bdavison

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Well, its high time someone put a build thread for the new shockies up here. This build thread is how I built my shocky. I did not follow the instruction manual precisely. For this build thread you will need the instructions supplied with the kit. I will notate the differences, and why I did it this way. I used only the stock UHU glue to construct my shocky, along with CA and epoxy as noted in the manual. Since I planned on using a brushless motor, I have eliminated the construction of the stock can motor and replaced it with the construction of my custom motor mount.

To begin,
Lay out the two halves of the wing. Put UHU glue on the inside edges, wait 10 min for it to set, then put the two halves together.

Next locate the two carbon fiber strips and cut the two wing strut braces from the plastic tree. Glue the wing strut braces into the precut slots on the leading edge of the wing.

Next put UHU glue along the entire lenght of the leading edge of the wing, and one side of one of the carbon fiber strips. Wait 10 minutes for the glue to set. Then starting 1" from the end of the wing, attach the carbon fiber strip to the leading edge. Work you way towards the middle of the wing, eventually ending at the other end of the wing. If you followed instructions and waited 10 min for the glue to set, before attempting to attach it, you will find that it is now stuck...VERY WELL. If you didnt wait the 10 min, you will probably find that the carbon keeps popping back off the wing. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS.

Now, take the supplied tape and tape the leading edge of the wing as per the instruction manual

bdavison

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Now repeat the process for the carbon strip on the trailing edge of the wing including gluing and taping.

The manual shows cutting the relief angle on the ailerons with a exacto knife. If you are not careful, it is easy to cut too much foam, and end up with a non-straight cut.
Instead lay the aileron on the edge of a table. Wrap a piece of sandpaper around a small block of wood. Now hold the block at the appropriate angle, and sand the leading edge of the aileron until you have a nice flat even relief angle. Its far easier to do it this way, and a more precise angle is easier to attain.

Next tape both ailerons to wing. Ensure that they have freedom of movement.

bdavison

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Now this is a part that lots of folks dont understand in the manual.

Flip the wing over, and fold the ailerons under the wing. Now you can tape the hinge from underneath. By folding the ailerons under the wing, it makes it easier to tape the relief angle that you just finished sanding.

Once you have finished attaching the ailerons, check to make sure they have the proper amount of deflection.

bdavison

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Now take the elevator, and sand the relief angle onto the leading edge of it.
Take the horizontal stabilizer, and tape the elevator to it in the same manner as you did with the wings.
Remember to fold the elevator under the the stab to tape the relief angle.

bdavison

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Now take the horizontal fuselage and put UHU glue on the angle cut in the rear of it, and on the angle cut on the front of the horizontal stabilizer. Wait 10 min, and then stick the two pieces together as shown.

bdavison

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Now apply UHU glue to the underside of the horizontal fuselage, and to the top of the wing. Wait 10 min.

***CRITICAL PART***
When you attach the horizontal fuselage to the wing. The square hole in the wing, and the square hole in the fuselage MUST match up. You should also measure the distance between the wing tips, and the horizontal stab to make certain that it is absolutly square. If you glue the wing on at an angle, the plane will not fly correctly.

Once you have the fuselage and the wing glued together. You will have the "smashed" plane. It looks like a plane that has been crushed.

bdavison

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Now apply UHU glue to the top of the bottom vertical fuselage, and quickly slide it into the slots on the bottom of the "smashed" plane. Dont wait 10 min here....if you do, you will never get it into the slots. It will permanantly adhere itself half out of the slots. Make sure you square it up using a square as shown in the manual. If its not square, it wont fly right.

Here is where I deviate from the instruction manual. The instruction manual says the next step is to glue the carbon fiber wing braces on. Dont do this.

There are two reasons.
1. If you glue the carbon braces on, you will have to reach around them, and inbetween them for the rest of the build.
2. It is much easier to square and attach the boxing reinforcements to the fuselage and keep things square without having to adjust four carbon fiber rods all at the same time.

Cut the sections off the fuselage boxing piece as shown in the instructions. Apply UHU glue to the angled edges of both pieces.
Square the fuselage, and then attach the boxing pieces as shown.

Repeat the process for the rear fuselage boxing pieces.

Next cut a slot into the rear fuselage boxing pieces and insert the pushrod braces into the slots. Glue into place.

Attach the control horns to the rudder and the elevator as shown.

bdavison

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Now flip the plane right side up.

Take the top of the vertical fuselage, and apply UHU glue to the appropriate edges. Then quickly slide it into the slots on the plane. Make sure to square it up.

Now tape the rudder to the plane. You wont be able to fold the rudder over to tape the relief angled edge, so be careful and take your time applying the tape.

bdavison

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Now you can do the carbon fiber wing braces and the landing gear. Look at the instruction manual for how to assemble the landing gear. One suggestion I have is to glue the wheel fairings to the axle keepers. Let the glue dry, and then press the assembly onto the axle. This way you dont glue the wheel solid.

bdavison

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Now install all your servos as per the manual. Since everyone uses different equipment, you will have to determine how you want to mount your servos and reciever.

