Hi everyone!
I was thinking about building my first acrobatic, and I've choosen an Epsilon 90. I want to keep this thread absolutely updated, as a log of it's build. As I live in Argentina, it was very easy for me to get the plane directly from the factory, but on the other hand, kind of difficult to get some specfic hardare.
As the first step, I was spending many hours downloading pics of the plane and deciding it's decoration... here are the results of MS Visio drawings:

Will it be electric or glow?

Hi mjfrederick...

The powerplant will be glow. I have a NIB OS 91FX to use, wich some people said that it won't be able to drive the Epsilon with the necessary authority, but it will be mi first acrobatic, so I think it's OK... last week, I saw one flying on a ST61, and it was relatively decent.

I have the plane Here are some pics of it:

As you can see, the plane is the CA Model "Ready To Cover" version. The overal quality is excellent. All the surfaces comes already sanded, and are really smooth to the touch. There are just a couple of places that can be better, but anyway, leaves the chinese RTF and almost RTF planes well behind.

I also have the engine and many hardware. The Monokote rolls are here, too. A little issue with this, is the fact that the color isn't what I really spected, talking about the "Neon red": it's "neoner" than I thonk!! It also comes with a nice advice on the roll (see the pics!!!).

More pics:

The OS 91 will be plenty of power. It wont 3D with authority put it will have unlimited verticle.

I have had one for over 2 years flying with a ST90 with jett muffler. Its a fantastic flyer.

To get the most out of it you need to get good servos. Mine has futabab 9202 on elevator and rudder and 9001 on ailerons. I fly mine for F3A practice and have minimum throws on mine.

I went pull-pull on rudder and elevator.

The only negative I can see is how the cowl is setup. Its hard to install well. I ended up reinforcing the inside of the cowl with ply and then built brackets on the front of the plane to mount the cowl to. Let me know if you would like some pics.

Hi Gringo!
I don't want it to do 3D... I just want to make decent loops and start to get involved in F3A.
I will use a NIB JR XP7202, wich I have purchased in Madison, Wisconsin. It's 72MHz synthetized, with DS-821 digital servos... they're supposed to be really good servos. It's my first JR, so I will compare it with Futaba later.
I was paying special attention to the cowl support, and I got the same sensation you told me. I will see what I can do about it. I will post some new pics tomorrow.

SPANISH:
Hola, ché!!
No me interesa hacer 3D, pero sÃ* quiero poder hacer loops decentes y empezar a meterme en la categorÃ*a F3A.
Voy a usar un equipo nuevo, un JR XP7202, que compré en un viaje a USA. Si bien es de 72MHz, es sintetizado. Viene con servos DS-821... se suponen que son buenos. Es mi primer JR, asÃ* que mas adelante lo voy a comparar con Futaba.
Le estuve prestando especial atención al soporte del cowl, y ma dió la sensación que vos me transmitiste. Voy a ver qué hago... Mañana voy a poner nuevas fotos.

Very nice flying plane. You will be very happy with it.

I flew one for a few Months in Pattern competitions when I started (about 2 years ago). I wanted to fly Pattern but didn't have a plane, so a friend loaned it to me and I am grateful (have sinced moved on to 2M planes, but have great memories of the Epsilon).

It has a OS 120AX fitted and has awesome power. A 91FX will be ample for Pattern. If you decide you want more power, the 120 will bolt straight in with no modification.

PS. the plane is still flying today

Hi

I advice you not to use any Neon color, It won't take long till it becomes very dim.

Regards,

Isaac Najary

Thats funny. Its like there saying that the product is poor and not to expect much of it.

I guess if you put sunscreen on it maybe it wont fade in with the uv rays

I'm back...
Yes, the advice on the Monokote rolls is kinda ridiculous... I plan to use it anyway, because if not, it should be stored for ever inside a black box !!!!

