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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 4/21/2004 1:57 AM   
harryw13



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Status: offline 		Eric,
Maybe this should be a separate topic ( or future article), but I heard you talk about Mode-1, Did you learn on mode-1, or switch later? Do many of the top flyers use mode-1? If someone's at Intermediate level of pattern, is it worth taking a step back and switching , or is it to late?
Thanks,
Harry Wagner

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 4/29/2004 8:00 AM   
Don Szczur



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Status: offline 		I read the instructions the other night and when I opened up the instruction book to where I left off. There was just one step left- Canopy mount.

Now I look at my Focus 1.5 and its really, really nice, thanks to Dave. It sets the standard. So I want to do a decent job on the canopy area. I can't recall if anyone has located matching paint for the red (otherwise I'll just go out and get some mixed). I removed the covering from the inside of the turtle deck and my father bought some paint to paint the inside. From past experience, leaving the covering on the deck floor seems to wrinkle up over time. Not wanting to risk this, nor wanting to carve out the balsa (it already seems to be built quite light) then some black paint seems to be the trick answer.

The next decision item is whether to sand down the canopy and clear-coat it...


Later,
Don

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 5/7/2004 7:11 AM   
Don Szczur



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Status: offline 		Eric, Lets fly this weekend How about that field we flew at last time, somewhere in central Joyzee. Saturday?

Painted the trim around the canopy and it turned out really nice. I tried to emulate the most outstanding job that Dave Guerin did on the Focus 1 1/2. Any case, here were the steps.

Had some monokote matching red (Radio South Concept PPG) left over from 1999. way back when I finished off the Prophecy. I also had some monokote matching yellow. My son in kindergarden told me that mixing a little yellow with the red will lighten up the monokote red until it matches the red on the Focus ARF. My first attempt was late at night and it was about 8 drops of yellow in about a quarter ounce of red. I painted the trim with a brush. When I came in the next morning it was still just a bit too dark for my taste, so I put in about another 14 drops of yellow in. It matches pretty close after this second coat.

I cut the red covering out of the inside of the canopy deck and painted the deck flat black. Here is a trick. I took the scrap red covering from the inside canopy deck and cut a few 1/4 inch pieces. I then used it to iron on around the back crack surrounding the vertical fin assembly. It looks very nice since the covering matches perfectly.

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 5/7/2004 7:49 AM   
Eric.Henderson



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Status: offline 		Don,
Sure, a session would be very enjoyable.

Just call me anytime on the home number.

Eric

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 5/17/2004 6:28 AM   
Derek.Koopowitz


 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Don Szczur

Next step is hinging. I tried the elevator pushrod and yes, as others have discovered, its a right snug fit in the rear support block. I'm going to drill a hole from the back tail post and enlarge the pushrod support hole some. (then hinge all the surfaces to include the rudder).




Actually, all I did to make the fit a little less snug was to sand the push rod - took me about 15 seconds of sanding and now the pushrod slides perfectly without any snags. I also added a ply support closer to the servo that the pushrod goes through to remove flexing.

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 5/17/2004 7:02 AM   
Jeff-RCU


 

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Status: offline 		Well my FocusII started rolling tonight and didn't stop till it went in. Fuse broke in three places. One wing broke in half. WIng tube bent about 35 degrees. Not sure if it went into fail safe, or what really happened. The right aileron stripped the coating off the hinges and they came out clean. But I think that was secondary damage. Started rebuilding the fuse tonight. It's repairable (big advantage for wood fuses here). I'll probably just patch the covering, instead of starting from scratch. Haven't the heart tonight to strip the wing covering and take a look at the damage.

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 5/22/2004 8:15 AM   
Don Szczur



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Status: offline 		I helped Randy get his Focus II in the air tonight. Its yellow with blue on the underside. A ball link screw and nut came un-done. taking off the right aileron pushrod. The plane rolled left real hard with the aileron fluttering in the wind. Actually the whole wing was oscillating. Got it down ok but lesson learned is to use lock -tite on the screw/nuts.

