RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

I haven't weighed it Xup but it feels heavy. The manual says to start with a CG at 4 1/2" and after you have become familiar with the plane, set it no further than 5 1/2". I thought I was right on the money being in the middle at 5". I guess I can try and add a little more weight to the nose before I fly it.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

Zippy, I am not sure if our two planes are quite the same, at 5 inch I an behind the recomended CG range for my version.

If yours states no more than 5 1/2 you will be fine to fly at 5"CG

Remember all the fuel is in front of the CG, this will put your CG well forward when the tank is full.(safe for first flight)

Fly it and see how it goes.

X

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

I flew mine at 5" and it is nose heavy with a full load of fuel onboard. Move the CG back 1/4" and it should fly fine.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

Thanks for the info flycatch. The CG is right at 5" so I'll test fly it that way and see how it is. I haven't even fired the engine up yet. I hope I have no trouble with the ST G90 being inverted. If all goes well and I can run at least 4 tanks of fuel through the engine before Sunday, up she goes baby :D:D:D

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

Word of advice for your first FCF (functional check flight). Use factory reccomended low rates than after the first or second flight switch to high rates, one axis at a time. The rudder, elevator and airleron authority on this plane is exceptional. Throttle management is a must. All manuvers are done at 1/2 or 1/4 throttle setting. Watch your AOA and airspeed doing harriers.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

Thanks for the advice flycatch. I have her all finished and ready to fire it up but thought I would post a few pics of the finisned product. I have no way to weigh the plane but I would say it's a little over 6Lbs.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

I ran 4 1/2 tanks of fuel through the engine and had to tweak the low end to get a good idle but other than that, the Super Tigre G90 purrs like a kitten. Even at a low idle running the APC 14X4W prop the plane will not stop from rolling. At our field we have both concrete and grass runways. I alway use the concrete for take offs and landing but with this plane I will have to use the grass to control the take offs and landings just to get it to slow down. I bought the 2!QUOT! True Turn spinner that holds the bigger APC props and the Adapter Kit I got for the ST G90 would not fit. The nut that came with the kit would not tighten all the way down onto the supplied washer. I put the stock washer on top of the prop, then the washer that came with the kit on top of that, then the adapter nut and tightened it down. I had to cut the bolt off that holds the cone in place. Didn't know what else to do, it seems fine after 4 1/2 tanks of fuel. She's heading for the blue Sky's in the morning :D:D:D

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

I put 5 flights on it this morning and what can I say but, what a plane. It took off at less than 1/2 throttle and needed two clicks of right trim and a lot of up trim. It was really nose heavy with the CG at 5 inches but flew really nice. The Super Tigre G90 and APC 15X4W prop performed like it knew they belonged there, nice idle, good mid range, and what a top end for vertical. This plane would hover at just a little over half throttle but I was running it pretty rich. The transparent red on top and bottom of the wing seemed to be a problem for me and I lost it once or twice. I'll be putting some yellow strips on the bottom of the wing before any other flights. On knife edge flight, the plane wanted to couple toward the canopy and that can be fixed with a little more lateral balancing and getting the CG in the sweet spot. I would say that it landed like a trainer but it was a little faster than that but for the size and weight, it was nice. I didn't see any bad characteristic's at all in the day of flying. All in all, it's a keeper.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

Another convert to this fantastic plane. Your CG is to far forward. I have a similar problem with a full tank of fuel. I'll be switching over to a NIMH 6 volt flat pack saving 2.5 oz of weight over the NICADs. This should move the CG aft by 1/8 of an inch. I'm also considering swapping out engines from the .60 installed to a .90.
I flew my airframe today in 15-22 mph of wind and was able to maintain 0 ground speed for extended periods of time. Harriers from 300' AGL showed no wing rocking or wing drop and all landing were performed with no runout. I also got the plane to go backward in-flight while maintaing a 60 degree AOA.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

