The stock joiner wire for the elevator is flexing under low load causing the left elevator half less movement which causes the plane to roll when pulling on the elevator...

How to fix this problem? I don't want to install two servos (one for each side of the elevator)

I thought of installing the servo in the fuse, and drive a "Y" shaped pushrod going to each elevator halves?? Is this a suitable solution?

Help me guys, I in the process of aseembling it with a Saito 91....with standard servos using most of the stock hardware..

In addition, how to beef up the landing gear and firewall, I can add peice of wood and epoxy all over the place but I am looking for the lightest solution with maximum strengh.

I dont have a Funtana yet but I read that guys are using a wood dowel instead of the wire..

It's binding on one side. Maybe the hinge line is not straight (warped horizontal stab). Also you gotta loosen up the CA hinges after you glue them in, flex them until they feel nice and smooth. That could be it.

That might be a problem but the Funtana I have is touchy on the elevator in general its gonna wanna snap out on you when you give it lots of elevator just a characteristic of the plane design of the 3 I have seen the all have that you have to tone down the elevator

My .02 worth. I just took my Funtana to the ground yesterday... I was flipping all kind of switches and when I was level and close to the ground, pulled back on the elevator and in 3D mode high rate, snapped it into the ground. What an idiot, huh? Well, I said I'll never do that again but actually I will and I know it.

I thought the same thing about the connecting rod not being stout enough and letting the non-servo controlled half "flex", thus allowing it to snap or at the least, not maintain full and equal throws. What I have found out through flying Funtana's is that the connecting rod as is will suffice for the two elevator halfs. The Funtana, as it's set up with only one elevator servo will do exactly the same thing than if you have two rigid servos mounted. I've flown about 7 different Funtana's. Two of them had dual elevator servos. They all have the snap tendency with excessive elevator throw, especially with the CG at a rearward location. Having about 100 flights on mine, I got a pretty good idea when it was going to go into the snap routine. Again, flying the dual servo elevator Funtana, I really didn't see that much difference when the snap was going to occur.

Anyway, I need to order another Funtana, and soon. Eventhough I've just explained that there's no different flight characteristics between the single and the dual elevator setup, I'm going to modify the connecting rod setup too. I would just feel a lot better knowing that the two halves were solidly connected.

Thank you 232 Cap-tain for the post however I am still wondering how you will modify the connecting rod setup?

And what about firewall and Landing Gear beef-up , any of you did something particular?

Any pics availlable showing your mods?

Thanks in advance.

I took care of my landing gear by just using some fiberglass cloth and some epoxy. Hardly added any weight, and when I crashed my funtana, the landing gear area was the only thing left in tact

As for the tail, I used a piece of spruce instead of the joiner wire, and used 2 carbon fiber pins drilled into the elevator through the spruce joiner. Not much more weight then the joiner wire, and it didn't flex at. I ended up crashing mine due to the elevator push rod failing during a flat spin. The push rod flexed under the load and wouldn't pull out. So just make sure you replace those small pushrods with 4-40 or carbon fiber.

The firewall is fine as is on my two. I'm running a Saito 100. One with dual elevator servor and one with a single. I have to agree that there isn't much difference between the two. The stock setup actualy flies better than the dual servo and pull pull. The landing gear block sucks..... I have tried a couple different ways to rebuild it but it will still pull out landing in grass. Good luck Ron

Dany Boy,

I did make some mods to the landing gear mount and a few other things. I removed the original blind nuts. The landing gear mounts were reinforced by adding 1/8" or 3/16" (I can't remember now) ply both in front of and behind the existing landing gear attachment block, just thick enough to make the entire "floor" area level. Then I used a 1/8" ply piece to cover the entire floor area and replace the blind nuts on top of that. Let me tell you, for hard landings this works! Ask how I know.

