flyrcplanes

Has anyone built and flown the Global Decathlon 52- 61. I just finished putting one together and am waiting on the windshield and window glue to dry. Mine has a Magnum 52 XLS engine with a pitts style muffler. It's a gorgeous airplane but I think it would fly fine on a good 46 two stroke. Oh well, cant have too much power these days. Any comments will be welcomed.

IronCross

I have one of these... I have a Saito .72 in mine and it is not overpowered... Had to put the .72 in with a shoehorn even though specs call for up to a .91.. The landing gear is very weak. I would bend mine just starting the engine.. I had to reinforce it.. I found I could flex the rudder and not even move the servo on mine. I replaced the rudder and elevator pushrods with Dave Brown fiberglass rods and used 4/40 hardware on the ruddder.. Seemed to take care of that problem ok.
Plane is nice looking IMHO and seems to fly well... For balance I put the battery right behind the fuel tank and then used a brass (Dubro) spinner on it. Seemed to come out just about right.. No nasty habits I have found yet...
Looks like it is going to be a fun plane for relaxing flying...

flyrcplanes

Thanks for the info. I could tell from the first touch that the gear was weak. I usually install a spring about midway up and across the landing gear to stiffin it up a bit. This doesn't look that great but it really works well. You can see the gear flexing while you are taxying out to take off. I added a piece of light ply across the cabin over the receiver compartment and mounted a neat looking pilot on it. I had to move my battery under the fuel tank to make up for the weight of the pilot. The plane then balanced at 2 and 7/8 in.back from the leading edge. I still haven't flown it yet and am looking forward to a good flying day. I caught mine on sale for 129.95 and cant believe that they could sell such a nice plane so cheap. Workmanship is great and the covering is the best I have had on an ARF. There were no wrinkles in mine out of the box and there are still no wrinkles in it. I think they actually shrunk the covering material all over instead of just around the edges. If she flys half as good as she looks she will be a keeper for sure.

IronCross

Wow, you did get a deal... I paid 169 for mine from Quantum if I remember correctly..
I took a piece of 1/8 X 3/4 in aluminum and bent it to the shape of the gear (about halfway
up, across and then halway down) and then bolted it to the original gear.. I went halfway
to leave some spring (hopefuly) in the gear..
Watch all that trim on it when you wipe it off. It wants to come up real easy... I went around all
the edges etc with clear fingernail polish and it seems to help alot..
You will like the way it flies... It's a fun plane

flyrcplanes

thanks I was wondering about the trim. It looks great but it also looks like peel and stick. I thought about thinning some clear dope and using it around the edges. Do you think fingernail polish is better. I really hate to mess up that beautiful covering job. We need to blast Global in the product review if it comes off that easily. The trimm should be fuel proof. It doesn't matter how good it looks if it want stay on the plane.

IronCross

I have never tried dope.. Not sure it would stick to the plastic covering or not.. If you try it
let us know..
On a few spots that have come up I have used a very small drop of CA to glue it back down..
It holds good but so messy to work with.. Especially on all the little points on all the little stars..
Looks like the trim is Ultracoat also.. Propblem seems to be the bottom side gets contaminated when
it comes up and won't "restick" very will.
Still a good flyer though//