Greg Covey

The canopy assembly was quick and easy. It is also designed so that you can remove the cockpit at a later date for further scale-ups.

After trimming the black cockpit along the guidelines, it simply gets taped into position under the canopy. You can add a pilot bust, like I did, or even some cockpit controls.

I used the ParkZone T-28 [link=http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=PKZ4414]PKZ4414[/link] figure from the neck up. It was held in place with a small amount of Zap-A-Dap-A-Goo. You can also use the ParkZone Habu [link=http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=PKZ7003]PKZ7003[/link] pilot for a quick and inexpensive scale-up.

Greg Covey

The bottom hatch is secured with the supplied clear tape.

The intake tube is additionally secured with a custom plywood assembly. Once in place, the battery installation uses hook and loop material on the intake tube and LiPo pack. I used my own Industrial Strength Velcro instead of the supplied hook and loop material.

The 4-cell ThunderPower LiPo pack is set on top of the intake tube and further secured by the hook and loop strap. The canopy fits right over the top of the battery pack. The position of the LiPo pack shown gave me a good starting CG of almost 6" back from the leading edge.

Greg Covey

My E-flite F-86 Sabre was ready to fly at 52.8oz (3.3lbs). The T.P. 4-cell battery pack weighed 12.6oz and the RTF plane was 40.2oz. I measured 761 watts at around 52 amps on full throttle after 10 seconds. This provides a power level of 231 w/lb on a very clean airframe so it should be some fun testing next weekend.

I added the decals less the Huff dragon as I am a little superstitious. Once the test flights are done, I'll add the dragon and look at the silver [link=http://www.ejf.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70_96_143_210&products_id=818]HET tanks[/link] that arrived today from EJF.com. My intention is to replace the gear with the tanks for grass take-offs and a better look in the air.

AWINSHIP

HI GREG

I got my saber ready to fly and went out on my grass strip,applied full power and no movement. I am not sure if I need to replace all 3 wheels with mutch larger ones.This woul;d mean changing the gear as well due to the fact you cant put mutch of a larger wheel on stock gear. Dissapointed went bnack to the hanger and flue habu instead. This may have been a bad choice of an edf due to the fact I take off of grass. The aircraft is soo heavy now adding bigger gear and wheels will really increase the wing loading.

Any thoughts that I may have missed?
Regards
Adrian

kkrumm

Hi Guys,
I already had the Delta V fan, 60 amp esc, and 3600kv motor (two of each actually) from a Citation project that has gone a little slow. Thought I would give the F86 a shot while I'm building the Citation. My question is, can I use the 3600kv motor in lieu of the 3200kv and what are the ramifications of this choice? I also believe I will move the esc to the bottom as during a test run the esc got very hot. Not a lot of cooling inside the fues. Thanks!!

Greg Covey

Hi Adrian,

There are many variables involved, but in general, the E-flite fiberglass EDF jets are not designed for grass take-offs. The grass resistance can vary greatly with length and moisture. I don't think adding bigger wheels will significantly increase the wing loading, it will just make it look worse in the air.

After my initial test flights for the review this weekend off pavement, I will post my attempts to use the HET F-86 tanks. My goal is to replace the gear with the tanks so that it can take off grass and will look more scale while flying.

kkrumm,

I think the 3600kv motor will work fine and be a nice upgrade in the power level. You will definitely want to mount your ESC on the bottom as the extra current draw will need good cooling. The good ramifications of the higher Kv motor are higher RPMs and higher speed. The fallout (or cost) is higher current draw, higher heat, and shorter flights. These fallouts can be minimized with throttle management and good component cooling.

I typically don't bother with additional battery pack cooling unless the pack seems very hot after a flight. The E-flite Sabre has a built-in air cooling system for the battery pack except for the lack of air exit scoops which are needed just behind the canopy.

Good luck!

kkrumm

Thanks Greg, I'll let you know how it works out. This is my first ducted fan since I got my Violett F-16 long ago. This went together a lot faster than that did.

E.N.T.

My Feedback: (1)

Hi! Greg: did you open any air scoops behind the canopy?



Hector

AWINSHIP

Hi Greg

Thanks for the reply let us all know how the tanks work off grass. I will likely have a hanger queen or sell her to someone here in Calgary. I sur do likes the looks of her though.
Regards
Adrian

Greg Covey

Hi Hector,

No, I did not open an air exit yet. I want to see how hot the pack gets without modification first.

If I do open an air exit, I will likely use these [link=http://www.hobby-lobby.com/exit_cover_airscoop_2_1034_prd1.htm]Exit Cover/Airscoops[/link] from Hobby Lobby and paint them grey.

Regards.

Greg Covey

We test flew the F-86 Sabre yesterday off pavement. Team JR's Devin McGrath took the sticks and gave the F-86 a good workout. We were impressed with the speed but the scale model did get small in a hurry! The plane needed only 100' to 150' for take-off. After Devin trimmed out the Sabre, he performed some rolls, inverted pass, and some really fast fly-bys! The performance was excellent but the jet does land a bit hot and our 300' paved runway wasn't sufficiently long enough so it rolled over into the grass at the end of the runway...unharmed.

We only used about 1/2 to 2/3 of the charge for our 4 minute flights. The pack was only warm so I am not convinced that cooling is needed in our cooler Northeast climate.

I'll post a video later this week and then it's on to replacing the gear with the HET floats.

The F-86 Sabre has now earned the HUFF dragon!

E.N.T.

My Feedback: (1)

Greg: I'm having problems to get the speed control unit. Can you recommend any
other one?



