nekbat

Hi... Anybody know the c of g dago red... I bought without manual... Thank you

52jaws

My Feedback: (65)

Which one do you have? The early version or the late version. I have both and they are completely different so it's important to know. The easiest way to tell is in the sides of the fuselage and wing. The early version is a bigger airplane and has a white strip down the leading edge of the wing. The late version does not have the stripe on the wing but has flames on the side of the fuselage.

nekbat

Latest version with flames on the side of the fuselage.. By the way thanks for your assistant 52jaws

52jaws

My Feedback: (65)

Okay. No worries. Mine has a YS 63 in it and flys beautifully. I'll check were the CG is and get back to you but may be a day or two because I'm out of town.

nekbat

52jaws... Will you give me your email ...

52jaws

My Feedback: (65)

[email protected]

tony0707

I have a 40 size EZ Technicoil Diablo with an italian ST 51 ,hanging on my wall as i wright
She has about 30- 40 flights on her
One great flying 40 size airframe and combination
It was given to me by my trainner John Wilgoose , and that will always mean a great deal to me
The 120 size diablo with an OS 1.08 ,was one of the biggest ,best flying planes of its time
One of the fellows at the field was ahead of his time ,regarding flying skills and did go through a few of that size
We are talking 20 years ago and the very first ARF'S to come on the market

You can see my EZ Diablo if you click on my gallery to the left of this post

tony0707

Regarding the Futaba Acrostar purchase
That is a difficult plane to fly ,as it has a rep for wing tip stalling ,and snapping into a spiral
i got about 3/4 of a lap out of the plane ,it snapped and spun into the ground ,a total wipe out
i waited a good deal of time,to develope enough skill to fly the plane ,but to no avail for me
I think the plane made Futaba a lot of money LOL!,!
Just a heads up to be careful flying that ship
If you ---sharpen the leading edge --with balsa stock , from the wing tips ,to about 6 inches into the wing , going twards the fuse ,that should reduce the tendancy to tip stall ,and snap
It may help if you know what to expect

tony0707

Plane has a tendency to tip stall and snap out ,by its design
Mine was very short lived for just that reason
You can reduce the tendancy to tip stall ,by ---sharpening the leading edge ---from the wing tip ,and about 6-8 inches twards the fuse
The sharper leading edge reduces stall tendancies ,i have been told
The kit is 20 years old
Hope you do better with yours ,than i did with mine

tony0707

Sorry about post duplication ,not sure how that happened
I am flying for 24 years ,so i was in the hobby and experienced all that happened through those years

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

Been so long since I built my last one,, but I never had any problems with the 2 extra 230s I had,,, and never heard of any wing failures

go_hercules

I was wondering what type of glue to use on the EZ Arfs to join the plastic pieces to each other, like the cowling, and also to join the plastic pieces to the laminated skin. I tried wicking superglue, with and without accelerator, and the plastic to plastic was okay but not great, and the plastic to skin wouldn't stay stuck. I am at a loss what to try. By the way, I tried some generic super glue as well as some Plasti Zap. Neither did the trick.

52jaws

My Feedback: (65)

Post a couple of pics if you can so I can see what area your attempting to bond.

You can use any of the super glues available just sparingly and don't use any kicker. The way it works creates a lot of heat that will melt the foam.
First thing, and it can be a pain, is to scuff both of the areas to be bonded and then clean them with alcohol. Let them dry and then use CA although "sparingly". Too much and it stays wet and takes too long to dry. My typical method is as described though I usually use thin CA and while pressing the parts together I wick the glue an area where they are touching as you mentioned. I also use those sharp point tip caps that go on the end of the bottle. That way you have a lot more control of how much glue comes out.
I'm in Tulare just a couple of hours north of you so if your ever my way or im down there id be happy to show you.
Shoot me an email if you need [email protected]
Paul

Twin_Flyer

My Feedback: (4)

On mine I always lightly sanded the shine off the plastic and used epoxy to join the parts.

Bill S.

go_hercules

Thanks 52jaws and twinflyer. Today I tried some Loctite plastic CA that comes with an activator stick. It sticks great but clouds everything up real chalky white. I did try putting on less CA and that helped, but I am still experimenting.

spacefanmick

My Feedback: (1)

You MUST rough sand the joint to be glued. Just keep al sanding to spots where it won't be seen. And sand both sides,I use a pretty rough say 60-80 get it nice and roughed up

H5606

Had a few in the 80's and early 90's and from what I remember - first and foremost - even though it is an ARF, it is of paramount importance that the plastic parts be trimmed to fit (dry) without any gaps and unnecessary force or stress applied to get them to seat against the laminate skin in all places. Since fresh, thin variety cyanoacrylate adhesives depend on capillary action to bond, in this instance it requires tight fitting parts to get decent results.

I used to mask the plastic parts with masking tape and then mask the laminate skin with 1/16" gap exposed to achieve a uniform and straight glue line that was blemish free when applying CA. More tape is used to strap or hold the part in place. No accelerator was ever used and would result in a weak bond. You can see the CA being pulled right into the seam as you're applying. Application is one smooth motion along the seam without stopping while squeezing the bottle. Note: It is absolutely essential that you ensure the tape is down - especially on the plastic parts otherwise if glue goes under the masking tape on that plastic part you're all done, game over, complete failure, might as well just throw the whole airplane away... The plastic parts will not tolerate acetone either however IIRC, the exterior of the laminate skin will. You can start unmasking as soon as you're done gluing. The masking tape must be pulled back on itself slowly to remove and occasionally an edge next to the glue line will have to be coaxed to keep from tearing the masking tape.

