Build of the Eflite Carbon Z Cub

Carbon Z Cub BnF

Unboxing and Build

After un-boxing all parts and pieces, go over the inventory and be sure that you have all of the listed parts.

There is an addendum for the screws and here is the link:

http://www.horizonhobby.com/pdf/EFL10475-Manual_Addendum.pdf

Start by locating the landing gear, wheel collars, and tundra wheels. On my landing gear, there was only one flat spot for the collars so you could flatten each side with a file or Dremel tool. I decided that since the spots without the flat were on the inside, I would forgo this. I applied some blue thread locker:

Apply thread locker to the screw on the inner collar and tightened.

Slide the wheel hub onto the gear wire, add the outer wheel collar and again apply blue thread locker and tighten screw:

Do the same for the other side:

Push the gear into the front slot of the fuselage.

Also locate the fairing strut and slide into the next closest slot in the fuselage as well with it pointing toward the front of the fuselage.

Snap the left and right strut fairings as shown:

Locate the left and right strut brackets and screw down with appropriate screws:

Slide rudder hinges into slots in the vertical stabilizer, and insert screw into the bottom of the rudder mount:

Apply thin CA onto the right side of the hinges. Work hinges back and forth then apply thin CA on the left side and work hinges. This will give a very good bond to the hinges and the vertical stab:

Make sure to work these hinges until the CA is completely dry. If you do not do this, it could cause the rudder to be glued directly to the verticle stabilizer and cause issues with the free movement of the rudder.

Connect the ball link to the rudder control horn and use the correct screw and locknut:

Do not tighten these down too tight, as they need a very small amount of play so they do not bind.

For right now I am using the outermost hole in the control horn as I do not want the full amount of throw on the first flights.

Now locate the small carbon shaft for the horizontal stabilizer and slide through the hole in the verticle stabilizer. Try and center as close as possible.

Install the left and right horizontal stabilizer and elevator sides being sure to install with the control horn facing down.

Install the 4 screws into the appropriate holes in the bottom of the horizontal stabilizer and tighten. Also attach the ball link using the appropriate screw and locknut as shown:

Again I am using the outermost hole in the control horn and will move if necessary on subsequent flights.

Installing the motor is next, and only one challenge here. The wires on the ESC and the motor are quite long. I didn't want these to rub on the spinning motor so I had to make some minor adjustments to compensate. Because I got involved in this step, I forgot to take photos, but can show what I did to adjust for this challenge using another motor. Also the ESC is on the bottom of the fuselage so with the extra wire it all has to fit in the cowl which is quite shallow.

Here is the direction that I mounted the motor onto the firewall as far as wire placement (Be sure to use the correct screws and lock washers for this step.):

Looking at the plane from the front the wires coming out of the motor should face left. Connect the wires to the ESC. This should follow the colors on each wire; red to red, black to black and blue to blue. I then used a zip tie to collect the wires in the bottom of the cowl as to keep them from rubbing on the spinning outer casing of the motor.

Once the wires were all tidied up, I installed the cowling using the correct screws. I also installed the collet and back plate along with the prop and spinner. Be sure to tighten the prop nut securely with a wrench. (Don’t over tighten and damage the prop though.) Oh, and balance the prop before mounting as I am sure yours will be out of balance as well.

Next will be the wing assembly.

Locate the double sided tape and the vortex generators. On the leading edge of each wing is a channel. This is where the double sided tape and wing generators are mounted. The vortex generators are not molded straight (At least with my model!) but they will straighten out when mounting.

Peel one side (either, but I removed the white side first) and slowly stick tape to the wing in the channel. I did one double sided tape then one vortex generator at a time. I was making sure that I fit everything prior to mounting. Be sure that the vortex generators are facing the proper way before mounting!!!

Here is the proper direction of the vortex generators according to wing leading edge:

Perform the same thing on other wing. These fit well with no issues, just go slow and keep these in the channel of the wing. Once mounted, be sure that you use a moderate amount of pressure to be sure that the vortex generators get a good bond to the adhesive.

Next we will install the vertical strut brackets to the wings.

I installed the strut brackets on the back side of the mounts according to the leading edge for aesthetic reasons, it really doesn't show in the instruction manual:

Use correct screws with the locknuts. Do not tighten completely as you will want some travel when mounting or removing the wings from the fuselage.

You will now want to mount the correct struts to the correct mounts on the underside of the wings.

Use correct screws and locknuts. Again, you do not want to over tighten as these need to be slightly loose for mounting the wing to fuselage as well.

Here is what the wing looks like before the pins and clips are installed:

Here is the wing with the pins and clips installed:

If you notice without the pins and clips, the vertical bracket and the struts fold down for east transport. This also makes it easy to mount the wings to the fuselage.

To mount the wings to the fuse, first you place the large carbon spare into the hole in the fuselage.

Slide the wing onto the carbon spar and then plug in the aileron plug into the its corresponding plugs in the fuselage.

Continue to slide the wing into the recessed area in the fuselage. (Be sure to not pinch the wires when performing this, there is space in the wing to tuck the wires away.) Use the corrosponding screws in the holes in the top of the wing. The longest screws are for the front of the wing and the next shorter are for the back of the wing.

The struts are connected to the fuselage using the pins and clips. There are 2 holes in the fuselage for the front and rear strut on each side.

At this point the plane is complete, other than binding to your radio. I have not done this yet as I will have to wait for my order of a 6S 4200 mah battery to arrive.

This was a very easy BnF to build. Took about 3 hours total as I took my time and made sure that everything fit as it should.

I do have an issue with the fact that the manual does not have the screws listed, but at least there is an addendum for it.

I cannot wait to get the battery, bind it to my DX9 and get this BIG bird in the air!

I hope that everyone enjoyed the build as I did, and will get some pics and video when she is maidened!

85 inches of foam is a lot of foam!!!

Please leave a comment as to how you liked this article. This is my first and would like to know if it was good, bad, or useless!!!

Thanks!!!