Hector

Greg Covey

Hector,

I would recommend a Castle Creations [link=http://www.castlecreations.com/products/phoenix_ice.html]Phoenix ICE 75[/link] or ICE LITE 75 ESC. Both are around $102 at major distributors but the ICE 75 case may be easier to mount in the F-86 bottom as I did mine.

Good luck!

kkrumm

Well guys, I took the F-86 out to my home field and found that, no, it won't take off from grass. Wouldn't even taxi. So I'll either wait for the results of the tank test or fly it at a site with a paved runway. Kind of disappointed but, down deep, I expected it. If all else fails, I'll rig up a bungee launcher. To nice an airplane to waste. Got me thinking of scratch building a little bigger one with retracts.

jayhrc

Originaly flew mine wih the Habu setup with an XPS 4000 4S. Could hand launch with no probems and plane flew great. Now flying with Hoffman Wildbeast/CC125/wemotec and same battery. 1900 watts and over 4 lbs of thrust. Can hand launch at half power with a wild 3.5 mins of flight. No landing gear needed and lands nicely on grass. Looks great without the gear.

JayH

Greg Covey

In the F-86 test flight video below, you can see we had a slight problem with elevator throw on take-off. Although we needed just a bit more throw, Devin was able to keep it under control. Since the maiden flight, we have increased the servo throw to 120%, and added more expo, using the programmable JR 9503 settings. The F-86 Sabre has now earned the HUFF dragon!

Since the maiden flight, we have increased the servo throw to 120%, and added more expo, using the programmable JR 9503 settings.

[link=http://www.gregcovey.com/reviews/EfliteF86.wmv]E-flite F-86 Test Flight Video[/link] (10meg)

flying photos by "Papa Jeff" Ring

Greg Covey

Flying with tanks seems natural for the F-86. In order to take-off from grass and eliminate the unsightly gear in flight, my inspiration came from the F-86 Sabre monument at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. See last photo. The monument has tanks but no gear.

Greg Covey

The painted fiberglass HET F-86 silver tip tanks from [link=http://www.ejf.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70_96_143_210&products_id=818]Electric Jet Factory[/link] seemed like an almost perfect match for the slightly smaller E-flite F-86 Sabre. I found a compromise position for the tanks that was close to scale but utilized a wing former underneath.

I first positioned the tanks using Scotch double-sided clear tape and then traced the outline. The covering was removed and the balsa sheeting coated with thin CA. The result was a durable surface strengthened by a former underneath. The plan is to attach the tanks to the wings using thin double-side 3M white tape that is similar to servo tape and take the F-86 off grass. In this manner, if something goes wrong on take-off or landing, the tanks will come off before breaking the wing or themselves.

The removed landing gear pieces weighed 1.8oz and the HET tanks about 2.5oz each. The net weight gain was about 3.2oz.

We'll test it out this weekend...

Ron S

My Feedback: (2)

I just flew mine for the first time. Did 2 nice flights - my first entry into the EDF world. [8D] It does land a bit hot though, as previously mentioned. Adding the crow setting on the ailerons I think helped flare the model a bit (activate a switch to raise the ailerons both up about .10").

I am going to have to see about getting a set of those tanks - they look neat! Plus, they may help the model slow down a bit for landings. So, tanks for the Tank idea!

Greg Covey

Hi Ron,

Congratulations and thanks for the report! I think your crow setting is a good addition. We'll see how it slows up with the added drag of the tanks.

My tank testing was delayed until Labor Day weekend. Once we looked at our proposed mounting scheme last weekend, we decided the F-86 was too heavy and needed an additional plywood plate glued to the tank mount with a good epoxy like V-poxy. Once the tank mount has a larger rectangular plate glued in place, we can then try the 3M double-sided foam tape.

I'll keep you posted...

elkiwi

My Feedback: (2)

How much speed does this nice plane reach?????

Greg Covey

I'm not sure about the actual speed but my estimation would be around 100mph. These smaller planes can often look faster than they are actually going.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
We never got a chance to test the HET tanks on the E-flite F-86 but I did finally get around to mounting them. My friend, Paul Weigand, glued some thin ply plates onto the tank mounts and then lined them with white 3M double-sided tape (which acts much like servo tape).

The tanks were pressed in place and are strong enough to hold the plane in the air. They should still pop off without tearing the wing off in the event of a really rough landing.

I expect the F-86 will take off from grass under its own power. If not, then we may use a mini bungee with a hook where the nose gear shaft used to be mounted. If we don't get a chance to test it in the next few weeks, it will be saved for next spring.

Greg Covey

I finally got to test fly my modified E-flite F-86 with HET tanks. It wouldn't take off grass because it wanted to nose over, due to the higher thrust line, so we bungee launched it. I installed a cut off hook where the nose wheel normally goes using BVM V-poxy. Although it is more forward than typically seen for a bungee hook, I couldn't resist the ready-made reinforced convenience.

The F-86 looked so much better with the tanks installed and the result was a great deal of fun!

[link=http://www.gregcovey.com/reviews/EfliteF86wTanks.wmv]E-flite F-86 with HET Tanks Video[/link] (8.5meg)

I'll post some photos soon...

Greg Covey

Here are some photos of the bungee launch and landing on grass.

photos by "Papa Jeff" Ring

tIANci

Greg ... as usual, a superb build by you. I think I need to get this plane to accompany my VPro MIG15! Is the finish as sweet as the VPro MIG15? How's the power of this plane compared with the VPro?