RE: fusion?
FYI, I flew my big Fusion yesterday. This plane is going to be my favorite VERY soon. I've always loved my super Kaos 60, but when 3D came along, it got stuck in the rafters. This plane really does it all. After I flew Mike's at Nashbro last fall, I had high very high hopes and now that I have my own I can take more chances, and is hasn't disappointed. I'm now bringing her down low and doing all the stuff the rest of my profiles do, but when I want to eat up the sky in a big smooth way, the Fusion jumps at the chance. Like y'all are saying, it's a nice neutral plane with absolutely no bad habits. I stuck with the recommended throws and it's a lot of fun.
As you can see, I spared no expense:
Saito 125 GK
Master Airscrew 16x6 scimitar snug inside red Dubro 2x3/4" spinner
2 JR 3421 minis on elevators
2 JR 9411's on ailerons
1 Hitec 5945 on rudder
1 HS 225 for throttle
Jeff williams gear
Sullivan 10-21 lb tailwheel
Dubro axle shafts.
It weighs 6 lbs 15 oz. I'm going to add wheel pants just for fun and to keep the mud off the wing bottoms on rainy days so that should come to about 7 lbs 2 oz.
I'm a believer in lighter is better for powered planes. I have 2 super Kaos 60's. One I built from a kit came out 6.6 lbs, the other I scratch built and it was 5.75 lbs. The lighter one was a lot more fun to fly for me. If the turbulence gets too bad at the power field, I just go slope soaring where heavier flys better.
The ARF kit is a very good deal. The instructions are good, although the hardware comes with a few items I didn't use and don't know what they're for. I used all the supplied hardware except for the tailwheel, elevator joiner, some misc bolts which were too short or didn't fit for my substitutions listed.
These are the only issues I found:
1) glue not adhering wing tube sleeve at root rib
2) hatch cover didn't fit. Improvised and installed nylon screws at corners
3) vertical stab needed sanding to fin and slightly misaligned resulting in no clearance for rudder at vertical junction. Sanded to fit
4) two ribs were cracked/slightly crushed. I pushed back the pieces into place and CA'd. No big dea, but it is wise to check this
5) minor trim misalignments and tendency to peel due to lack of heat in initial application
The covering they used is different. It is low temp like Ultracote, but the pigment is in the glue (it gets on your iron) like Monokote. Overall they did a very nice job and the plane looks sharp.
My main concern now is to get the motor broken in and then jump to 30% fuel leaned out a little. It's awesome now with 15%, but the future looks even brighter.
She's my new "best gal" and she's going to get flown a LOT!