HET-RC FA-18 Hornet Build Instructions

01 - The "Bug"...HET-RC's FA-18 Hornet. 02 - It comes very well wrapped with wings and tail feathers taped inside the lids so they won't move. Take care by removing the tape, then they wings and such will come right now. 03 - The model and its components. 04 - A bit of shipping damage... 05 - ...very easily fixed! This is a top quality ARF. 06- Sanding the Horizontal stab control wires with 60 grit. 07 - Wipe away any excess sanding residue with alcohol and towel. 08 - Install the washer. 09 - Ready for assembly. 10 - Masking used to keep excess epoxy away from the fuselage. 11 - Dry fit of the stab plate. 12 - Nothing's too good for the model... mixing it up. 13 - Epoxy applied to wire and plate, then plate pressed over wire. 14 - Stick used to apply epoxy inside the stab. 15 - Installing the stab. 16 - The stabs will "self-bottom" when fully seated over the plate... be sure to push them on all the way. Clean up the excess epoxy with alcohol and a paper towel. 17 - Removing the tape. 18 - Tape removed. 19 - Do some final clean up, making sure no epoxy wicked into the joint. 20 - A dual conversion receiver is recommend for safety. 21 - I decided to go with the Heavy Duty Metal Gear servos, although HS-55's have worked well... it's your choice. 22 - Drilling out the horn with a 3/32" bit. 23 - Installing the supplied EZ connector. 24 - Some Lok-Tite applied to the threads for insurance. 25 - Measuring the horn connector... make sure both sides are the same distance. 26 - I set each side to 5/8" from the elbow to bottom of the horn 27 - The knurled nut was a very nice touch. make sure the unit can spin in the horn without binding, but you don't want any slop either. 28 - I opted for larger 2-56 nylon clevis' and cut two rods so 2 1/4" protruded from the bottom of each clevis. 29 - Rod installed in the EZ connector and a drop of Lok-Tite added. 30 - Rod assemblies completed. The set screws were shortened a bit for convenience. 31 - Test fitting the servo... a piece of medium fuel tubing is used as a clevis safety. 32 - Set the stab to "zero" incidence when installing the servo assembly... it should run parallel with the fuselage. 33 - A block up was used to keep the stab "horizontal". 34 - Installing the servo... the receiver was hooked up and turned on along with the transmitter so the servos center before adhering them to the inside. 35 - Installed carefully, making sure the control rods is parallel to the fuse top. 36 -Servos installed. Now is a good time to add the reinforcement mod to the model in the servo area that is shwon at the end of this manual 37 - Wing mounting time... a pencil was used to "find" the guide holes. 38 - Holes opened up. 39 - A pencil used to mark the fuse. 40 - Covering cut away carefully about 1/16" inside the pencil mark. 41 - Making sure not to cut too deep. 42 - Removing the covering. 43 - A trimmed wing location. 44 - Iron used to seal the fresh cut edge. 45 - Other side being trimmed. 46 - Drill 1/8" staggered holes in the fuselage and wing about an inch apart from eachother as shown 47 - Wing with holes drilled. 48 - A block was made 65mm high per instructions and used to prop up the wing. 49 - Mixing up some BVM Glass Mil in with epoxy. 50 - Epoxy applied to wing, ply spar and fuselage side. 51 - Wing installed. 52 - Square used to true up the wing. 53 - Fuse is also square to the table. 54 - Epoxy was allowed to semi-set like this so it wouldn't all drain to the bottom, but rather sit where it needed to reside, allowing even dispersion. This position also allows easy removal of the excess epoxy with alcohol and a paper towel. 55 - Fuselage laid horizontally and inside wing distance from board measured. 56 - Distance of wing tip from board was measured and is the same as the root side distance, indicating it was correctly installed. 57 - Installing the other wing. 58 - Epoxy applied to wing root. 59 - Epoxy painted on spar. 60 - Spar installed. 61 - More epoxy applied to outside of spar. 62 - Ready to install. 63 - installing the wing. 64 - Wing seated flush... excess epoxy cleaned up. 65 - Wing squared up while epoxy semi-sets. 66 - Wing distance measured again... it was the exact same height as the other wing. 67 - Picture shows wing propped up. 68 - Wings installed. 69 - Printable template for vertical stab gauge. 70 - A 110 degree gauge printed, then cut out. 71 - I used the template to make a 1/8 ply guage. 72 - Cut and ready to use. 73 - Marking vertical stab locations. 74 - Cutting away the covering. 75 - Peel up reveals balsa for good glue bond. 76 - Iron used to seal the covering. 77 - Ready for stab installation. 78 - Stabs are angled... check the bottom to make sure the correct one is used. 79 - Marked left and right so they don't get mixed up. 80 - Peel away excess covering before gluing. 81 - Vertical stab ready to install. 82 - Epoxy applied to stab. 83 - Epoxy applied to fuselage. 84 - Using the gauge to set the stab angle... I finally found a good use for those GWS rubber bands. 