With two
fun-fly models already completed the time came for the third
and final comparison in this series. The Modeltech Magic
Fun-fly from YT International is one model I had looked
forward to trying and when we decided to do a 3 way head to
head on the 3 most popular high wing fun fly models
available. The magic has one appeal to me over the others in
this series of articles ~ it isn't see though. I do like the
transparent look but this model just caught my eye on more
than one occaision, especially after flying Tony's Limbo
Dancer.
Specifications:
Wingspan: 51 in. (1295mm.)
Wing chord: 14 in. (355mm.)
Wing Area: 725 sq. in. (.46 sq. m.)
Weight: 3 - 3.5lb (1.3 - 1.6kg.)
Engine: .36 - .46 2-stroke / .52 4-stroke
Radio: 4-5 channel with 5 servos. |
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Available From
www.ytinternational.co.uk
Modeltech Magic - Price £84.95
The kit is packages in a
sturdy box with the specifications printed and some nice
pictures including Mark Leavesley (top U.K. Show Pilot, 3
times European Jet Champion and 2nd in the World Jet Masters)
who endorsed the design.
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| The contents of
the box |
Each of the main airframe
components are bagged in polythene for protection. All small
components are in sealed bags
 |
| The contents
laid out. |
A check of all parts is
advised at this point to ensure there is nothing missing.
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 |
Tail &
Elevator
Fin & Rudder |
Fuselage
|
Tailplane and fin are
pre-covered, built up components with rudder and elevator pre
hinged. Fuselage is pre-covered and is sheet construction.
Covering is very well applied with no peeling or gaps.
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| Wing and Ailerons |
The wing is supplied as
one piece and is of light weight built up construction. With
a wide chord, deep section and large ailerons this wing
offers great lift, stability and manoeuvrability.
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| The various
hardware packs. |
All the accessories are
grouped in individual bags. Control horns, clevices, engine
mount, fuel tank and wheels. All appropriate screws, nuts and
bolts are included.
The following
materials are needed to complete the model :-
Other items you need to complete the model :
4/5 channel radio gear (5 servo's, receiver,
battery and a transmitter)
0.36 - 0.46 2 stroke engine.
Cyano
Fuel Tube
Propeller
A Selection if tools
Before
starting construction the supplied instructions are read from
start to finish. This puts the models construction into a
chronological order that can be followed easily. Reading
through first also allows any possible problems to be
addressed before building.
The Instruction booklet is clear and
detailed.
The first job
is to glue the hairy hinges. These are pre fitted in the wing
and ailerons but not glued in place. Ailerons are aligned
correctly as per instructions and I used thin cyano run into
the hinges to secure them in place. Thin is the best type for
this job as even runny medium cyano does not penetrate the
hinge fully.
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 |
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| Align control
surfaces as instructed. |
Use Cyano to secure
the hinges. |
Testing control
surface movement. |
Tape is used along the top edge of the
control surface to maintain a smooth air flow over the hinge
area without allowing any between the trailing edge and the
control surface..
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 |
 |
| Servo dry fitted in
wing. |
Aileron control
rods. |
Aileron control
horn. |
Fitting the wing servos is the next job on
the list and take a little slight of hand to achieve. Long
nosed pliers were used to assist the threading of the servo
cable through the wing structure. a length of hooked piano
wire would also be a good help getting the wires through the
small holes in the ribs.
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 |
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| Servos installed. |
Aileron connected. |
Testing aileron
servo. |
To keep the servo leads out of the wing a
small piece of tape is secured across them. With the servos
secures the control rods are connected loosely to determine
the correct position for the aileron control horns. These are
screwed into place and the rods can be adjusted to fit. I
always centre my servos as I go along and test them before
moving onto the next part.
 |
| Wing band plate. |
The last part of the wing to be completed
is the band plate at the back of the wing. This protects the
trailing edge from being crushed by the bands. This is simply
glued into place once the covering is removed from the top of
the wing.
The Fuselage
is very narrow and extremely light considering it is all
sheet construction. Pre-covered with high quality film, there
are no wrinkles or peeled areas on the covering.