OK, back to work... I started the slotting work on the stabs and the wings. Also covered the stab completely put the control horn in a stab half. Not the another... see the pics:

When the stab was completely done, I wanted to se how it fits in the fuse. [:@][:@][:@] Agh!!!!! it has 12mm (half an inch!!!) smaller chord than the fuselage slot!! What the... I was very lucky: my friend bought his second Epsilon, due to a crash... he lend me his new stabilizator, to compare and eventually, use it (he's going to use his own original one... it's still in one piece!).
Lucky me, here are the pics of the size comparation. I'm almost sure that the stab is NOT of an Epsilon, or it's for a .40 size.
I will call CA Model tomorrow. Let's see what they say (a simple stab? —I don't think it will be much trouble).

my stab came like that as well, it did not fit inside the slot nicely and needed to be wedged into the correct incidence and position using thin balsa sheets. I'd be interested to hear what the factory says.

Its been a long time since my build but I do remember having some challenges with the stab as well.

Does anyone have photos of how they fitted the cowl. Does it fit over the firewall or should those ply rings be glued to the former to support the cowl sitting flush against the firewall?

Mines almost ready for covering now.

I've talk to the factory this morning, and a girl told me that there was nobody who would help me at that moment. She took a note about the issue, and they will call me tomorrow.
Anyway, I've continued the work on the plane: started to cover the wings and ailerons... with some problems. I will post pics tomorrow, with a more advanced work.
Yes Funtana, the ply rings conform the support for the cowl. The cowl must be mounted in order to be flush with tyhe fuselage. As I had the same question made to a friend of mine, he advised me to add 6 ply blocks around the firewall rings to mount the screws. Four are sugested, but two more are recommended at both sides of the silencer (in the case that you use a 2 stroke).

Tomorrow, pics and the factory response (I spect!).

Thanks for the answer! Are there 4 ply rings or just two? I came across 2, for the top and bottom. Maybe I threw the other two out so I'll have to cut them out of scrap.

The cowl support is pretty weak and several of mine broke. The other problem I had was fastening the cowl down to such small parts was bad on the cowl. Like I said in the early post I ended up reinforcing the inside of the cowl and building a bracket down the side of the firewall.

The challenge is that if you put the cowl touching the fuse, with vibration the cowl will cut through the monokote. So you have to mount the cowl so it doesnt vibrate against the fuse. I also put a little epoxy around the lip of the fuse to keep the cowl from cutting into the fuse.

I just started on my Epsilon today. I'm building from the kit. There are a few parts that the instructions don't reference and there are no plans to give me additional clues.

So my question is, what are the parts taped to the cockpit floor in betatester21's first set of photos? Something to do with the cowl?

Thanks,
Dave

those parts are the cowl support ring...



BTW. never had any vibration issues with the cowl... have flown well over 800 flights and still in active F3A service

Hi Timbba! How often do you have to change the feul tubing in the nose ring of your epsilon? I just did the same to my 110 sized model and am not sure if the fuel tubing will stay put for many flights. Did you glue it on by any chance? Thanks!

Thanks Timbba. I eventually surmised that was what they were for but the picture really helped. The instructions in the kit don't give a clue on the cowl mounting.

Dave

Funtana140, I left that nosering off... I made that carbon-balsa sandwich firewall in the middle of contest season and was in little hurry to get practicing again... Worked fin without nosering so I haven't bothered to install it...

But my friend has same kind of nose ring on his Funtana 140 for FZ140L. It has flown about 200 flights and I think he has changed the tubing only once...

betatester, what brand of control horns did you use? Looks great..

(spanish): que marca de cuernos usaste? se ven muy buenas... no se donde comprar en Buenos Aires ese tipo de cuernos con rulemanes, donde los compraste?

Espero vuelvas a publicar fotos del avion, esta quedando muy bueno..

Saludos

Today I completed my kit built Epsilon 90 and started running in the new OS .91 FX. A month and a half from box to runway, not bad considering it didn't even get my full attention.

Weight turned out just under 7 1/2 lbs. CG is about perfect with the battery in the nose and no additional weight. I'll probably want it a little farther back but it's good for a start point and all CG adjustment can be done by just moving the battery.

I can't wait for the weekend!

Betatester, have you gotten your stab problem resolved?

Dave

Nice work . . . that looks fantastic [sm=thumbup.gif]

I think you will love this plane ! ! They fly great.

Cheers, JB