RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

looks great upside down. I think I will do mine that way. I did my funtana 90 the same way. the YS-140 wouldnt set back far enough sideways and i still had to dremel off some of the mount to keep the carb linkage from binding on the mount screw.

Should be able to tell us soon weither it is nose or tail heavy:D

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

Is there enough "meat" for a screw in the top?

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

I just tried that Lee... the bulge just pushes one way or the other. It might work with like 19 screws :)

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

well thats not good...Maybee someone else knows a trick. seems to me the bludge wouls be caused from the sides having to be crushed in some. have you tried spacing the side a little or is it too tight?

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

The bulging-cowl... solved.

We just couldn't stand the bulge in the top of the cowl. So, we pulled the skin off back to 1/4" forward of the reach of the cowl down the side to the first white stripe. Then sanded a nice taper down to remove about 1/8" on the top edge of the firewall, blending the radii at the corners. Now it fits nice without binding while the spinner is centered in the cowl. Then, recover that top section with white Ultracote. With the cowl installed, you can't see the patch job at all.

Now we won''t be haunted by the eyesore... :D

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

Finally, the CG...

We "packed" the 600 mAH battery and Receiver into/under the servo rack with 1/2" foam, putting that stuff rear of the CG hoping to offset that big Saito 100 and the heavy mount. It'll stay there okay, but we'll make it better later with proper racks built in for that harware. With that, the CG is 4-1/2", dead-center of the 4-1/4" to 4-3/4" range the manual calls for. All up, we are dead on 8.0 pounds.

So, with a little fine-touch stuff done, we are ready to light this baby up and fly... Still debating the decals. She probably won't go up for two weeks though, going to China on business. Stay tuned...

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

that 8lbs is not good news for me. im putting a O.S. 91 4 stoke in mine. My U-Can-Do 90 had this motor in it. it weighs 8.2 LBS and will not hover because of power. the advertised weight is 6 to 7.5. A 91 will hover that weight... I hope their weight advertisements arent Bogus. I am going to use the stock mounts and horns. and the stock tank... I did a CC to OZ conversion. the tank is 10.9 oz. that is close to 12 by 1.1 oz. I have a 14 in my U can DO. It will fly 18 min. so my guess is 15 min with this tank. I am finally going to have time to start on it this weekend. I will try to get some pics up as i run in to bumps in the road.[8D]

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

well i got my wing halves joined today. I had to wait unill i got some heat shrink so I could make my servo extentions. I make all my own extentions and Ys now by soldering due to a Y harness failure that cost me a U-can-do 60 early this summer.. So anyway i made my extentions and put the servos in the wing. Test fitting the long joiner i found that i had to sand it alot just to get in each wing half. After i got it to fit both wings and mated them together I found out i had to sand a LOAD off each wing half to make them mate with out a 3/16 gap in the front and back. I joined them with 90 min epoxy so it will be untill tomorrow before i can continue since the rest of the tail relys on the measurements off the wing.

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

Bummer Lee... that problem wasn't present on our kit. Our spar slid in with no trouble, and the wing faces met up well enough that we just glued it up.

What did you do about those crushed ribs in the wing?

Sounds like there are more problems than we found, which wasn't a short list. Inconsistent quality not good.

I wonder if anyone has pointed BME at this message board thread... does anyone know? Seems they could learn a lot from our pain.

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

the crushed rib where on both sides . there is another rib right next to them within an inch. it is sheeted over the area. I couldn do anything unless i took the covering and the sheeting off the bottom.... I dont think its a crucial rib because if you look in servo lead hole most of the ribs in that area are ply. I will find out..

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

Anyone trying a YS 1.10?

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

Well I got a chance to try to work on my cap today. Now im really P*&&ed.. I proceeded to put the dowels in the wing and test fit with the fuse. There is a doubler at the hole. The inside doublers were off from the holes making my dowles protrude outwards not fitting in the fuse. So i drilled them straight and epoxied them in and put the wing on. as i went to bolt the wing on for a test fit before moving to the stab and glueing the ply to the rear of the wing. first thing i ran accross was my wing wouldnt fit in the cradle.. after working it for a while I got it to fit.Then I bolted it down and took measurements to the rear of the fuse.. On the right wing I get 43 1/4 on the left side i get 43 3/4.[:-] So i unbolted and made it so i get the same measurement on both sides.. I came up with 43 1/2. Turns out If i go through all the trouble it takes to make it straight it will be so far off that the graphics on the top side will be way different. I posted a picture of the bottom and i marked the center of the fuse with a pen so it can be seen.. NOTICE the wing join line how crooked it is when the measurements from both wingtips to rear of fuse is right..... I will call BME in the morning and ask ***!!

