ckrochmal

sorry to hear about your kit.

let us know what great planes says

LargeScale88

Great Planes said if i send the airplane back, they will send me a brand new replacement.

Thats good customer service.


Jason

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

A few things worth noting:

GP has added the missing hardware to all of the kits they have in stock. If you are missing hardware, drop them a note and they will ship out a package, no questions asked.

If you decide to add the cowl, cut the cheeks off forward of the tri-stock on the front of the firewall for a little more strength.

I found the dimension for the engine is about 1/8" too long. The cowl could go back about that much to line up better with the firewall..

ckrochmal

i will ad that i feel the wheel pants suck. it felt like i easily striped 1 of the 2 screws on each side, and turns out.. i did. they vibrated out upon engine testing.
i yet to have a plane with wheel pants that are solid; im taking them off, they are too much fuss, and i think the plane will look more rugged without them.

will also state that im un happy with the throttle routing for an inverted 4s. the required back curve in the control rod adds to much play and throttle response becomes mushy.
if it was easier, id mount a micro servo in front of the firewall, but this i figured was too much work. i might drill a new hole on the firewall that matches laterally with the throttle arm.
... if this new route works with the fuel tank.

its been really windy in FL, but i'm anxious to maiden.

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

MinnFlyer, I found out the same thing about the engine being mounted too far forward in the instructions. I needed to mount the engine 3/16 of an inch back to get a good fit fit on the firewall for the cowling. I did leave the fusslage side extending to the forward edge of the firewall triangle stock for strength.

ckrochmal, the only problem I had with the wheel pants was that the opening on the left wheel pant was too narrow and it rubbed on the side of the wheel in the rear. I opened it up with a dremel tool and all was well. I aso ran a 4-40 tap through the bolt holes first, used a flat washer and lock washer, and locking compound and the wheel pants are is solidly mounted. I have three other GP planes that mount wheel pants this way and none have ever come loose. I fly off of grass without any problems. Oh, and I used socket (allen) head bolts instead of Philips screws because they can be tightened down better. One other thing I had to do was use locking compound on the a axel threads because they are too short to catch well on the locking insert in the nuts.

Bruce

Hothead

My Feedback: (3)

Started to assemble my escapade 61 today. It will be finished tomorrow if nothing goes wrong . Everything was good so far. Covering was perfect except a little on the bottom of tail.
My question is, what are the rest of you doing with this ARF, epoxying the tail on , or just using the bolts. I think I would feel more secure epoxying the tail and also epoxing the wing together.
I'm using an OS 110 , no cowl until the engine is broke in and trust worthy.
My kit was missing a control rod and 2 wheel collar's.
This is really a nice plane for the money.I hope it flys as good as it looks.
Hothead

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Believe me, it flies as good as it looks!

And if you're more comfortable epoxying the tail on, go for it

darylk79

My Feedback: (2)

Ok seems im as bad as you guys.I'm missing my nylon bag,hardware bag,push rod,motor mount and my ailerons are mounted so bad there twisted.This is a BS made plane.For damn near 200 bucks you'd think they would pay alittle more attention to detail.I have already started piecing it together and buying my own hardware for the build because they forgot to add my parts.I can't send it back becuase im too far into the build.I contacted great planes on the website by sending a email but no response yet.I just want my parts missing and a new set of wings!This may very well be my last plane from great planes.Obvously there planes aren't " so great ".I feel they rush production of this plane in the mist of spring.All im hoping is they will send me my parts without hassle.Anyone else know how to get in contact with great planes or maybe a direct phone number o make request for my parts? Not even china made planes are this bad!!!!!!!!!!!

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

There is a phone number at the bottom of this page:

http://www.greatplanes.com/techsupport/index.html

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

Darylk, your kit must have assembled late Friday! Except for the missing control rod, two wheel collars, and one tab in the hatch, my plane was perfect. No wrinkles or bubbles in the monocote, all parts fit perfectly, and it has gone together very well.

