Hangar 9 Sundowner 36 EF1

thehaze · January 08, 2013, 10:21:10 AM

Starting the assembly of my new Sundowner 36 ARF. Will be using the EF1 legal racing setup. Here are the specs

Wingspan- 51.5in
AUW- 1.80 kg (estimated)

Power system:
Motor: OS 3820-1200 (equiv to eflite power 25 1200 kv).
ESC: Turnigy sentry 60A
Prop: APC 8x8
Battery: 4S 2200mah

Servos: 2 JR MN48 mini (elevator & Rudder). 2 Savox SH-0255 MG micro (Aileron)

Put a little work into the kit yesterday evening. Starts with the best part! Hinges! My favorite. The horizontal stab was also put in place and secured with 15 min epoxy. Overall I really like this kit. The quality of the materials is top notch. I'd say it's slightly better than the eflite kits. It comes with the hardware for multiple electric and IC motor setups.

More to come

Gregor77 · January 08, 2013, 10:55:42 AM

Man you love your 60amp sentry's!

Ededge2002 · January 08, 2013, 11:17:07 AM

Looking good but you might take a second look at the elevator. It might be a little off

thehaze · January 08, 2013, 11:23:30 AM

Quote from: Ededge2002 on January 08, 2013, 11:17:07 AM
Looking good but you might take a second look at the elevator. It might be a little off

No that's for speed... i

thehaze · January 08, 2013, 02:18:12 PM

On second thought I decided to take a more conservative approach....

However if I lose the race. It's Ed's fault.

thehaze · January 10, 2013, 07:37:43 PM

Not much progress to report other than the elevator and rudder are hinged and the servos and linkages are hooked up. Additionally the landing gear are installed. This weekend I want to get started on the wings.

Some notes:

1. There are a lot of screws in this kit. I spent a few hours just sorting them out as they come in one giant bag and are not clearly identified.

2. The push rod tubes are crossed in the fuselage. The instructions said something different, specifying that the left servo (elevator) push rod will exit on the left side, the right (rudder) will exit on the right. That was not the case. Not sure if any of that will make a difference though. The control horns were a giant pain in the ... for me to install for some reason as the fit of the parts was extremely tight. The clevises were difficult to adjust without using too much force. I'm thinking I might just get things as close to center as I could and will use my radio to do the final small adjustments, although I hate doing that. Anyone with more build experience than me have any thoughts on this? Usually I use dubro easy connectors on my servos instead of z bends and that makes things much easier.

Bobmic · January 10, 2013, 08:11:45 PM

Noticed the same on both of my H9 planes I ended up using an electric drill for the aileron linkages - don't remember if the the elevator and rudder are Z bends on this one but remember a similar issue with the Toledo special, just use a pliers by the time the skin from your fingers is completely gone it will be all aligned.

thehaze · January 11, 2013, 07:30:37 AM

Yeah, they require a lot more force to turn than you think.

Bobmic · January 11, 2013, 09:39:18 PM

Hi Mike,

I looked at my setup and seem to have plenty of room around the rudder and elevator servos, see photo attached.
As for the screws keep in mind that the plane is shipped with mounting for different motors, not sure about the length of the OS but th Eflite 32 did not fit with the hardware supplied and I ended up using longer spacers and screws. The manual is completely off at that part someone's Horizone Hobby where clueless

thehaze · January 12, 2013, 10:23:04 AM

Thanks Bobby.

I read about that issue with the motor install. I'm prepared for that. Hopefully I can use the same spacers and bolts I used when mounting the OS motor to the Pogo.

How did you mount your aileron servos? did you use the both hardwood blocks like they suggest in the manual? I had to laugh when they mentioned that you might need to using a dremel with a sanding drum to notch the rail to get the hardwood block to fit. Might? There's no chance you could find a servo small enough (that produces sufficient torque) to fit in there that would allow the blocks to be mounted in such a way that the rear block isn't contacting the wing rail.