Sounds like a lot of fun flycatch. It was calm to 5mph winds here today and very hot, low 90's. I'm going to move my battery pack from the front of the fuel tank to the back of the fuel tank right were the wing dowls go through the bulkhead. I'm also going to replace the tailwheel assembly I have with a leaf spring type which should help out a lot. The Super Tigre G90 is a very underated engine, for the power compared to price such as the OS .91 at $200.00, you can't beat the Super Tigre G90 for $114.00 from Tower Hobbies.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

I put a saito 82a on mine and had to cut a hole in the bottom and mount the elevator servos just behind the wing hold down block. Used pull- pull on elevator and rudder. Then put the battery on the fire wall behind the motor to get it to ballance at 5". My canopie also had a bad dent in it when it arrived. I called Chief and they are sending me one. I'll fly when it arrives. This plane will never ballance with the servos in the factory planed space without using lead when using the 82a. Weighed it using digital bathroom scales and it came in at 6 lbs+. the scales don't do ozs. Anyone using the 82a let me know your set-up for ballanceing.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

I was originally going to use the Saito .82 but opted for the Super Tigre G90 and glad I did. The power of the G90 is amazing. With the planes CG at 5" and a full tank of fuel it is really nose heavy and that creates some problems. One being when in KE the plane really pulls towards the canopy. You need all the rudder you can get before the plane will KE and hold it, I'm sure this is do to the nose heavy condition. I'm going to add a leaf spring type tail wheel that will add a little weight to the tail and hope this helps. If all else fails, I'll have to start adding weight to the tail end. I put 5 fights on it today with 15 mph winds and this plane has some very interesting flight characteristics in the wind, it dances around all over the sky. Landings are very slow and nice with just a little throttle to bring it in. If I can get the CG in the sweet spot it should be a very nice plane. Seems to hover really nice but its hard to stall the wing. It just wants to keep flying.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

After about a dozen flights on the plane I decided to make some changes. The first change was the tail wheel. The one I originally had just didn't hold up plus with the plane being nose heavy the added weight will help out. The first prop I used was a Pro Zinger 14X5 and the stock spinner. The pics show the new Tru-Turn spinner and the APC 15X4W prop. I added weight to the right wing tip for laderal balance to see if it helps any, didn't seem to be that far off. The plane is already showing signs of wear. The Monokote is really sagging and the wheel pants have just about had it. We keep our grass cut really low at the feild but these plastic wheel pants just will not take the grass at all. I was having trouble seeing the transparant red for some reason and I couldn't make out the top from bottom so I put yellow checker board on the bottom.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

Has anyone got any pictures of how they have their electronics setup.
I'm almost to the point of installing the electronics and it seems that there is not much
room to play with.
Thanks
John

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

For the knife-edge coupling you might consider mixing in a tad of down elevator when rudder is used- That should straighten out your KE :D Do you have a computer radio?

Nice looking plane, I like the checkers you added---

I love my St G-90, it is on my 46 sized Funtana and has enough power- :)

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

Thanks Razor-RCU, I do have a computer radio (Airtronics VG-6000) and I was checking this out but I don't seem to have the mix for rudder to elevator. No big deal, I'll just feed it in manually.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

Maiden mine tonight after bring it back from vacation in Hot Springs Ark.
Buddy took it up and flew it for a little while and trimmed it in. He only did a few clicks up I believe.
He landed it and I took over.
Pretty nice flying as I spent the first flight just flying around getting used to a new plane.
Had to cut short my flights due to weather coming in.
It looks like it will be a fun flyer once I get more stick time on it.
My Setup is as follows:
The engine is a Saito 100 (yes I know overkill but it is what I had)
Jr Reciever (put this in the cockpit area)
Hitec servo's
5645's in the tail.
5625's in the wing.
645 for the rudder.
and a JR537 servo for the throttle(thinking of changing this one)
Changed out the tail skid for a Central Hobbies tail wheel as I do not like the
idea of using a tail skid.
The one complaint that my buddy had was that it is hard to tell top from bottom while flying.
I will be adding stripes to the bottom side when I have a change.
My complaints are only a few and that has to deal with the lack of a decent place to put the
servo inside the body compartment.
I ended up putting 7-9 oz's of lead into the airplane to balance it at 4.5 inches, that was the other
thing I found strange as most of the other arf's that I have built put the CG in the middle of the range
instead of at the top.
Hopefully I will get somemore stick time on this airplane this week but the weather might have me socked in
for the most part.
Here are some picks of the airplane.
John