85 - Stab pinned at base while epoxy sets. 86 - Second stab epoxied in place... fillets were added to inside. 87 - Vertical stabs installed. 88 - The Kontronik power plant. 89 - Wemotec MiniFan 480. 90 - Fan and all the parts. Note it comes with two silver 2.5mm motor mount screws, but the Kontronik takes 3mm so these weren't used. 91 - Motor adapter being heated with a torch so it slips on the motor shaft easily. 92 - Adapter shaft installed. 93 - Adding some Lok-Tite to the set screws 94 - Set screws installed... noted the spacing at the base needs to be checked so the adapter is not installed too far back or the fan will rub against the shroud when installed. 95 - Installing the motor in the fan housing. 96 - Two parts not used for this installation. Two parts not used for this installation. NOTE: For those of us who don't check our fans on a regular basis, it is recommended that you add the small spacer ring on the rear of the motor. Over time, the motor screws can and will slowly work itself loose causing the rotor to come in contact with the inside of the shroud. This can result in the blades scraping and in some situations, breaking. Special thanks to Al Mostek for this helpful tip. 97 - Locking the motor down. I used the 3mm hardened hex bolts to install. 98 - Installing the fan. 99 - Adding the washer and nut. 100 - Slotting the tip of the shaft so the nut can be tightened. 101 - Slotting finished. 102 - A screwdriver can now hold the shaft while it's tightened with a 10mm wrench. 103 - Installing the cone. 104 - Rear view of assembly. 105 - Soldering the plug tips on the motor. 106 - Plugs installed. 107 - Motor was connected to receiver and battery to adjust balance. The cone was loosened and rotated 90 degrees at a time until minimal vibration was found while running. 108 - Fan assembly balanced... ready to install. 109 - Installing the fan. 110 - The rear blind nuts for the mounting bolts were installed in the jet 1/16" too far forward. The rear mounting holes were lengthened to compensate. 111 - Bolting the unit to the mounts. 112 - You can see the rear (right) blind nut and why the holes needed extending. 113 - Fan installed. 114 - Double-thick double sided tape added to bottom of receiver. 115 - Installing the receiver. 116 - This was the best spot to place the receiver. 117 - A rear view showing components position... it all just fits. 118 - Installing an antenna rod. 119 -Rod being inserted into hole. 120 - Rod installed... 121 - Antenna run... I wanted to try this position as it give a full run for the wire from the rear to front. We will see how bad the power wires interfere and can change it if necessary before flying. 122 - Receiver wired. 123 - Making a lighter and transparent thrust tube. 124 - Sheet cut from folder. 125 - Marking to trim. 126 - Slots cut to clear fan mount... 3/8" wide x 1/2" deep. 127 - End mark for trimming. 128 - Sheet cut to shape. 129 - Temporarily installed. 130 - Seam taped on inside. 131 - Outside tape tacked to board, sticky side up. 132 - Sprayed with Windex so it can be "bubble free". 133 - Tube placed on tape. 134 - Tube taped up, checked for fit. 135 - Fits fine. 136 - Cutting a wire exit hole using a piece of aluminum tubing. 137 - Hole cut. 138 - ESC plugged into motor. Leads heat shrunk so they don't come loose. 139 - ESC bent forward with black power wire and servo wire tie-wrapped to motor leads to hold them in place. 140 - Wires fed through top hole in thrust tube. 141 - Thrust tube slid into place. 142 - Servo wire fed towards receiver. 143 - Packing tape used to hold the thrust tube on the fan housing. 144 - Tape installed. 145 - View of simple wiring showing ESC centered in thrust tube. 146 - Make sure th wires do not bingand the ESC is centered 147 - Rear view shows centered ESC... note wire tie at rear bend to keep wires from flying around under thrust. 148 - Installing a battery connector... Deans Ultra Plugs were used. 149 - Deans Ultra power plug completed 150 - Battery installed. 151 - Cutting a slot in the rear cover to accommodate wiring. 152 - Opening cut. 153 - Wires clear the hatch. 154 - Rear access hatch installed. 155 - Using 60 grit sandpaper to rough up the inside. 156 - Inside lip sanded. 157 - Cleaning sanding dust with alcohol. 158 - Sanding the inside of the nose with 60 grit. 159 - Inside roughed up. 160 -Dust removed with towel and alcohol. 161 - Epoxy applied to the rear, I used epoxy because it is more compatible with the glass tail, which is made from a epoxy / glass mix. 162 - Applying a line of epoxy to the inside of the tail. 163 - Tail pressed into position. 164 - ... and excess epoxy removed with alcohol and a towel. 165 - Masking tape used to hold it in place while the epoxy sets. I used 15 minute epoxy to allow it to soak into the wood. 166 - Model positioned upright to allow any remaining epoxy inside to flow down and create a fillet. 167 - Tail installed. 