MikeEast

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Hey guys, I just finished a product review for RCU on the Tribute 4D PNP and I really like it, but I have not heard anything whatsoever here in the 3D forums about it at all. Do any of you have it? I have the PNP version with the Evolution .36.

For those of you not familiar, its a profile plane that comes with everything and is virtually pre assembled. All I had to buy to finish it was a prop, receiver and fuel.. Thats it. I had and am still having a lot of fun with it and found it as stable as you want it to be yet capable of great knife edge and just about anything 3D you can think of. It even pull hard out of a hover with the Evo .36.


I will post the link to the review as soon as it is staged onto the forums, hopefully early next week.
Edit: here is a temporary link to the review. I will post the permanant link when it comes up.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=776

MikeEast

My Feedback: (3)

Note: Since this post I have had a couple of people PM me about a weak place under the wing where the fuselage has broken from repetetive extreme aerobatics like blenders and such. As far as I know this is only 1 or 2 isolated incidents. I have not had this problem yet, so if you have please post up your pictures and solutions. Just do so in a productive manner. I am just a consumer like you guys, but I am sure Hangar 9 and the folks that designed the plane want to know if there is a problem so they can fix it in planes that will be produced in the future. Just need to see if its widespread or isolated to just 1 or 2 planes.

mcoccia

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Mike,

What size prop would you recommand with the 36NT?

mcoccia

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Mike,


I see it it now....went back and read the specs again that you used. Was the prop suffiecient for the engine?

jlguru

On my Tribute, the covering split on the fuselage bottom near the hinge line on the wing after only 8-10 flights. When I cut the covering back for repair, I discovered a joint in the bottom rail of the profile fuselage at that location and the glue in the joint had popped loose. You could probably locate this joint's location with your finger by pushing in on the covering on the bottom of the fuselage. I CA'd the joint and epoxied a popsicle stick flat on the bottom of the fuselage across the joint. No problems so far and it seems to have reduced the flexure in the rear half of the fuselage significantly. I'm sure that left unattended, this failed joint would have resulted in failure in the classic mode reported by others. If I bought another new one, this repair is the first thing I'd do.

The only other problem I've had is that the stock tail wheel bracket broke. I replaced it w/ a Sullivan tail wheel assembly and all is well there. I'd never install the stock tail wheel again as it places all the shock loading of landing on the rudder.

I'm lovin' mine ... I'm running a TTPro-36 w/a 10x4 APC prop. If flying my Twist w/ an OS 50 was like flying a Porsche then the Tribute is like flying a shifter go-cart.

Live long, and prosper
Jerry L. Gubka

Ed_Moorman

My Feedback: (1)

1. There is a long thread on the Tribute in the ARF forum. The weak fuselage and the fixes are discussed. I am surprised you guys haven't already seen it.

2. It may look like a profile, but really isn't. It has a built-up, lite ply fuselage like most ARFs except it is 1" thick instead of 3" or so.

3. I flew the PnP one I am doing a kit review for R/C Report on both a 10-6 and an 11-4 prop. With the 11-4 you can stay full power most of the time, but it lacks power for knife edge loops. With a 10-6, I was able to do 3 consecutive knife edge loops. It does pitch down so you have to coordinate the elevator. I like the 10-6 on the Evo .36 better.

4. I never flew mine without the side force generators. I don't see any down side to keeping them installed. It seemed to take off, land and fly around like normal except it was very powerful in knife edge maneuvers. I see no reason to taking them off.

5. I did not break mine even after blenders, although I started mine from an idle power dive. The lower fuselage does need to be reinforced for long term reliability.

MikeEast

My Feedback: (3)

The 11x4 is perfect to me for the .36NT. I can do easy knife edge loops all day long with the 11x4. Once I removed the zip ties and installed some foam behind the tank and used rubber bands for the tank installation the fuel foaming in the tank stopped and issues with sagging in a vertical attitude went away.

I actually dumb thumbed the poor plane in from a hover today and it suffered some damage. One of the places that broke was the wing saddle area at the bottom of the fuselage, the other was between the leading edge and the engine. The damage was not due to weakness it was because it clipped a PVC pipe on the way down. . I have not decided if I am going to fix it, or just spend the $90 for the Tribute arf and just throw the gear from mine in it. I think that would be easier than trying to fix mine. It takes about an hour to put one together. I have not crashed a plane due to dumb thumbs in about 3 years. I got so confident with this plane I had it right in front of me hovering and the wind caught it, I miscorrected and in she went. Back to reality I guess.[8D]

150flyer

Here's my new Tribute with an OS .46 AX swinging a 12.25 x 3.75 prop. There are several posts debating if the .36 is powerful enough. There is no question that the .46 AX is more than powerful enough. The combination works great and the plane hovers at half throttle then pulls out with authority. I did have to increase the width of the engine mount by a few millimeters to accommodate the larger .46.