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

I called BME and the guy said that Arfs are sometimes 1/2" off just make sure the tail is even with the wings[sm=angry.gif] I tried that and my stab is so crooked that it is phisically noticeable. The fillets will not go in one side its so crooked and the other there is a BIG gap..the meaurements from elevator to the stab reveal that it is a 1/2" difference.. also under further inspection it looks like its the fuse that is crooked and it was that way when they cut the slot for the tail because that is crooked too.. so far there is only 1 step in the instructions where i did not have to do major mods.. my belly pan mated right up and matched the fuse. but the plane with the crookedness looks terrible... I am waiting on a reply from an E-mail from BME to see if they are going to take it back or am i just going to have to use this thing for firewood... I am not flying a plane that has a 1/2 inch warp in the fuse. i am pulling the servos out of the ailerons and throwing in the towel on this one[&o]

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

Max from Bme E-mailed me back today It seems they are going to make it right if i send it back. I am sending it back as soon as i can get it cut appart in a way that i can get it back in the box without making It hard to put back together to check measurements.. a Dremel with a cutoff wheel sould do it.. I really wanted to fly this plane but it looks like it wasnt my fate..

Im glad he didnt give the THATS TOUGH story that alot of retailers would..;)

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

Wow, Lee you got the runt of the litter. I wonder how the other guys are doing with thiers. Ours is done, just a little teardown, locktite work and reassemble, but with business travel and xmas we have it in the hanger still, waiting for the maiden. Maybe, weather permitting, this Sunday she will go up (and come down softly).

From your first complaints, I suspected a twisted fuse... it only made sense. I had that exact same problem on my second Funtana. H9/Horizon sent me out a new fuse the next day. Gave me a return tag for UPS, hardly slowed me down. Those guys were great. Kudos to H9, they really back thier product. Too bad BME isn't as good to thier customers. It's a bummer you have to send the whole thing back, and then wait for the replacement.

I hope you didn't have too many hours into it. I know we were ready to give up on the CAP Maniac several times, but all our problems could each be solved with an hour or three of extra work. Yours is really bad compared to ours. It's sweet now... looks great and is making us itch to fly. With so much work in her, I am a little apprehensive. Got some tuning issues with the Saito 100, so we will play a lot before she takes to the air. Not going to risk a deadstick on the maiden... been there, done that. The feild we fly is very unforgiving, small strip surrounded by fences. Too far out when the fire goes out, and you crash a deadstick because there are big dirt walls to block the ground view all around the field behind the fences. Once you are down to 5 feet behind the walls, you can't see the plane anymore.

What happened to the rest of you guys out there building this plane? Anyone flying yet? What challenges did you face?

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

I wish i could have gotten to fly mine. I just got upstairs from cutting mine up to ship back.. I have everything cut appart so BME will not have a hard time putting it back to see my problems. I think I am going to move on too a different plane.....

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

I'm sorry to hear you are giving up. I was hoping someone that knows how to 3D could measure the flight quality of this beast. I'm a rookie and will struggle to do any quality 3D and be a good judge of it's capabilities. It looks really good when it's ready to fly... We love the colors and lines.

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

Hi all.

Well I finally got my CAP and now don't have internet so its been a while since I have been able to post, and am posting on my aunts computer.

I have my CAP glued together and haven't run into any major problems except the fillets on the elevators, but I am going to add some small strips of balsa to get it all to fit.

Since I am planning on making the plane electric I am not to worried about exposed balsa, but will cover with Ultracote anyway.

I will have to double check if my wing is crooked with the fuselage but it looks fine and I haven't noticed any warps or unevenness of the wings. I was going to sand the spar down a tiny bit and CA carbon fibre strips top and bottom then add fiberglass tape the the wing center section but didn't and the wing seems to be plenty strong for regular 3D flying without any of the changes I was going to make.

