Originally Posted by BlinkguY

man.. im in love with this plane and dont even have it yet

thanks for the time and for the pictures, i will keep everything you told me in mind before getting her airborne.... its better when you have an idea when you are flying this kind of plane for the first time, before you go all out.. thanks again for taking the time for the picture..

...can drive you crazy...

BlinkguY,

Glad I could help you out...

You'll be very surprised with how maneuverable she is. Turns really quickly & she floats around like a feather. She's easy to see & orientation is not a problem with MFX color scheme... She is a bit twitchy so low rates & a lot of expo is the order of the day to help keep her tame until you get used to her flight characteristics...

Have fun & good luck with your build...

Thanks again brother...... Ill let you know next week how it went... Hopefuly good news why not.... Im gonna set the throws and expo exactly as stated on the manual.... And surely fly it on low rates until i go like a mile high!!!

Never used expo before... So im gonna practice it on my trojan first... I understan expo is to delay the throw a little bit slower the begining on the throw it self... Mmmm, i know theorically its suppose to make the banks and dives with much more smooth grace

Originally Posted by BlinkguY

Never used expo before... So im gonna practice it on my trojan first... I understan expo is to delay the throw a little bit slower the begining on the throw it self... Mmmm, i know theorically its suppose to make the banks and dives with much more smooth grace

Not quite. Expo modifies the relationship between the amount (not the speed) of stick movement and the corresponding amount of servo reaction around center stick. It is called "expo" (short for exponential) because the effect is greater around center stick than it is at extremes.

It is typically used to make the center stick area produce less servo reaction for a given stick movement. Like using dual rates, but you don't have to flip a switch and the effect gradually tapers off the farther from center stick you are. I have never understood why so many people like to use dual rates when expo gives you the best of both worlds without having to flip switches.

Paul

Got it... Plane and simple... Thanks.... I know why people maybe do that... What about i want to to pretty quick rolls???..... The explo will delay the roll? Or since im as far as possible from the center of the stick it will respond just like no expo there???

Originally Posted by BlinkguY

Got it... Plane and simple... Thanks.... I know why people maybe do that... What about i want to to pretty quick rolls???..... The explo will delay the roll? Or since im as far as possible from the center of the stick it will respond just like no expo there???

There is no delay involved. And yes, at full stick excursion, you have whatever you set as the maximum servo travel. So with or without expo, a full stick aileron movement will produce the same roll rate.

Paul

Thats good to know... I was all messed up with it
.. Thanks paul

Can someone tell me why people say the landing gear is weak???? Mine is a hard megal piece the entire landing gear.... Where do i need to reinforce it? Thanks

Originally Posted by BlinkguY

Can someone tell me why people say the landing gear is weak???? Mine is a hard megal piece the entire landing gear.... Where do i need to reinforce it? Thanks

The landing gear is adequate until you have a really hard landing. Hard landings can bend the aluminum landing gear. Really hard landings (especially if the gear gets caught in a hole or lump of grass) can (and did) rip the landing gear out of the bottom of the fuselage. Once the structure is broken, it is difficult to repair and make decently flat again. If it isn't flat, the landing gear can rock back and forth during normal landings. I ended up repairing it as best I could and then sandwiching a thin ply plate between the gear and the underside of the fuselage, screwed to the edge of the firewall. This provided a flat strong mounting for the landing gear. It hasn't broken again. Yet

Paul

Thanks paul... Whats a not so exagerate pricy servo but good.??? Eflr7140??? Are those good? Metal gear of course.

Originally Posted by BlinkguY

Can someone tell me why people say the landing gear is weak???? Mine is a hard megal piece the entire landing gear.... Where do i need to reinforce it? Thanks

BlinkguY,

...but it's not only E-flite... Seems to be the weak point for a lot of low-to mid-range ARF's. It isn't the metal landing gear, either. It's the larger area of the fuselage where it bolts onto. Aside from it failing & having to rebuild it again, there is little you can do to stop this without first tearing into it yourself... Best plan is to try & reinforce the area beforehand by wicking CA into the balsa joints (easier) or by adding epoxy "fillets" wherever you can (not so easy), or both. Be advised the gear can still rip out from the bottom of the fuse if you don't grease every landing every single time... I've had two other E-flite ships, & a few other ones, have the same thing happen with the LG. Seems to be the weak point on many of these ARF's...at least from my experience anyway...

yeap.. its just the way the fuselage is build it self

In slightly more technical terms, what is happening on the Funtana (and others) is that the twisting motion of the landing gear trying to flex rearwards in a hard landing is absorbed by the relatively small point of contact between the LG itself and the bottom of the fuselage. This places very high stresses on the LG bolts, the bolt attachment points and the small area where the LG contacts the fuselage. From memory, in the Funtana, that contact area looks strong but is made op of several laser cut pieces glued together. In my case at least, the forces broke some of that structure and once broken, there wasn't much to glue back together. I did the best I could but the repaired area was not flat and the LG rocked back and forth so I added the reinforcement plate made from thin ply on the outside of the fuselage. That gave me a nice flat surface again. It is sandwiched between the LG and the fuse, and is also secured by one screw into the edge of the firewall. Painted white, it is barely noticeable.

If the LG attachment area was made from a properly secured solid piece of thin ply in the first place, I think the LG or the bolts would break before any damage was done to the fuselage.

Interesting that we are still talking about this plane. How long has it been around? A testament to how well it flies.

Paul

yeap.. i just got it and im building it tonight since i got all the remaning pieces

super thin CA for the hinges right?