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 |
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| Sturdy wire frame. |
Ultra light wheels. |
Undercarriage
fitted. |
First addition to the fuselage structure is
the undercarriage. A sturdy wire assemblage that is actually
very tall compared to most undercarriages on this type of
model. Secured to the bottom fuselage plate with 4 saddle
clamps. Alignment is the main consideration here and getting
the position right. The wheels are ultra light plastic with
foam tires, held on by supplied brass collets. The
undercarriage is very tall and looks quite odd until the tail
skid is fitted.
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 |
 |
| Tall wire tail
skid. |
Rear wingband dowel |
Front wingband
dowel |
The tail skid is held onto the fuselage
with 2 saddle clamps which are screwed into a reinforced
block inside the fuselage. Once this is on the very tall
undercarriage doesn't look so out of place. Next on the list
are the wing dowels. These are a push fit through the
fuselage and actually required no glue to hold them in place.
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 |
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| Servo tray being
built. |
Servo tray fitted
in fus'. |
Control rods cut to
length. |
Building the servo tray is simplicity
itself with only 2 strips needed to be glued onto the
underside of the tray to act as a mounting point in the
fuselage. Once secured the control rod snakes have to be cut
to length. This is a little tricky as a sharp knife is hard
to control as the plastic of quite hard. Cutters work well
but have the disadvantage of crushing the snake tube. This
can be easily overcome with a small screwdriver or bradal.
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 |
 |
| Engine mount lined
up. |
Mount fixed in
place. |
Engine dry fitted. |
The engine mount is a two piece type and I
was concerned I would have trouble getting it all lined up.
Once I had bought the engine however and fitted it to the
mount, marking out the position was very easy as the mount is
held in exactly the right position by the engine. Captive
spike nuts are drawn into the back of the firewall to provide
a firm fixing to the fuselage. Allen bolts through the
mounting hold it all in place at the front.
The engine is fitted at a downward angle of 45 from vertical.
This allows the silencer to run under the front of the
fuselage between the undercarriage legs. The advantage of
this angle of mounting is the exhaust residue can be piped
away from the fuselage and not cover the whole airframe with
unburned oil.
The
tailplane is offered up square on the fuselage and pinned so
the sides of the fus can be marked on the underside of the
tail surface. This is also a good time to lien up the control
horns on the elevator and rudder. The area of covering just
inside the marks is removed to allow a good wood to wood
gluing surface. Alignment with the fuselage is very important
and all care was taken to follow the instructions. I fitted
the wing to the model and measured the distance from wing
trailing edge to tail trailing edge to ensure. Once in place
the pins were secured and thin cyano was run into the gap
under the tailplane. Anything but very thin cyano will not
penetrate very far on this kind of joint. Epoxy is
recommended and this has the advantage of allowing a little
time for aligning.
 |
 |
 |
| Film removed |
Edges sealed |
Tail assembled |
The tail fin was placed into the fuselage
slot and the fuselage sides marked on the fitting tab. The
film gets cut back from here to allow the glue to penetrate
the wood. Using a square on either side of the fin it was
secured in place, again using very thin cyano.
The
kit comes with a rather nice set of steel wire control rods
which work as a closed loop system. This has one major
advantage in that there is no slack to worry about as with a
cable close loop installation. The wires are held taught
inside the 4 pre installed snake runs inside the fuselage and
create a very positive response to control inputs.
 |
 |
| Elevator and Rudder servos. |
Tail surface control horns. |
The cable holders at the servo ends clip
onto the wires and stop them coming out of the servos. The
items supplied were too big for the wire and would fall off.
These were replaced with better fitting items. Primary
adjustment was carried out via the control horn clevices at
the tail end and final trim can be set up on the radio. Again
servos were set to neutral using the radio before connecting
the control rods and tested for smooth and equal movement.
Choosing
an engine is no brief task these days. With so many
manufacturers now producing reputable engines the search can
be overwhelming. I had seen a couple of .36 size engines that
I short listed, then someone at a recent show recommended the
LEO 37-SF (737 EP ABC)
With a displacement of .37 cu. in. or 6.06cc the LEO 37 is
proclaimed as .40 power in a .32 size engine. Rated at 1.2
bhp and able to rev to a screaming 18,000 rpm yet weighing
only 280g it is easily on par or better than equivalent size
engines from all stables.