I did notice the problem with the rudder pull-pull and the rear bulkhead and will probably use a brass tube or long drill bit to fix it.

As for the elevator I think I am going to use two dubro CF pushrods for each half, but am still debating on that. I am hoping for an AUW of roughly 7 lbs since the fuselage and wing w/o anything in it is 3.5 lbs. That leaves 3.5 lbs for the radio gear and electronics, not to promising, but I think obtainable.

I think the kit should be of higher quality because of the price, or priced similar to the Hangar 9 Funtana 90 (hopefully no flutter :D), but I think the kit will get better with time. Since I am such a big CAP fan I am willing to do some work to get this plane right, and unfortunately because of the cost of the power system it will be some time before I can finish the plane.

I did replace the very out of round main wheels and tailwheel and also used standard wheel collars.

All the other parts of my plane fit fine, belly pan rudder and all the rest.

This still looks like it will be a nice flying 3D bird and am actually thinking of building one the same size as the mini funtana, that should be a blast.

At any rate keep plugging along and I can't wait for some video of someone really wringing it out. Don't worry about the problems, if you guys are as big CAP fans as I am it will be well worth the issues we are having to make a Funtana competitor and a great flying 3D CAP.

Thanks for all the input and keep this thread going! :D

Matt

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

might be tight at 8 lbs trying hovering everything else should be fine

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

my wing wasnt warped.. After it was bolted down the measurement from the tips to the fuse was 1/2" off... If you allready have your stb on you would have measured it there anyway and shouldnt have a problem..

I shipped mine back today it was $62.40 for shipping[:-]

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

Checking in to see if anyone has gotten theirs flying. I got the engine installed and the cowl mostly cutout. Working on the CG with a friend of mine and he feels that
the CG may be off from BME. That 4.25 to 4.75 inchs is not correct. Wanting to know what CG you all set yours too and how it flies at that CG?
John

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

John,

We are waiting for a break in the weather and a little free time to take her on the maiden still. It's all ready to go, but mother nature and our schedules are not matching up very well.

We nailed dead center on the recommended CG range, 4-1/2". We'll let you know how she flies. I am not a hot-dog with the sticks yet, so a good 3D evaluation will not come from this builder (yet). However, I think we can judge if the CG is really bad. We have a lot of fuel up front, so tail heavy won't be obvious until we work up to running her dry. First flights will be short until we get a bead on the flying time from the 16 oz tank on this new Saito 100.

We'll fly with care based on your concern, as we don't want to splinter this beauty. We fly when Bill (plane owner) is ready... not me. Holidays have been busy, and two other planes in the hanger to play with too. Just finished a Hell Raiser electric and starting work on my new FuntanaS 90 :D, with a Saito 150 [>:]. Now practicing with AFPD, nice!

I would love to hear from someone flying this bird!

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

Tman,
I noticed from your engine installation pictures that you might run into a cooling problem with no exit holes for the air to escape that comes in from the front of the cowl. Good rule of thumb is a 3 to 1 ratio (3 times as much exit air as comes in). Good luck!

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

Thanks Jon... I asked that question in this thread way back, never got an answer. We'll open up some ports to keep her cool as you suggest. I have seen some pictures of some pretty cool vent designs, maybe we can be creative and do something unique. It's a shame to cut big gaping holes in that cowl and destroy the lines or the structural integrity. I see a lot of guys (mostly in videos) that seem to have little concern for the looks and just put big nasty holes.

So, in this install, do you count the opening for the head as an exit or an entry point for the airflow? It makes a big difference on how much exit venting we'll need to put into it.

I see the head cutout as an exit, as it seems the airflow will not inject into that point where it is just behind that ramp below the prop. That ramp looks like it needs to be made into an input vent to me. Your thoughts?

Thanks for the feedback. This thread was really active when we started... now it has died [:o] and we have little feedback to help us learn and improve.

RE: BME CAP Maniac
 

Thanks T,
I know what you are talking about the weather, my issue has bee finding time to finish the build.
Here are a few shots of my cowl with the Saito 100 installed.
I ended up using the flex pipe from Saito instead of the stock muffler, I will be clamping it some how to the
firewall. I just have not figured out how I want to do it.
John