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 5/27/2004 6:12 AM   
Jeff-RCU


 

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Status: offline 		Well, don't know if anybody's interested, but I put my smashed FocusII back together and had a test flight today. The crash broke the fuse into three pieces and crushed about 4 inches of the right wing, just aft of the wing tube. I pieced the fuse back together and dug out all the crushed foam out of the wing and put light spackle in it's placed (I know that is a totally hillbilly way to fix it, but I was still pissed about the accident when I was working on it), then glassed everything. Looks like total crap, wing is slightly wavy and the fuse ended up with a slight bow on one side. . Surprisingly, it flew just like it did before the crash! Now I wish I would have did a better job of rebuilding! Though I did find out that mixing 21 century fabric, blue monokote and red ultracote, not only looks like sh*t, it peeled back during the test flight!

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 6/21/2004 10:14 PM   
Pro pattern



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Status: offline 		Hello Everyone,

I’m finally in the final stage of my building and now wonder what (where) should the
control throws be at. For High and low Rate.

And also where is a good Starting point for the Exponential …??


Thanks in advance for all the info, it will be appreciated.

Danny

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 6/22/2004 4:17 AM   
Eric.Henderson



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Status: offline 		So far I have used the following throws

Ailerons 12 degrees both ways - 20% expo
Elevator 18 degrees up 20 degrees down 40 and 55% expo
Rudder, about 1/2" short of each elevator - 25% expo

This gives good snaps, rudder elevator only spins. It may not suit your style of flying, but it will give you a good start. (CG seems to like to be on LE of wing tube with wing off :-))

Regards,

Eric.

< Message edited by Eric.Henderson -- 6/21/2004 8:18:58 PM >

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 6/22/2004 4:29 AM   
Pro pattern



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Status: offline 		Thanks for the info, but I still have a question .
What did you mean with: Elevator 18 degrees up 20 degrees down 40 and 55% expo.
(could you explain)

I’m using JR XP8103 (Radio)


Again Thanks for the info.

Danny

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 6/22/2004 6:31 AM   
Aruba_Maverick



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Status: offline 		Hi Danny

Don't worry I''ll help you with the programming on your radio.

C Lim

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 6/22/2004 8:41 AM   
Pro pattern



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Status: offline 		Oh, ok Thanks Chee Chong.



Danny

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 6/23/2004 6:51 AM   
Don Szczur



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Status: offline 		Flew the airplane last night.

Here is the detail.

Like all the Focus aircraft that I have flown, this one requires two turns of negative incidence in the left wing. That comes out to about an eighth inch. Upright and inverted spin entries and inverted flight were very stable after this change. This incidence change also brough the ailerons back on center.

I noticed a styrofoam sound when bringing the plane back from its second flight. Apon inspection, I found the small dowels that hold the wing retainer screws were loose and when flexing the wing, looked like they were trying to pop out some.

After an hour of poking, bending, looking and pondering. I took a knife to the wing. After pulling the white covering off up to the wing screw. I cut a small V shaped hole and after moving the (very lightweight) foam out of the way, noticed there was about 1/16 inch gap from where the wing tube socket plugs in to the false rib. I poured a few dabs of 5- minute epoxy in there, let it run down along the gap to fill it in order to provide a strong bond. Then ironed the covering back in place. Tonight the plane flew a few more times and the wing is nice and strong with no movement.

How does it fly? I'll tell you after the NATS.

I'll attach a picture if it comes through, with details on the repair.

Don

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 6/23/2004 7:11 AM   
Don Szczur



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Status: offline 		Attached is picture of wing fix.

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 7/2/2004 8:27 AM   
Don Szczur



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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 7/2/2004 8:47 AM   
Don Szczur



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Status: offline 		Engine mounting. I put some covering around the box to protect it from fuel.

The ES has resulted in a clean (literally) setup for the pipe.

Don

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 7/2/2004 8:49 AM   
Don Szczur



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Status: offline 		photos courstesy of Tom Ward. Congrats Tom, for your recent solo (and your son's).