MikeEast

My Feedback: (3)

Trust me, the .36 is PLENTY of power. It will pull this plane out of a hover like crazy. I am sure that th .46 is great but there is no question that the .36 will more than get the job done. ENJOY the plane... Its a neat little bugger and flies great!

Here is the review I did on it.. There are a couple of videos at the end of the review.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=776

mcoccia

My Feedback: (2)

Mike,

Your review of this plane was DEAD ON!!! I ordered one (PNP) for a friend and maiden her for him yesterday to get everything trimmed out. He could not get the Transmitter out of my hands.

The .36 is plenty for it I thought also. Horizon has instructions now on their website for installing the Saito .56 now which I thought was interesting if anybody has a .56 already.

Thanks again

MikeEast

My Feedback: (3)

Thanks,
You can bet that I am going to tell the truth. I(we) at RCU are doing these reviews for YOU. I want you to know exactly what you are getting and I meant it when I said the plane was a winner for its class, if it was not it would be apparent in the review... And that little 36 is a horse and the weight bonus just makes it that much better. There is truly absolutely no need for a larger and more importantly heavier engine. I think all of the frame problems that have been incurred are most likely due to overpowering the plane or getting rough with it.. That midsection under the wing is a little thin so you have to respect that to get the performance they had to give a little bit structurally. So you have to be careful with it on the ground.

mcoccia

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I just ordered one for myself now I could not resist.

Mike,

Do you have a pic with the rubber bands around the gas tank. Did you use eye hooks or something? Are they #64 also?


Thanks

MikeEast

My Feedback: (3)

Actually I dont trust rubber bands so I used fuel tubing.. The stock install is 2 zip ties each fed through 2 of 4 holes drilled in the fuselage. I just removed the zip ties and put a couple of squares of 1/2" foam under the tank and then 2 used pieces of fuel tubing in place of the zip ties.. I simply ran it through the holes, pulled it really snug and double knotted it on the backside and cutoff the excess. No more bubbles. Its not pretty but its very functional.

mcoccia

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Thanks Mike. Not worried about it being pretty just want it to work

Dan767

My Feedback: (19)

I used the Zip ties and foam under my tank. I have also used an 11x4 prop on mine, and had more than enough power. Sweet plane!

lemmerjo

What kind of servos are you guys using in the ARF verson of this plane? I have an MDS .38 to go in it, and lots of spare Hitec 425 BB servos lying around. If anyone could tell me if these servos are too heavy and what to use instead, that would be great.

Thanks Joe

rclement

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I fly with guy that has a Tribute with a Saito 56 and he just loves it. He can't say enough about it.

MikeEast

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The PNP version comes with JR NES537's. I am not sure how they compare weight and power output wise, but the 537's were perfect.

water.boy

I'll second the opinion of the 36 being PLENTY of power. I bought the PNP shortly after Mike's review, and went with the 11X4 prop. I haven't put the foam tank insulators in, but will before I fly it again.

I saw the recent review in MAN and they said they were using a 12.25X3.75 which I think is way too big. Theirs also weighed somethings like 4lbs, 10oz (going from memory).

I weighed mine and after switching to the Expert AAA 720mah pack, my AUW is 3lbs 10oz....woooohoooooooo! It floats like a feather and I usually harrier land it in front of myself which is good for a few wows from the peanut gallery.

P-51B

My Feedback: (5)

I put together the PNP version of the tribute this weekend. I probably won't get to fly it for about a month though.

I have to say, that the JR servos that came with it are the sloppiest servos I have ever had. They don't even come close to centering after a stick deflection. I thought the PNP would be a good way to go since my LHS had it on sale, but if I have to replace the servos... [:'(]

MikeEast

My Feedback: (3)

They certainly are not anywhere near digital servos but they are exactly what you should expect for about $20-25 a piece. They work just fine unless you have a bad set of servos. I think they are EXCELLENT for the price of the complete setup.

vwtrey

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im considering buying one of these. who has the best price right now? i have yet to check with my lhs. ill call them today

rclement

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I was just watching one of those fly yesterday at our field. W0w! He could do some amazing stuff with it. He's got a Saito 56 on it though and doesn't care for the SFG's.

southern_touch9

My Feedback: (3)

So Its 4D...vairable pitch prop and all huh???

It makes my blood boil to see companys do that.

P-51B

My Feedback: (5)

Maybe I got a complete bad set..., nah the odds are pretty low on all of them being bad.