I will be the first to tell ANYONE that I do not like to build. Didn't like it when I got into the hobby and don't really enjoy it now. So needless to say all of my planes have been ARFs. I have a beautiful (and semi-understanding) wife and we have twin 7 month old daughters. Needless to say my life is pretty busy and I don't have a lot of free time at home.

I have been thinking lately about getting a 100cc plane so I have been checking out all of the airframes that are out there and the ones that are coming out. Two years ago I had a Hangar 9 Extra 330s and enjoyed it a lot. I had thought many times that if Hangar 9 came out with a 33-35% Extra 260 it would be a hit. Well a little while back I saw that Hangar 9 was indeed coming out with a 35% 260 that was designed by Mike McConville. More information then started coming out about the new 260. I was very happy to hear about the level of work done to it at the factory. Pre-hinged control surfaces and removable rudder, thats some good stuff.....especially for those like me. Carbon Fiber tailwheel, thats nice. They all get the job done, but CF does it with a little *bling*. A fuel tank that is built AND installed. Thats thinking outside the box. Then I heard that it came with a lightweight Helmet Head pilot that was painted to match. You mean no buying a $50-$80 HH Pilot and paying someone a bunch of money to paint it for you so its not just a single color.....BRILLIANT!

The heavens opened up and I knew that I just had to get one of these. I'm going to try to document the build.....no wait, this isn't a build...with the completeness of this plane its more of an assembly.

My day started out with feeding one of my daughters, then I was off to Home Depot for a couple little things. Our basement is unfinished so there are only a couple of pull chain lights. I decided that I need to have a couple of shop lights to help illuminate the build area. So lighting was taken care of, now I needed something to build this plane on. Sawhorses and a slab door. Turns out that it was a great thing to do. $25 for the door and $50 for the pair of sawhorses. These are adjustable height and width sawhorses. I think they should work pretty good. Happy Belated Father's Day To Me!!!! Well I got back and started clearing out all of the junk that I had been "storing" in the area. That took a while and then I got the lights and table up.

When I got the plane there was a third box, you know...the goodies box. This one was from Horizon Hobby containing 7-8711's with the associated aluminum servo arms and HD extensions. During the week I had called up Kurt at FROMECO and told him my crazy plan on putting this 260 together in a hurry and asked what are my chances about getting some batteries. Well yesterday when I got home from work there was a box sitting on my front porch. Outstanding! Thanks a bunch, I told Debie that I owe ya'll some beer. Lets see.....what were the contents of this goodies box: 2-5200's, 1-2600, 2 regulators, a wolvering switch, a badger switch, a t-shirt, a hat, a couple of straps and some vinyl. Ooh yah, I got it all with HD wire and Deans connectors.

The unpacking:

We've all unpacked airplanes before but I never get tired of it. Its the birth of a new airplane. Everything arrived safely in plastic bags. The fuse box is very well laid out, utilizing the space excellently. Everything was secured and in place.

Inspection of the fuse:

This thing is beautiful. Nice laser cut parts. Cut-Outs everywhere. The engine box sidewalls are 3 layers of ply. The outside layer is solid, the middle layer is an "X" and the inside layer is open. Throughout the fuse if there is a large piece of ply there is also several pieces cut out of it. The hatch feels very light to the touch. The canopy and pilot are very light too.

First things first:

I got to get this thing on its feet. Landing gear goes on without a hitch, you just need a long driver to get down to the gear plate.

Next is to put on the rudder before you can do the tail wheel. I took my rotary tool and put a stone wheel on it. Held the rudder wire to it at about a 45* angle and took off the corners of the wire to let it go through the hinges a little easier (thanks for the tip Sleepy). The wire took a little bit of fiddling with it to get it through all of the hinges but a pair of pliers on the bottom helps grip it to push it up through. I have heard to use a cordless drill to put the wire in and spin it while pushing it up through but my chuck wouldn't tighten down on the wire. Trimmed the wire to just about even with the bottom of the plane.

With that in place I could continue on with the tail wheel. Marked the position for the tail wheel and drilled a pilot hole. Followed up with tightening the sheet metal screw then removed and CA'd the hole. All easy stuff. Did the same with the tail wheel bracket and attached them both.

She's on her legs.

Before I put on the axles I used my rotary tool and put a flat on one side of them using a stone wheel. Installed axles and put on wheels with spacing for the wheel pants.

I piled up stuff under the tail wheel so I could get the fuse level and put on the wheel pants. Fit+Mark+Drill+Insert Blind Nut+Thread Locker+Tighten=Done

So yesterday was pretty slow for me. Just going over stuff and making sure I knew what I was doing. Today is going to be a whole new story. I hope to have some more pics in a couple of hours. I'm really looking forward to getting this plane in the air. I checked the forecast and it looks like Tuesday-Wednesday will be the first chance at taking it out. I need to make a run to the Hobby Shop tomorrow for a couple of little things so that will work out perfect.

Off to assemble!

What a beautiful plane.... why did they not make a 2 piece cowl I wonder?

what were the contents of this goodies box: 2-5200's, 1-2600, 2 regulators, a wolvering switch, a badger switch, a t-shirt, a hat, a couple of straps and some vinyl.

I didn't get a hat, straps or a T-shirt.


Looks good Dave.

Originally Posted by GremlinX

What a beautiful plane.... why did they not make a 2 piece cowl I wonder?

Not really common on 35% airplanes. More on like 40%. Only 35% plane I can think of with a 2 piece is the 35% Dalton.

It would be sweet though , to have on a 100cc. Cleaner cowl cutouts.

Not really common on 35% airplanes.

Well, ARF's all the Kit planes I know of use a 2 piece, Carden, Dalton, I believe aerotech as well.

Fick are you putting cans on this or stock DA mufflers?

I can't wait to try out my cans!

I'm going with mufflers on my DA. Partially because thats how I bought it and the other part is I would rather have the lighter plane. No noise issues at any of the fields that I fly at.

One thing that I did find out is that my CF wingtube that I had for my 330s will fit on this 260. It is about 1/4" shorter than the alum one that came with it but that should be alright. Couple ounces lighter for sure.

Looks nice right out of the box. Also like the fact that the cowl colour appears to match the fuse extremely well, which has not always been the case on H9 planes

Originally Posted by SleepyC

I didn't get a hat, straps or a T-shirt.


Looks good Dave.

they sell them to anyone......

Originally Posted by SleepyC

Well, ARF's all the Kit planes I know of use a 2 piece, Carden, Dalton, I believe aerotech as well.

It would have been nice to have a cowl ring in this one, I don't care for the exposed fasteners around the cowl. That's the only thing I would change on the entire plane. Very well designed and built, most impressive ARF I have seen.