Horizon’s website indicates shipping late this month, although we all know how that works. The official JR site has yet to be updated at this time.

A couple new features myself and many many others really wanted to see got incorporated as well:

A backlit LCD display 

The ability to trigger the timer with the throttle. No more forgetting to start the &$%@ flight timer!

Manufacturers Advertised Price for the radio & 9-channel R921 receiver w/no servos is $549, $80 less  than the previous MAP of the X9303. Considering the R921 is worth $169 alone, it’s a good bundle.

Then again, not everyone sells for MAP – “add to cart” and you’ll see what I mean. I would imagine this reputable vendor should have the X9503 radio priced similarly.

The radio retains %100 of the legendary 9303 programming, which was introduced with the 72Mhz S/PCM XP9303. Naturally it is compatible with all Spektrum aircraft receivers.

Add. model memory, more features (and useful ones at that) @ a lower price.

Although I won’t be in a hurry to replace my X9303 with this upgraded model it will be quite tempting!

-Zeke

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

So today is my b-day and yesterday my gift to myself arrived from Todd over at www.toddsmodels.com – a JR X9303 radio + goodies!

Following the JR naming convention this is a (9) channel, (30) model memory, (3) type TX – air / heli and sailplane. This is effectively the XP9303 w/integrated Spektrum 2.4GHz DSM/DSM2 technology. It’s been on the market since approx. late ’07 if I recall correctly and is regarded as a highly flexible radio. It came bundled with a JR R921 receiver.

I also picked up the USB interface & PC software, you’re able to backup model definitions and theoretically fully configure a model via the GUI then commit it to the radio. Naturally I had to get a neckstrap and the dual TX case from JR as well – the same one Eli uses.

I’ve unpacked it and charged the TX battery overnight, and hope to start playing with it this afternoon. More to come!