It contains a lot of "pieces & parts", too. This photo really doesn't do justice to the glass work on the fuselage. I was impressed with it. It also comes with wheels for the fixed landing gear but I missed getting them in this shot.
The included fan units are already molded into the nacelle pods so you are committed to using them. Not bad units though. Very similar in design to a Wemo unit.
The manual calls for a 28mm X 48mm motor and I'm not sure why. It also shows that the motors get installed in the included tubes which are only 26mm inside diameter. I won't fit, but not an issue since I didn't want to use them anyways. I do believe in putting the ESC into the airflow for cooling.
12/18/07
Before installing the fan adapters on the motors I used a dremel with cut off wheel to slot the ends of the shafts. You can use a screwdriver in the slot to keep the shaft from turning while tightening the nut.
Fan units installed and test ran. Impellers will need to be balanced once my blancer arrives. It had pretty bad vibration from around 1/4 thru 1/2 throttle.
A view from the rear. The loss of a tailpipe might take away from the scale appearance, but I'll sacrifice that for keeping the ESC cool. It dangling behind the motor doesn't seem to hurt the thrust either.
The construction guide shows using a knife to open the pre-marked stabilizer slot. I want one of those knives if they work that good. The glass is thick enough here to require a cutoff wheel to get through it.
Stab slot opening finished except for addding a radius for the elevator tie bar.
12/24/07
My kit had a variety of "mystery parts" in that there is no mention made in the manual as to where they might go.
Two wing mount reinforcements are among them. The one with the steeper angle goes to the front.
Blind nuts installed and epoxied in place.
Reinforcments attached with 5 minute epoxy, one at a time. Check alignment BEFORE glueing. I had to trim the front one to get it to line up. Avoid getting epoxy on the threaded area. Install the screws befor it set and be sure they are around 90 degrees from the attaching area so the holes in the wing will line up properly.
Wing center section temporarily attached to the fuselage.
Alignment of horizontal stabilizer to wing is checked before adding epoxy to hold it in place.
You should also check the distance from wing leading edge to stab leading edge and have equal measurements on both sides. Once satisfied with the alignment, the stabilizer can be permanently attached with epoxy.
These mystery parts are the elevator servo mount and support.
Deternine where the supoprt should go and epoxy it into the fuselage.
12/25/07
The support should line up with the servo tray solid section
Finished elevator servo installation (per manual). I added a 1/8" lite ply center section to the tray in mine to give the sticky back velcro used on the receiver a better grip.
Aileron servos mounted to plates per manual. I needed 4" extensions on my wires to get them out of the wing end.
After drilling and running the screws into the tray attaching runners, I like to take them back out and add a drop of thin CA glue into each of them to harden the threads. This is something you do not want to come loose during flight.
Finished servo installation.
2 hinges came pre-installed in the ailerons. I'm not sure if they are having a hinge shortage in China or what.
So I dug through my building supplies and added one in the center. (I'll feel better about it anyways).
12/26/07
Back to work today so not much accomplished.
The kit comes with control rods that have a pre-made Z bend in one end and guess their intention was to use the little quick link keepers on the other end. I decided to go with something I trust a little more and used threaded metal clevis with Z bend on the servo end.
Time to eliminate a couple more of the "mystery parts". These look to me like they would be the ones for attaching the fan nacelle pod.
After installing the blind nuts, the blocks get epoxied into the fuselage in the same manner as the wing mounts. In hindsight, it would have been much easier to install the rear blocks BEFORE installing the elevator servo tray.
12/29/07
After abandoning the idea of installing retracts I finally went to work on it today. Wings prepped for joining. I used 30 minute epoxy here to give a little more working time. The masking tape keeps stray epoxy off the wing surfaces.
Finished wing. No time to waste on photos when joining wing sections. Epoxy the spar, the ribs where joining together and be sure it's aligned properly before the epoxy cures. You should know the drill by now if you're contemplating building something like this.
Installing the nose gear just supports my thoughts that a Chinese ARF should include a Chinese girl to assemble it for you. If you have big hands like I do, it ain't easy. I bent my own nose gear wire since the included one wouldn't accomodate the width of oversize wheels I'm using.
I used the main gear wires that came with the kit. I ran a bead of clear silicon adhesive along the centerline of the wheel house before installing it. That should keep it from shifting in flight but still "temporaary" in the event I need to get back into it.
Almost to the end of the mystery parts. The battery tray. This one will make you want that "cute little Chinese girl" even more. I had to do a lot of "fitting" on this one to get it to fit correctly. I took over an 1/8" off one end to get it to seat properly.
I added a 1/8" lite ply plate to give a better area for attaching the velcro strips. Also installed the loops before epoxying it into the fuselage.
Finished radio compartment area. My watch got in the shot because I had it off while wrestling with the battery tray install. (Left hand in fuselage from rear at wing opening, right one in from the cockpit area.
A litle heat shrink over the connectors before attaching the fan pods.
Fan nacelles attached with included nylon bolts.
The alignment of the bolt holes was very good in my kit. Both here and the wing area.
Covering removed from vertical fins where they will attach to stab.
Last of the mystery parts. Two pieces of pre-covered triangle stock that were just the right size for here. Covering again removed before attaching with medium CA.
Finished brace. I probably would have tapered the front before installing but had no gray covering in my colection.
There is no canopy base (or pilot) in the kit. I cut one from a piece of 1/8" lite ply using the canopy for a pattern. (Traced around the base, then cut about 1/16" inside the lines.) The cling wrap between it and the fuselage keeps the glue from sticking to the fuselage while attaching the canopy.
12/30/07
Still not quite ready to fly, (canopy needs to be better attached and control throws set) but posing for a picture in the startup area at MCRC field.
Packaged with the canopy was some 1/4" black striping tape. I used it to make my layout guides for masking the canopy since the ridges in the molding are almost non existant.
My canopy hold down is fairly simple. There are magnets wich I didn't fully trust so added a couple of 1/8" lite ply retainers on the bottom. The front slides in past where it would normally sit to get the back retainer in. Once slid back, it's locked into place.
Finished and ready to fly. Control surfaces are set at recommended specs. 10mm up/down on the ailerons, 20mm up/down on the elevator.
All up weight with single 5350ma EvoLite 4s pack is 5lbs 10oz. I used Sullivan SkyLite wheels. 2" on nose with 2 1/4" mains.
This kit purchased at