Sportflyr

My Feedback: (1)

Kmot,

My mistake...I really appreciate the advice you've given though
and I will definitely use your advice on my next one as it will
probably be an aerobat of some sort with a canopy.

Thanks for your confidence and of course RCU for putting
up with all of my new attempts at digital photography. It is really generous
of RCU not to require a seperate pic hosting site. Makes things sooooo
much easier.

Hope to have her flying in a month or so...see ya then!

Sportflyr

My Feedback: (1)

Welcome her to the Family...

Trainers 2 & 3.

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

I'm a big fan of Kyosho cars, and I gotta tell ya that Calmato Sports is one good lookin' aircraft! [sm=thumbup.gif]

r/cdawg

Nice job on the Calmato, it is a very sharp looking plane. But, from the looks of the nice weather why aren't you out flying? Hurry up and get the gear in it and post a flight report.
Once again nice job.
dawg

Sportflyr

My Feedback: (1)

Kmot,
My first introduction to Kyosho was with their nitro helis back when I worked in a hobby shop back in the
earlier 90's. We sold tons of them.

BTW, I love that Pilot Shell-Fly 40 and the AT-6. Got to see the full scale T-6 and the T-6II fly formation
at a recent airshow and I must say, the old Texan wasn't that much more behind it's newer counterpart in
the maneuvarability dept. Two of the most interesting to watch and graceful machines ever!





Thanks dawg,

I asked myself the same thing!We have nice weather, but a serious lack of open
fields here. I have to travel about 60 miles to get to a massive 6 sq. mile area with road system
called "The Compound", named after all the activities that go on there including, free flight, rocketry, ATV'ing
and paraplaning. The "flying" activities go on at different sectors of the field and
are well respected, while the ATV'ers...well let's just say there's good and bad in every group.

Had no idea that today was going to be so nice. The night before it was cloudy gusts to 25mph..all night, today
it's down to 5-7 and partly cloudy. Bad planning for real! Tomorrow is another story my friend!

I still have to send the horizontal stab back as the hinging is bad, but a flight report will soon follow.

r/cdawg

Hey Sportflyr,

It's been almost 2 months since your last post and I was wondering if and how well the Calmato flys. I need something for my OS .52 four stroke soon and this is on my short list.
dawg

Sportflyr

My Feedback: (1)

Hey r/c dawg,

No excuses except that work has been taking up most of my free time and winds
here have been kind of heavy. I had a little color matching issue with the stab
I sent back, (Had to remove yellow striping on the top as it was not a "Cub" yellow, but
a bright yellow that did not match the rest of the airplane, no biggie) I have motor and
radio on order and I see a test flight within the month.

I apologize for all the unseen bumps in the road and I realize it's not like I'm
assembling a 30% TOC Yak here. Thanks for your interest r/c, there's a few
threads here that really praise this airplane for a second or third choice but, as far
as aerobatic capabilities, I'm still in the dark until launch...[8D]

Sportflyr

My Feedback: (1)

Hey everyone, I know it's been a little while since the last posting so I'll just add
a few brief posts here on the Calmato. She is finally done and I have yet to fly it
but, I will have video as soon as I settle into it a little more.

I was really having an internal issue about radios, I originally was going to get the
Futaba 6EXAS but saved up a little more and got the 7C and the fact that the prices
came down about $20.00 on these systems helped in that decision. I really like
the S3151 sport digitals in that setting up the throws, rates etc. was a cakewalk.
They are just a tad quicker than your standard 3003, 3004 servo but also has a little
less torque but, there is still plenty. LOTS of resolution and neutral holding power even
with the standard FP127DF Rx.

In the words of Steve Irwin...Nooooice!

Sportflyr

My Feedback: (1)

Yeah, I know I really didn't need near a 7C for this model but I plan
on having this radio for the next model which will most likely be a
large gas aerobat either way, I'm glad I made the decision to go with the
more substantial Tx.


The Sports got a fresh new ST GS .45 and the installation couldn't have been nicer
thanks to the pre drilled adjustable two-piece nylon motor mounts. I was going to go
with a Macs pipe but, decided against it since I really needed the weight on the nose.
Speaking of which, I was amazed at how much forward weight this model required.
I had to eventually install the battery to the rear and under the fuel tank to achieve
the proper CG which was between 80-90mm from the LE.

I'm happy to report the new Tigre started almost immediately although I'm still
working on the idle after two tanks.

