Dave Wilshere

Guy's

In windy Britain we haven't had a big problem getting them to fly even with the std set-up sold here (1100mAh) pack.
One thing we have done here is swop the battery and Rx around.
We put the cells in the canopy with the speedo and the Rx in the lower box that can be reduced in height to allow more air in through the front.
The low position Rx means no extension leads from the servos in the std position and only the throttle lead running down the fuse side.

Run in the 400 motor on 1.2-3.6v for two hours before use

Dave Wilshere
Motors & Rotors

Lowlevldevl

My Feedback: (1)

I had seriously been considering one of these little Sabres, but from all I have read about them, and all the mods needed to make them fly, I think I will go with the K&A F-86, or maybe even a EAM MIG 17. I think the extra money spent would be worth it to get a glass fuse and sheeted wings, plus full ducting and no cheater holes. The guys at EAM say that the MIG 17 is really quick with a HW609 fan and a Hacker B-50. They say it will really turn and burn with that setup, as far as EDFs go, and that the MIG bungee launches with no problem and gets on step really quickly with this motor/fan combo. I downloaded a video clip of one and it looked fast. Plus, it is a little more realistic without a cheater hole. I know some of the aircraft, even IC DF's have to have them, but I just cant make myself like that big hole in the belly.

bruff

My Feedback: (18)

My first F-86 flew great stock, built another one replaced motor with Hacker B20-18L flies even better. I had the EAM Mig kit a few years ago. It stated in the instructions that for best performance you should use a belly cheater hole. I would go with the K&A kit if you want a EDF with no cheated hole.
Bob Ruff

phat742

my f-86 flies just great in the stock setup. the only thing is on launch you need to take a few quick steps then give it a really hard toss up at a 45 degree angle. it will go up about 20 feet then drop about 10 as it picks up speed. after that, it flies beautifully. one thing you need to make sure is the control throws are exactly what they say. 3/16" in each direction for the elevons.

when building a few things to make it easier is to cut the servos in the wing before you glue the wing on. also for the gap between the inside of the nose cone and the foam just put strips of fiber tape from the inside lip to the foam. gives is a very smooth transition. also fiber tape across the bottom of the wing for some strenght and and couple strips on the side of the vertical stab so it wont wobble in the air.

i also put the little landing skids on even though everybody said not to. i bent them where is says to but didn't cut them off like it shows in the directions. i also left the wire bent a little down so it wouldn't land on the actual bend but on the back of the wire so as to let it flex a bit.

i have about twenty flights with mine and i think a brushless would make think a lot more fun because it does have a tendancy to slow down for basically everything it does.

hydra86

Ibuilt the wattage f-86 to specs and it does not fly. I have
been flying and building for ten years and this is the first plan
I have not been able to make fly. I have heard about two options
the high cost option is to put a 020 brushless motor in it.
The low cost option is to use a bungee at launch. I will try the
bungee.

phat742

the other day i was flying the f-86 and while is was coming in for a landing a big gust of wind came from the side and knocked the jet over and nosed it in to the ground. the only damage was the nose cone shattered. so if anybody with a dead f-86 has the nose intact i would love to buy it. im thinking about flying it without the nose on it but it looks funny.

please e-mail me if anybody has one
[email protected]

logan6700

Well I could think of some things better to do with that broken f-86 how about you give it to me :-). It's along while since i have posted any thing on here. I was in Kuwait thinking and dreaming of model planes for 6 long hot months. It's so flat over there you can see stright for miles perfect rc grounds nice soft sands for nose dives.

I am not done with that F-86 yet, i will get another an use my brush less setup and the landing gear from the last one I had, I just ordered a wireless cam and this time I will use wooden tail surfices and make a single flap for elevator.

There is some thing about this plane that's just got me hooked. My best memories of the one i had was when i had it in the air about 15 seconds away from crashing on the hill side just as a gust of wind killed all my air speed. Now i am turning with the wind to see my baby go behind the hill out of sight for 5 seconds, oh there she is but she is inverted dammit i hope she didn't land nose first.

I would really like to see some pictures of f-86 that are successful in flight with cool mods like bombs attached, landing gear and any other cool mods you have done to it

Newmanator

Here it goes.... I have very limited flight time with RC planes and I just bought a Wattage f-86 sabre from my local RC shop. I didn't want to get caught with one of those "Flying chicken" planes so I said F' it and went for something that caught my eye. Let me define "limited flight time": When I was 17 (13 years ago) my dad built one of those Cost-co special Cessna 172's and was scared to fly it on our ranch, so I stepped up and said "I'll fly it". After a couple of hand launch attempts I was getting the hang of it and eventually was doing really dumb stuff like Buzzing our horses in the lower valley pasture! [:-]

So, with that said MY FIRST Sabre lasted 4 launch attempts and was scrapped. The last attempt being the best of 4 it promptly dipped and skimmed the the grass removing the damn servos and ripping starboard wing off. This is where I found out that I have the wrong size servos etc.

I have since purchased another F-86 airframe and I think I am ready for the maiden this weekend. I know I am a total rookie and I probly don't have the flight time under my belt for this setup but I am a stubborn person with lots of optimism! I have been contemplating constructing a bungee system however after reading phat742's thread I thought I would give the hand launch another try.

