djwalker

My Feedback: (1)

The guys at the shop don't know what they're talking about. The 16x6 will be fine for your setup. I believe the YS110 and Saito 150 are similar in power output, and I run a 17x6 on mine.

You should definitely beef up the landing gear mount. Mine ripped out in a not-so-fantastic landing on my second flight. Luckily, the overall damage was minor. Also, I would pin the firewall.

I installed the Sullivan tailwheel, but ultimately, I didn't like it. It was a bit too 'wobbly' for my taste. I ended up installing a DPM Ultra Leafspring tailwheel, which is VERY nice but adds 1/2 ounce over the Sullivan. The Sullivan should work fine though... just be sure to use the stiffer supplied spring.

The Hitec people told me to stay away from karbonite gears for larger planes. I've heard too many reports of the gears stripping under load. I chose metal gear servos (HS-5625MGs) for all control surfaces. All of the gear trains are solid with no slop, but I know they'll loosen up a bit over time. The karbonites may work fine, but I just wouldn't risk using them on a plane that already seem susceptible to flutter problems.

The Robart hinges are too large for the F90. There just isn't enough wood inside the wing to grab the barbs. I didn't like the really small Robarts either as they don't have the metal pin hinge. I ended up using some similar hinges from Great Planes. They had metal pins, more barbs than the Robarts, and worked perfectly for the F90. (I still used the jig that came with the package of larger Robarts for drilling the holes.) I used Gorilla Glue to mount them, which works like a charm to create a VERY solid connection. Gorilla Glue does require a bit of babysitting, however, to wipe away the excess glue as it foams. There is a good article on how to install Robart-type hinges with Gorilla Glue on RCU. Since installing my hinges, I've become a big fan of Gorilla Glue for certain applications.

tIANci

Just wanna ask something ... what is the difference in performance between the 16x6 and 16x4W, other than the 4W being slower. I got both props but have been too lazy to install the 16x4W. Thanks.

djwalker

My Feedback: (1)

I've never tested a 16x4W, but the 16x6 gives almost 2lbs of thrust WOT over the 17x4W. The 17x6 gives a bit more than 1lb of thrust over the 17x4W. I think those numbers are correct... check the engine thread for my results if you're interested. I'm too lazy to go look.

I suspect the 16x4W will rev much too high for the 110 and produce quite a bit less thrust overall. I doubt it'll be a keeper. Then again, the only way to know for sure is to install one and do some measurements and/or fly with one.

emnm79

My Feedback: (5)

I agree, there isnt much wood to grab the barbs on the surfaces, so I was thinking maybe I would cut the clear coating from the surface, glue some balsa in to give more wood for the barbs to grab, and then re cote it, as the clear coating is really hard to notice a patch on...

drumbum

My Feedback: (1)

one thing i noticed with 16x6 as compared to 17X4 besides thrust. is that a 17x4 will give you a little more range between pulling foreward and falling back on throttle in a hover wich i like. and in a rolling harrier the 17x4 makes it a little softer when you have to blip the throttle to keep high Alpha. that is why i prefer to loose a little thrust to flying improvements. also depends on weight of plane . for heavy , say over 9LBS i think the 16x6 would probaby be my choice, on lighter 17x4 would.. just have to try both and see wich you like best

islandflyer

Sullivan Tail wheel:

Mine was too flemsy at first, especially on our not-so -smooth grass field. Then I switched to the 12 to 20 lbs model of Sullivan tail wheel, and it has been solid ever since.
I have been flying this plane for almost a year now ( in rotation with larger gassers ), and I love the plane.
Our field just got spot covered with a layer of fresh dirt to fill some dips, so I am back with the F90 that is easy to spot land with no more than a 2 or 3 foot rolling distance. The gassers would too easily roll into the soft dirt.

tIANci

Thanks for the replies!