168 - Applying epoxy to the nose area. 169 - Epoxy applied to the inside of the nose. 170 - Nose pressed in place. 171 - Excess epoxy cleaned up with paper towel and denatured alcohol. 172 - Nosecone installed. 173 - The cockpit and canopy. 174 - First, I cut the bottom lip away from the canopy. 175 - Next, I used a permanent marker and holding it flat on the table, it nearly "self-drew" a line all the way around. 176 - The front of the canopy has a sharp angle about 1/2" long and up from the bottom... the top curved line was drawn right at the point where this curve goes shallow. You want to get rid of the large hump. 177 - You can see the angle of the front better here... the upper mark will be the cut line. 178 - Examining the canopy. 179 - The front edge was angled downward to where the canopy meets the dash. I did this by centering it front to back over the model and making marks on the sides. 180 - You can see that the mark for the front is 2" from the tip. 181 - Canopy cut at an angle from this mark to the bottom edge of the rear. 182 - You can see it where it was cut... the remaining excess and hump area in the rear will be removed at the line. 183 - Cutting it out at the rear on the original line, which was drawn in the early steps and is about 1/4" from the bottom. 184 - This is how much hump that was removed from the front of the canopy. 185 - Fitting the canopy. 186 - Nice fit with no humps. 187 - Although it was permanent marker, the lines easily wipe away with denatured alcohol. 188 - Cleaned up canopy. 189 - Canopy in place. 190 - Side view of canopy. 191 - Time to adjust throws... ruler taped to table top works. 192 - 1/2" down elevator. 193 - 1/2" up elevator. 194 - Time for ailerons. 195 - 1" right aileron. 196 - 1" left aileron... adjustments are done... I set dual rates at 3/8" elevator and 5/8" aileron, but will adjust after the first flight. 197 - FA-18 built, radio adjusted and ready for decals. 198 - Building a custom cockpit fro balsa and thin ply. 199 - Edging using the balsa. 200 - Bottom plate. 201 - Installed plate. 202 - Adding rivets. 203 - Larger view. 204 - Rivets about finished. 205 - Pilot initially painted. 206 - Seat made from balsa and real cloth chute bag. 207 - Shaping the new cockpit to the model, which was protected by masking tape. 208 - Final fit checked. 209 - Cockpit finished. 210 - Small details added. 211 - Adding the instrument panel hood. 212 - Instrument panel and labels installed, cockpit detail finished. 213 - Another view, it was modeled after. 214 - This is a photo I had of a bug cockpit. 215 - Side view. 216 - Front view with pilot temporarily installed. 217 - Glass still needs lines painted, but a quick look. 218 - This guy's ready to taxi! 219 - Installing the pilot... I epoxied a rubber grommet on top of a 1/4" wood dowel. 220 - Next, I pressed the dowel into the head area of the pilot. 221 - A 1/4" hole was drilled into the cockpit floor and epoxy was applied 222 - Squeezing the figure to hold the dowel, it was placed in the hole until the pilot base was seated against the floor and left to set up. You can either epoxy the pilot to the dowel/grommet, or leave it dry to change it out for a different pilot for variety. 223 - RC56 glue added and masking used to hold cockpit in place until dry. 224 - Taping it up this way allowed the cockpit to be removed while the glue set. 225 - Canopy glue set up and tape was removed. 226 - Working on panel lines for the Bug... about half done and using a combo of photos and plastic models for the locations. 227 - Canopy masked for paint. 228 - Canopy painting completed. 229 - This is a recommended MOD for the FA-18. Balsa supports are glued from top to bottom on both sides of each servo and taileron block as shown 230 - The hole for the towhook is hard to find under the cover, but it is located 5 3/4" from the back of hte nosecone 231 - While you can glue the towhook directly in the fuselage, I cut a larger opening to reinforce the bottom of the fuselage 232 - The area is lightly sanded 233 - The towhook is shaped as shown, with a slight down angle on it as shown at the top 234 - The long side that enters the fuselage is roughed up with 60 grit sandpaper 235 - Apply epoxy to the hole and hook, then install it in place, followed by the small 1/32" thick ply plate that was made. Teh tape is used to protect the covering from excess epoxy 236 - Tape the plate in place and make sure the hook is pointing straight back before the epoxy sets 237 - Remove the protective tape and seal the edges of the ply plate with CA 238 - The plate is painted to match the fuselage. This prevents the bottom of the fuselage around the hook from damage caused by heavy use 239 - Side view of the hook in place. 240 - Check CG, which is located 2 3/4" from the inside tip of the wing 241 - Side view showing walk area in black. 242 - Right Side View 243 - The HET-RC FA-18 Hornet EDF Jet This Website and all documents herin are Copyright © 2012 www.scalerocketry.com - All rights reserved.