Sportflyr

My Feedback: (1)

One thing I can say about the whole assembly is that it was totally different
from my experiences with my first two high wing trainers. This model definitely
makes you work for it. This is the first time that I have used 90 degree bends
and keepers on all of the primary control surfaces. I know it is not a good
practice but, I used quick connectors for both planes before. Although
I've never had a failure (luckily from what I was told) from the
Great Planes Screw Lock connectors, I will definitely convert
my Arrow to include bends instead of the quick connects. I just never
had experience with this before...definitely worth the effort as far
as tightness and dependability between surface and servo.

One real problem I had was the clearance between the aileron and rudder servo. The ail. servo
was striking the rudder servo as it moved. The ail. servo was "snapping" as it got full deflection.
I was forced to shave a couple of mm's off of the center rib where the ail. servo sat. I also had to sand
a little off of the servo rails where they are screwed in...problem solved.

I also had to apply some silicone oil I had for rc truck shocks and applied it to both the elevator
and rudder pushrods as they are quite tight within the guide tubes at first. This will probably
be common among all Cal. Sports and I have read about this somewhere else. They eventually loosen
up as you manually exercise them back and forth.

I'd like to know from anybody with this plane or similar plane is if the model is supposed to be a tad tail
heavy on the trike gear. It seems that Kyosho set the mains very close to the planes CG. Is this how
low wing trike gear planes usually are? The plane is balnced according to CG but it's like you
now have to fly this plane while your taxiing and a tail strike on landing is imminent. Keep in mind I'm used to
the two trainers great nosewheel authority.

abufletcher

I'll add a link to my thread on the Kyosho Sports. In short, it's a beautiful flyer. Very graceful in the air and large enough to keep flying after the other folks have packed up due to wind.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_39...tm.htm#4537794

I don't know about balancing with nose gear but what I did was install a small eye-screw (drilled with a spot of epoxy) at the CG (actually the forward end of the range) on the bottom on the wing. I then hung this on a hook from the ceiling to do the balancing (upside down of course). After a couple of bad experiences trying to maiden tail-heavy models, I always make my models a slight bit nose "heavy" for that first flight. I ended up adding a few oz. of lead (in the form of a fishing weight) to the engine compartment.

The first flight was uneventful -- though inevitably a bit nerve-wracking. Not that I've got all the trim and engine setting issues sorted out, it's an absolutely joy to fly -- and land. I had one of the Seagull Spacewalker II's and that we a real handful by comparison. The Spacewalker was all over the runway on takeoffs and because it's fairly heavy, prone to stalls on slow speed turns. I eventually lost it to just such an unexpected low altitude stall.

The Sports by comparison tracks straight, flies scale, and lands easily. Again I thoroughly recommend converting the Calmato Sports to a taildragger!

Sportflyr

My Feedback: (1)

Oh, so you balanced at around the 80mm mark correct?

Sounds like you like yours so I can't wait to get her up in air.

Wish me luck...my first low wing and I don't believe I'll have an instructor.

I respond to you on your thread in case you missed it.

Sportflyr

My Feedback: (1)

Well folks, I finally flew her...like eight times in one day!!!![8D]

I'm going to attempt a flight report from an intermediate pilot's point of view, basically
one from someone advancing from a high wing semi-symmetrical trainer to a first low-wing.

I really had no idea what was in store for me as it quickly accelerated down the runway just that
it was taking a lot of runway to finally rotate, but once in the air it was just incredible. It flies like
a rocket compared to the trainer but, the throws were set light enough to really fly the airplane
without too much snapiness. Everything was really easy to do as far as getting trims right
as all it really needed was a couple beeps of up elevator.

This plane flies like a dream. In fact, it flew so well and I got used to it so fast that I
had to bump up the throws a little just to get it to roll as fast as my trainer! This thing
is a baby! It flies a lot like a pattern airplane with lots of speed and very smooth
control response. I had no problems flying this airplane without an instructor.
Like I said before, the takeoff roll was the only thing I had to get used to as I
would tend to throw in elevator way too soon.

Sportflyr

My Feedback: (1)

Flying was a blast as I had never flown so fast. I still need to add some throw to the controls as
the plane just doesn't want to be coaxed into any type of snap but, the loops were just stunning.
Inverted flight was just as smooth and only requires a touch of down elevator to achieve.

Landings are ACTUALLY EASIER THAN MY TRAINER due to the fact the model tracks so well
and winds really have little effect on this. I thought I'd be smacking the tail and wingtips throughout
the whole landing instead I was sticking touch and goes one after another. The model has the perfect
amount of wing area to achieve great looking landings. This model made me look good my first flight.