E*nealio

My Feedback: (10)

Heres a couple pictures of my setup now. I like the two line setup for ease of use, just put an extra round of fuel tubing around the connection point(see picture) and make sure you have good seals everywhere. Definetly seal the ailerons, the rudder and elevator are hard and dont really need it if you fly the plane at lower speeds(like it's supposed to be flown, not full bore downlines and all.... a never with a funtana). I have put my throttle servo up front and mounted my rudder servo up and put a pull pull unit on it. Works great, i didnt need any nose weight to balance it at 7 1/4( a little back from 1/8", works great, but keep it a little nose heavy for the first flights, to get used to the plane and all. I used 5625's on all control surfaces execpt the rudder where I used a 5645. On 6 volts these are fast, good little servos. Never had a problem with em. I have the on my 80" cap 232 and they work great. I also put a set of CF tall gear on the plane so that i could safetly swing a bigger prop, i loke the 16*6 but have yet to try the 17*4, which i hear is great on the YS. I came out at 8 lbs 15 oz.....much better than my first FT90 which was 9 lbs 12 oz...... Lead is the enemy, if you can avoid using it, dont use it and work with it. I'm currently waiting on a new servo and reciever. I put my Reciever in my Cap 232 for now and had to use the servo for my choke of my DA, so i havent flown her in a week or two. Hoping to get my Cap up soon.Good luck with the setup. Here are those pictures.....the one of the cowl/spinner, look close at the tubing going to the nipples on the motor, they have ring of tubing clamping them to the nipples to securely hold the tubing to them. It works great in that application and for T-fittings, I avoid the mettle twistee's at all costs because they can cut into the tubing making the problem worse, Good luck once again.
Nealio

E*nealio

My Feedback: (10)

One other thing, all my hinges are done with hingepoints. I havent really jumped in head first with these CA hinges. I had a bad experience with them a while back. Havent really recovered from it, more or less my Extra didnt really recover from it....haha, just kidding. But the CA hinges failed on me once before(delaminated off the plastic center, the fuzzy white stuff came off, and my surfaces when flying....not cool at all. Hinge points are easy and the FT90 has plenty of wood for them to grab on to. I just havent looked back.....hinge points are great. I have a box of all the CA hinges that come with my Arf's. Havent used a one. Just an opinion. From what i've seen outside of my "isolated incident" the CA hinges work great. Good luck,
Nealio

emnm79

My Feedback: (5)

Which hinge points did you use? I wanted 3/16 but the lhs got the combo pack of 1/8 and the drill jig...

E*nealio

My Feedback: (10)

i used the same kind that you recieved in the combo bag. They work fine, the smaller ones, you will have to double the amount of points or put a few more in if you were to use the large ones. I havent had any problems at all. Good luck
Nealio

tIANci

Whoever is building the F90 please ensure that you move the tank further back ... I noticed the difference between FULL and HALF tank ... oh well ... time to do some mods.

J.R uk

Hey im useing a 110 in mine have noticed no changes in cg in flight and my tank is in front of wing tube, your gonna need small hands to get ya wing bolts in with the tank behind the wing tube lol, my cg in 7 1/2 inch behind Le im useing 3 futaba Hd 3308 servos and one digey s3050 on rudder and a hitec mini thing on thorrltle see pics, ive never seen any reason to seel the gaps as in my exp does not make a blind bit of differnce as long as you dont have a massive gap between your ailrons and wing , im useing the ca hinges that come with the kit no probs theres a lots of hinges keeps all the services true and strong so deflection is good !

T. Bob

My Feedback: (9)

16' X 6" APC
Don't use the stock tank
3 line on the tank don't use the fuel dot (KISS)
No pull pull needed put the servo in the tail.
It's a nice plane for the size.
I have over 150 flights on mine and it's holding together and I don't treat it that well.

