MODEL TECH: Fun Fly 90S ARF

Nitro-powered 3D blast

Large planes are often the best flyers. Their size makes them stable and predictable, thereby encouraging pilots to fly ever closer to the ground. Combine this stability with a plane that's designed for wild aerobatics, and you have a real crowd-pleaser. Model Tech has created a combination like this with its Fun Fly 90S ARF kit. In the tradition of the funfly style of aircraft, this plane has plenty of power and huge control surfaces for extreme aerobatics.

WHAT YOU GET

When you open the box, you'll find a fully covered, built-up balsa and lite-ply fuselage with matching tail surfaces and a few bags containing the landing gear, main wheels, a steerable tailwheel, pushrods, a fuel tank and almost everything else you will need, including a detailed manual. Underneath these are two wing panels with the ailerons temporarily set into place on their CA hinges. I found only very small wrinkles in the MonoKote covering, so I checked the box and found that the entire plane is covered in genuine MonoKote covering. The wings and fuselage were nice and straight, probably because the kit is laser-cut to ensure that airframe components fit together precisely. When the airframe components fit well, it reduces assembly time because few, if any, modifications are needed.

ASSEMBLY

Although the plane is large, assembly time is less than that needed for many smaller planes because the basic construction steps are the same and there is so much room to work inside the large fuselage. Model Tech has completed many steps for you, such as cutting the pushrods to the proper length and installing blind nuts for the wing bolts, the landing gear and the engine mount. These nice touches help get you to the flying field more quickly.

* Fuselage and servos. Good detail in the illustrated manual takes the guesswork out of assembling the Fun Fly. The only procedure I did differently was to install the landing gear, tailwheel and engine toward the end of the assembly process to keep them out of the way. I first installed the horizontal and vertical stabilizers, and then I hinged the elevators and rudder with the included CA hinges. The quality of the kit was evident here; the slots for the hinges had been cut in the right places, and I did not have to make any modifications to get the hinges to fit.

I bought fast, powerful, ball-bearing servos for this aerobatic plane because you need fast control response to get the most out of it. It is especially important to have good servos in the tail section; they will be called on to strut their stuff when it's time to hover. The laser-cut servo trays fit the standard servos perfectly without modification. Once the servos were in, I linked the pushrods. All the linkage hardware is included in the kit, and there aren't any surprises. The Fun Fly uses a split elevator and two wheel collars to create a "Y" in the elevator pushrod. I used a little medium-strength (blue) thread-lock on the threads of the wheel collars for good measure, and after that, it was time to move onto the wings.

* Wings and servos. The wings are assembled in the traditional fashion. First, I test-fit the joiner in the wing panels and found that no modification to the joiner was necessary for a good fit, so I glued the wings and joiner together using 30minute epoxy. I then hinged the ailerons with the CA hinges, mounted the servos and connected the control rods. The wing went together without a hitch. This is a two-servo wing, and since I have a programmable radio, I connected the servos to separate channels instead of using a Yharness on the servo leads. Having done that, I can program elevon mixing for aerobatic maneuvers (such as the harrier and elevator) at the transmitter. Though none of this mixing is required to fly, it adds another dimension to what the plane can do, and this means more fun for its pilot.

* Engine and final assembly. The firewall comes with the blind nuts already installed, and they fit my Magnum XLS .91 perfectly, so engine installation was easy. If you use a different engine, you might have to plug the holes and drill new ones where you need them. The firewall has a little downthrust and right thrust built into it, so you won't have to worry about that. With the engine mounted, I installed the throttle servo and linkage according to the instructions.

A quick check of the plane's balance revealed that it would be a bit tail-heavy, so I mounted the battery at the front of the fuselage, right next to the included fuel tank. The fuel tank fits perfectly; put foam around it to protect it from vibration. About 1/8 inch behind the fuel tank, I glued a piece of balsa to the fuselage floor and put a piece of foam between the balsa and the tank to prevent the tank from sliding backwards. I installed the receiver just behind the tank and then mounted the tailwheel and main gear. The only part of the plane that took some time was the spinner, which is not included. Model Tech recommends a 2.5-inch spinner; I had to cut the one I bought considerably to make it fit my prop. A 3-inch spinner might have fit better. Once the prop and spinner had been mounted, it was time to break in the engine and fly.