The only problem I am having with this model is being able to see it as I like to fly high and far away
with the trainer sometimes. This model covers a lot of air quickly and it does go "stealth"
on you when the model is coming straight toward you during descents. The yellow bottom
does little in the way of keeping the model visible but, that's why they give you the white
decals to apply on the bottom of the wing, which I chose to remove and will be replacing
with a thick solid white or black stripe on the bottom of the right wing.

I really love this airplane and I look forward to getting into my first "hot" airplane real soon.[8D]

Thanks for reading and let me know if I could be of any assistance to anyone considering a "Sports".

r/cdawg

Great review Sportflyr,

Obviously this will be a great plane for you to transition into more and more advanced aircraft. Congrats on the successful maiden and the many flights since.

dawg

horseman

Hey, I just got one, But it came with a motor GX.40 and 12x6 prop Same color fuel line was a little long though and was stuck looks great can't wait to fly,but unsure abought eng? any advise,it's not ringed

PlaneHeli

Sportflyr,

Hows your Calmato 40 going.

I have the exact same plane.

The tail covering came off in flight. Recovered the section. Next flight the fin covering came off.

The covering looked good out of the box, but is falling off left right and centre.

I think its a nice looking plane and seems to fly well.

The supplied wheels took a beating at my rough field, so replaced them with 3.25 inch rubber wheels.

I put red tape along the leading edge to make it more visable coming in to land.
Would have prefered a red model, but was not available.

Sportflyr

My Feedback: (1)

Horseman,

Congrats on the Calmato. Unfortunately, I have no experience with the GX .40 that comes with it
but it looks like a typical O.S. clone that should power the model just fine after you get the initial
break-in and tuning completed. I'm running an ST GS.45 with an APC 10x7 with great success. This
will give more speed than vertical penetration though. When I want to get more RPM I run a 10x6
which yields better vertical. Don't forget I'm in FL where using a 12x6 prop would be out of the
question for a .40 size motor, but even still I would probably go with a smaller prop. Please let me know how the motor
runs for as far as I know, it could be a little powerhouse.


Caliber83,

Everything is going great! I flew her all weekend long with the throws at pretty much max and
I'm finally getting the pretty knife-edges and snaps I was after. I still need to move the CG aft just a tad,
but she flies very predictably with good penetration even in 7-10 MPH winds. Be warned that this model is
quite a floater with a good headwind on approach for landing but can also be slowed to a crawl without
stalling.

The tail section is VERY prone to fuel creep as I found out this weekend. The covering on the vertical
fin started coming off right at the seam on the LE. Didn't come off much, just about a half inch from the
LE starting at the dorsal fin all the way up. I went home and cleaned the "adhesive" side of the covering with swab
and alcohol, let sit overnight and re-ironed the covering back on. I put a couple small strips of plain cellophane tape
down by the dorsal where the peeling started and am happy to say, worked great the next day.

Oh, and forget about saving the stripes on the horizontal stab (ones with the yellow over blue or red) on the
exhaust side unless you use tape. Definitely go over ALL OF THE SEAMS with an iron before heading
out to the field. It'll save some headaches for real.

Other than that, it is a great model that will easily move you on to something more advanced. I've had a few
off-runway landings that caused no damage even when it came to a sudden stop and flipped or spun...tough bird!
I'm already looking at my first scale aerobat, for now I couldn't be happier!

da Rock

I've just flown my new C.Sports. It flew excellent. The OS46AX on it is a match made in heaven.

I did notice what I consider to be a design flaw. And it's worth mentioning. And considering.

On tricycle gear airplanes, the main gears are located so that the airplane will sit on the ground with some sensible balance. There should be enough weight on the nose gear so that it will steer well. The main wheels should also be behind the CG so that they don't turn the airplane into a seesaw.

The main gear struts that came with my airplane are to be screwed down into the wing almost directly under the CG. With those gear in place, my model could barely hold the tail up. There was almost no weight on the front wheel.

It's well known how to design the mains. You locate the gear in the wing just aft of the CG. And then you angle the struts between 16 and 20degrees aft. You want the tires contact patch (to the ground) to be at about a 20degree angle aft of the CG.

The struts supplied with my ARF were dead straight. No way that would have worked worth spit. I bent some struts to fit the mounting slots that had a 20degree aft orientation. The new ones needed to be a bit longer than the originals in order to hold the airplane up as high as those straight ones would have. The airplane's ground handling is just as excellent as the Tiger2 that it's copied after. The Tiger2 came with angled back mains. Wonder why the "designer" who copied the Tiger2 didn't notice that detail......

