suitcase

My Feedback: (1)

Hi everyone. After reading these posts I'm wondering if I made a mistake getting a F40. I need everything to get it in the air so please tell me what servos you're using and what mods. My experience with thick leading edges is that they make the plane fly well. What's wrong with the wing as it comes? Which engine would be the best. OS 60FX, Saito 82, or YS 63? How would each balance. Does it come out tail heavy? I haven't got it yet, it's on the way. What should I look for as to the wing?

T.W.

suitcase: I've got a Saito 100 fitted to mine, and it works-out just great - I'm sure that the .82 would be ok too. But I can't speak for the other engines you mention as I haven't used them myself. I've just re-balanced my Funtana at 6-inches (I've recently been flying it at 6.25, which was just a little too tail-heavy for me). There's no difficulty achieving the full range of manufacturer's recomended balance points just by moving-around the Rx and battery (not with my model anyway). I'm using Futaba 148 servos, but I suspect a more powerful ruder servo would be a good idea and I will probably do this at some stage

My own Funtana's leading edge was too blunt and this made it an absolute pig to fly. Modifying the leading edge cured this completely (and if you want to do the same I can send you an email showing exactly what I did). But I've seen another Funtana which flies just fine "as-is," so I'd try flying yours before doing any mods. If you find that it stalls far too easily you probably need to modify your leading edge, if it flies ok then you got a good 'un!

Tony

suitcase

My Feedback: (1)

Hi TW thanks for the quick response. Oh,, I see you're in the UK and I posted last night at 11pm.lol Please do mail me the info. I would hate to crash this thing on maiden. I've done that two time before. Once with a US 120 lite with a G26, and once with a Vector Flight Extra 300. The 300 didn't get but about 40 yards away and went nuts. Anyway, a friend gave me the wing off of his crashed F40 and it has little damage. The ailerons are enormous for a plane this size, so I'm thinking they will need higher torque servos than 148s.? I have standard servos on my Twist, but higher torque on my other planes, Mayhem 60 and Jerry's Big Boy. I like the HS 645MG and 6V batteries. It gives about 133oz/in of power. Not extremly fast but very strong. Drop me a line @, [email protected]. Thanks.

T.W.

suitcase: The instructions are on their way to you - if for any reason they don't arrive just let me know as it's no problem to re-send them. As long as your balance point is somewhere within the manufacturer's recomendations there should be no danger of stalling and crashing - especially as you are now aware that you need to "watch-out" for a vicious stall. If you discover that yours stalls too easily just keep the speed up when landing. After modding the wing I've found that I can just about bring my Funtana to a standstill as it touches-down in a breeze - and there's no-way I could even get close to this using the un-modded wing

I think that 148's are ok for the ailerons (for normal 3D stuff - and the roll-rate is phenominal!). But I really think I'm going to need a bit more power from the rudder servo during knife-edge. I just changed the linkage a little today, making it so that there's a slight mechanical advantage leverage-wise. But this may not be enough. Time will tell

Tony

Jimmy Hoffa

My Feedback: (3)

Doing the wing mod is not necessary prior to a maiden flight. Even with the "bad" wing, the F40 is still very flyable. The mod just removes a particular high speed stall trait and makes it a better plane.
Phillip

T.W.

Phillip: In the case of my Funtana the snappy-stall happened at "all" speeds. But, seeing-as it's now "expected" to stall, it really shouldn't be responsible for a crash during the maiden flight. I admit that mine almost caught me out, but I was expecting my Funtana to be a "normal 3D-type flier!"

Tony

T.W.

suitcase: I just received this from the "postmaster": This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification. Delivery to the following recipients failed: [email protected]

I just sent the instructions again. Please let me know if they arrived ok

Tony

agbjarn

I noted on my Funtana 40 to-night while installing the radio that the leading edge about 1/3 from the root is almost flat! It is more pronounced on the right wing.

I am using Futaba S3050 servos for alierons, elevator and rudder.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXFKZ7&P=ML

Engine is Saito 82

Agust

T.W.

That sounds like my original wing! I also noticed that the shape of the leading edge changed every few inches too (but not in the way it's supposed to change). Then, after stripping-off the original 1/8-inch balsa l.e., I could see that the depth of the wing varied along it's span too - even worse: both panels were thicker at the tips than at the root! No wonder my Funtana was "snappy," eh? Hope yours turns-out to be an ok flier

Tony

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Suitcase,
In regards to your engine question (Post 201) the Saito .82 flies it very nicely... You'll appreciate it a lot.

I had to add some weight to the tail, perhaps about 21 grams (3/4 oz?) In retrospect, for more extreme 3D, you might not have to put all (or even some) of that weight back there.

You'll like the .82 a lot.

Bob

T.W.

Bob: Can you tell me where your balance point is and how your model flies please?

With a Saito 100 up front, no extra weight on the tail, and the battery alongside the throttle servo, I'm guessing that my model's balance point must be considerably different to yours, and I'm wondering how they compare flight-wise. Having said this, I still haven't flown mine at this setting as I have only recently changed it

Tony

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

My balance point is right in the middle of the recommended range (I forget that distance, but can look it up for you).

The model flies well, but I'm thinking about moving the balance point back about 1/2 inch and increasing the control throws. It's a little 'too' stable. I did that intentionally until I was able to get used to the plane.

I also reinforced the LG area and hold the LG on with nylon screws, if that info is of any help to you.

I wonder how much difference there is in the weight of the .82 vs the .100?

Did I answer the question OK or were you looking for some other info?

Bob

T.W.