Bruce

LargeScale88

Sounds pretty similiar to me. The left wing aileron was rubbing, and couldn't move freely, and the tail didn't go together as easily as they said. I'm thinking its gonna be my "great" planes ARF.

Maybe we should cut them some slack. Its a pretty newARF, and there still may be bugs to work out.

Jason

yukonflier

Just finished my Escapade 60 today. It came out a bit nose heavy with the .91FX, but I was able to balance it perfectly with a heavy battery mounted at the rear of the radio compartment. I was also missing the control rod and wheel collars, but otherwise the kit was great. The covering is nice and tight, construction seems as good as any and better than some...overall a really nice looking aircraft.
Can't wait for some good flying weather...

darylk79

My Feedback: (2)

Ok,great planes emailed me back letting me know my missing parts are on the way!Even a new set of wings.They didnt ask for a receipt or anything.I'm very impressed with there customer service.Great planes doesnt know it,but they just got a customer for LIFE!

SHOUT OUT TO GREAT PLANES!!

Prop_Wash

Hey everyone, do you think an os61fx would be enough for this plane? I have a brand new one still in the box. If not then it will have to be a ST G90 instead.


Thanks

Prop_wash

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I have flown it with the "recommneded" 95AX and it will go straight up forever! It is WAY too much engine for my liking. I think a 75AX would be PLENTY of power and a 61 would probably fly it ok.

Prop_Wash

Thanks Minnflyer. I will give the 60 a try. I can always swap the engine out if it doesn't fly well.

Thanks!

Prop_wash

fast_eddie70

My Escapade 61 is on its way, Does anyone have a flight review?? Mine will have a ASP .80FS or OS .91FS II. The OS is old, the ASP is newer.

My Opinion on Engine Sizes, I live at 6,000 feet and many of the crashes I see at my field are due to underpowered airframes. Being underpowered you have a bigger challenge getting out of trouble. I had a u-can-do 46 with a OS 46ax and it was a challenge to get out of bad situations. Just my thoughts.

Please post flight reviews

Thanks

jcb9901

My Feedback: (23)

Ordered my Escapade yesturday, Now to make up my mind on engine have NIB 75ax and 120ax
But I'm thinking I might sell the 120 ax $225 and go gas and get a dle20.
Any body using a dle20 on an escapade yet?



Jim

AJsToyz

DLE might be a little large for the plane, could go with a JBA 15G if you wanted gas.

Andy

jcb9901

My Feedback: (23)

I think a DLE20 is a better engine
It's all about left stick management

AJsToyz

I was just thinking of the physical size, I know DLE's have been good engines but the JBA's seem to be doing pretty good also. I have a Syssa 30cc in a 1.20 size bird, no problems with stick management.

Andy

Prop_Washer2

My Feedback: (26)

Well I installed my Hitec GPS Unit, which gives my the Speed and Altitude of the Escapade. I have the fuel level and optical tachometer sensors as well, but I'm not sure if I'll install them. Oh BTW, my building table is at 3870 Altitude, and when I hold the GPS sensor in my hand and swing it, I can do 16 MPH...should be Kewl once airborn..!!

I have pics if anyone wants to see the install...

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

I found a new problem with the Escapade 61. The holes in the control horns are larger than normal allowing the Sullivan Gold-N-Clevis to move back and forth a small amount in the hole. This results in the control surface being able to move about 1/64 inch in each direction without the control rod moving. This slop will result in flutter of the contol surface at high speed. Has anyone else noticed this?

I think what I will do is replace the contol horns. I always replace nylon clevises with metal ones.

Bruce

fast_eddie70

I will start assembly this weekend, I also use metal clevises so let me know what you come up with.

Tcat1000

My Feedback: (34)

Hi.......Not sure if this has been mentioned, but after looking at the fuel tank setup I found that both in tank fuel lines were about 5/8ths of an inch too long jamming the clunk at the rear of the tank. You guys might want to take the tank apart & check it out.............

Tcat