If your tricycle geared C.Sports has a tendency to "sit down and rest a spell" or it doesn't seem to steer with any authority, you might think about bending up some gear to replace the ARF ones.

kovar

Sorry guys..could't find the wight thread to ask this question so i ask it here.

i own a calmato trainer and a friend f mine gave me a Topaz opto-max optic gyro.
do you have any expertise about this r other wing-gyro's on the calmato (or what ever

should i use it?

is it helpfull?

greetz,

kovar...the dutchman who's not afraid to ask stupid questins.

Sportflyr

My Feedback: (1)

Darock,

It's interesting that you mentioned about the authoratively light nosegear setup because I
was having the same concern and I'm sure it's even lighter with the AX up front.
I ended up locating my battery in the fuel tank compartment to get the proper CG
with just a tad of nose heaviness. Turned out that when there's a stiff breeze blowing
the tail from the side, it requires that I temporarily switch to high rate on the
radio to make it respond or to turn it around after a landing. Otherwise, it wants to
slightly weather vane with the wind.

I didn't do anything to the gear but I do notice that I get a lot more porpoising on
landings than I do with my high wing trainer. Don't even think of forcing this one to the ground!!!!![X(]

Kyosho should definitely address this issue. If it weren't for that chunk of metal Super Tigre
up front, I'd probably have a tail dragger with trike gear.

Tjen il-vec

Hi there,

Nice to hear (read) that the Calmato Sport owners like this aircraft. I purchased one myself early this summer and assembled it in three evenings! No problems whatsoever except for the steering rods (and the canopy [:@]). The rods needed some alignment obviously to get them to move smooth enough nog to get too much 'buzzing' from the servo's.

I decided to re-enforce the wing roots with glass/epoxy covering and fitted a Futaba S3152 hi-torque servo on the elevator in order to cope with the engine power and airspeed. The sports is fitted with a FA82a Saito now running on 10% nitro 18% Klotz after more than 20 flights to give the the engine the chance to get fully broken in. I can tell you with this setup its an absolute monster (in a good way ) to fly! It easily takes off within a few yards and when pulled up vertically it keeps accelerating! And with all this producing a nice race like sound in dives [8D].
But there's a downside to all this power; one keeps trimming the aircraft in order to keep it in a straight flightpath but that aside, and keep checking the covering, it is a magnificent ARF to have as a second model for sure. And if you want more just fit a FA82a with 10% and a 13x7 prop! BRILLIANT!

oh, and if i may suggest, lose the foam wheels... they tend to suck up oil and dirt coming from the breethernipple and airfield...

Cheers,

Tjen il-Vec

Sportflyr

My Feedback: (1)

Tjen,

That's a lot of muscle up front![X(] It's nice to hear that the firewall can withstand that amount
of power. I must say though, the Calmato has one of the better firewall assemblies that I've
seen in any ARF for a while. Its' nicely tri-stocked and pre- painted firewall was a very welcomed sight.

I will soon be adding the Macs pipe for the ST GS. 45 which will give me less weight up front and should
set the CG for more responsive aerobatics and another plus, would negate the need for an exhaust
deflector which I am currently using and I believe is still robbing big power from my motor
although I've cut the deflector much shorter than stock. You will need one for using
the stock ST quiet muffler as the exhaust exits straight back and deposits oil badly inside the canopy.
I just can't bring myself to glue the canopy as I may want to add a pilot figure and I like to be able
to remove it once in a while.

Sportflyr

My Feedback: (1)

BTW, has anyone found an official meaning for the word "Calmato"?

I get it all the time..."What the he!! is a Calmato? Isn't that tomato juice or something?"

I know they're joking, but just to clear it up from my understanding it is a
part of symphonic music that becomes "calm" and more relaxed during
a performance.

Just in case anyone was curious!

Sherman

To Darock re balancing

I have had several planes in the past where the rear wheels were on or near the center of gravity. I really appreciate your suggestion as to the cure, and it is this sort of thing that makes this forum so great. I am going to, unless it is unsuccessful, use the straight wires on the back. What I have previously done is to give down elevator while taking off until the plane gaines some speed and then take off the down and give a little up. This has been successful. I am as excited as everyone on the Clamato. Just got the plane today and will start building it tomorrow.

May the wind be at your back.