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 7/2/2004 9:02 AM   
Don Szczur



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Status: offline 		Weight- 10Lbs, 8 oz.

Talk about consistency, left wing panel 14.6 oz, right wing panel, guess what- 14.6 ounces. They are both within less than a tenth of an ounce difference (ready to fly)

Thrust seems about right on. I added just a bit more right thrust and just a bit more down thrust (built in per the first post above).

Mixing (no rudder to elevator or rudder to aileron mixing). This is the first aircraft I have ever owned that did not require any mix in this regard. (no mix yet that is).

Throttle, offset 87%, down elevator 14%. This is less down line correction than the other Focus aircraft I have owned. Just a little down elevator for low throttle (downlines) for straight verticals after the stall turns.

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 7/12/2004 3:50 AM   
PepsiMike


 

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Status: offline 		Another Focus II takes to the air. Did Five flights today with trimming help and 9CAP programing done by Michael Hill.....I'll read the manual someday. Got it dialed in pretty good - I could use some more right thrust.

Many thanks to Don Szczur for this build along thread - the coverage of the push rod assembly and rear hole enlargement were great - I used his measurements and it came out perfect.

O.S. 140RX
Hydemount ARI(A)
Futaba 9206's


Mike Radeke

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 7/29/2004 9:24 AM   
Don Szczur



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Status: offline 		A few follow-ups since its been flying. Plane flew very well at the NATS. I did have several header break. See, the cowl is a different shape from the Focus 1, resulting in the engine/header having less clearance if running a DZ. Basically what happens with a Hyde mount is the pipe coupler bangs on the sides of the belly pan/front bulkhead which loosens up the header screw. The solution was to carve out some of the front bulkhead and slice a couple of slots in the belly pan up front to relieve the hard point- and allow the header/pipe to have a full inch clearance all around.


What else. I think I mentioned the yellow pushrod insets for the cowl and canopy screws. If they are not in a previous post on this string let me know and i'll see if I can get a few shots of them.

What else... the 9411 servos on the ailerons work great. I convered the 2nd thru 4th gears to plastic (leaving the main one metal). Plastic gear sets for th 9411 cost me $6 at Hobby Hangar and all but about 20 minutes to install. Servos have little slop, but all the precision and power of the 9411s. If you have not tried them, check out the 9411 SA's. They come with plastic gears.

The Focus flew very well in the wind. It was staying with the most advanced designs out there. Bottom line its a good flying plane.

Best of luck!!!

Don

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 7/29/2004 9:26 AM   
Don Szczur



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Status: offline 		All smiles....

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 7/29/2004 11:54 PM   
Jorgele


 

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Status: offline 		Hello MAVERICK and Danny, I am a old friend of Gregory Winklaar, I live in Colombia, I have a question:

What did you mean with: Elevator 18 degrees up 20 degrees down 40 and 55% expo.
(could you explain me)

THANKS

Jorge

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 7/31/2004 9:31 PM   
Don Szczur



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Status: offline 		I think what Eric is stating is that the control throw on high rate is 18 degrees up elevator deflection and 20 degrees down elevator deflection. The elevator has more down- deflection, less up deflection.

Exponential is set at 40 percent expo for up elevator, and 55 percent expo for the down elevator deflection.

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RE: FOCUS II ARF construction by-the-numbers - 8/20/2004 7:09 AM   
Aruba_Maverick



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Status: offline 		Hello,Mr Don

I`am finishing up a friends Focus II,and we are busy setting up the right and down thrust angle.
And we cut the left side 9/16 and the right side 5/8,like you said on your previous post.
When installing the spinner back plate,it creates a uneven spacing between the cowl and the back plate,how did you solved this problem?,did you leave it like that?,because it looks awkward and looks like there`s too much right thrust.

How much right and down thrust do you have?.

Can you please post a picture of the spacing between the spinner and the cowl?,because from your last picture it`s not visible.

Thank you very much.


Gregory Winklaar.(Pattern Freak)

< Message edited by Aruba_Maverick -- 8/20/2004 4:11:44 AM >

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