Here is a pic of how I did it. Note that the wires for the servos are hidden in the hollow space created by the fuselage boxing. The antenna for the reciever is also hidden by running it inside the hollow space, and out the tail.

bdavison

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Now on to making the motor mount.

I am using a bp21 handwound brushless motor for my shocky.
The "Iron Cross" motor mount is constructed of 1/16th inch model plywood.

Test fit the motor mount, attach the motor to the mount, and then glue into place on the airplane.

bdavison

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And here's what everyone is waiting for.....the finished plane.
Cant wait to go fly it. I think the F3A is one of the nicest color/graphics schemes that Ikarus has put on a shocky.

I know this isnt a comprehensive build thread, but I did it to show the basics for anyone considering building one. Its really easy. From start to finish this plane took me about 6 hours. Hope you all enjoy it.

rmh

Nice write up
You should really like the model -I think it is the best of the Shockflyers to date - simply personal preferrence.
it is much stiffer --better wing loading than earlier series
As we noted in the other thread on this model --the Hacker and the 8x4 GWS -or a well balanced APC 8x3.8- on two or 3 cells is an excellent match.
Both my son and I have these models as well as other Shock Flyers plus a room full of small 3D indoor/outdoor stuff.
This F3A is as good as any.

rightflyer

dick Hanson
What Hacker model are you using? I read you should only use 2 cells on the Hacker motor in Shockie's size. Ofcourse, I only have 3 cell packs and I do not want to buy more 2 cell packs.

bdavison

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The best one for weight that Ive seen is a 2cell 7.4v 750mah Thunder Power Lipo. Its the size of a 340mah, and really light.
Use a 2cell. It will keep the weight down. Weight is key with these planes. The lighter it is, the better it flys.

rmh

The Hacker A20 34 will perform extremely well on 3 cells -
You must not overprop it however.
a 350- 480 Ma pack such as the Multiplex or TP yellow stripe work great .
These do produce more amps than the Hacker rating but experience shows that when flown as we do with only occasion sharp power bursts - the motor stays cool even using pack after pack flying for an hour .
We even flew a setup of a 9x3.8 and 730 TP Yellow stripes -which produce 14 amps!- these will -when used aggressively cause the Phoenix 10 to overheat and self protect -shut down.
Unreal power tho and the motor stayed cool.
On the 8x3.8 - the amps go to almost 12 - but you don't need to hammer it to fly it -most flying is done at 3-4 amps
We checked this with our thrust stand and a Astro Whattmeter.
hover never hits 4 amps .
We have four of these new Hackers -not sponsored just like em -- 2 A20 34s one A20 22L and one A20 20L
They al will take more input -easily than advertised or suggested just use some judgement on power apps
The 20x20L will take 20 amps and produce over 30 ounces of thrust -easily -on 1320 TP Yellow stripe pack and APC 11x4.7 prop we have it on 16 ounce model -an absolute rocket . (as is the F3A Shock flyer.)

rightflyer

Sounds reasonable with a 3 cell. I current use 8x4.3 on my Littlescreamer, but it takes over 1/2 throttle to hover my Yak.

Shortman

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Thanks Bdavidson, your always on top of the foamies. I've moved on since the Tensor, since I went through a couple. I'm looking for a precision and still 3D capable foamie. I've put together 2 of the new Gen 2 Yak 54 shockflyers but I have really been looking to get this. So basically, let me know how it flies.

Thanks Steven

Shortman

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Alright, ordered mine up, should be here maybe Friday if I'm lucky.

TXDA2000

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Bar none the best FLYING shocky out there. Notice I didn't say 3D.

It hovers and harriers well, and actually high alpha rolls better than most. With the smaller elevator/longer tail moment it is not that great for walls and flips.

It is however a fantastic precision flyer. SMOOTH rolling circles in any variety, point rolls, knife edge loops are great.

I flew throught the 04 and 05 IMAC Unlimited patterns extremely well.

It handles high speed better than any electric this size I've ever seen.

We were having a ball doing full throttle dives and high speed passes at unbelievable speeds.

I have an AXI 2208/34 running TP 830 3S. It is a rocket.

I have considered entering a pattern contest with it for the heck of it.

Daniel

Shortman

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Daniel that is awesome! Just what I wanted to hear. I have the Yak 54 for 3D and I've been flying 3d forever. I've noticed lately more and more that I've been flying pattern more and have actually grown more into pattern/IMAC. Looks like this will be a nice break and still capable of basic and even some more advanced 3d manuevers.

