Guys! just ignore him........ do not reply to him no matter what........... his having fun posting here............ so just ignore the guy.

maybe the moderator will ZAP him!!!!!!!!!

Can you say TROLL?

I got his perfect model,AVISTAR on a buddy box.

Ok know lets not pick on Troll. I have him in my Funtana 90. He is going to bring me good luck. [sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

I'm here to update on my status. I talked to Horizon Thursday morn. And the y are sending me another plane. I was treated with the up most respect. Chris at Horizon is a great guy. There may be a slight flaw in the plane but like I read in some other post's"Its a new plane and there are gonna be some bugs!". I am going to use robart hinges or plastic hinges with epoxy and pin them. I sure hope that this slight problem doesn't turn people away from this plane because it is a beautiful flying plane. You cant put a 120 size motor on it and expect it to fly like a rocket. Its made for 3D and thats it. Its

I have been working on finishing my plane now for a few weeks. Each time I think I am done with it, I read another thread that informs me of other areas to consider fixing or at least assessing prior to flying... Now it is broken ribs and additional carbon fiber rods on top of the stab.... My real concern is the pre-drilled holes for the aileron servos ... they seemed to be too large for my 5625 servo screws and needed some strengthening when I started... but, now I am thinking of drilling them out, installing a hardwood dowel plugs, then drilling to the proper size ( I don't want them flying out and ripping off the ailerons prior to me landing)... also I am removing the CA hinges and replacing with pinned hinges.. after that, I will just pray I have looked in every conceivable area for problems.

yeesh guys heated topic here

i haven't got a funtana .90 but do own the .40 size. Unfortunatly i've been de-funtana'd cos my engine actually ripped out of the plane mid flight!! wud've crid if it didnt crash in such a funny way. Was doing multiple waterfalls and next thing i know i see this great big engine being hurled across the sky lol, great fun!

anyways, i think that IMO hangar 9 have done the best of jobs on these funtana designs. I think somethin to do with the pushrod and mechanical advantage thing is a definate cause for flutter etc. I think one thing that doesn't help is the servov tray in the wings. When screwing in the servos for my funtana .40 the rib underneath the servo tray cracked. Thankfully i haven't had any problems but it is only the .40

also someone mentioned how these planes aren't supposed to be flown like a sport plane? Very very wrong. These designs are supposed to be able to perform pattern schedules and should easily be able to travel at same speeds as advanced trainers etc without any problem.

Just my 2p worth

There was a very long thread(more than one) about many Funtana wing failures. Check them out. I think Hanger 9 is about to hit a wall. I suppose this is to be expected when one company comes out with SOOOOOOOOOO many new planes at such a fast rate. Workmanship and standards would naturally take a nose dive. Sorry for your loss. You should contact Hanger 9 soon to get a place in line!!!

No, no, no, no NO!. The Funtana 40 could probably get away with a little more speed but the Funtana 90 is DEFINITELY a 3D thoroughbred. That's it. If you fly it at pattern plane or advanced trainer speeds, plan on taking a couple trash bags to the field with you. This isn't a 'second' plane...maybe not even a third. Depends totally on the pilot and whether he possesses the discipline that it takes to fly the plane in it's intended flight envelope. The Funtana 90 is built very lightly to excel in 3D, which it does.

From what I've seen so far most of the problems that people have had can all be attributed to improper props, servos, linkage setup. Granted, I'm sure that there are a handful that ARE defective or suffered shipping damage (not always immediately visible), but the vast majority are fine...including mine. It is a light and fragile airframe...treat it like a Stik and you'll suffer the consequences.

If you hammer the aileron servos in, you're going to crack ribs. If you use an 8-pitch prop, you're going to have flutter. If you use cheap servos because you already have them, they are going to fail. If you don't understand what 'mechanical advantage' means, find out. If you insist on using an engine larger than a Saito 100 or YS 110 and don't always apply proper throttle management, plan on landing with no wings.

Yes, a tiny bit of extra work needs to be done. Pinning the firewall, different tail bracing setup (in my opinion), better tailwheel. Just because the servo holes in the tail exist doesn't mean that you have to USE them...install EVERYTHING before installing the radio gear then check the CG...you can relocate servos, but the engine usually needs to remain in the front.

