CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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:

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

Will it be electric or glow?

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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:D:D:D Here are some pics of it:

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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:

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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.

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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.

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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 :D

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

Hi

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

Regards,

Isaac Najary

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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;)

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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:

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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).

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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.

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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.

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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. :eek:
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!).

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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.

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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.

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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 ;)

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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!

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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...

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

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

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

Cheers, JB

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

Hi you all!

I was kind of... how to say it... busy being a first time father!


Here's the proof:

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

Ok, back to our business again!

Martinoto, the clevises are Dubro, and I've got them from Mirax (www.mirax.cl). If you don't know them, let me say that they're great. They send you merchandise door-to-door, and the price for the items are very competitive. Search here: http://www.mirax.cl/buscadorx.php?claset=b073
By the way, the horns haven't ball bearings, but they're really great anyway!. (Don't forget to switch the page to "Argentina")

dbacque, let me tell you a couple of things... in the first place, your Epsilon is one of the best I've seen (and I've seen many)!!! The cowl work is exellent, and the covering too. Nice.
The stab problem was solved, but not by CAModels: a friend of mine had a semi destroyed Epsilon at the time, and he was building his second. He gave me the new kit stab, as the original was ok for him. It fitted perfectly in my fuse.
The factory told me "No problem, bring the fuse and the stab, we'll change it... anyway, if you use that stab it will not affect the flight" What??? "maybe you have the 'second' version of the Epsilon fuse, and the first of the fuse". Yeah, sure. What I think is they have boxed a mistaken part. That's it.

To be short, I have a 'right' stab now, and it's coverer, as the wing is:

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

dbacque, sorry for the late reply... as you must know by now, the parts on the cockpit floor are the support parts for the cowl. Mine also has quality issues on one side.

I will start with the cowl work tomorrow. New pics are coming.

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

Some cowl work...

The cowl's surface isn't all the smooth as I wish... It will demand some sanding. Start the cutting!
Measured the prop base diameter (32mm). Also measured the cowl's front diameter circle: 64mm. I drawed two concentric circles in MS Visio: 64mm and 38mm, cut these and glued on the cowl front as a guide. See:

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

I've continued with the cowl vent holes. Done some 'artistic' :eek: lines, and Dremelized them! Further sanding is required for painting...

After that, I've separated the cowl support stripes, and glued them on the F1 with epoxy. I also drawed a couple of lines at the bottom of the fuse and cut the hole for the muffler. Here's what I got, so far...

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

More pics. Here's the fuse.

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

I found that the OS .91FX is "extremely vibrator" for some people. As I don't have any experience with .61+ sized engines, I'll try to minimize the vibrations, in case the rumors are true.
I bought three different engine mounts, and I don't really like any of them (Dave Brown, Dubro and Great Planes adjustable). I will use the adjustable one, as it let me mount the engine closer to it's base. I want to do this in order to keep the beams as short as possible, altough a supplement is needed (~12mm).

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

Nice build.[sm=thumbs_up.gif]

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

I went to WalMart and bought a food chopping wood. You got it: 12mm hard wood!! I've used a circular saw to cut it down to the engine mount (+5mm per side), marked the holes and drilled them.
The pics show how it's done.

Comments of any kind are welcome!!!

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

Contratulations betatester! If you think you've been busy I've got news for you, the work is just starting! But in a few years you can teach her to fly. I had mine on a buddy box when he was 5.

Glad you got your stab issues resolved. I wouldn't have used the smaller one either. Your plane is looking good. I had no problems with the fiberglass on mine, I thought the quality was very high. Unfortunately I cracked one of my wheel pants loading in into the car yesterday.

I've got about a half dozen flights on it now and it's very impressive. I've moved the battery back from my starting position. I've got all the equipment exactly where shown in the instructions and the CG feels very good. There is still the slightest amount of pull in dives so I'm going to move it back some more. I'm thinking about adding a hatch on the bottom behind the wing

The plane flies very smoothly. I had to tone down the aileron throws, the recommend amount was very high. Knife edge is amazing. I have no mixing and it will hold knife edge across the field with no tendency to roll. Point rolls are fantastic! Landings have been very smooth and inverted requires just the slightest touch of down elevator.

I haven't seen any vibration problems with the OS .91. Mine is running very smoothly. I can't wait to get a few more flights on it so I can lean it out a little more.

Keep up the good work on the build thread and on the family.

For those who wrote asking for more pictures, here's a few more.

Dave

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

I run out of thin balsa sheets! Ouch!

I'm going to get some light thin balsa to build the muffler box roof and keep on going with the plane build. I want to get the engine mounted on it's place as soon as possible as I'm getting very delayed...

Dave, thanks for your replies; your Epsilon looks really, really great! Everybody says the same about the no-tendencies at the knife edge of this plane; I can't wait to fly my own. By the way, do you use linear rates on your radio? What do you recommend? I don't want to make 3D, I just wan this plane to introduce me in F3A... It will take years for me!


In the next post, I spect to have the muffler box roof done.

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

Congratulations on the little one. I hope you all are doing well.
Very nice build.
I am going to build the CA Epsilon 120 this winter.

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

A little progress: the engine's muffler box roof is done.
I've done a couple of balsa ribs, copynig the shape of the front cut of the firewall, in order keep the same curve along the box. Also glued two balsa sheets with ciano to get a piece large enogh to handle easily.
Here's the progress:

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

Sanding and finishing...

I've sanded the edges out and made a wedge to smoothly route the hot air outside the fuse. All this was done with 1mm balsa sheets, except for the reinforcement ribs, wich are made out of 2mm balsa sheets.

More pics:

RE: CA Model Epsilon 90 building thread!
 

Hey Betatester,

I think that was my favorite part. Building the muffler tunnel was fun. And it looks so cool. I just wish I had made the aft wall at about a 45 degree angle.

Linear rates? Goodness no, I use lots of exponential on everything I fly. Big throws for snaps but smooth in the center for cruising. I start out with 30 to 40 percent expo, work out the max throws I want, then play with the exponential until it feels right.

I'm still moving the CG back, it's really starting to wake up. I've got the battery right behind the wing now and the vertical dives are very close to dead on. With the changes it's starting to push just a little to the belly in knife edge. I'll probably more it aft a little more until verticals are exact and then use mixing to correct the push in KE.

I have lots more adjusting to do. I haven't gotten to fly since Monday. It's been raining and windy around here. Something about a hurricane hitting Texas. Luckily all we got was thunderstorms.

Dave