E*nealio

My Feedback: (10)

If you go to the hobby shop and look at the different nylon bolts they sell a bolt that has a hex end to it that you can tighten with a socket wrench. Thats what i use to tighted my screws. I didnt use the stock tank, i went down to a sullivan seamless 16 oz instead of the H9 17 oz, no difference at all. Just like the Sullivan tanks a little better than the H9. Seams and all are good on a pressurized tank, even if someone tells you it rarely happens, it happens to you at least once.....no matter what. So just go with the seamless tank for another 12 bucks, you will save yourself a lot of time and money in the long run. Hope this helps.
Nealio

E*nealio

My Feedback: (10)

The tank behind the tube puts the tank right on the CG, Which makes this plane fly the same the whole entire flight . If you want to make this plane perform at its peak, go the extra couple feet(haha not a mile)....its well worth its. Its not cool to just keep it together and fly it, you want it to perform, and plus you have invested a bit into it seeing as you put the YS on it, so take your time, once again, it will be worth it. I love my Ft90
Nealio

emnm79

My Feedback: (5)

Picked up the plane yesterday, everything looks good, but there are a couple issues... the covering job sucks. there are wrinkles everywhere, I know they can't get it perfect, and it usually never is, but most of these are pretty big, and it looks like most of them will end up as small creases after ironing, and one of my wing fillets has a hole in it, the balsa sheeting under the covering has a hole, it looks like someone used scrap balsa to cover it, and there is a small divit in the fillet, I ironed some wrinkles around the hole and its a little better, so I'm going to put it on... Both the horizontal and vertical stabs were way off alignment, and after sanding, epoxy, squaring, and taping them in place, I'm just hoping that they dont come out crooked... Just checking over the wing I noticed what looks like a cracked/weak rib, I think I can drip Ca on it, its the next rib down from the servo rib, So far I'm not impressed at all with hangar 9 on quality here... could have been shipping, oh well...

tIANci

EMNM - I think you got a real lemon, change it! Mine was like almost perfect except for my cracked cowling on the inlet holes. Maybe its because it only travelled from China to Malaysia ... my pal's had a cracked rib though.

emnm79

My Feedback: (5)

crap.

I just checked out the hor. and vert stabilizers... It took so much force from the tape to get everything into alignment that the horizontal stabilizer is crooked, about 1/8 to one side in the rear, centered in the front... I used 30 min epoxy, at about 7:00, everything was taped up in about 15 minutes, checked at 7:30 and 8, and 9 (package says 2 hours handling time), is there anything I can do about this? I can only think of cutting into the joint, or some kind of debonder that wont hurt the wood... the vertical stabilizer is also off a few degrees...

emnm79

My Feedback: (5)

anyone?

BKH

My Feedback: (4)

About all you can do now is finish it and fly it. You should have straightened it up before you glued it in.....

drumbum

My Feedback: (1)

i dont understand what the tape was for... but on every ARF ive done with slide in stad and rudder.. i measured (MORE THAN ONCE) all angles then marked them to peel covering from area. then put them back and measure again repetedly. then when 100% sure used ALOT (dont be shy) of thin CA .. it is done.. the trick is to aplly it slowly and wait then apply then wait because if you just soak it it will run out of the other side and make a mess.. I have NEVER had a tailfeather to come off (in 1 piece)

emnm79

My Feedback: (5)

the tape was to keep the vertical stab straight, the precut slot was crooked... no way i'm building it with the stab this crooked...

drumbum

My Feedback: (1)

with epoxy i doubt you will get it back off in 1 piece. sounds like you should have done the hoizontal first and waited for it to dry . then the vertical since it was cut crooked and needed some special attention. but with 30 min epoxy you have plenty of time for measurements. i guess your tape was moving it from what it sounds like. your option may be to get another stab and redo it. you will probably need a dremel to get the part of the stab that will still be stuck to the fuse out. taking as little out as possible to make sure the new one has some whittle room for a nice fit and STRAIGHT

emnm79

My Feedback: (5)

yea, the horizontal wasn't fully set, felt like it , I managed to get the stab out, I stuck a flat exacto blade in, then a jigsaw blade, It isnt that loose, and there are only a few spots where balsa came off the stab, I think i'm going to put it back in, and let it sit for a few days before i touch it