Very high quality casting and the gleaming finish inside the
ports is something I would have been proud of in my Ford
Crossflow modifying days. The brass liner is clearly visible
through the exhaust port with a split port in the liner wall
directing the burned gas efficiently out of the cylinder.
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 |
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| Oiled and wrapped. |
High quality
finish. |
Tools are supplied. |
A standard quiet silencer is supplied with
the engine, along with 2 spanners and a screwdriver. The
latter being for adjusting the bottom end needle which is
situated on the inside of the throttle slide. Installation of
the engine was very straight forward and as the mount had
been fitted to the engine to align the mount on the firewall.
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 |
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| Fuel tubes being
installed. |
Engine installed. |
Prop fitted &
ready to run. |
A very pleasing model
to build. Nothing too complicated although a bit of experience is required
for the control linkage setup. The instructions are clear and easy to follow
with plenty of diagrams and photos to aid construction. Build quality is among
the best I have seen and typical of Modeltech kits.
Now we can see how the magic goes head to head with the Cougar 2000 from Weston
and the Limbo Dancer from Ripmax.
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 |
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| Modeltech Magic |
Weston Cougar |
Ripmax Limbo Dancer |
 |
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| The Magic enjoying a day on the bumps. |
Upgrade undercarriage from Carbon Copy. |
A great way to enhance the look of a model is the addition
of some carbon fibre upgrades. These can not only make the model stand
out from the norm but are also practical and in some cases much better
suited for an application than the standard items. |
With
many flights now on the Magic Fun Fly the wire undercarriage has begun
to show signs of wear and tear from the infamous bumps of Bumpy Green.
|
 |
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| Original undercarriage showing signs of age. |
Soldered repair on the broken wire. |
A few bends in the wire legs and eventually a break on one side led to
the demise of the original Magic undercarriage. Using steel wire and solder
to repair the broken leg initially led to the decision to change the undercarriage
for a more durable alternative. With a wide variety to choose from including
tougher wire, aluminium and fibre glass versions the ultimate upgrade
has to be carbon fibre. It looks good, it's very light and extremely strong.
Just right for Bumpy Green. |
The
exhaust, battery and fuel tank were first removed to gain access to the
work area.
|
 |
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| Impression of the undercarriage
wire. |
Internal ply plates pre fitted. |
8 self tapping screws hold the undercarriage in place with saddle clamps.
Once removed the imprint of the undercarriage wire can be seen as a depression
in the covering. A quick wipe with some kitchen roll removed the small
amount of exhaust residue on the fuselage. One of the nice things about
the Magic is the way many useful items are pre fitted from new. One of
these is the ply plates that the undercarriage screws into, which are
already installed straight out of the box, the forward plate being in
exactly the right place for the new undercarriage. Using the original
holes as a guide, new drilling points were marked on the fuselage covering
with the undercarriage fitting almost flush with the firewall line.
|
 |
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| Nylon bolts fitted with wide washers. |
Captive nuts inside secured with
cyno |
I say almost flush as you have to take into account the thrust built into
the firewall. Once finished I aligned the wheel axles using the leading
edge of the wing as a guide to get them straight. Captive nuts are inserted
into the holes and using metal bolts and a flat aluminium bracket on the
underside of the fuselage these are pulled tight into the ply plate and
secured with a few drops of cyno. The metal bolts are removed and nylon
bolts put in their place with some washers on the undercarriage to spread
the load.
|
 |
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| Heating the chisel for a clean
cut. |
This creates a very flush finish. |
The nylon bolts protrude into the fuselage and need to be trimmed. Cutting
nylon bolts with pliers can distort them and make them very hard to re-fit
or remove. Using a slim craft chisel heated on the stove I cut these off
flush while in situ. This makes them exactly the right length and makes
a very neat job of the cut. It also leaves a flattened top which should
prevent the bolts coming undone by themselves. |
As
I have not fitted wheel spats to a model before and this presented a challenge
for me.
|
 |
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| New spats with alignment ridges
on one side. |
The parts used to secure the whole
assembly. |
The spats are supplied with ridges moulded on opposing sides of each unit.
