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SMOKE
SET UP IN COMPOSITE-ARF 2.6M EXTRA
Photo Courtesy Jeff Allen
Jeff is using a 40 oz smoke tank (yet only a 32 oz fuel tank) and gets
about 11 minutes of smoke!
The smoke is not on steady for 11 minutes, the pump varies with
throttle position.
At full throttle the smoke won't last more than 6 minutes.
Jeff uses a 730 mah 3-cell LiPoly (from his Shock Flier) to power the
system on 12v.
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Nothing is cooler than flying with
smoke. If you be "da" man, you need "da" SMOKE!
- Smoke will
add weight to the plane,
about 12-16 oz for the empty tank, the pump, lines, battery and valves.
- You need as much smoke oil as possible. You can easily use 50 oz in a
4 minute freestyle routine on a 150. For my freestyle I used a 24 oz
gas tank
and a 50 oz smoke tank. That's another 3 pounds of smoke oil! That was
before the Slimline system
- If you use canister mufflers, you can shoot the oil into them, but
the canisters are fairly cool, so won't get as much smoke as if you
shoot the oil into the header! While the canister is 140 degrees F, the
header is 300 degrees F.
- The life of even the black smoke tubing isn't long when attached to a
header, it will crack from the heat in a year.
- Use the black smoke tubing at the muffler. It's for high temperature.
The other
stuff melts!
- The Showtime pump varies the flow with throttle setting. This is
great!! It really reduces the mess on the outside of the plane. Also if
you are shooting oil into the header, when inverted you can easily
shoot oil into the cylinder at idle, so shut the oil flow off below 1/4
throttle.
- Bring some paper towels to do clean up. You should clean up after
each flight.
- Be sure that your elevator and rudder hinge gaps are sealed very
well. The tail will get a coating of oil which tends to work under the
gap seals and remove them.
- You can put the smoke tank behind the CG so that when the tank is
full you have a more rearward CG. Usually you are doing crazy stuff
with the smoke on and the rearward CG makes it easier to do these
stunts. Once the oil is gone, the CG is restored to normal for landing.
- Be sure to turn the pump off at the transmitter when the oil is used
up to avoid draining your battery. In case you forget, it's best to
have a separate battery for the smoke pump.
- Use a 3-cell LiIon or LiPoly for the smoke pump. The pump works a lot
better on
12v than on 6v. Have a separate switch on the plane. If you aren't
going to use the smoke during the flight, leave the switch off.
- Have the 3-cell battery for the smoke held in by Velcro so you can
remove it completely if you aren't going to use it that day to save
weight. When you are going to use smoke, install the battery.
- If you are a weight freak, you can velcro in the pump, and remove it
when not in use. It weighs 1/4 pound and just needs a couple of tubes
and a wire hooked to it. Just takes seconds to install. Then you can
use it on other planes as well.
- Use top quality, very clean oil. The oil is very hot and will get
into the seams of the covering and try to lift them.
- White covering on the bottom of the plane where the hot smoke oil
will touch will discolor to a light yellow/brown. Use a darker covering.
- You must use a filter on the inlet to the pump. A little
dirt will
mess up your pump.
- You need a check valve very close to the muffler so that the pressure
from the exhaust doesn't push the smoke fluid back into the tank. It
takes awhile to get the oil into the muffler again.
- If you have two mufflers that you are feeding, the two lines must be
exactly the same length. Run the yellow tubing down between the
mufflers, then use the black for the last few inches from an aluminum T
valve. The black tube must be the same length.
- If you are going to remove the pump, use a spring clips to hold the
tubing onto the nipples. You must wire tie or spring clip every (and I
mean every) junction. The spring clips make it easier to install over
and over.
 TBM TIP
- SAVE
MONEY ON SMOKE FLUID! - I found that Diesel fuel, which is
available at just $2 a gallon, works extremely well!! The smoke lingers
for 15 seconds and can be as dense as you would like. Very little mess
to clean up. It is clear and colorless, though it has an odor additive.
We are looking at fragrances used in Dragsters to make it smell nicer.
These fragrances come in Pina Colada, Grape, Bubble gum and more. Just
check your local hot rod shop. It costs about $9 a bottle which serves
25-50 gallons!
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