Fox Composites F-86 Sabre, Instruction Manual

Page 1: ...Fox Composites Co Ltd January 2008 version 1 0 Fox Composites F 86 Sabre ...

Page 2: ...ity Exclusion You have acquired a kit which can be assembled into a fully working and flying radio controlled model airplane when properly fitted with suitable equipment and accessories and constructed ac cording to the current instructions provided by Fox Composites Co Ltd for the kit However as the manufacturers of this kit Fox Composites Co Ltd cannot influence the manner in which the model is ...

Page 3: ...d to prepare both parts to be joined properly When joining any com bination of fibreglass and wood parts together you must lightly sand both parts to provide a mechanical key for the glue and clean off the dust caused by sanding before joining them You can use many cleaning agents for this however many of them will damage the 2 pack polyurethane paint used to colour the parts in the mold There for...

Page 4: ...ring your workbench with soft carpet or foam Included in the kit are protective foam bags for the complete fuselage wings vertical fin and horizontal stabs and these should always be used during storage and transport to protect your plane Included in the Kit Shown above is a view of the complete kit contents as shipped except for the CD Rom that is also included with this Instruction manual and ad...

Page 5: ...h in the wing The Robart type shown in the photos is Ø 66mm 2 75 and a lit tle too thick to fit totally flush Servos For ease of installation we highly recommend that you use 4 wing servos such as the 15mm thick digital JR3301 or Graupner 3328 for flaps and ailerons as they have integrated side mounts on the servo case In any case you should use digital types with a minimum torque of 4kg The horiz...

Page 6: ...t tube If using the recom mended landing gear and servos and a smaller motor eg Wren MW44 you should have no prob lems in obtaining the correct CG without adding any additional weight in the nose at all Horizontal Stabiliser and Elevators The stabiliser is laminated from a lightweight fibreglass and foam sandwich about 2mm thick cured under vacuum and painted in the molds in a single colour The on...

Page 7: ...nto the stab with the servos in place and the servo arms exactly perpendicular to the leading edge of the elevators Use a 30 minute epoxy and micro balloons mixture and make sure that they are properly glued to the rear balsa glass spar in the stab When the glue has cured remove the servos and add glue to any parts that are not properly bonded making sure that they are well fixed to the rear balsa...

Page 8: ...RTANT Do NOT use ball joints or ball links on the plastic horn adapters They will cause twisting and almost certain flutter This also applies to the aileron and rudder linkages The servo extension cables should be passed thru 2 separate small holes drilled in the bottom sur face of the centre section as close to the fuselage sides as possible to keep them away from the thrust tube and protected wi...

Page 9: ...of the rudder as shown and lengthen the slot until you can fit the linkage as shown and obtain throws of 15mm both sides The fin is secured to the fuselage with a M4 x 25 bolt at the front that screws into an M4 T nut that has been fitted into the fin already The hole has been drilled in the fuselage for the bolt but can be adjusted if necessary Cut a small reinforcing plate of 3mm plywood 20 x 30...

Page 10: ... installed in the wing during manufacture You only need to glue in the 3 dowels the 2 rectangular wing joiners Slide the rectangular joining rods into the tubes in the wings the longer rod at the front and the Ø 7mm x 75mm long front anti rotation dowel and check that the wing roots align perfectly with each other You may need to lightly sand the outside of them with 800 grit for a smooth fit Appl...

Page 11: ...o make them slide smoothly into the wing tubes Glue the 2 front dowels into the tubes in the leading edge of the wing if not already done at the factory leav ing only 20mm length projecting out of the wing using a little 30 minute epoxy and micro mixture Don t forget to lightly sand the parts that will be glued into the tubes first Servo Installation The aileron and flap servos fit into the factor...

Page 12: ...glued in place accurately mark the positions of all 4 servos Fit the aileron servos as far towards the wing tip as possible and the flap servos as close to the wing root as possible Remove the mounts and screw the servos in position with small self tapping screws The flap servos should be packed up off the mounts with scrap 1 5mm ply strips to give extra clearance for the servo arms You can trim a...

Page 13: ...he slot leaving only the thin fibreglass outer skin at the top of the slot see photo on page 13 File a 1mm wide slot in the leading edge of the flap the full depth of the balsa spar exactly in line with the centre of the slot in the wing trailing edge for the flap horn Take both the supplied fibreglass flap horns lay them exactly on top of each other sand them to make the shapes identical if neede...

Page 14: ...rds about 15 20 degrees and almost touch the front of the servo mount see photos At full deflection the flaps should open about 50 degrees more throw is not necessary When you are satisfied with the throws glue the flap horn per manently into the flap using a slow epoxy and micro balloons mixture applied thru the open end of the flap Then repeat for the other flap checking carefully that throws an...

Page 15: ...hown Because of the angle of the stopper tube you will need to bend the vent over flow brass tube at least 90 and then extend it with a short length of Tygon so that it fully reaches the top sur face of the tank and allows you to fill it completely Make sure that the clunk weights do not quite touch the in ternal baffle in any position We recommend that you either solder on proprietary fuel barbs ...