These are the guide for the undercarriage legs to fit into and one of
the problems I thought I might have :- where to line up the spats. This
solved the next challenge was to find a way to mount the spat securely
and still leave the wheel to spin freely. Using a long bolt and a nylock
nut the spat is held tight against the leg. Then a rubber grommet is fitted
to space the wheel to the correct place in the spat and finally a brass
collet is fitted to secure the wheel with enough freedom to spin and move
very slightly sideways on the axle.
|
 |
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| Bolt, nylock nut & rubber
grommet inside. |
Wheel has plenty of clearence
all round |
The wheel sits fairly central in the cut-out and has plenty of clearence
to spin freely. A few quick adjustments with the collet can deal with
any slack in the fitting. The wheel has to be fitted onto the axle before
the nylock nut is tightened against the leg or there is not enough room
to get it into place. A small spanner and a screwdriver were used to tighten
it all into place and the wheel is pushed onto the axle and the collet
secured with a small allen grub screw.
|
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| Inside & outside
views showing the sleek look of the final fitting. |
Article by John Kent from Bumpy Green Model Aerodrome
6th July 2002
| Comments left by others... |
| Comment by Kevin on 00000000000000. Rating none |
So which one is the best between the Cougar, Limbo Dancer and the Magic?
|
| Comment by Kevin on 00000000000000. Rating none |
What type of servos did you use? I only have the ones supplied with my Futaba SS6 tx, 3001s. Will these be fast enough? |
| Comment by Tony Brock on 00000000000000. Rating none |
Kevin,
I cant answer which is the best, they are all good models, depends which one you liek the look of, all 3 reveiws are available so have a read and see what you think.
As for the servo's the 3001 will be fine. |
| Comment by PHIL FROM DEWSBURY on 00000000000000. Rating none |
BRILLIANT SITE!!!!!!!!!! REVIEWS ON FUN FLY'S HAS BEEN VERY GOOD READING, HAVE GOT A LIMBO DANCER CAN'T WAIT TO START PRACTICING AFTER READING COMMENTS.KEEP UP THE GREAT ARTICLES.SOUND!!!! |
| Comment by Bob Nagle on 00000000000000. Rating 5 |
i've been flying for 1 year i bought,built and flew a magic had trouble getting it balanced added weight to back of plane i have a os 40 la on the plane i follow ed the instruction completely setting the throws as instructed i found out the hard way that is to severe for a newer pilot i love the plane it does as described i found this article very informative Thanks |
| Comment by chris brislin on 00000000000000. Rating 4 |
| Comment by Andrew on 00000000000000. Rating 5 |
This is the best plane! Im 14 and the CG came out perfect and i can hover on a 40. This is the best 2nd plane. |
| Comment by Dan on 00000000000000. Rating none |
i dont actualy own a magic but reading this reveiw and downloading the video from this site i might just take the plunge and buy it!!! cheers |
| Comment by Dan Moon on 00000000000000. Rating 5 |
Great Article !!! Do you think that an Irvine 53 MKIII would be too powerfull? and how much was the engine used in this article? Thanks Dan |
| Comment by Tony on 00000000000000. Rating none |
I bought the magic when it first came available,I agree the undercarriage isn't up to much and bends on reasonably soft landings,after many repairs I changed for a shorter Limbo dancer undercarriage which appears to be more substantial.Mine is powered by a La 40 with an 11.5 x 4 apc prop,control surfaces are slightly less than recommended.I learn't to fly with this model and recently took and passed my A test with it.In my opinion it makes a good trainer and a terrific fun fly,if your not on a budget an os 32 would be an ideal engine providing more power than the la 40 whilst keeping the weight down. |
| Comment by Bob on 00000000000000. Rating none |
I have a OS 46 FX and a Purple Pipe from Just Engines. Is this too heavy for the magic or the cougar? Can the servos be mounted in the tail? |
| Comment by John on 00000000000000. Rating none |
Hi Bob
The OS 46 FX is quite a heavy engine compared to the Leo 37 I used in the review and will provide more than an excess of power as the 37 will go vertical on half throttle with an 11 x 4 prop. The extra weight at the nose could make it a big sluggish on handling. You could mount the servos at the tail end with a bit of work - I think getting the wiring installed may be the toughest part. |
| Comment by on 00000000000000. Rating none |
buy a cougar 2000, they look good and fly the best!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Comment by on 00000000000000. Rating none |
help! i can't decide which one to get!
