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Ok, I planted a Londun Plain tree last may. AKA Sycamore. We had a horrible summer last year and the leaves burnt off. There was die back over the winter. I have already noticed that the leaves came out slow and now are starting to turn brown or I call it flashing even in the mid 90's temps. The tree was 8 ft tall. I am worried about the root ball not forming roots since it was in a 5 gallon container when I bought it. How long shouul it take to get enough roots to support it?

I'm going out on a limb here (yeh, a pun) cause I'm certainly no tree expert....
I'm hoping that you dug a saucer type hole to plant your tree & not just a straight down hole...those roots need to be spread out so they can search for food & moisture right away. That's what gets the roots going. If you didn't break apart the root ball & spread the roots...it may not grow at all. You may have just a wet pit it is sitting in. Also, leaving the roots going around in a circle from having been in a pot can cause the roots to strangle the tree...sometimes sooner, sometimes later.
If you had been dealing with a much smaller tree a straight down hole will work most of the time...but not a big one.

If I remember my Master Gardener information...you should make the hole at least twice the size of the root ball all the way around and slope the sides so you can spread the roots. Don't add any fertilizers and if you mulch, keep it at least 3" away from the trunk. Water at least every couple of days until well established which can be from like 6mos. to a yr. for some trees.