I just received my Hangar 9 Aresti 40 yesterday. Opened the box last night & checked for damage. Everything looks good except the vertical fin is warped bad. the rudder, horizontal stab & elevator halves all seem to be straight and they were all packed on the same piece of cardboard.

Has anyone else had this problem ? Should I try to straighten it with shrinking the covering ( it seems to be too bad for that)

Any help will be appreciated.

Eddie KD5RJQ swlarcham
e-mail : [email protected]

Call Hangar 9. I remember in the past about guys having damaged spars and etc with their ARF's. Hangar 9 replaced them no questions asked. Seem like a good company to me. JT

Mine was warped, too. Not too bad. I went ahead and used it. It takes about 3/16" rudder offset to get a straight loop. I think I'll try the heat gun on it.

Fix it or send it back.

I was in the same boat as BGI, unfortunately it wasn't noticed until it too late.
Mine took allot of rudder trim to correct, I also added more thrust to keep it straight on full power vertical up-lines. But, this really hurt other areas especially knife edge. Mine is currently tossed in the back of the shop, less engine & servo's. I will eventually cut out the stab and replace it. I threw the aresti together in two days---never again will I hurry.....Dave

So whats up with hanger 9's ARF's? it seems as though lately their product quality has been diminishing.

Randy

Thanks guys for your advice .
I called horizon and explained the warped vertical fin. The person I spoke to said " I'll send you a new tail section"
He didn't ask me to send the bad one back.
I'm waiting on it now (should arrive middle of the week)
I was very pleased with the response.

Eddie

Since this is my first post-trainer bird, I think I'll leave it as it is for the extra drag - this plane doesn't want to slow down! It may take me a year of flying to notice the problems on uplines as Dave described.

My vertical fin was straight but I also needed quite a bit of right rudder to keep it flying straight, so I dont think the warped vertical fin is causing that

Mine takes right rudder to do a straight loop.

I know the fin is warped left a bit - it's visible.

I wonder what's the deal with yours? This is interesting.

I don't remember the direction of warp.
i'll look at it tonite.
I got the replacement tail set & the fin's straight -but the stab is warped - glad the original stab is good :-)

BGI,
You said this was your first post-trainer bird. How nervous were you when you took it out for the first time? The reason i ask, is i bought an aresti second hand, and it will be my first post-trainer bird as well. If the throws are within spec(wich leads me to another question later in the post) and level with all other surfaces should it be fairly easy to trim out and get stable? And how hot should i expect to come in for the landings in comparison?

Im still a fairly new pilot. Ive only done about 30 flights on my trainer, but ive been behind realfight since november for at least an hour a day. Ive rebuilt my trainer wing with 0 dihedral so i am comfortable with rolls and loops, and the occasional tail slide.

Then my other question is, while resetting throws for S/R and D/R i cant get the full 2 1/2" throws from the rudder. I can get 1 1/4" max in the direction of the clevis and 2" in the opposite direction. any ideas?

I guess anyone can answer the latter question.

Thanks all
-Rich

Rich,

Maiden? Knees knocking because it was so dang fast. I think most of that was fear of crashing in front of an audience. I believe I flew the maiden - it was some time back.

I can't offer any assurances on ease of trimming because it may be out of trim even with the surfaces looking in-line. My "newbie" trimming approach was to simply:
1) ignore the stick center positions and fly the plane with whatever inputs necessary to keep it steady.
2) get the throttle to about 2/3 and leave the left stick alone while I:
3) Fly with the right thumb while my:
4) left index finger fixes the trims.

How hot it comes in will depend pretty much on how much time you give it to slow down AND where the CG is. Compared to the trainer, it takes some time to bleed off speed.

It's VERY stable with the CG at H9's forward recommended setting while displaying no tip-stalling tendancies. Even with the CG that far forward, it can come in slower than you may think is possible. But it will not fly as slow as a trainer. Try some stalls at altitude before you bring it in to get an idea. Some folks reported tip-stalling with CG moved back. No surprise there. Check H9's website for updates to throws and CG before you fly. My manual had an addendum with updates to throws and CG. You don't want surprises the first time out!

Be sure to takeoff with high rates. My first takeoff was on low rates (DOH!) and almost didn't have enough elevator to do the job. Dang near ran outta runway.

I've heard that it has a nose-over tendancy in grass, but haven't witnessed this.

Put some scuff guards on the wingtip undersides.

It goes right where you point it.

Rudder throw: Are the rudder horn holes lining up horizontally with the hinge line while at neutral? If not, fix it - that would explain the problem. Which hole in the horn are you using? I think I'm using the 2nd one from the hinge line.

I used an OS 46FX with supplied motor mount (heavy) and battery tucked under the turtledeck. This put the CG at H9's forward spot.

I fixed the fin with an iron. That was so easy.

lemme know if I can be of assistance with anything else.

I have the option for flaperon. Would this be advisable to help reduce stall speed during landings? Or should i just use this function for aileron differental?

and in addition i have another question. Im trying to balance cg on this plane. Is this a royal pain for everyone or is it just me?
I know on my trainer, when i put on on the cg stand, it will stay on the stand and be within a range. I guess in short it wont fall off. The Aresti, i put it on the stand, hold it till its somewhat level, and let go. It will stay there for maybe a second max then either tip to the nose or tip to the tail. (mind you this is after adding 4oz. of weight to the tail.) again i bought this second hand so i thought it was done already. Good thing i checked it before flying.
I also want to make sure that manufacturer recommended cg is 3 1/4 - 3 1/2" from LE.?.?. (i think it balances out somewhere at 4 1/2 - 5" now)

Thanks
-Rich

put it on the CG machine upside-down.

Hangar9 recommends 3-1/2" to 3-3/4" from the wing LE at the fuselage. If yours balances 4-1/2" back, you're in for a ride. Remove some tail weight or add some nose weight.

BGI,
Thanks for the help with that. I finally got it balanced out to the 3 1/2" mark. and i didnt have to add any extra weight. Wahoo. So tomorrow will be the maiden flight. ill report back how it goes if anyone wants to know. You may have installed the pack behind the turtledeck differently than i did so i decided to take a pic of it so others can use or modify the design.





I hope my work bench isn't that far off cleanliness wise than others in this group. Otherwise i will feel all "dirty and everything"

Again, Thanks for the help.

-Rich