matthewn7

I have been looking at different small scale airplanes and came across the h.o.b. decathalon I was wondering how well the kit is made and if it is worth the money.

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

hold up there buckaroo, not even sure what the decathlon looks like but I am working on a mustang from HOB and I never built anything this difficult,, its an older model from back in 94 so it may be better now , but the instructs suck, big blocks of balsa to shape and sand, ,, should look good when I finish, but I doubt I'll ever get another HOB product......but by all means do ask others the newer models may be much better....Rog

2fast4u

My Feedback: (5)

The H.O.B. Mustang is more of a "builders kit", it has lots of blocks to shape, and is kinda hard to build if your used to the new laser cut kits of today. When they are finished the H.O.B. Mustang looks better than any other little Mustang out there IMHO, cause the lines are closer to scale. Nuf said.....

As for the H.O.B. School Yard Scale line of kits, they are much different. They are easy to build, fly great and are fairly cheap too. I have built and flown the H.O.B. School Yard Decathlon, put an OS 10 in it with 4 HS 81's and it was a blast!!!! I have another one ready to go for next summer. Mine would do it all, from basic stunts to inverted passes and sloppy pattern moves too. The ground handling was good too. If your looking at this kit, GO FOR IT!!

Digger-RCU

flyinrog,
The House of balsa 1/12th kits are kits to be built. the newer laser-cut kits are really only assembled. when you are done with this airplane, you will have the pride of actually "building" a plane. Also, building in this manner gives you alot of opportunity to make changes and mods as you see fit. You get less opportunity for changeablity in a more exact kit.
My HOB p-47 was the best flying and looking plane I have built to date. extra effort, but well worth it. One change I did make, and I think it made the plane a lot better, was to cut the canopy out of that P.O.S. plastic turtle-deck. I then cut stringer slots in the bulkheads, run the stringers front to back and sheeted with 1/16 balsa. stronger, and lots better looking. Good luck
Randy (Digger) Birt

cj_follett

I am currently building my first ever R/C Airplane, and as it turns out it is a HOB Super Decathlon. If you don't mind me asking, how do you get the wings to stay at the proper dihedral... I was considering putting a wedge between the wings.

TIA,

CJ Follett

LoneRanger

My Feedback: (1)

ummmmmmmmmm your wings get epoxied together so block up one wingtip make sure it's flat and have at it-

if your thinking of putting a block or wedge in there I dont think ya built it right-



L.R.

cj_follett

I realize that I will epoxy the wings and wrap them with fiberglass tape. What I don't get is the dihedral. Since both edges of the wings are at relatively 90°, there won't be any angle when they are glued together. The plans say that you need to raise the tips to 7/8".

Thanks for your reply.

LoneRanger

My Feedback: (1)

there was'nt an angle guide for the inboard wing rib? so it get's glued inplace at or close to the correct angle? yep, someting is deffinaetly wrong there-


L.R.

cj_follett

Nope... Nothing like that in the very sparse directions. Not even a mention of it (insert cursing here).

Well, that's definitely a tip that one needs to know.

Since everything is glued together, I guess I am going to have to try the wedge.

Thanks again.

wild fred

My Feedback: (3)

a wedge will work. what I usually do in that instance is fill the space with epoxy and micro balloons mixed (modeler's version of light weight structural bondo), and tape it w/ masking tape to keep it there till dry. mix it pretty stiff, will be strong enough when glassed over. micro balloons available at about every hobby store, microscopic hollow glass beads. great stuff. use 30 min. epoxy at first, as it will cause 5 minute to kick off fast, and you only get a couple min. working time!

LoneRanger

My Feedback: (1)

WOW, there realy is a thing called 30 minute epoxy?

I never knew- and all this time I have been using the 5 minute stuff!



L.R.