I'm thinking of using the forward block and then some other means of securing the servo (glue, double sided tape) to avoid getting the dremel out. Any thoughts?

Polecat · January 13, 2013, 09:02:27 AM

Quote from: thehaze on January 10, 2013, 07:37:43 PM
Not much progress to report other than the elevator and rudder are hinged and the servos and linkages are hooked up. Additionally the landing gear are installed. This weekend I want to get started on the wings.

Some notes:

1. There are a lot of screws in this kit. I spent a few hours just sorting them out as they come in one giant bag and are not clearly identified.

2. The push rod tubes are crossed in the fuselage. The instructions said something different, specifying that the left servo (elevator) push rod will exit on the left side, the right (rudder) will exit on the right. That was not the case. Not sure if any of that will make a difference though. The control horns were a giant pain in the ... for me to install for some reason as the fit of the parts was extremely tight. The clevises were difficult to adjust without using too much force. I'm thinking I might just get things as close to center as I could and will use my radio to do the final small adjustments, although I hate doing that. Anyone with more build experience than me have any thoughts on this? Usually I use dubro easy connectors on my servos instead of z bends and that makes things much easier.

Mike I replace all the nylon clevises in ARF kits with Hayes nylon clevises with a metal pin. They are tight too but here is what I do, take some lite oil, put on the steel push rod, put the rod into a power drill, thread the clevise on to the rod and hold with pliers and run the drill a few times,this makes the clevise easier to turn but is still a little tight.
Also Z bends should be at the servos on all high performance airplanes and is in the NMPRA/MAAC pylon racing rules. Its just a safe thing to do. I think Great Hobbies carry them, they use to be a KRAFT item been around for over 30 years.
If you go with the easy connectors its best to us small wheel collers 1/16-3/32 holes and thread lock on the screw.
Hope this helps.
Ken

thehaze · January 13, 2013, 10:55:24 AM

Thanks Ken.

I'll keep you guys posted on my progress with that.

Bobmic · January 13, 2013, 10:55:33 PM

Quote from: thehaze on January 12, 2013, 10:23:04 AM
Thanks Bobby.

I read about that issue with the motor install. I'm prepared for that. Hopefully I can use the same spacers and bolts I used when mounting the OS motor to the Pogo.

How did you mount your aileron servos? did you use the both hardwood blocks like they suggest in the manual? I had to laugh when they mentioned that you might need to using a dremel with a sanding drum to notch the rail to get the hardwood block to fit. Might? There's no chance you could find a servo small enough (that produces sufficient torque) to fit in there that would allow the blocks to be mounted in such a way that the rear block isn't contacting the wing rail.

I'm thinking of using the forward block and then some other means of securing the servo (glue, double sided tape) to avoid getting the dremel out. Any thoughts?

Hi Mike,

I uses two blocks for each aileron servo but had to cut them and also open a bit more the lip under the aileron cover. This was quite easy with a dermmel and a cutting wheel.
As for mounting the motor I think the problem is only fir the power 32 but in any case I used wheel collars as spacers just make sure you have a long Allen key that can reach behind the firewall and all the way to mount the cowl.

thehaze · January 14, 2013, 02:40:03 PM

I decided to break out the Dremel. Which is both an entertaining and terrifying experience

. Aileron servos are mounted and secure. I needed to alter the blocks (height) and open up some space on the lower rail to make it fit. But I think it turned out nicely. Now I just need to finish the linkages and I can move on to the motor install.

Bobmic · January 14, 2013, 03:10:53 PM

Looks good exactly what I had to do. Add some glue on the wing tabs that attach the wings to the fuse. One of mine got loos and started to move into the wing, I think if you add some thin CA you should be fine. Do the same for the canopy latches.
The motor will be simple but don't put the dremmel back, I increased the opening on the firewall under the battery tray and pushes the ESC in under the fuse, not sure how the CG works out with the smaller motor and Baytrry but inu case this was excellent, otherwise you cram it in the cowl. The motor will be simple.
....This is a fancy looking servo

Bobby