gusman

I got a fun51 for christmas and built most of it over the Christmas break. Here are some pictures so far. I built the ailerons, elevators, and rudder too, but didn't feel like taping them on for the picture. Does anyone know how to cover it with the wing glued in? It seems like its gonna be a pain. And should i cover the horizontal stabilizer first then glue it in or do it afterwards. Thanks - enjoy the pics.
GUS

probro1213

Cover all control surfaces before hinging, or installing!!!!! It'll save you lots of headaches.

You should have covered the fuseand wing before installing but either way , it can be done with it in place. flat fuses are where its at.



Good luck and let us know how it flies.

MikeMc

I covered my wing and fuse before putting the wing in. Just do a dry fit, mark it with a pencil, remove, cover, put back in and glue. Hopefully you didn't glue it in already.

BTW, one of the most fun planes I've ever owned. Sadly it was stolen from my garage with some other planes. No I didn't cry... wanted to though.

gusman

Thanks guys-
No i didn't glue it in already- but won't it be hard to slide through the fuse if its already covered. Also when you say hinge after covering you mean acutally gluing the hinges in- right? I can cut my hinge slots first then cover the stuff then put it back together and glue?
GUS

MikeMc

My opening was lose enough to slide it in after covering, but if yours isn't you can cover the fuse, half the wing, slide in, glue, then cover the other wing half. That would still be much more easy.

Cover first and then cut the slots for hinges. This can be done after the wing is glued in.

probro1213

Cut the hinges after covering , then cut your hinge slots. Doing it in this order allows the c/a to seal the area around the hinge slot, and, keep the covering from having a weak bond, it also seals the wood grain and is more oil resistant.

Once the wing is covered do a test fit. If it tries to stick or bind do a lite sand job to ease the fit.

Back to the hinges.
Use a pin to stick through the center of the hinge, and put each hinge into the control surface. then put the control surface in place.
use thin c/a or flexible hinge c/a to glue into place. (this only works with c/a hinges by the way, actual hinges are a waste on 40 size funflys)

Hope that helps , GOOD LUCK!!

gusman

My wing hardly fits in now- will it be much harder with the wing covered. Also I was thinking about using the hinges where you drill the holes and then put them in- i forget what they're called- can i drill these holes before i cover it?
GUS

gusman

Sorry about you loss Mike- that stinks. I can't wait to fly my plane though- any tips?
GUS

probro1213

I would still cover first.
Less chance of messing a good covering job .
If you drill then cover you could use a soldering iron to poke through at the hole for the hinges. Doing it that way will seal the area around the hole , just bee sure that plent of glue or epoxy gets in to hold the hinge in place.
I know of the hinges you are speaking of, Great Planes carries them.

gusman

Are there any good ways to make sure you're drilling straight into the trailing edge of the wing to make sure your drill bit doesn't come out the side- also how do you make sure you cut straight hinge slots. I always seem to slice the trailing edge off when i try to do this- any ideas?
GUS

probro1213

If you can make a jig like the one from greatplanes, I'd make one for the round bit to hold straight.
If you use the ca hinges , there are several jigs available on the market

www.greatplanes.com/accys/tool.html

MikeMc

They didn't get the engine cause it was off at the time butthey got the radio and servos. You've sparked my interest and I'm thinking of building another one.

Try not to crash? hehe. Seriously, it's a great plane and flies very well. I beat the crap outa mine and crashed it so many times and it kept coming back for more.

gusman

I've been flying my sig lt-40 trainer with a tower .46 for 3 years now- I also had a lazy bee that i built- but the wing came off in the middle of the flight and it crashed- and i also have a modeltech dragon lady that i can fly pretty well. I'm kinda worried about the fun 51 though because i flew a funfly something on the real flight program and it seemed really hard? I hope its not like that. It didn't seem like it floated at all with the throttle cut- but i guess i'll see in a couple weeks
Thanks for the replies-
GUS

MikeMc

Make sure the GC is right on the mark. You'll be fine if you've been flying a trainer for 3 years. I have RF G3 and I can't think of any plane that flies like the 51. It's easy to fly.

charlied123

The Fun 51 is a great profile. Two things you might want to do though:

1) Fiberglass the fuse just in front of the wing and by the gear. They are weak points.
2) you may want to add fiberlass or plastic gear. The aluminum bends easily.

Have fun The fun51 was my first profile and my favorite.

Charlie

MikeMc

Agreed, but both are easy post crash mods if the contruction is too far along.