim away the covering
where we marked the wing. Trim about 1/8 of an inch (3 mm) inside
your marks so you don't have bare wood showing after you glue the
wing in.

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Before mounting the lower wing use a pencil and lightly draw a
line through the lower wing mount that exactly cuts the cutout in
half. This is the incidence of the lower wing. Make sure the
pencil mark is visible on the fuselage because we will need it to
set the incidence of the upper wing. You can also use a piece of
masking tape for this
0 deg incidence
AA
A= A
Mount the wing with thin CA. Epoxy will be too heavy. Slide the
wing back into the fuse just up to the bare wood you exposed a
few minutes ago. Wick the thin CA into the joint.
Next trim the covering off the top and bottom of each wing brace.
The end with the circle is the top.
Now trim away the covering from the upper wing mount holes and
the slots for the wood wing braces. Dry fit the upper wing with the
plywood braces in place and set the incidence to 0. This means
that the distance from the center of leading edge of the lower wing
to the center of the leading edge of the upper wing is equal to the
distance from the trailing edge of the lower wing to the trailing
edge of the upper wing. The distance between wingtips should
also be equal on each side.
When you are satisfied with the fit of the upper wing and that you
have 0 incidence you can wick in thin CA to all joints to mount the
wing.

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Horizontal Stabilizer Assembly
The next piece to be assembled is the horizontal stabilizer.
Slide it into the slot in the rear of the fuse and use a ruler or
tape measure to make sure you have equal amounts on each
side of the fuse....in other words, make sure it's in the center! It
is recommended that you use a square to make sure the
horizontal stabilizer was sitting square to the fuse. Now, take a
pencil and trace a line on the top and bottom along the
fuse/stab joint to make the marks on the horizontal stabilizer
that you will use to trim of the covering.
Pull the stabilizer out of the fuse and trim away the covering so
that you will get a good wood to wood glue joint when we glue
it back into the fuse.
Now, slide the horizontal stabilizer back in and get it lined up
like before, measuring both sides for equal distance and using
a square to get it squared up with the fuse. When you are
happy with the way it looks use thin CA and wick it into the
joints to securely fasten the Horizontal stabilizer to the
fuselage.
90°
Using your square, make sure the horizontal stabilizer is level
and square with the fuselage. Also eye the relationship with
the main wing. The two should be parallel.
A A
A=A

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Control Surface Assembly
You have 2 options for mounting the control surfaces:
The supplied CA hinges or tape.
Using CA Hinges
Using your knife, cut slots in the ailerons, elevator and
rudder and the corresponding location in the wing, vertical
stabilizer and horizontal stabilizer. Trial fit the hinges in
the slots, but don't glue them in yet. We need them loose
so we can line up everything with the wing, Horizontal
stabilizer and VStab on the fuse.
Hold the control surface up to the mounting area to get a
rough idea of where to cut the hinge slots. Use your knife
to cut through the covering and into the wood. Slide the
hinges into the surface and line up the surface so
everything looks good. When you are happy with the
installation, wick in some thin CA on the hinges to mount
the aileron. Follow this procedure for the ailerons,
elevator and rudder. Make sure you mount the elevator
before you mount the rudder. If you don't, you'll have a
big problem!
Using Tape Hinges
You can use hinge tape or clear packing tape for a hinge
if you do not want to cut into the model for the supplied
CA hinges.
Hold control surface up to the mounting area to get a
rough idea of how log of a tape strip to cut. Cut the piece
of tape and put it on the control surface, then hold it at
about a 45 degree deflection and tape it on. Fold it
completely over and tape the other side. Follow this
procedure for the ailerons, elevator and rudder. Make
sure you mount the elevator before you mount the rudder.
If you don't, you'll have a big problem!

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Radio Installation
The picture on the right shows the locations for the receiver,
speed control and aileron servos. The other picture shows
the rudder and elevator servo locations in the fuselage. The
receiver can be hot glued or taped on using double sided
tape. The servos can be mounted using screws or a small
dab of hot glue. Since the variation in size of micro servos
varies greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer you might
need to make the servo opening larger.
The first part of the radio installation is to mount the rudder
and elevator servos in the fuselage. The elevator servo
goes in the top of the hole and the rudder goes in the
bottom of the hole with the servo arms on opposite sides of
the fuselage. Take one of the pushrods and temporarily
attach it to a control horn and set it on the elevator and lined
up the proper position for the control horn and marked the
location on the elevator with a pen. Do the same for the
rudder.
Using your hobby knife or small drill, make a pilot hole for
the control horn’s pin. Drill the holes according to your
placement marks and mount the control horns and wick in
some thin CA to hold them in place. After the horns are
mounted you can center the servos and mark, cut and
mount the pushrods. To keep the control surfaces centered
cut a yardstick in half and put one half on top of the surface
and the other on the bottom and softly clamp it. This will
keep it centered while you mark and install the pushrods.
The ailerons servos are mounted in the holes in the bottom
of the wing. Mount the servos and pull the wires to the
center section of the wing to the receiver. If you are using a
standard, or non-computer radio you will need a “Y” adaptor
to connect the two servos together to plug into the receiver.
If you are using a computer radio use your manufacturer’s
instructions on which channels to plug the two servos into
and program the radio. Connect a pushrod to a control horn
and while holding the ailerons level, in a neutral position
make the position marks with a pen and measure where the
horn is at. Do the same for the other horn and check the
measurements to make sure it is lined up with the 1st horn.
We want each aileron to travel the same distance.

