Lid popped

After enjoying the E-Flite RV-9, I decided to get something similar yet larger. I just picked up the Hangar 9 RV-8 46. It’s a clean looking rendition of the Vans Aircraft RV-8. This is my first ARF from Hangar 9 and with a wingspan of 5ft. and a length of over 4ft. it will be the largest in my fleet at this time. It’s designed for 2 or 4 stroke slimers or a Power 46 / equivelant EP motor. After unpacking it and checking the contents I was quite happy as everything is mint. All the fragiles are individually wrapped and secured. The covering is excellent, better than I have ever seen from E-Flite out of the box. No warps, wrinkles, bubbles, or tears. The manual is well-written and logical. Hangar 9 got it right on this aspect.

I will be using mostly the recommended gear, though I’m not a fan of E-Flite ESC’s. Here is my config:

E-Flite Power 46
Castle Phoenix 60 ESC and CC-BEC
6x JR DS821 high-torque digital sport servos driven @ 6V, 2x for Flaps
JR R921 RX with 4th. receiver
4s lipo – likely 2x 2500 mAh 30C’s in parallel
I’ll start with an APC 13 x 8 prop

Will be flown with JR X9303 so should have 2048 resolution w/the R921. Also ServoSync. I bench tested everything and was surprised at how smooth and accurate the servos are as well as the torque and holding strength. They are standard size, yet light. I will be using 7 channels on the RX as I prefer a channel per aileron and flap – no “Y” harness. This gets you subtrim and the ability to configure differential. For this setup you will need 2x 6″ extensions for the ailerons.

The Du-Bro 2.75″ white spinner is recommended. You will want this, catalog # 290.

The hardware kit is complete and includes proper components. This was meant to be either a slimer or an EP so the hardware is sturdy. Some may prefer to swap out the nylon clevis(s) with metal hardware.

All control surfaces are pre-hinged with control horns attached. The rudder employs a pull-pull linkage via cable. The elevator is dual halves and the horizontal stab halves mate together with the fuse via 2 joiner tubes.

There is a ton of room inside the hatch, making easy work of servo, linkage, and radio / lipo installation. Eases cable tidy-up as well.

The hatch has magnets holding it in place and you can also bolt it in from both sides.

Electronics

Bits

Fuse / Hatch

The tail halves

The 2-piece landing gear. Boo!

Radio gear pre tidy-up

Elev. and Rudd. servos installed

The rudder and elevator servo installation is easy, place the servo in the tray, mark inside the grommets with a pen, then use a pin drill to make pilot holes. Wick thin CA over the surrounding wood and when it cures bolt your servos in. The JR DS821 servos fit perfectly in the servo tray.

Careful when cutting out the exit!

Horizontal stab prior to joining to fuse

Tail mated to fuse

You will want to use low-tack tape to hold it in place while you gently apply pressure or lightly clamp until the epoxy sets.

Canopy installed & curing

The canopy is another task which requires patience & skill. You have to cut it out of a giant mold without damaging it. Canopy scissors would be the clear choice however I don’t own a pair so I used Fiskars. Cut all the way around within .5″ of the mold lines. Then trimmed up with a razor knife and hand sanded. Ya! Use canopy glue to secure it to the hatch and keep an eye out to wipe up any drips.

The instructions for the cowl are complete shennanigans. They say to use a hobby knife to cut out the air inlets. Good luck. You will need a rotary tool with a drill bit to get going then an attachment to route it out. I finished it up with a sanding drum on the rotary tool.

Finished cowl

Motor mount template

The included motor mount template makes it easy. Tape it up, mark the holes, pin drill them out then BAM. Enlarge the holes to about 4.5mm to allow for the mounting bolts. Das Schroeder!

The Power 46 X-mount included also needs to have the outer mounting holes drilled out to about 4.5mm and the bolts and included spacers keep it all together.

Power 46 mounted

The cooling vents need to be cut out from the firewall – this is a pain because the firewall is coated in adhesive to prevent fuel damage. I used a rotary tool to punch through and route out the cooling vents.

Once that is complete,  it’s a simple matter of connecting the motor to the ESC, and mounting the ESC with the leads out of the way.

The cowl bolts right up easily. The prop adapter & spinner backplate is installed along with a prop, then the spinner hub is attached.