Thanks Bob, that's great information. I think there's a weight difference of 88g between our engines. But it's the actual balance point and what effect it has on the flying characteristics that's interesting me at the moment. We seem to be in a very similar position right now - we're both looking for the best balance point for our Funtanas!

The official CG is 5-5/16 to 5-11/16. At 6-1/4 inches my model flew fine, but the landings were quite difficult to "get spot-on," so I've recently moved the battery forward giving me a balance point of 6-inches. I think this will work-out ok, although I need some flying time (and that also means that I need some flying weather too ) in order to do more test flights

One thing I have noticed throughout all my tests so far is that I've been completely unable to persuade my Funtana to "spin around it's cg," as in a waterfall - no matter where I've set the balance point. I wonder if anyone has managed to get a Funtana 40S to do this maneuver - then again, perhaps I'm expecting too much of this model?

Tony

skull1971

Yes mine will waterfall, no problem. I have read most of this thread, and thought these guys must be nuts! my F40 is one of my favorite planes, it shows none of the bad habits ya'll talk about, no stalls, wobbles, or anything, oh and all this with a OS .46 AX 12-4 apc.

Then I did a bad thing, I thought about it, mine is about 3 years, or older, I've had it for 2, and the person I got it from had it at least a year. When I got it, it was in a trash bag, fuse broke in half. and a wing tip dinged. I rebuilt it, reinforced the fuse, and just had to make a rib for the wing. So to get to the point, I never flew it pre crash, only after I redid it, so maybe I did something to correct some of the bad habits. Cg and all thother setups, are by the book.


P.S. Inverted flat spin? no problem!

T.W.

skull1971: Maybe yours was ok right from the start! I'm wondering if it's only the recently-produced Funtana's which have got the incorrent leading edge - especially after I just witnessed a two-year-old one flying great exactly as it came out of the box

Mine will flat spin either way up without any difficulty too. It also does a really good blender (and most other stuff too). But so far it has resisted all my attempts at waterfalls (which I've have no problems with other model in the past). Maybe my balance is too far to the rear?

Tony

skull1971

Just looking at mine, it's alittle heavy in the front end. At first I had 2 ounces in the nose, put it on the motor mount, it would not hover, it would just roll off. Now with 1 ounce it's a joy, it'll do most anything you want. Maybe its the saito 100? I had a 40 U Stick, flew it for almost 2 years with 46's on it, switched to a Rossi 60, balanced it to the book. It flew ok, power for days, but it just seemed heavy and flew sloppy. Just a thought

T.W.

Thanks Eric. Maybe I should try putting the balance point where it's supposed to be!

Tony

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Tony,
Thanks for that email. It made it. I had to do a little 'cut & paste' to save it to a Word file, but it's done.

I'm curious about all the chatter about the F40 build quality. My F40 is a little over 2 years old and I was very impressed with the build quality on mine. I've never had a bad H9 plane, though I have removed all TH planes from my inventory, by one method or another.

I was thinking about getting another H9 (mine has been used with a Saito .82, then converted to electric, etc., then back again). Perhaps I might just re-work this one.

As some of you have stated, maybe there is a difference in the early-build models and the ones that are showing up now. Perhaps they changed manufacturer's?

Anyway, thanks for the wing mod.

Bob

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

Tony, mine would waterfall only with the spoileron mix. The same with the F50x. It also needs a bunch of down ELEV. I run about 55-60 degrees. I never thought about the rearward CG hurting the Waterfall. I guess I thought like most 3D stuff the rearward Cg would help.

David

T.W.

Thanks for this guys. Bob: Glad the instructions arrived this time - but sorry you had to edit them. Maybe I just got a "one-off" badly-built Funtana, but it was "so" badly-built that I've just received my compensation: a brand new H9 Twist for the sum of one penny! I have to say that the build quality of this one looks every bit as excellent as I'd expected my Funtana to be

David: I had a Cougar 2000 a while ago, and it wouldn't waterfall either. Then I changed the engine to a slightly heavier and more powerful one - and waterfalls suddenly happened. I didn't have to use all the available power and changed nothing else, so I assumed that it was the slight change of cg that made all the difference. I'm going to try doing this anyway . . . right after I've tried using spoilerons and making sure I have as much elevator deflection as possible (both of which I just hadn't thought about trying in relation to the waterfall). I'll let you know how I get on with this just as soon as I can get back to the flying field

Tony

skull1971

Tony,
You'll love the Twist, I have one with a saito 82, way overpowered! but a blast. Set the cg tail heavy, set the throws as far as they'll go on hi rates and enjoy!

T.W.

Thanks Eric - will do as you say! I'll be fitting a Saito .72 . . . . enough power, maybe? Right now I'm turning the underside into a checker-board, so that I'll be able to tell mine from all the others down at the strip!

Tony

skull1971

LOL, I put large fluorescent stripes on mine. [sm=lol.gif] You know what they say, about great minds and all.

Don't know anything about the 72, what prop would you run on it? My friend runs a 14-4 apc, while I have a 13-8 with the 82's, the only difference is mine is faster on the top end. We have a running bet going, who ever lands the best, the other has to buy the cokes that day. Last weekend he knocked the engine out of his, and I got the landing gear, a draw. Just one more thing I put nylon 8-32 screws on the landing gear, it really saves the bottom of the fuse if you bump in to hard.

suitcase

My Feedback: (1)

sorry I gave the wrong addy. it's [email protected]

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Glad that things worked out for you Tony,

And, as the others are already saying, you're going to love that Twist...

I have one with a Saito .56 in it (just to use as a sport plane) and love it... You're going to like it too... but sorry that you had such trouble with your F40. Overall, in regards to ARF's, I prefer H9 to TH any day of the week.

Let's all go out and fly our planes.

Bob