Update:. In my review I was saying to use 30% nirto helicopter fuel to boost more power out of the engine. After about 35 flights I have had a major engine failure on the Kyosho F-86F. The maximum percent of nitro you should use should be 20% with a good OS short glowplug with no idle bar. I got the replacement parts and im back to flying.

Raymond --

Click here to see what other people are doing with there Kyosho F-86F.

Thanks to everyone sending their photos.

From Dream to Flight of the Kyosho F-86F Ducted Fan Jet

I remember the first time I looked at the Kyosho F-86F model in a advance copy of Model Airplane News magazine and said to myself that this could actually be my first real ducted fan "jet" aircraft. Knowing what I have seen of Kyosho's past attempts of electric ducted fan models I was already preparing myself for a Underpowered model. As I read a little further in the article it was saying it was powered with a O.S. .15 ducted fan motor. I did not know O.S. made a small .15 size motor for ducted fan. Then I looked at the sticker price ($ 485.00 US) and then I knew it would be a little longer before I would pick up one of these. So to further my knowledge in "ducted fan flight" I attended the "HOTMAC Jet Rally in Waco, Texas" and talked to other people about the hobby and there likes and dislikes about different jet and ducted fan aircraft. And out of the corner of my eye - there she was a mint right out of the box Kyosho Saber F-86F.

I then quickly started asking questions. How does it fly? How many flights have you had with her? And I was very disappointed on what I heard. " It needs a little more runway that I would like to use, it's not very fast." At that point I was thinking in the back of my head that this would mean a ducted fanjet would be a little further in my future. He got the airplane ready to fly- taxied out to the runway and at looked like forever - the plane was using the whole runway just to break ground. WOW it flies - and about fifteen seconds later it drops a wing and what looked like a stall starts heading back to the ground. CRASH!! Either the airplane was getting to small for the pilot or there were other issues with the aircraft. (Incorrect CG, not enough airspeed, blended in with the clouds, etc.) What looked like a start to a very nice flight wound up being a long walk to pick up the pieces. I waited for the guy to retrieve the aircraft and wanted to inspect the damage. When he came back much to my disbelief the airplane was mostly intact.

There was damage to the nose, wing saddle, and servo tray. At this point I could tell the guy was fed up with it. This is where I step in. I asked him if he was going to fix it and he said, " do you know how to do fiberglass work?" I told him I had done some minor repairs to fiberglass in the past and then he asked if I wanted to buy it. Knowing that my better half would have something to say to the buying of a RC Airplane the words came out slowly - h-o-w - m-u-c-h? He said a price that I could not pass up. I thought to myself a little fiberglass work would be nothing from owning my first " ducted fan " model. After a few minutes of bargaining and thinking on how would I break the news to the wife im bringing home a jet. I gathered up the pieces and packed it up in the car.

Rebuild and Modify

It was time to get the show on the road. Plane in the air, you know what I mean. Not having any manual or knowing the exact CG location on the airplane really gave me a headache. So I started with the basics - let's fix the fuselage. Kyosho really did a nice job of putting together a lightweight and very strong design. The airplane went strait into the ground at about 35 miles an hour. The only damage that needs to be fixed was the nose- as the fiberglass absorbed most of the energy of the crash. I mixed some 30-minute epoxy and cut some one and a half inch strips of medium glass cloth and went to it. Without going into to much detail it was fixed in about 3 hours. While waiting for the epoxy to dry I needed to find out as much as I could about the Kyosho F-86F. Doing some browsing on the web I found some great info on what other people were doing to make this a little livelier airplane. First - GET RID OF THE LANDING GEAR!! What no landing gear? It's time for an attempt at bungee launching. Remember to add a piece of music wire to where the nose gear was so you can hook it up to the high start. Then looking at the cheesy pull-pull setup for the rudder - that was next along with the rudder servo. Now were talking!!! Remember to CA the rudder in place do not just let it hang in the breeze. Removing the rudder servo means no knife-edges or other aerobatics that require rudder. My suggestion is to make it up with flying style. Looking to shave a little more weight off I decided to go with a 4.8v 280mAh pack. The epoxy is now dry and the bondo is ready for sanding. After a few evenings of sanding and getting close to the weekend I decided to wrap up the rebuild. A coat of automotive silver and then a light application of clear coat and voila.

