FunFly Hots - anyone have one of these?

[artmonster]

I am in the process of building the FunFly Hots from the Dan santich plans I got from Model Airplane News.

Anyone built one of these? its the 40" wingspan profile hots.

I am planning on putting a OS 40 LA engine with a 11X5 APC prop on it ( since I have it laying around the shop). And putting full size tower hobbies servos on the control serfaces. I also have a nice small 250mAH battery and a small 4 oz tank to go with the setup. And a Hitec 555 micro reciever with a Y-harness for the dual servos for the ailerons.

I think I will use the recommended single wheel with the wire outriggers on the wings ( it seems it will keep the squirelliness down while on the ground) (( but I do have a set of dubro profile gear just in case)).

What quirks has anyone found with this plane that they can share?? any suggestions?? any nightmares? ( I pray not). Dos the suggested CG work well? etc??

This is my first profile funfly/(hopefully 3D) plane, and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Im a little bit nervous...cant you tell....hehe.

this is also my first scartch built from plans plane ..Its a lot of fun so far.



:D

[flyathome]

I have built and flown several of these planes. They are great flyers. I would recommend that you sheet the fuse with 1/16 balsa. I did not do that with the first one I built and the fuse was really floppy. It adds a little weight, but it is worth it in my opinion. I ran a ST 40 on mine with APC 11X5 prop. It had unlimited vertical, but it would not hover. I don't know how your engine compares to the ST. I did not use the single wheel set up. I put a standard gear on mine. The CG on the plans is about right. You can adjust it to suit your taste, but it is a good place to start. The Fun Fly Hots is quick and easy to build, with a good return on your time, effort and money.

Enjoy your plane!

Steve

[artmonster]

Did you have any problem with the plane being hard to control on the ground with the standard gear? The plans say it may tend to spin around with standard gear.

I think I will probably use the single weal setup, as it will be lighter anyway.

I was wondering if there was going to be problems with hovering....

I made the plane with all the build parameters in RealFlight G2 and it gets really wing-tippy and stalls when I try to hover it.......So I may play with moving the CG back. It cant hurt I figure. that may solve the problem.

Thanks for your input Steve, I appreciate it.

I may also run a carbon tube along the fuselage to stiffen it without adding noticable weight.

[flyathome]

I had no problems with ground handling using the standard gear configuration. I didn't use the single wheel set up because I didn't like the way it looked. The FF Hots is very stable at low speeds and high angles of attack. I have never had one that had a tendency to tip stall. The carbon fiber tube should stiffen the fuse very well. BTW - I have built several FF Hots that I scaled up 20%. I changed the fuse shape just to be different. They have a 48 in span and about 900 square inches. They weigh about five pounds plus or minus a little. They 3D very well. I am flying mine with an OS 70 Surpass. I built one for my son for Christmas. He is planning to power his with a Saito 100. I have had a ball with all the FF Hots I have built.

Steve

[2wall]

I have had one for 8-9 years. It is one of the best flying small profile planes out there. I wore out an ASP 46 and an enya cx40 on the airframe and have tried a 40fp and and enya 50 on it. Mine could and will do any manuver you can think of -- course after hundreds of flights and more than its share of crashes it has gained some weight. I wouldnt sheet the fuse as it will add unnecessary weight. The fuse will break on the bottom -right at the trailing edge of the wing. I would put some carbon fiber reinforcements on each side of the bottom fuse stick. ~4inches is enough. I used a halco temperd gear cut up and rebent bolted thru the fuse and it has held up well with excellent ground handling. Dont waste your time with the single gear. I started off with the tank in the wing but later moved it to exterior of the fuse. The 46 with a 11.5 x4 apc was the best combo as I recall. The la 40 will fly it OK but a light 40/46 or even a webra 32 would be better. It is a good design- look at the TACO everyone raves about- looks like a profile hots to me!

[pitts s2]

i just started to build one over the summer and it goes together nicely and i cant wait to finish it. i would suggest a 46 size motor

[levelution]

Check out my gallery for pics of my Hots II. Pre and post crash..