Thought I would share my latest project with you guys. This is my first fun fly attempt and I can't wait to get this little bad boy in the air. Powered with an OS 46FX. Any suggestions on flying would be appreciated.

Looks really good.

I saw one fly with that engine and it looked like it was only limited by the thumbs on the box.

Let us know your impressions when you fly it.

How well do you think one of those would hover??

its an awsome plane!!! my favorite of all time! if you get it set up right you will love it,if its wrong you will hate it . dont give up on the plane if the first few flights are not that great. also try not to have to many deadstic landings! they fly as good as a brick without an engine!!

have fun !!!!!!!!!

Had one of these, great little plane, just didn't like to go fast and needed quite a bit of coupling on knife edge. Powered with a TT Pro .46 would hover easy and pull out strong. Good luck, hope you enjoy yours as much as I did mine.

flyingrazorback,
Looks like you got a winner. I live near memphis. Actually I live in covington, Tn. What club do you belong to. If you're near Millington, TN we would enjoy having come out to the Millington Barnstormers, off of Sykes rd.

Well, I flew it for the first time yesterday and all I can say is WOW! What have I been missing. Truly a blast to fly. I'm afraid I am now hooked into the world of fun-flying.

you are now definitly addicted to funfly! i was wondering how much thro you have on the sufaces? mine are almost 90degreewith no expo! makes for one wild ride!

I noticed on the 2 pictures in this thread that both of you guys left the holes in the interplane struts open. Is there a reason for this? The full size doesn't have holes in them, nor do any other models I've seen, including the pictures on the box. This would certainly affect knife-edge flight, and I can't see any advantage to it, can you explain your reasoning for all this extra work? I mean, the wings have openings in them too, but you covered straight over on them!

I have never owned that plane. But, I am just guessing. But the wholes in the struts are to get rid of some weight. in a fun-fly as we all know. 1/2 oz here and 1/2 oz there, all adds up to weight we don't need. In funflying the lighter the better, less wing loading, better power to weight radio.

I'm well aware of why the holes are there, I'm just wondering why the 2 in the pictures in this thread have them open. I am just completing my second one of these, and both have the struts completely covered. On my larger Dave Patrick Ultimate, they are also covered over. I see no reason to leave the holes open, and with the added hassle of covering them that way, and the covering for the edges of the holes, there's no way it's going to be lighter. I'm just looking for a reason why the two of them decided to do it this way.

Because it looks snazzy? :rainfro:

More drag too!!!

I have mine covered and waiting for a Rx to come in.

I noticed both pics have the tank mounted on the same side as the engine. Are they 4oz tanks? I need to decide whether to buy a 4oz or 6oz tank. I'd like to keep it on the same side as the engine so the other side will look clean. Based on my Fazer, a 4oz tank won't last long. I'll go with whatever fits and take whatever flight duration I can get.

The other guys think it's neat when I do a low slow flyby to check the fuel level. They don't know what they are missing with fun fly's.

BTW, both planes look nice.

Tim

I think you're gonna want at least a 6 oz tank, probably an 8. I have a TT 46 on my fazer and it has a 6 oz tank... I am forever running it out of fuel. I get about a 8 minute flight... not really enough in my opinion. I like to have about 12 minutes available and land in 10....

You guys are obviously using too much throttle if you're going through fuel that fast. One fellow here has a 4 ounce tank on his Top Cap, with a YS 53, and I've timed him at over 12 minutes! With my Laser 3D, I have an 8 ounce tank in it. I start my timer when I take off, it goes off at ten minutes, then I land, and I rarely use half a tank. Usually have about 2/3 of a tank left. If you're flying around that fast, you're not getting the most out of your fun fly plane. These things are supposed to fly SLOOOOOWW! Quarter throttle is about as fast as I go in level flight, and only use full throttle to start a vertical climb quickly. The amount of fuel you use relates directly to your left stick. The more forward it is, the more fuel you'll be using! I'm going to put a 6 ounce on my Ultimate FF, and it will be on the LEFT side to help counterbalance the engine! I'll start with my timer at 10 minutes, and go from there.

Jim

I'm never ever doing level flight with a fun fly. Even with landings, I'll do a roll or three as I come in. I like to do lots of things tht require more than half throttle. I never leave the throttle at one setting very long, going from idle to full throttle and everywhere in between many times every flight. Sometimes I fly gently, but lots of times I do violent things that require major throttle changes.