For $209 just think of the work that you DON'T have to do! This plane is a tremendous value, excellent design, and 3Ds as good as any ARF out there that I've seen in this size...though I have not flown the Extreme Flight 68" Yak.

Build it right, build it light, and wind it tight. Slow and low is the tempo.

-Tom

Why not just use larger screws? A #2 screw seemed to work fine for me after putting a drop of thin CA in the hole and letting it cure. If you insist on drilling the holes out, don't use dowels...use short pieces of inner nyrod (the fluted yellow plastic). CA it into a 1/8" hole. Servo screws bite into the plastic and stay very tight.

If you have a decent setup (good servos, proper linkage geometry) and seal the hinge gaps, properly installed CA hinges should work fine. I agree that pinned nylon hinges would be 'better' but considering the trouble you'd have to go through to remove the CA hinges, it might be more trouble than it's worth. If it flutters, it will break the TE anyway...CA hinges, nylon hinges. Keep it light and fly slow.

-Tom

TT2, the thing you're missing here is although the funtana .90 might be an all out 3D model, it was designed and is advertised as being able to perform F3A schedules. I wouldn't ever push a .90 to advanced trainer speeds but it should be able to go those speeds without parts ripping out left and right.

in my .40 i didn't 'hammer' the servos in but the rib still cracked

trust me on this TT2, go read adverts for the funtana .40 and .90 and it will say it can perform a full F3A schedule

http://horizon.hobbyshopnow.com/prod...p?prod=HAN2675

thats proof of the suppliers themselves advertising the funtana as....

the FuntanaS 90 3D has stable low speed characteristics much like a large giant-scale aerobatic plane, yet still flies faster precision as well as a pattern model does.


quote above taken from the website itself. I accept that virtually everyone who flies funtana .90 doesn't really want to be flying it at pattern model speeds and precision. The fact is though that they advertise this and when it turns out this plane will flutter to death at those speeds i think its pretty damn annoying and hanger 9 should do their all to reimberse everyone who has had a problem with these planes fluttering. Even people who use 3003's on the funtana .90 on 6volts, not the best of servos to put into it but believe me they do the job, if 3003's on 4.8v on the funtana .40 can do the job extremely well time and time again then i don't see why on 6v they should strip the servos

anyway i've finished with my rant, i'm off out for a drink or few, bye for now [>:]

I fully agree with you...it DOES fly pattern maneuvers well with a forward CG and minimized throws, it just does them much slower than a dedicated pattern plane. Since the instructions explicitly call for a low pitch prop (APC 16x4W specifically), and a Saito 100 or YS 110 they've pretty much dictated how fast the plane will fly. Fly it faster and take your chances. 6-pitch prop? Maybe with judicious throttle control. 8-pitch prop? Adios Mr. Wing!

Some of the Hitecs have slightly larger cases than others. More than once I've done the 'just...a...little...more...pressure and I'll have it....CARRACCKKK...uh oh..' trick! Now I take my time and do a little sanding if necessary. Very important on such lightly-loaded models such as these. They are fragile.

If you have the .40, then you would absolutely love the .90! Does everything soooo much better.

-Tom

Thanks for the tips TT2...

After close inspection of the wing ribs and previous servo mounts, I feel that they are strong enough to fly without any additional work.

Now its off to strengthen my Funtana .40.
Last week the stock engine mount broke in half, lucky I got it down without ripping the engine completely off...
much like Vtol_guy... could have been disaster....


thanks again

vtol_guy, your last post came in as I was typing mine. I am in nearly total agreement with you. I don't know about H9 replacing all planes that have had flutter problems (the causes for the flutter are too numerous and most are from people not following H9's recommendations), but I do agree that the part about flying 'faster precision' should be amended / deleted from any advertising. It is quiite misleading.

One look at the massive ailerons on the F90 would quickly clear up your vision! The gear trains simply can't handle the stress...especially when it's flown at a speedy pace. I generally use 'overkill' (thus more expensive) servos. Cheap insurance if you ask me. It's not sensible to try and save $100 on servos if it's going to cost you a $200 plane plus lots of bench time. My opinion...