Show time.

It was time to go to the club field and see what she would do. During the week I coordinated with Fitz Walker a Fort Worth Thunderbird club member to meet me at the field with his high start. Fitz is an electric flyer and he has some experience bungee launching electric ducted fanjets. So I thought it would be helpful to have him join us as the launcher for our first flight. I also sent out a mass email to most of my friends in the club and one even to our club President to come check out the show. With the high start in place and the airplane fueled it was time to start the engine. The nice bubble primer button needed just one push and you could hear the squirt of fuel enter the engine. The idle was set on the radio and the glow plug was attached. One quick pull of the engine pull start and the engine came to life. Only a little of adjustment was needed to the needle valve. The O.S. engine was really screaming and turning the thirty percent heli fuel into pure power. Fitz attached the F-86F to the high start and walked the model to the give it about 14 pounds of pull.

Video clip of bungee launch

I pushed the throttle to full and gave the signal to release the model. Just as you may have seen on real aircraft carriers the launch of jet aircraft. The Kyosho F-86F went from zero to about 30 knots in about two seconds. WOW what a rush - I was flying!

I started to gain altitude and then slowly made my first turn. The model needed a little of right aileron trim for strait and level flight. Fitz was keeping flight time since I was running full throttle and we did not know how long she would run on thirty percent fuel. At this time four minutes went by and the high-speed passes were very impressive.

Video clip of the F-86F on a speed pass

Rolls were very nice and the airplane looked really nice with no landing gear hanging in the breeze. Five minutes had passed and in the distance on one of my turns noticed the nose drop. Being that this was my first flight with a model you cannot see the prop turning I started to set up for landing. I lined up on the runway and just as I did there was silence. The engine stopped and I was going to land if I liked it or not. The slight breeze was aimed strait down the runway and I had the runway. I then recall that I needed to land in the grass because I had not gear. A little aileron bump and there she was lined up on the grass strip I could not believe how little airspeed the airplane needed to keep flying. Only a little up elevator was needed to keep the nose up for final touch down in the grass. There it was my first flight of a true-ducted fan model. Everyone clapped and thought it was a really classy airplane in the air. A quick inspection of the fuel tank showed that it was bone dry. Expect to get a maximum of about five minutes of flight from a tank of fuel. (Use 25 % to 30 % nitro for fuel. I tried 15% and there was just not enough there to make it any fun.) Also use short O.S. glow plugs with no idle bar. I have spent the money testing the different fuels and glow plugs. I like to stick to what works. Remember that this is an O.S. .15 putting out an outrageous twenty-three thousand RPM and you could go thru about a glow plug every 5 flights. Keep about 3 in your flight box if you want to have a fun day at the flying field. (Do not use a "cold plug" it just does not have the heat to drive the fan.)

Time to kick it up a notch!

As you read this there have been over 16 successful flight of the Kyosho F-86F and I really love this model. I have been attending some fun flies in the Dallas / Fort Worth area and every time have been asked to do a 12-noon demo.

Video clip of the F-86 on a low high speed pass

This model shows that kyosho has true potential for more "budget" minded ducted fan models in the future. My thoughts were to get two of these fan units with the engines and making an A-10. Maybe kyosho has something up their sleeve?

Final note Fun!

Fast! And Sexy! Get one today! Remember that this is an ARF ducted fan airplane. Very little building and assembly is needed to have a very sleek looking aircraft ready to fly. Don't let the manual fool you it can be flown by anyone who has moderate flying experience. Remember to fly safe and turn fuel into fun.

The Kyosho F-86F on a low pass

The Kyosho F-86F on low and fast

( High Quailty ) Bungee launch of the Kyosho F-86F

E-mail me your comments, photos, or any other info on your own experience building or flying the Kyosho F-86F. Maybe you have found some other tricks I need to try out.

My E-mail is: studiostop@aol.com

Thanks for taking the time to read my story.

Raymond Cervantes