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The servos go in the lower wing and we use pushrods
connecting the lower ailerons to the upper ailerons. Locate
the balsa mounting blocks in the upper and lower ailerons and
mount the control horns. Put the lower control horn as close
to the inner edge of the balsa block and the upper control horn
as close to the trailing edge as possible. Connect the 2
controls horns with the supplied pushrod. Do this on each set
of ailerons.
Connect all of the servo leads to the receiver and attach it to
the bottom of the wing or fuse side with double sided tape,
Velcro or hot glue.
Control horn, pushrod and clevis mounting example:
When mounting the control horns, try to get the clevis holes as
close to the center of the hinge point as possible.

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Motor and Battery Installation
This plane is designed for the GWS style “motor on a stick”
mount system. If you are using a different mounting system or
outrunner motor you will have to modify the nose of the plane to
accept the motor of your choice.
The motor mount is shown on the right. Mount your gearbox and
motor so that it will hang on the right hand side of the plane as
shown. Slide the mount into the cutout in the fuselage and adjust
it so that you get the desired amount of right thrust. The
prototype was flown with a 12x6 APC SF prop that generated a
lot of torque, so we used about 2 degrees of right thrust.
The plane is designed for the Himax 2015-4100 in a 6.6:1
gearbox turning a 12x6 Slow Flyer propeller. It can also use a
Himax 2025, Razor 350 or similar motor. The battery should be
a 3 cell 1200mah to 1600mah Lithium Polymer battery.
The battery is held in place with Velcro straps (not included) that
fit through the slots cut in to the fuselage. Optionally, double
sided tape or sticky back Velcro can also be used on the
fuselage and battery for added mounting security.
Landing Gear Installation
(Optional)
On this plane, landing gear is optional. Due to the light weight,
you can easily land on grass or other soft surfaces without
landing gear, and by not using the landing gear you will save
weight and increase the aerobatic ability and flight time.
The landing gear is held on with 4 nylon straps, 2 on each side
with screws that go through the 1st nylon strap, fuselage to the
other side and through the other nylon strap. The gear should
be located about 1 1/2 inch in front of the leading edge of the
wing. Attach the wire landing gear to the fuselage, then locate
the collars, set screws and wheels. Put the inner collar on and
tighten the set screw. Put the wheel on, then the outer collar
and tighten the set screw.

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Control Throw Adjustment
By moving the position of the clevis at the control horn toward
the outermost hole, you will decrease the amount of throw of
the control surface. Moving it toward the control surface will
increase the amount of throw. If these adjustments don't
accomplish the job, you may need to work with a combination
of adjustments by also repositioning the pushrod at the servo
end. Moving the pushrod towards the center of the servo horn
will decrease the control surface throw – outward will increase
it.
More Throw
Less Throw
Control Surface Throws
Note: Throws are measured at the widest part of the elevators,
rudder and ailerons. We recommend the following control surface
throws as a starting point:
Elevator
45°
45°
Rudder
45°
45°
Ailerons 45°
45°

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Balance Your Model
Note: This section is VERY important and must NOT be
omitted! A model that is not properly balanced will be
unstable and possibly unflyable.
1. The balance point (C.G.) is located at the leading edge of
the lower wing. This is the balance point at which your model
should balance for your first flights. After initial trim flights and
when you become more acquainted with your plane, you may
wish to experiment by shifting the balance backward to change
its flying characteristics. Moving the balance aft makes the
model more agile with a lighter, snappier “feel” and often
improves knife-edge capabilities. In any case, please start at the
location we recommend.
2. With all parts of the model installed (ready to fly) and an
empty fuel tank, lift the model at the desired balance point and
observe the tail of the aircraft. If the tail drops, the model is “tail
heavy” and you must add weight to the nose to balance the
model. If the nose drops, it is “nose heavy” and you must add
weight* to the tail to balance the model.
Note: Nose weight may be easily installed by using a “spinner
weight.” Tail weight may be added by using “stick-on” lead
weights.
Laterally Balance Your Model
IMPORTANT: Do not confuse this procedure with “checking
the C.G.” or “balancing the airplane fore and aft.” Now that
you have the basic airplane nearly completed, this is a good
time to balance the airplane laterally (side-to-side).
Here is how to do it:
1. Make sure the battery is mounted.
2. With the wing level, lift the model by the engine propeller shaft
and the fin post (this may require two people). Do this several
times.
If one wing always drops when you lift the model, it means that
side is heavy. Balance the airplane by adding weight to the
opposite, lighter wing tip.
Note: An airplane that has been laterally balanced will track
better in loops and other maneuvers.
Construction Checklist
□Wing Assembly and Installation
□Install the Stabilizer and Elevator
□Install the Fin and Rudder
□Control Surface Installation
□Radio Installation
□Motor Installation
□Control Throw Adjustment
□Control Surface Throws
□Balance Your Model
□Balance Your Model Laterally