Drink one for me! I'd email you one if I could! We're all in this together.

-Tom

I have had my eye on the funtana 90 and finally broke down and bought it. While I was assembling it read many of the post on and made some of the changes people had bean suggesting, and the first flight ended tragically after about 90 seconds. I hadn't even gotten the plane trimmed out yet, I was on about my third pass down the run way flying a little under half throttle and on all low rate when the aileron started to flutter horribly. You could see that one of the aileron servos and the tray had pulled out of the wing. I tried to make it back to the run way but the plane snapped and i put it into the lake near by. I do have to say thought the plane does float very well. When we got the plane back to the field you could see where the tray hadn't broken loose it just came unglued, there were no pieces of rib still attached to the plate. The plane its self faired very well it only broke the cowl and the wing panel the the servo came out of, all thought it did strip the servo on the opposite wing but I'm pretty sure that was a result of the crash. I used Hitec 475's on the ailerons and elevator, and a Futaba 3010 on the rudder. I sealed all the control surfaces. for power I used a Webra 91 with a 16x4w. I did contact Horizon today they said to send it back and they will look at it and make a determination on the cause, I'm pretty confident they will correct the situation. So for every one who ins currently building one check your servo trays over very close before you fly.

I checked mine again and see CA residue on the wood, but wow.... Now I will check for the fourth time....
seems I am getting a little nervous about my next flight. My first went so, so last weekend.... I got it in the air
and wow it was wild... had a hard time with the trim... seemed my throws were more than I could handle for
the first flight... brought it down okay, but cut the throws to 25% of full... next flight hopefully will go without any
problems... I will look one more time around the servo areas, but feel they are good... but still nervous...

sorry about your loss... I followed everyones advise too.... hope I got all good info.....

good luck getting the replacement.....

i sent mine back after all that had happened and kris said he had only heard of one case where this has happened before im sure the calls are rolling in now he is going to inspect my damaged plane and let me know the out come next week i hope i hear good news from him

jeremy

Maybe I have an F 90 from a later run because I can't find any of the problems with the ribs and servo trays also my manual is full of warnings about flutter, there is at least three warnings in seperate spots in the manual. I think I have a couple of Hitec 615 metal gear servo's that I'll use on the ailarons and a 645 on rudder with a 6.v pack but I'll just run 605's on the elevators. To me this is a $200.00 dollar box of fun so I'm not getting carried away with using digitals and I might be the first guy to try an O.S. 1.60 on his fun fun FUN-tana.

i finally heard from horizon today and kris is a great guy im sorry if i was negitive about horizon but they did me right i should see a new plane as soon as the next shipment comes in there was one thing he noticed that not all of the hinges set very well with ca so im going to use the robarts next time great job for horizon and thanks kris

jeremy

I have seen 3 H9 Funtana 90 wings fall apart...some built "by the book" and some with better metal gear servos and carbon fiber pushrods... didn't make a difference. There is so little glue and the wood they used really seems crappy to me.

A poorly built POS if you ask me.. I wouldn't buy one at half the price - its a servo and engine killer.

DP

I agree they are built poor but as long as mine is flying I will fly it. but if it crashes I will not get another. I have put mine through hell in the last few weeks though and i will enjoy it while it lasts [8D]

Ps If i did do another I would rip all that blue off the wing and do my on special brand of reinforcing and fly it with a YS 110( like i hate it[X(]

I would like to know the length of a jr 215 servo arm from center of mounting screw to outermost hole. The f90 manual says to use these arms with the pushrod connected to the outermost hole. I have a suspicion that this setup will give a bad mechanical advantage. I have Hobbico heavy duty arms and the provided clevises have slop in them due to the pin being smaller than the hole in than servo arm. After reading about all the failures, I've decided to sell mine before I fly it. I will also do all I can to make sure I have put my best effort into making it flyable.

Jeremy,

Where do you fly around Cedar Park? Did you ever post the video of the crash? Mine blew up in mid air but I didn't get a video.

Gary in San Antonio