Left-side

Right hand side

I used wire keeps and double-sided foam tape to tidy up the electronics as best as possible. This setup has 11 leads coming off the RX due to the satellite receivers and FlightLog interface!

All in all, I think Hangar 9 did a fine job with this ARF. They included silly foam wheels, which is crap for something this size. A few dollars to replace with something nice though. The motor mount template is brilliant, saving wasted and potentially inaccurate work.  The finish is high-quality and clean, very true to the full-size RV-8. I did not find any potential gotchas with the manual, it is well-written.

Overall, I’d have to rate this ARF high up on the scale. I look forward to building more Hangar 9 ARF’s in the future.

-Zeke

Reading quite a bit  of  Internet chit chat related to lipos,  I ran accross this US-based lipo manufacturer. Of course the cells come from overseas, however pack assembly and customer service is done in the US. 

One nifty feature – they have a heat sensor which will indicate if the battery is overheating – displaying temps of 140f-180f.

I ordered up 2x 2500mAh 30C 4s lipos. They arrived in perfect condition with all cells balanced @ ideal resting voltage ~3.7V

You can order with or without knockoff Deans connectors, and choose your balance tap.

I’ve been charging these with a cellpro 4s, at this time I have 5 cycles on each lipo.  Time will tell what the cycle life ends up being for my applications, so I’ve been noting each discharge / charge cycle.

In the Pulse XT 25e and Diamante 25e, this battery packs some serious punch! It’s noticeable over my FlightPower Evo 25C. Each aircraft has the same power system, and draws ~60 amps at full throttle.  So, I’ve been discharging @ roughly 24C max. Should be gentle on the packs.

I plan to use the micrologger v3 onboard the next few flights, to get accurate performance statistics. I’m really curious about how well they hold voltage under load. So far I’ve been happy with these lipos.

Xcite 4s lipo

As with all e-flite ARF’s all hardware is supplied. No modifications necessary, although I do recommend going over weak spots with either thin CA or epoxy as you see fit. Spots get missed in the factory.

The covering is nice, wrinkles always seem to be there though I can have Eli show me how to work them out. //*//UPDATE – wrinkles cleaned up quite well with a heatgun.

There is room to neatly route cables, always a plus. The battery compartment can accomadate nearly any 3s or 4s lipo.

Hinging is required for all control surfaces.

Basic shop tools used, nothing fancy.

For this build I will be using the following gear:

E-Flite power 32 motor, 770kv, on 4s lipo

Castle Phoenix 60 ESC + Castle BEC

4x JR Sport MN48 Servos

Spektrum AR7000 RX w/Flight Log

APC 12 x 8 & 13 x 6.5 e-props w/e-flite aluminum spinner

Dual ailerons configured in TX. It will be flown by a JR X9303 DSM2 radio.

OK some pics already, I was in a rush to build so started right into it.

RX installed

ESC & BEC

M0Tar

Getting there

Wow it's purple

And done! Fairly aggressive control surfaces

If I had not slacked towards the end of the project, it could have been completed in a few nights time, given a few hours each night.

The ailerons were a pain to hinge, then again I always dislike hinging. This involves patience and careful application of thin CA to the hinges. I ended up with minor mis-alignment on each aileron due to the pre-done hinge slots in the wing not aligned. //*//UPDATE//*// Eli has since used his heatgun to tune the ailerons, no more twists!

After hinging the horizontal & vertical stab, they both installed quickly and accurately after checking alignment. Thin CA was used to wick into the fuse after the covering was neatly cut.

Servos installed with no problems using the stock JR hardware included, + some 12″ extensions. I did use the special long servo arms from JR, and the stock e-flite pushrods, etc. Topped it off with Parsons retainer clips where the servo extensions join.

The hatch simply requires careful alignment and the use of canopy glue to apply the canopy. It should sit for a few hours at least before handling.

The power 32 motor bolts right up to the firewall using the included hardware – no spacers needed for the shorter motor (as opposed to the power 25).  There’s room to neatly mount the ESC / BEC and route all cables to the battery compartment / receiver area. I used some spiral wrap to keep things outta my way.

The one-piece wing is a snap to install – and bolted in via a single large nylon bolt.

Given careful alignment and markings for the pin drill, the cowl is a simple job. I’d drop some thin CA into the pilot holes you drill for the cowl screws to add some strength.

Overall, this was a fun project, and definately a quality ARF.

If you want to check out the manual, it is here

-Zeke