Can anyone give me any basic pointers or suggestions besides "sell it", "float test it" ETC? I need some constructive pointers to get this thing in the air. I am going to try the 45 degree hard throw "phat742" suggested at 100% power and make sure all my surfaces are with the correct parameters.

Any comments would be appreciated.

NEWMAN

Terry Holston

My Feedback: (1)

Best to seek out an experienced jet jock to Test it out for you. Even if you "Can" fly, a new airplane may need to be retrimed and an inexperienced pilot won't have time to do that.
Another thing, do yourself a favor and ditch the "Aileron/ Elevator" coupling on the Watt age F-86. Add another small servo under the canopy and run the push rod to the elevators. Mount the aileron servo in the wing so it works correctly. The way WattAge has you set it up, when you give "Up" elevator you get "Down" in the wing. When both ailerons go "up" your wing loses lift. You need all the lift you can get with this bird, unless you spring for a brushless 10 cell setup. good luck



Reason for edit: Spelling & Syntax errors

Cactus.

My Feedback: (1)

please please read my review, dont make the same mistakes twice.
www.philsrcworld.fsnet.co.uk

Newmanator

Thanks Philly and Terry,

I guess I am kinda of screwed... I bought the recommended radio that is published on the box which is 3 Channel. It says it can be upgraded to a 4th channel. Does'nt really make sense since there is only one stick to control the flight surfaces though [&o]

I am willing to go to a brush less motor at this point. How should I break apart the epoxy'ed fuselage to access fan?

Thanks,

Newman

phat742

i have since bought another f-86 and flying it stock but with only the 10 cell 500mah nicad pack it recommends on the box. the nicad pack really made a difference but i only get like two minutes of full on flying per charge. i guess maybe some lipo batteries that could handle the current would be much better. it still is an awesome plane.

Cactus.

My Feedback: (1)

hopefully you can stick a soldering down it's &$$ and unsolder the connections, then unscrew the fan from the unit using the cheaterhole for access.
if that didnt work, you can cut some of the bottom away ( up to half the fans height and olny wide enough for the lip to slide out ) and chip away the 2-3 blobs of epoxy you used to hold the fan in. ( you did use just a blob or two didnt you ) when the epoxy is off the fan will slide out the bottom, then do what you need to, slide it back and reglue the lower section you removed.

i use a 10 cell hydride pack ( the wattage one ) and it works well, i had a flight after a 3 month wait and the pack sucked, best used on the second run and after, and warm off the charger.
if you use Lipoly make sure they can take 15 amps constant, the lack of nose weight might also be a problem.

phat742

has anybody ever used any lipo batteries on the f-86? i think the lower weight would be beneficial.

TechyJoe

This thread is a little old but I will add to it anyway. I built the Wattage F-86 Sabre stock from the box. I tried it 3 times so far. The first try was a total flop. I launched the plane on an unfamiliar flat field with no wind and it went straight into the ground (I probably did not through it hard enough). My second try, I launched from my familiar field. This field is sloped, which I like for testing new planes because it gives me more reaction time and ground clearance to get the plane flying. This attempt was very successful. The plane flew great and looked really cool until I throttled it back to much and fell out of the sky (Do not cut you throttle back much!). After I fixed it, I tried it again at the same field. The plane flew but it was very sluggish. The plane seemed to have very little power and I could not get any elevation. Needless to say, I belly landed the plane roughly on the upswing of the hill. What was different now as apposed to the time I flew it successfully? The only thing I can come up with is that this day was much colder. I am guessing that since thrust is a by-product of atmospheric pressure, the air was to thin and the plane was not producing sufficient thrust!!!! Any thoughts on this theory from anyone???

Newmanator

Have you cycled your batteries? This could be the culprit... Make sure the Fan is not contacting the side of the Duct, this could have happened from the previous crashes.

A little word of advice, DO NOT put this plan into a severe dive as you will most likely fold the wings as I did. I finally got my F-86 flying great after learning that it is almost impossible to hand launch this airframe by yourself. It flew beautifully and even climbed out with a bit of authority. I rolled and looped it with no problems as well. I rolled it 3 times consecutively and was running out of Alt and pulled up and immediately slapped the wings together

My next one I will add the Spar mod for the wings or even Glass some ribs in for added strength. Also I did the Cheater hole Mod on my last one and that seemed to increase the thrust.

I hope this helps a little!

Mike

Cactus.

My Feedback: (1)

crashes add weight, i'm lucky as well as i'm close to sea level so get the best air

TechyJoe

Ok, I will try to cycle the battery which leads me to this question:
The battery for the F86 is Nmh and my charger can charge these OK, but it is recommended not the cycle them on this unit because they may not discharge evenly (or something like that). My understanding is that I can use a couple of 5 Ohm, 10 Watt resisters wired in series and connected this to the battery and then monitored with a volt meter. What I have read is that you discharge cells to 1.1volt per cell. So if you have a 10 cell battery you discharge to 11volts? Is this correct?

Cactus.

My Feedback: (1)

bah, just run the thing on the ground until it goes flat on the BEC auto cut

Newmanator

Yeah... I 2nd that.