Hangar 9 Funtana 125 ARF (OVERSIZE)

Hi, Jim in Tampa once again with a follow up to my (earlier in the day) Jan 16, 2011 construction review of the Funtana 125. It is still the same day but later (Jan 16) and the weather here in Tampa, Florida is great with a temperature of 70 degrees. I ran the Saito 125 very rich for about 30 minutes. With all working well on the Funtana, I taxied out onto the 900 foot grass runway. I did a little ground work to insure that it handled properly and it was very good. I pointed the nose into the 5 mph wind and gradually opened the throttle. The Funtana moved out briskly and was in the air in about 70 feet. It flew straight and level requiring NO trim of any kind. The airplane is very stable and predictable. The 125 Saito Glo engine is plenty of power and the airplane moves along nicely at 1/2 throttle. I set up Dual Rates but have only flown so far on low rate with 60% exponential. Rolls are something to behold.......very quick. I can't imagine what high rate will be like. The landings are very smoothe. The Funtana likes to float so you'll have to gently force it to land. This is a fun airplane that I think you'll enjoy. Good luck.

Today is the day (1-16-11) that I'll be flying my new Funtana 125. I chose the Saito 125 for power. I'm very particular in my construction techniques and this is my first ARF. The construction is extremely precise and the laser cutting is like a piece of artwork. Because the wing and body are jig assembled, everything fits perfectly. Installation of servos and wiring is easy and straight forward. The hardware pack is VERY complete. All you will need to purchase is Servo Arms. The servo cutouts in the rear of the body are a little wide but I later discovered that some of the Futaba digital servos are a bit wider so the cutouts will accommodate different brands. I used the standard digital servos supplied with the Spektrum DX-7. There was one issue however that needed to be addressed. The right and left elevator servos hit one another inside the fuselage and I had to place washers under the servo mounts to move both of them out. The aileron servo push rods I received were about 1" too short and I had to make new ones as I didn't want to have any delays in completing construction.
The pre-balanced weight of my Funtana was 9.2 pounds. I added nothing to it that would cause any increased weight. I can't see how the model could possibly come in at 8 to 8.5 Lbs. Once completed with everything installed, it was tail heavy and needed to have about 8 ounces of weight in the nose to bring it into
balance. I used a Harry Higley 4 oz crank shaft weight and 4 oz's of stick on lead. Final pre-flight weight (less fuel) is 9.7 Lbs. If I were able to give the designer a suggestion, it would be to lengthen the nose moment by about one inch.
Would I recommend that you buy the Funtana? ABSOLUTELY!! The beauty, construction and craftsmanship out weigh the few construction issues I pointed out. I think today is going to be a lot of fun.