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

Looks good jgraham10. That's the problem I had, not being able to tell the top from bottom so I checker boarded mine in yellow on the bottom. The fuel tank seems to be in the wrong place, empty it balances just fine but when you fill the tank up it becomes nose heavy and I have to trim a little up elevator in to fly. If I add weight to the tail, it flys great but once the tank is about empty, it becomes tail heavy and harder to land. The plane is great to play around with on high rates and lands pretty slow. I really have no major complaints about the plane, just little things that are associated with all ARF kits.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

Thanks Zippi,
I got one flight in yesterday and when I landed and had a issue with the throttle.
Found the servo had come loose from the tray.
Been working on the throttle today as I was not happy with how it was working.
I ended up putting a Dubro 4 stroke linkage on it. Had to cut the cowl somemore as
to fit it but it works better than what came stock. Hopefully the weather will be nice
Wed and I will be able to get it up.
John

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

Hi, I have a UC DO 60 and have a G90 in it and swing a APC 14x4 wide, reves real free and doesn't fly the plane too fast , I.m getting a Formula 3D and plan on a YS 91AC should be the bomb, I have seen Dean Brian's vid with an ASP 52 2ST and it looks pretty damn good with that, so any 90 size will be well enough power.
Good luck

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

I've been reading all the posts and there's some excellent info here regarding this plane. I've just ordered mine two days ago and have an OS .91FX that I intend to use with it. Has anyone else used this engine with this plane? Also I read about some of the CG issues, and then found the build and flight review, located at: http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=579 Has anyone here set their plane up in this configuration? ie., with the receiver and battery pack in the aft fuse position? Seems like that would solve quite a few problems. I also ordered the tailwheel for mine.

The main reason I got this plane was due to all the good posts here and I'm just tired of having to put my giant scaler's together everytime I want to go fly. I just want a nice fun 3D plane that I can put in the car quickly and go have some fun. This sounds like the perfect plane for that.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

This is a great plane Cryhavoc. In fact, mine is going out today for a few flights. That OS .91FX will be awesome on the plane. I run the Super Tigre G-90 which is about the same. I always have people at the field tell me how solid the plane looks and feels and they really like the checkerboard on the bottom. You'll need to do something with the bottom as its pretty much the same as the top. Its not to bad on a sunny day but when its cloudy, you need all the help you can get ;) The plane goes together really well and I think you'll enjoy it.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

I read that some had checkerboarded the bottom and I've already got some in stock that's marked for the plane. I am excited about the flight reports I've heard sofar and the video on the build report link isn't bad either. I'm gotta be careful...starting to get excited..LOL.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

If you look up futher in the thread you'll see that it was my plane that has the "Cub Yellow" checkerboard on the bottom of the wing. The only reason I went with yellow was that was all I had at the time but it looks good in the air. I probably have 35 or so flights on mine and have never had to touch the monokote as far as getting wrinkles out. The plane really holds up great. Just don't try to fly this plane fast for very long. Remember, it's a 3D plane and it's meant to fly slow.

RE: *Modeltech Formula ARF 3D Competition 46-60*
 

I thought that was your plane and it looks great! I have a couple of giant scale extra's, (Great Planes Extra 330L and a Wild Hare Extra Special) and they are designed to fly slower as well. Did you seal your gaps with clear monokote? Do you get much wing rocking in a Harrier?