The second major modification I made was when I had an exhaust leak that I really hadn't noticed. The fuel soaked through, in and around the Ultracoat on the 45 degree angled piece of balsa sheeting. I removed the entire angled piece (I noticed how easily I could have done the landing gear mod with that panel removed) and replaced it with an epoxy coated 1/8" ply piece. Before I did this, I noticed there was flex in the entire front of the fuse when I really tugged on the motor and mount. After this piece was added, no flex was apparent, whatsoever. It was much more rigid and solid for just a little added weight.

I did notice that on up lines on perfectly calm days, I had to over compensate it pulling to the left by adding a bunch of right rudder. I increased the offset approximately 1 degree and this helped tremendously with that problem.

As far as what I'm going to do with the elevator mod, I'm not sure. The supplied connecting rod, if epoxied in correctly and evenly, is probably the easiest, lightest and best way to attach the two. But, when I get it in my garage and really take a look at it, I'll make my decision then.

With this being said, the first thing I'm going to do with my next Funtana is remove the 45 degree panel, have great access to complete the landing gear reinforcement process and replace the panel with an epoxy treated ply panel.

I hope this helps with just a few of the things I've noticed.

John

I run mine with all the stock hardware, and it's built by the manuals directions. I run standard servos. I have a Saito .91 on the nose and my CG is right around 6 1/4. Landings are a bit nervey because of the tail heavy characteristic, but they always come out looking pretty professional. I removed the blind nuts for the landing gear mount and drilled out the holes and tapped them for 1/4-20 nylons. I also added two more bolts, one at front center and one at rear center. Before flying it, I added a good bit of medium CA around the inside of the plane in the landing gear mount area. I also added some to the inside around the firewall area.

I have yet to have a problem with this plane. It is a bit snappy when using lots of throw on the elevator, but that should be expected. The more tail heavy it is, the better the 3D characteristics, but the crappier the landings. Every bit of added weight makes the elevator that much more sensitive, and the plane that much more snappy.

Like I said, mine is totally stock and I've yet to have a problem.

Here is my fix on the Landing Gear. It's a 1/2 x 1 Balsa Spar trimmed to fit the contours in the floor over the front edge of the ply floor piece. In this new fuse, H9 has added a couple of ribs to beef up the LG mounting. They probably saw the many postings herein about the landing gear ripping out the floor of the fuse. My first Funtana that got planted by a bonehead on my freq, it didn't have these ribs. The spar is fasioned to overlap the forward lip of the ply floor piece AND ribs, hence the step you see at the bottom and notches. Using liberal amounts of 5 minute epoxy, it's tough as h-ll. I used just two screws to mount, but went with nylon to assure a better breakoff point if I really screw up a landing. It's a real light fix, and my CG is still dead center on the recomended range. As an engineer, I liked the idea of creating a box section rather than just thickening it with fiberglass.

I also did a real cool light-wieght fix on the tail feathers to make them super tough too. They shuddered terribly on the ground when you ran it up to full throttle (running a Saito 72 with a APC 13x6). I have no idea if they did that in the air, but it bugged me enough to make it better. Those two carbon fiber rods are a joke with the way they are installed, they pull out way too easy. I had to re-glue them before I ever got in a first flight, and I didn't do a shoddy job. Now it is solid as a rock. Yea, am an anal perfectionist, but not an expert pilot (yet), so I don't want to suffer some silly failure and crash from a structural issue. I am looking at the whole structure and all the postings... more fixes are in the works. Light weight and strutcural integrity is my goal. I'll need a tough plane while I learn how to do all this 3D stuff right.

TMan

Hi there,


During building I also found that the two elvator halves-connection wasn't rigid enough and changed it.I reported it a few months ago in this thread:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_20...tm.htm#2045465

Look at the pictures.They are probably clearer than my explanation.

Gr. Robert

My original gear block failed on my second landing. I decided to fix it once, and fix it right. I removed the original gear block and bottom balsa skin. I used a piece of 1/16" x 1" ply to beef-up the balsa sheet that angles up to the firewall. Then I used a piece of SIG 3/16 ply to replace the entire bottom deck. It's just a little heavier, but 100% bullet proof.