i like the look of the cougar best but at £100 its expensive, limbo dancer is only £70 but i'm not to keen, magic is about £90 i think? not too bad, at my club there is already a limbo dancer and a cougar, should i complete the circle with a magic?? |
| Comment by on 00000000000000. Rating none |
hi i read your comments about the cougar the magic and the limbo,and he said he could buy a limbo for £70 please let me know where,my e-mail is cat.luskvirgin.net |
| Comment by brett on 00000000000000. Rating 5 |
THESE ARTICLES WERE EXTREMELY INFORMATIVE!!!!! I am relatively new at flying and I was wondering if you think I could handle the Magic. I'm really excited!!! Anyone can email me at www.outlaws24pimp@yahoo.com |
| Comment by djay on 00000000000000. Rating none |
sorry, am I missing something here? where is the flying rerview? both the other models hada good flying write up, but cannt see one for this model. |
| Comment by Dave G on 00000000000000. Rating none |
put an irvine 40 upfront & CG is spot on with standard 4.8 bat pack 46 & 53 weigh same as 40 but cost more & you dont need anymore power as 40 will prop hang half throttle OS LA requires lead as does irvine 39 |
| Comment by on 00000000000000. Rating none |
BOLOCKS.......BUY A COUGAR 2000. |
great pictures and information on the magic! Very helpful as I just purchased a magic for myself- but someone took the instructions out of the box! If anyone has some could you e-mail them to me? Great! codiddley@msn.com Thanks. |
| Comment by on 00000000000000. Rating none |
i think someone works for western u.k & only knows one swear word |
| Comment by sam on 00000000000000. Rating none |
i think the person above is right ;-) hehehe, shame that the cougar is A LOT MORE HEAVIER than the limbo or magic, really lets the performance down, shame really |
| Comment by on 00000000000000. Rating none |
| Comment by on 00000000000000. Rating none |
magic is wicked ,but sort the accessories out, really poor clevies bin em . And as for the u/c land on foam or custurd use a red slec tank (good plane none the less) |
| Comment by plane boy on 20040128211457. Rating 4 |
hi i'm 14 and got a magic for x-mas, it is MDS 38 powered with a APC 11x4 prop and weighs 4 1/4 lb. The plane flies great. I can prop hang for about 10 secs, but the plane doesn't have enough power to pull out convincingly. Will a throttle pipe give me more power? |
| Comment by Keith on 20040226162914. Rating 3 |
Yeah I have one and its fine, nothing special , though i was hopeing to read how it compared to the other planes in your test.
Not a bady web site at all.! |
| Comment by Dave on 20040502013118. Rating 4 |
Nice Plane Super flyer! BUT!!!! I know this kind of plane is built light and somwhat delicate so that it can perform mad 3D manovers etc... but I would like to know why they use balsa that picks up marks just by bloody looking at it! you can get hard but light balsa!!!! This plane and the hype alike look and fly awsome but get the bloody production sorted!!!!! |
| Comment by Jason on 20040502013622. Rating 4 |
This plane is well acceptable! quality etc.. it flys like a dream well worth buying. The Magic Extra However is CRAP!!! serious stay well away! they break in half at the slightest blip!! I mean even on a slighty harder than normal landing! the undercart is alu and does not absorb any impact there are no hardwood longerons and the fuse is so thin under the cockpit area that it snaps like a carrot! serious design fault!!! Beware!!!!! you were warned! |
| Comment by PaiMai on 20040502134942. Rating 1 |
Yes the magic extra is crap. Unfortunately the owner of YT only wants cash and WAN TONS. He also loves to steal everyone elses designs. |
This week already test flight with ASP 46II A.Engine its crazy ya bro..nice flying.
good planes good price.. |
| Comment by Benni on 20050604201929. Rating 1 |
Hi,
das ist ein wirklich geiles Modell!
Ich habe ein 10er Os max drauf, das geht ab wie die Hölle Hölle Hölle! |
| Comment by Gavyn on 20050713211430. Rating 5 |
Just bought a magic at cosford, the best fun fly i av ever had.A couple of years ago i had a cougar i thought is was absolute rubbish.If u r lookin for a decent fun fly go for a magic or limbo. |
Just wondering how i can obtain a set of those carbon landing gear and pants and will they suit an modeltech extra 300? |
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