SLEC Funfly Build

[Aky208]

As per requests, here is the start of my first ever kit build of the Funfly. This is probably more for my benefit for help when i get stuck than anything informative to others.

The kit has arrived today after being ordered only yesterday. so a big thumbs up to SLEC UK ( & Parcel Force) for being so quick.

the parts are well packed and look in good condition and after having a quick flick through the build guide and picture booklet im confident of the quality of the information provided.

As i had promised my better half that the nursery would be finished by this weekend, tonight will very much be devoted to another type of kit build. all purchased from ikea for far too much money and not nearly as much fun.

I think i shall sneak a couple of minutes in the garage later this evening for the unpacking and labeling. pictures will follow.

[Concorde Speedbird]

Great! This will be interesting to see how you do yours. Mine only had some very minor changes as it was my first build. Here's my very green one.

Good choice for a first build, cracking flyer as well. I look forward to the start!

CS

[Aky208]

Okay here come some first photos:

The wood all laid out and checked. (seems alot of wood for a small model)

One of the plans laid out, think i will take this to the local printers to get a copy made so as not ruin the original.

A good shot of my modelling world. note the T-180 towards the back right of the pic. unfortunately she suffered a nose in last weekend.

So far so good. Due to the nursery taking a leap into being finished and me having tomorrow off work, i shall be starting the build in the morning. (after a nip to the LMS to purchase some last minute supplies).

Hopefully more pics and progress tomorrow!

[Concorde Speedbird]

There are a lot of bits, don't worry you'll use them all! Mine came out at 4.5 pounds, which is very good. Have fun!

CS

[Olly P]

A fortuitous start.

enjoy.

[Aky208]

Okay build for today has ended and i would say that alot has been done.

here come the pics:

So far soo good. Most of the fuse is together with the firewall clamped and drying in position.

The slot and tab design made assembly very quick and straightforward.

The servo tray in position and left to dry over night. I will probably check in on it after tea.

The test fit of my hitech servo. Like a glove.

The firewall clamped into position.

I got a bit confused here as there were only 4 T-nuts in with the kit, and i see later on in the build, some more are used for the landing gear mount. i have managed to salvage some from a donor model so all is not lost, but i'm wondering if there are meant to be more in the kit? Can anyone shed some light?

[Concorde Speedbird]

There are meant to be four more for the undercarriage, I had one missing but SLEC replaced it in a day, great service.

You build very fast! That took me about a week to get to that stage! Keep it up, she'll be flying in a week or two!!!

CS

[Aky208]

This is about 5hrs of building time so far. Most of the parts have been CA'd into position which dries quickly. Resin has been used for the parts that take a bit more load.

I will have to get onto SLEC to see is they can send some out. hopefully i will have the bottom planking done by tomorrow night.

[Peter Wood]

It is. Going well

[IanR]

Hello Aky (?)

I am watching avidly. I rang SLEC a couple of days ago to ask if they thought the Funfly would easily convert to electric. I was told they were already working on it themselves and to give it another 5/6 weeks by which time the conversion should be ready. The speed you're going at you'll be long finished by then - great!

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Cheers Ian

(Incidentally, I think you've overdone it a bit with the G clamp)

[Concorde Speedbird]

It'd be pretty easy to convert to electric, it already has a tank hatch which helps. It'd be interesting to see as well, even if I prefer IC. An electric version of the Funfly would be very nice indeed though.

Keep up the good work, I am looking forwards to more! You'll beat me to the sir with my Domino at this rate!

CS

[Codename-John]

jeez your putting me to shame with your building speed, ive had mine since Cosford and im only a few pictures in front of you ( you dont have to follow the instructions number by number tho, while you wait for the fuz to dry, you can start on the wings / tail etc ) ! lol, also the 4 tee nuts for the undercarriage were missing from my kit too, must have been packaged by the same person, I picked some up from my LMS as i had to go anyway, and at just over a quid for 10 it wasnt worth contacting SLEC,

One thing i will point out, when you come to build the wings, make sure the ribs are the right way up, they look quite symetrical but theyre not, the bottom is flatter, I nearly got one the wrong way round. If you use thin cyano you can build from the servo box out wards dry, then glue it all up in place when your totally happy, Youl probably have to make the holes in the leading and trailing edge strips bigger too as i couldnt get mine onto the little lugs on the ribs, nearly snapped a rib trying !

[Aky208]

Hi Ian

i was thinking of converting it to electric as well, as its not easy to find a place to fly IC round my way, but there is a place near where i work. So that gave me enough excuse to keep it noisy .

Hi Codename-John

Unfortunately i'm the type of person thats has to concentrate on one bit at a time otherwise i will get lost. like for example i forgot to put the wing anchor plate in when i assembled the fuse, luckily it all hadn't dried properly yet, and i was able to pull it apart enough to slot the offending part in. I managed to salvage some t-nuts from my precedent T180 so i think im okay with that.

as i understand it the funfly is an old Precedent design but has been tweaked by SLEC

[Peter Wood]

Posted by IanR on 09/08/2012 20:29:41:

Hello Aky (?)