Full throttle doesn't mean fast unless you leave it at full throttle, or you are going straight! If I never used more than half throttle, I'd be better off dropping to a .32 sized engine and saving weight.

The Ultimate will be heavier and a lot more draggy than the Fazer, so it should use fuel a lot faster.

BTW, four strokes are much more fuel efficient than two strokes, so the YS .53 isn't a good comparison.

Tim

I'm using a 46FX in my Laser3D, and it has a LOT more drag than either of the Sigs, and I don't use 5 ounces of fuel for most flights. Mind you, it does have a lighter wing loading than both of the Sigs combined, but that's another story. I still feel that 6 ounces is enough, and most certainly on the opposite side of the fuse from the engine to help offset the weight difference. Any more than that and you're just changing the CG too much during the flight. As to the YS being more fuel efficient, you've obviously never run one! :-)

I've never even seen a YS in person so it may well be a fuel hog! I hear they are really strong for their size. As a whole though, 4 strokes are more fuel efficient than the smokers.

As for fuel tanks, I'm debating between 4oz and 6oz. Nothing greater. I have my Fazer's 4oz tank on the same side as the engine and don't have any problems with it. As the tank empties, weight decreases, the cg moves toward the rear, and the lateral balance becomes more even...this is the best time for aerobatics!

Putting the fuel tank opposite will help balance when the tank is full, but as it empties, the advantage decreases. I had rather my plane be balanced with an empty tank on that deadstick landing! It wouldn't be a big deal either way. The Fazer and its fun fly cousins have to be the easiest planes to land in the world...balanced or not!

If it's balanced with a full tank on the opposite side, it will be out of balance toward the engine side as it empties. Putting the tank on the same side will cause imbalance iniatially, but it becomes more balanced as the tank empties.

But you know all that...It's really a matter of prefrence of when you want the plane to balance...at the beginning of the flight with a full tank or end of the flight when the tank gets low.

Tim
P.S. Want to donate a YS to me so I can see what a real engine is like? (I'm cheap....all I use are TT Pro .46's)

I have to agree with gofastturnleft. When the prop stops turning you ARE going to land RIGHT THEN and might even have to dive it to get up some speed........john

I know a 4 stroke is more fuel efficient than a 2 stroke, but since a YS 53 is about the same power as a Saito 72, and a saito 72 is ALMOST twice the size of a 46, I think you can see where the fuel consumption would be the same. I would send you a YS to try, but I can't figure out how to attach things to emails on this board! :-)

I prefer the 6 ounce tank myself in all honesty. It gives me the extra reserve I want in case some student is hogging the runway when it's time to land. I put it on the side opposite the engine all the time though. I balance it so that it's laterally balanced at about a quarter tank. This gives me the most bang for the buck. I am fairly close to lateral balance from half a tank all the way to empty. Even the weight of the empty tank can affect lateral balance, so even empty, it will help compensate for the motor. You can also fit a bigger tank easier, and get it even more forward so that your needle doesn't change as much from full to empty and level to straight up. An Ultimate Fun Fly was my first "fun fly" type plane, and I put the tank on the same side as the motor. Since then, I've had quite a few, and have decided that the tank belongs opposite to the motor for many reasons.

Jim

well i use 12oz tanks on my fun fly lasts about 20-25 minutes of flying i have a sig ultimate with a k&b61 u can see the pic at the fun fly pictures post well the plane is a great flier and torque roller but its not good for harrier/elevator too unstable for that and this plane tipstalls a little bit oh yea and this plane is really hard to deadstick i still preffer to fly my lanier pro twister because im more in to harriering stuff and the sig ultimate isnt a very good performer at that but this plane is good for really wild snaps and spins u will prolly enjoy it a lot.

No reason in particular. Wasn't for weight or anything, I just thought it looked better. I wouldn't be able to tell you if it affects flight, somehow I don't think it did.

Thanks. It is a 6oz Sullivan slant. Provides more than enough flying time. After about 10 minutes of working the sticks real hard, you almost are ready to run out of gas . BTW, I get a kick out of flying slow and low to check my fuel level as well!

FlyinRazorback,

If you are using a 6oz and have room to mount on the same side, that's good enough for me! I'll pick one up first chance I get.

I agree, when you are flying these fun flys agressively, it doesn't take long before you are ready to rest and let someone else have the up close and personal airspace for a while.

Tim