Kyosho FV-1000: Tear up the skies with this electric jet

Model Airplane News, Sep 2003 by Stroup, Mike

Looking for a space-age electric jet to tear up the skies with? Meet the Kyosho FV-1000. This V-tail, ducted-fan sport plane has plenty of power and a need for speed: fainthearted pilots need not apply. The FV-1000 features a gelcoated, fiberglass fuselage, built-up and covered wings and tail, pushrods, hardware and decals. The model also comes with a Kyosho ducted-fan unit and AP29L-V motor, which can produce almost a pound of thrust. Most of the building has been done for you, so it takes very little time and effort to put the plane together; you should be ready for the field in about an evening. The photos and diagrams in the instruction manual make assembly trouble-free.

WING AND FUSELAGE ASSEMBLY

Start with the fan unit. I added some Loctite to the fan's main-shaft setscrew. It's important to tighten all the fasteners; you don't want any to come loose in flight! It's easier to put the decals on the fan unit now before you attach it to the wing.

The wing is next in line. CA the hinges, and then cut out the servo pocket and create the holes for the fan wires and the mount. Then install the fan-unit tray, alignment dowel and dihedral brace with epoxy. Finish the wing by installing the servo and then the fan unit. It's easier to install the servo before the fan unit because it's hard to work with the wing when it has a big "tube" on top.

The fuselage is next. In my kit, the front bulkhead was about 0.050 inch too wide, so I had to sand it a little to get it to fit properly. For good glue joints, be sure to sand the gelcoat off any areas to be glued inside the fuselage. I used a structured-tooth tungsten carbide bit in a Dremel tool to make the hole for the wing-alignment dowel. Its position isn't clearly marked on the fuselage, so start out a little low and work up (a slot instead of a hole is OK, as long as the top of the slot is in the correct location). Use the seam in the glass fuselage as the centerline. Epoxy the wing-bolt plate into place, line up the wing on the fuselage, and drill the hole for the single wing bolt. No rocket science here. Epoxy the aft bulkhead and the battery-compartment floor into place, and set the fuselage aside to cure.

TAIL ASSEMBLY

Before you continue with the fuselage, you need to assemble the V-tail. Install the CA hinges, epoxy the tail halves together with the provided wire dihedral braces (and angle template), remove the covering where the tail will be glued to the fuselage, and you've finished.

The next step is to epoxy the tail to the slot in the fuselage. The slot on my fuselage was not perfectly level, so I sanded the top of one side and the bottom of the other so the tail would be level with the wing. Be frugal with the epoxy here and use it only where you need it; an ounce in the tail is 3 ounces in the nose! After the epoxy has cured, install the provided control horns. It's easier to drill out the holes in the horns for a proper clevis fit before you attach them to the control surfaces. Bend open the Y-pushrod to the indicated angle, and solder the threaded ends into place. I soldered after I had inserted the pushrod through the provided slots and into the fuselage and placed cardboard over the tails to prevent any spilled solder from melting through the covering. Screw the nylon clevis onto the threaded ends to approximately the mid adjustment point, and attach it to the outside hole on the horn.

Now it's time to install the tail servo. Follow the diagrams in the instruction booklet, and this is a snap. I used some servo-mounting tape in addition to the provided aluminum band. Make sure that the servo pushrod moves freely through the aft bulkhead.

I suggest that you cut out the battery-cooling inlets and switch-mounting holes at this point. This will eliminate the chance of damaging the radio components that would otherwise be inside the fuselage. I used a Dremel tool with the structured-tooth tungsten carbide bit to do this job.

TAKEOFF AND LANDING

Assume a position at the downwind side of the field, face the wind, apply full power to the fan, take a few running steps into the wind and THROW! Starting out at the downwind side of the field will allow the plane to climb out a bit before turning. Use minimum control inputs to keep the model in sight, and get it up to about 250 feet of altitude before you try anything aggressive. For most of the flight, stay at 80 to 100 percent power. When you have only 1 minute of good power left, begin to set up for a landing. Set up the landing as with any other plane, but carry at least 50 percent power until the plane is on final approach, and don't expect it to glide very far with the fan stopped. Keep the nose down about 10 degrees until flare. If you are ever forced to land this plane with completely exhausted batteries, land it like the space shuttle: nose down 30 degrees or so.

HIGH-SPEED PERFORMANCE

This plane is happier at high speeds. Its roll and pitch rates are manageable and predictable. As long as the power is kept up, the FV-1000 trades altitude for speed and speed for altitude fairly well. You'll typically need to dive to gain enough speed to perform a loop, but it will roll for days. Even at higher speeds, however, don't be a cowboy with the elevator, or it will snap!