The
ARF model comes well packaged and all the parts are individually
wrapped. There was no damage or covering touch-ups needed
on my model. The ECS graphics were integrated into the covering
(not decals).
The wing uses 2 aluminum bars for strength and perfect incidence.
The manual uses color photos on a glossy page...very nice!
The text instructions use step-by-step procedures to ensure
a correct assembly. The whole kit is highly integrated and
has very few parts.
The
wing halves and tail sections were perfectly covered and
all control surfaces were pre-hinged. I test pulled on each
control surface and nothing budged. I was off to a great
start! Here are some different views of the fuselage. The
build is not what we would consider light for electric but
it is high quality and a very solid design. This will make
for a nice model that you don't have to be delicate with
in the car or at the flying field.
Mounting
the Motor
My
conversion to electric power will use an AXI 4120/14 motor
and a Radial Mount Set from Hobby Lobby. To mount the motor,
I needed a 1" thick balsa piece and a 1/4" thick
plywood piece to obtain the correct distance from the firewall
to the spinner backplate. I used #8-32 2" long screws
and t-nuts to secure the motor to the firewall.
The
motor mounted easily with plenty of space left over in the
firewall opening for the motor wires to run inside to the
ESC.
The
fiberglass cowl fit perfectly over the motor and allowed
the prop adapter to extend without any cutting.
I
used an HLHS225 2-1/4" Spinner from Hobby Lobby that
fit well over my APC 14x7 e-prop and found that it was easy
to install. The outlined
area in the cowl was cut away to provide cooling air flow
past the motor and into the fuselage area.
Assembly
The
linkage hardware all comes with the kit and the control
horn holes are pre-drilled which makes installing the linkage
a quick job.
I
used Loctite on the threaded areas. I typically use Loctite
on any threaded surface except for prop adapters. I was
going to replace the slider easy links with snap keepers
but when I went to tighten the hex head "grub"
screws, I felt it sink into the control rod. This should
prevent the rod from slipping along with the applied Loctite.
The
tail pieces needed some of the covering removed before gluing.
Both stabilizers fit perfectly without any problems with
incidence.
The control horns holes are pre-drilled for easy linkage
installation. The manual contained some errors as it suggested
that there were two elevator halves and separate linkages
for each half. Perhaps the design was recently upgraded
for simplicity.
Landing
Gear
When
I installed the landing gear on my Vmar Easy 3D, I wanted
more than just the stock wheels. To improve the look, I
added some Hangar 9 Funtana .90 (HAN2683) wheel pants and
mounted them using the stock supplied hardware with a set
of Sullivan (888) 5/32" Wheet Pant Brackets.
The
gear mains simply screwed into the pre-drilled holes on
the fuselage bottom. The tailwheel assembly was pressed
into the pre-mounted brass tubing on the rudder and screwed
into the pre-drilled holes on the bottom of the tail.
Linkage
I
connected the rudder and elevator linkage using the stock
hardware in the kit. The instructions were a bit confused
about how many servos were used for the elevator. My suspicion
is that an earlier or larger version of the kit used one
servo per elevator half. The Easy 3D uses a single piece
elevator so only one servo is needed. Additionally, the
servo bays in the tail are labeled on the covering for rudder
and elevator.
Again,
I used some of the new FMA DS300BB Digital Servos. Although
this project does not really make the servo features shine
like when calibrating multiple servos per control surface
or using an unregulated supply voltage, their control precision
has spoiled me.
I
used red Loctite on all the threaded parts of the linkage.
I also drilled a hole in the plastic tail wheel mount as
a final feed for my antenna run.
Battery
and Wiring
I
also added a Tower Hobbies System 3000 On/Off Switch assembly
in between the UBEC output and the receiver
The
motor direction of rotation was tested with the prop removed
before re-mounting the cowl, prop, and spinner. If the rotation
is reversed (clockwise) you can simply swap any two of the
three wires from the ESC to the motor. The Jeti Advance
ESCs are supplied with mating connectors for the motor wires.
Since
the Jeti ESC was an Advance version but not an Advance PLUS
version, I could only change the brake setting to OFF and
the timing to HARD. Hard timing is used for outrunners like
an AXI motor.
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My
new 4-cell Kokam 3.2AH (20C) pack weighs 12.8oz. It is shown
with an 8-cell, 3.0AH NiMH pack for size comparison. Note
that the new cell width is the same as a sub-C cell length.
The 4-cell Lithium pack has a voltage equal to about 14
cells of 3300mAh NiMH which weighs about 26oz or twice the
weight of the Kokam pack. This is a pre-production test
pack without the taps to monitor each cell. The production
packs with taps produced by FMA Direct will be called "Skyvolts".
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I
slightly modified the hatch by removing the balsa tongue
and gluing a small piece of Velcro which sticks to the battery.
The other side uses the stock screws for now.
The
4-cell Kokam 3.2AH pack mounted fairly easily using some
Velcro and a EPP foam wedge. The battery was supported up
front using the stock plywood runners and motor mount screws.
In the rear, it was attached to a Velcro strip that I glued
onto the landing gear plywood plate and then further supported
by a foam wedge in between the wing bar and Lithium pack.
It was easy to insert and supported from movement in any
direction.
Was
my Easy 3D now ready to fly?
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