Page 16: ...per end of the recommended thrust range you will probably need to install a 3rd fuel tank of about 300cc 10 fl oz to give you sufficient flight time One solution is to fit a Sullivan saddle 320cc 11 fl oz or Oval 10 oz tank against the side of the fuselage in front of the turbine mount under the rear of the cockpit held in place with silicone ad hesive However because of the danger of damage to pl...

Page 17: ... close to the Centre of Gravity it is important to mount the retracts as far backwards as possible Carefully sand and prepare the ply mount ing plates the fibreglass flanges and the surface of the wing spars where the plates will be glued Glue the plates in securely using a slow epoxy and milled fibre mixture making sure of good contact to the fibre glass and the wing spars at the front and back o...

Page 18: ...t cannot foul the wheel when it is retracted Trim the molded retract covers provided in the kit as shown to make covers for the retracts small plywood tabs glued inside the edges of the retract bay keep them flush You can use clear tape to hold the covers in po sition as shown We have not designed this model to have any gear doors at all but an enterprising modeller could cut out the retract cover...

Page 19: ...with the upper panel lines on either side of the fuselage These lines are so small that it is almost impossible to show them in a photo but we have tried here Tape the nose firmly into position and wipe away any excess glue that squeezes out at the joint line on the outside use Ron sonol or equivalent before it cures Nose Gear Bay The nose gear retract unit leg and wheel and the steering servo sho...

Page 20: ...m x 45mm as shown that the gear mount will be glued into Fit the gear mounting to the slots as shown and adjust the height of the slots or add any thin ply packers to keep the top of the re tract unit just clear of the top of the fibreglass part Tem porarily fit the noseleg steering arm and wheel into your retract unit now Shown here is a 1 75 Ø45mm soft foam wheel which helps to reduce any bounci...

Page 21: ... of slow epoxy and micro balloons and slide the whole unit into position thru the wing opening as shown Check that it is aligned with the gear open ing in the bottom of the fuse lage and clamp into position until the glue has cured Refit the retract unit and fit the servo arm onto the servo One small hole in the bottom of the fuselage al lows access to the servo arm screw In the unlikely event tha...

Page 22: ...in the kit if necessary Main Hatch The main engine hatch in the top of the fuselage is al ready factory finished for you with a hatch catch in stalled at the rear end The long dowel on the front of the hatch also retains the cockpit canopy by pushing on the hook at the back of the canopy Remember to remove the hatch before sliding the canopy backwards and upwards to remove it Cockpit and Clear Can...

Page 23: ...ly sand away any of the overlap at the bottom as necessary so that it fits in the correct position Install the fuselage hatch that secures the canopy in place to check the fit The external fibreglass frame is supplied a little bit oversized so it will extend past the bottom of the canopy frame by 1 2mm Do not trim this excess off before gluing it in position It is extremely thin and if you try to ...

Page 24: ...reglass outer tube and did not have to add any lead at all in the nose We have also made some useful weight savings in the stabiliser section of the current production kits that will help here The turbine is mounted on the 2 milled plywood mounting rails provided working through the wing opening Fit your motor onto the rails with it s mounting strap mark the holes carefully and then remove the mou...

Page 25: ...han about 175 grams for this model and will need to be approx 570 600mm in length You can cut the standard Wren item which is 620mm long to fit Be very careful to keep the ex tension leads for the elevator and rudder servos as far away from the thrust tube as possi ble and it may be wise to pro tect them with a layer of self adhesive aluminium tape as well Radio Installation Included in the kit is...

Page 26: ...paint used is a 2 pack polyurethane which will accept most other types of paint on top of it without any problems IMPORTANT If you plan to add paint trim please test your chosen paint on a small hidden area that will not be seen to check compatibility If you want to paint some parts or add markings de cals please make sure that you have cleaned the paint surface very well to remove all traces of w...

Page 27: ...sary Accelerate slowly keep it straight and let it roll a long way for the first take off Lift off will be very smooth if you have set the ground incidence angle as stated above After lift off keep the motor at full power for 5 10 seconds retract the landing gear and climb to get some height Reduce to about half power turn down wind and check that the flaps are up make some gentle level circuits a...

Page 28: ...Nose ring 1 Inlet duct packed inside fuselage 1 Nose gear bay 1 Cockpit frame internal 1 Clear cockpit canopy 1 Canopy frame external 1 Vertical fin and Rudder with spar installed 1 Stabiliser with upper fairing attached 1 Wing panel Left with retract cover taped in position 1 Wing panel Right with retract cover taped in position 1 Fuel tank Left 1 Fuel tank Right 1 Fuselage protection bag 2 Wing ...

Page 29: ... x 10 x 160mm 2 Ø 7mm x 50mm Fibreglass rods wing front dowels 1 Ø 7mm x 75mm Fibreglass rod wing anti rotation dowel 4 Allen bolt M4 x 25mm wing stab and fin fixing bolts 4 Washers for M4 bolts for above 5 M3 x 35mm Threaded rod for control horns 5 Plastic Adapters M3 for control horns 2 sets Fuel tank hardware 2 large discs 2 small discs 3 screws 2 Flap horns fibreglass 2 Wing fences fibreglass ...