You mention Plasti Zap. I remember using a Pacer product called Plastizap + or something like that and I believe it stated on the label "especially formulated for EZ models". It had a very short shelf life once opened but bonded the plastic to plastic parts with great results such as typical with the cowlings in many of the EZ models.

go_hercules

Thanks a lot for that H5606. I will try the masking tape method with no accelerator on a test piece tonight. It seems like whenever I would get CA on tape it would stick and make a mess, but I will try what you said and report back.

spacefanmick

My Feedback: (1)

Just don't forget the througho sanding

go_hercules

H5606, I did a little research and found that in addition to Plasti-Zap, Pacer makes a CA called Poly-Zap and on the data sheet it actually mentions EZ models by name. Could it have been Poly-Zap that you used (or maybe they changed the name at some point). ???

H5606

That's probably it - it's been twenty years since I used it; as for cowlings, I believe I sanded the narrow overlapping flange and corresponding area on the mating parts, cleaned with alcohol, then assembled dry with masking tape over the outside holding the cowl together. Flowed the "Poly-Zap" into the seam from the inside of the cowl resting the tip on the overlapping flange and using it as a guide while moving the bottle along the length of the parts to be bonded. Ensure parts are in full and complete contact before glue sets. Some ingredient in the glue seemed to work like plastic model airplane cement in that the parts appeared to "weld" together. Note: I never used this glue for any plastic to laminate skin bonds so I don't know if it works there or not...

go_hercules

Well, after trying everything mentioned, including plasti-zap, poly-zap, epoxy, sanding, different cleaners,etc., I finally settled on E6000 glue. It is like a thinner version of shoe goo or goop. It is really a contact cement that is supposed to be put on both surfaces and allowed to flash off a couple of minutes, then the two pieces are stuck together. That is tough to do on the EZ plastic pieces which have to fit around curves and stuff. So I tried just putting the E6000 down and putting the piece into it wet. After curing overnight, the bond is EXCELLENT. I did no sanding, just a wipe down with rubbing alcohol. There is plenty of time to position the piece into place and cleanup is easy with rubbing alcohol. On a sample piece, I could pull the pieces apart only with a lot of effort. And the stuff stays a little flexible which is good. So far I have glued on the wing center plastic covers and reglued the little plastic cap on top of the vertical stab. Supposedly, E6000 is not UV resistant, but who cares - the model will only be in the sun short periods, and I can always reglue it if need be. And the E6000 is cheap and available at craft stores like Michaels, etc. By the way, this model is a Chipmunk. Gotta love the EZ's.

H5606

Happy to hear you found a resolution even if other methods didn't work out. I'm familiar with E6000 only after assembling a nearly indestructible electric delta pusher made of Corroplast called a Hog Wild which called for same. Sounds like it will work as well or better than traditional methods...

Are you the original owner of the Chipmunk? Speculation and my only thoughts are that maybe the plastics age and don't bond well after years sitting or that maybe it was stored in an environment where the parts were exposed to something inhibiting the bond with CA adhesives?

Which size Chipmunk do you have? I remember at least three different sizes... Not sure its the same way after a quarter century but I always thought the third best odor known to mankind was found upon taking the top off a brand new O.K. Model Company EZ box or any Japanese kit for that matter. Its all about the smell you know; just ask any dog...

FWIW and in case it hasn't been stated previously, I found that minor dings, dents, and creases in the laminate skin could be removed or at least lessened by judicious use of a heat gun. Realize that some shrinkage will occur and be careful not to dwell too long in one area as you may melt the layer of foam just below the surface.

go_hercules

The Chipmunk is a 40 size. The only thing I have yet to test is how the E6000 holds up to nitro fuel residue. If need be I can super glue the edges of the plastic just to seal them up. That's probably overkill but once the fuel gets in there it's a mess to repair. By the way, I have a couple of U.S. Aircore coroplast planes and had never thought to try E6000 on them.

H5606

I had the EZ Super Chipmunk when I really hadn't developed the skill to fly that kind of airplane... paired it with the then newly released, O.S. four cycle FS-.61 which I don't think was a good match even though M.A.N. featured a promo review article by Chris Chianelli (IIRC) with the same combo. If you pulled too hard on elevator at the top of a loop, it would snap out. I pulled too much up elevator during a low and slow, final approach to the runway when the engine quit, tried to stretch the glide, and airplane tip-stalled very quickly into low lying brush destroying the wing.

A few years later, I bought another - this time powered it with a 2-stroke .61 FSR and the airplane now had the vertical performance that was lacking with the first. I was so anal about shifting weight during gear retraction (fore/aft operation rather than conventional) that I substituted the stock wheels with Ace lightweight plastic wheels (the tires were hollow plastic) to reduce any CG shift and servo strain between gear down, gear up. I remember some of the airplanes featured a servo tray that allowed the user to select distribution of equipment according to engine choice. Flew it a few years but on last flight - flamed out abreast, was too far out with the crosswind at my back, and stuck it in the top of a line of trees I was trying to clear.