Thanks

rmh

The model is almost dead ringer for the Knuffel-of which we have a number in sizes ranging from 100% to 115%-using various power setups .
I believe this model is possibly a loose copy of that design - maybe the other way around - not positive.
It doesn't really matter .
Having designed /developed pattern planes for many years -we were pleased to see an off the shelf electric which was this good .
My son just traced out and assembled one of these from white 3mm Depron-it seems lighter --we will see when it is all ready to rip.
It won't be much ligher tho ,I am sure.
As it is - for the price -this ARF is as good as it gets in a precision flying, flat foam design .
It takes a lot of expo and good servos to realize all of it's potential for pattern .

bdavison

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Yeah, the small elevator seems like it would not lend itself to 3D hovering, but honestly, I dont think this is what Ikarus had in mind when they designed the F3A. I think it was specifically designed in an attempt to get the pattern fliers into indoor foam flying. Ill probably fly it tommorow night in the local weekly indoor fly-in. Our local electric indoor meets are gaining popularity FAST.

Its started off with about 5 folks for a couple of hours, and now its not uncommon to see 30 pilots show up with everything from small slow-flyers, to shockfliers, and even helicopters. This side of the hobby is growing rapidly. Im having a blast. New planes are cheap, and easy to build.

Its the only RC type in which you can fully build a flyable plane in under 6 hours flat....from scratch.
The F3A is absolutly beautiful when completed. Perfect paint scheme, smooth classic lines, clean looking. Just awesome. If you haven't tried one of the new shocky kits, you've got to get one. They are MUCH improved. The new boxed in fuselage gets rid of all the tail twist that the previous versions had.

Im hesitant to take it outside for a flight, because I specifically built it super-light so I could keep it slowed down indoors. The plane looks so clean and nice, I dont want to mess it up.

Ill be sure to post first impressions once I get to fly it.

The only problem I see so far is with the pushrod guides on the tail. If you put them where they tell you to, it bows the carbon pushrod going to the rudder. There's no friction on it though, and the servo isnt struggling or anything, so I dont think it matters, but it kinda concerns me. If it does give me problems, I will probably have to change it.

The control surfaces seem to have lots of throw in them. The ailerons on a stock servo set-up will still get about 60 degrees of travel at full stick input....that seems like ALOT. If you program your radio, you could probably get 80 degrees out of them which would be insane. This is definatly a plane that is going to require a fair amount of expo.

Has anyone tried that new Ikarus shocky pitts biplane....I love biplanes. Might have to order one of those. It looks awesome.

Here's the set-up Im using

BP21 handwound brushless
E-flite 20amp brushless ESC
ThunderPower 7.4V 750mah Lipo
Bluebird 4ch reciever
Bluebird BMS-306 servo for ailerons
Bluebird BMS-303's for elevator and rudder.

The 303 servos are SUPER small and light weight. They are some of the few extra small servos that actually center correctly and have good resolution. The two I like are the Cirrus and the 303's.
I like the 306's on ailerons, because Ive actually managed to strip out a couple of servos on the ailerons. I figured the small weight difference would be ok.

The E-flite ESC is a bit on the large/heavy side, but the advantages of a no-hassle esc, combined with its simplicity makes it a good choice.

All in all heres the build tally

F3A shocky kit - $44.95
Bluebird 4ch reciever -$19.99
BMS 303 - $16 x (2)
BMS 306 - $16 x (1)
Eflite ESC - $39.95
BP21 brushless motor - $21 assembled
Thunderpower Lipo - $28 bucks

Total cost of $201.85

Not bad for a F3A pattern plane.

Ill be using my Futaba 6EXA to control it, which is also cheap if your looking for a decent 6ch radio. Most hobby shops will switch the stock servo's and reciever out for compatible Bluebird/GWS/etc ones. Street price is around $189

bdavison

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Ive had a couple of e-mails asking about that brushless motor.

So heres the info, Its available exclusively at

http://www.balsapr.com/catalog/motors/BPBrushless.asp

Here are the stats on it:

Configuration: Propeller: Volts: Amps: Thrust:
Direct Drive 8040 7.4V 8.2A 12.0 oz / 342.86g
Direct Drive 8040 8.4V 8.6A 13.8 oz / 394.29g
Direct Drive 8040 9.6V 11.1A 17.0 oz / 485.71g
Direct Drive 8040 11.1V 13.1A 21.0 oz / 600g

Weight: 50.2 grams / 1.77 oz (everything shown in picture including gray gear box housing)
Comes with stick mount plastic frame
Firewall mount capable
Comes with two prop nuts and one washer
3mm shaft diameter
10mm x 10mm stick mount

If you remove the plastic mount, and bolt it right to the firewall like shown in the pics above, and cut the shaft down and use a propsaver to mount the prop, it's weight comes in just a tad over an Axi 2204. The motor is almost indestructible. The one that I had on the tensor4D was dunked into a pond, smacked into dirt, run into a brick wall, and slammed into a powerline. It still runs great....unfortunatly, the tensor didnt fair as well.

Shortman

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Have you gotten around to flying it Bdavison, I am itching to get mine[&:]