I am watching avidly. I rang SLEC a couple of days ago to ask if they thought the Funfly would easily convert to electric. I was told they were already working on it themselves and to give it another 5/6 weeks by which time the conversion should be ready. The speed you're going at you'll be long finished by then - great!

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Cheers Ian

(Incidentally, I think you've overdone it a bit with the G clamp)

I also tried a year ago to convert to electric, so they sold me a spare fuselage , but don't hold your breath about waiting for the convertion.

peter

5

[IanR]

Hello Peter,

Actually, I'm that keen that I have been holding my breath. OK, I'm breathing, again, now, but could you explain why, please? And how did your conversion go?

Ian

[Redex]

High Peter,

I too am interested in the electric conversion - if possible would you supply some details e.g. Motor/ESC/LiPo used and any motor mount details.

Many Thanks

[Concorde Speedbird]

Posted by Aky208 on 09/08/2012 23:13:53:

as i understand it the funfly is an old Precedent design but has been tweaked by SLEC

Yeah, the Tailplane has been raised which is a big improvement, the original Precedent one had the tailplane on the bottom so ground strikes were very common, so SLEC have raised it and with mine it has been perfect, no ground strikes even on a rough strip.

CS

[Aky208]

Okay, for those who are still following the progress, today i have done a bit more on the FunFly.

Here come the pics:

The fuse undercarriage support is being glued and clamped into place. Unfortunately these are the smallest G-clamps i have, but they do the job.

Some of the ribs are assembled and drying, along with the servo hatch.

The engine mount and supports are glued in place.

The under-carriage mounting plate, as seen from the inside of the fuse. the T-nuts were "lifted" from my T 180.

Unfortunately i have only just noticed the gap at the bottom of F5. i'm not sure how i solve this... any solutions welcome

I only had a couple of hours this PM to work on her so haven't got much achieved. Had a flying session with the MX-2, as the weather was brilliant. I should be able to get more done in the morning.

[Concorde Speedbird]

Looks very nice!

With that gap, if you can get a thin bit of balsa in there and glue that in (epoxy maybe, CA/superglue, whatever is easiest ). You should be able to get a bit of balsa in there though, it will require a bit of shaping. That should help, I think you ought to put some triangle stock on the inside, on the corner where the gap is (where the plate is against F2, over where F15 is written). That would add loads of strength.

By the way, there is quite a lot of excess glue on that undercarriage plate, which isn't a problem but adds weight, so on the other glue joints it is worth getting some scrap wood and wiping it off before it sets.

Overall though you are doing a great job, keep it up! Reminds me of my build, apart from yours is a lot quicker!

CS

[Aky208]

Hi all

I have made some progress on the build today (phots will follow). everything seems to be going together nicely.

CS - Thanks for the info, i have managed to fill the gap with a bit of triangular cut-off shaped to fit. Then filled any small gaps left with sawdust and PVA mix, i sanded this done flush with F5 so you can hardly notice it. I thought this would have meant F5 would be too high on the top but it is sitting flush and can only imagine the gap appeared due to tolerances in the CNC. I have sanded down all the excess glue this morning when it had dried.

Okay here come the pics:

I have managed to get a lot done on the wing since yesterday. as can be seen all the ribs and cross members are in place and some sheeting has been applied.

This is the wing as it now stands with some more sheeting applied along the inner edge and trailing edge. Once dry the sheeting was sanded to smooth the gaps between the balsa sheet.

Here the sheeting has been sanded and trimmed to length.

[Aky208]

Planking has begun on the bottom of the fuse. once the glue has dried these were sanded down flush with the sides.

The snakes have been installed and epoxyed in. These were trimmed to the end of the fuse once dried.

Work has begun on the second wing. Here you can see the servo box assembled and drying.

Overall i feel the build is going well. had a few minor snags like when i snapped a rib and almost de-toed myself after dropping the scalpel. luckily it just bounced blade up on my trainer.

[Aky208]

I have also decided, somewhat, on the colour scheme of her. The main colour being black with red stripes.

[Concorde Speedbird]

Looking good. Very fast building, it'll be done by next weekend! Keep it up!

CS

[Codename-John]

Did you have to remove some of the inside of the cowl blocks CS to get the engine mount in place ? Ive just tried to get mine in and the cowl inside is too narrow, it was made up as per instructions yet the mount`s base, being circular, needs about 1/4 inch out of each side of the balsa blocks where it sits, and it looks like the top block will need quite a bit out too, try yours before glueing it in place Aky as it would have been much easier to do first

My colour scheme is going to be yellow fuse and fin, black top wings and tail with maybe some yellow stars and swooshes, and black and white chequered bottom wings and tail for orientation, fitting the covering isnt a strong point of mine tho

[Aky208]

Sounds like an awesome colour scheme. you will have to get some pics on here when you have done it. This will be the first time i have covered a model so mine is gonna be a trail and error jobbie.

Thanks for the heads-up, didn't even think it would be a problem but i will check tomorrow evening.

As for the build, not much to tell today. didn't have much time to work on it but have got alot of the sheeting done on the fuse. no pictures today unfortunately but wil try and get some up tomorrow.