mclina

I had been watching these for a while, and they were always out of stock. I just happened to look and they were back in. I couldn't resist spending $59 to see if this plane is any good.

http://www.nitroplanes.com/piperj3cub15.html


I have building experience, so I think I can handle the poor instructions. This will be my first "scale" plane, so I won't be able to tell if it doesn't really look much like a J3 Cub.

Has anybody got experience with this model? I'm hoping to use a spare .25LA - will that be enough power?

This will probably be a winter project. I'll try to take my time and improve it wherever I can.

Thanks

opjose

The .25LA should be fine.

The plane will have some trainer like characteristics, but remember that it has no dihedral, and may snap on you.

BTW: The manual pages are ONLINE if you want to see....

However the online manual does not seem to correspond to the pictured plane ( which is NOT unusual ), especially in the gear area and the cowl.

On the pictured plane it looks as if you have to construct ( solder ) the gear assembly to get it to look remotely like the picture. The cowl also does not have the faux engine heads.

mclina

Thanks. I did print out the manual pages that would load. Some of them would not come up.

I've built a kit that required me to solder landing gear and cabanes, so that shouldn't be a problem.

opjose

In your browser, remove the actual filename of the URL so it ends with a slash and you'll see the directory with the PDF's ...

You'll then be able to pull up the missing pages.

mclina

You are a genius. I have been able to print out all of the pages (well, except one that gives me an Adobe error). They really don't seem to tell you much, but I'll be able to figure it out. I especially like it where they tell you to put epoxy on the CA hinges.

Thanks


Edit:

NOW I have all 7 pages printed. For some reason, I couldn't open page 3 online, but once I saved it locally, I was able to open and print it.

opjose

Good luck and let us know how it goes either way!

forestroke

You should consider the WM Cub 26. Much much better IMHO. I have seen the Nitro version and I don't think it's anywhere as nice as the WM.

mclina

Thanks, but too late. I'll see what I can do with this one. When it arrives this week, I'll post some pics of it.

forestroke

That's okay... the 25LA is perfect for that size Cub. I think you'll love it! Just be weary on windy days. Ground handling for the Cub could be a little hairy on windy days. But once you learn the Cub, your ground handling skills will be superb! Good luck and post picks!

Cheers!

mclina

I got home from few days camping and found this on my side porch. I was a little nervous that the UPS guy left it out in the rain. The outer box was pretty wet on the bottom, and the inner box was very damp, but all of the parts are well bagged and seem to have survived.

I am really impressed with the construction of this thing for $59. I will reinforce it wherever I can, but it seems very well built. The covering is tight, and everything is already hinged.

As you can see in the pictures, the wing is not the one shown most of the photos on the website. Most of the photos showed a wing that looked like a trainer wing, but it comes with one that looks more like a Cub wing.

One thing that is quite different from the instructions is that there are servo cutouts near the tail for the elevator and rudder servos. There are also spots for them in the fuselage servo tray, so I guess you could install them in either location.

So far, I am very pleased.

mclina

One thing I did not notice until I took the fuselage out of the bag is that there is a magnetic battery hatch in the bottom, just aft of the main landing gear. I think that it is a great feature for electric conversion, but I worry about how fuel proof it will be if I go with the glow engine. I am also pretty scared of putting a glow engine on the as-is engine mount/firewall. I am going to have to do some research on converting it to electric, because I really would like an electric flyer.

If anyone has advice on an electric power system, please let me know.

Thanks

forestroke

i'm glad that the plane arrived in good shape. that's always a relief. anyway, i've never seen a cub fly on electrics (other than park flyers, of which i have a WM Clipped Wing Cub). i'm sure that it will make for a good flyer. as for servos in the back, i'd assemble it first then put all the parts in place before deciding where to put the stab servos. with such a short nose and going electric, you might end up adding a lot of nose weight to get it to balance.

and, since it does have that magnetic tray, use the mini servos, and is built light (windows look like they are covering) it's safe to say that this was built for electric.

good luck!

bassmanh

My Feedback: (5)

mclina,

if you want to make this electric a good choice in motors would be this one here = http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXLWU1&P=0

and for an ESC this one= http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXKSY6&P=M along with a 11.1 volt li-po of around 3200 mah should make for a good flying plane.


im sure there are other combos that will work very well also so maybe someone else can chime in and offer more suggestions.





bassman

mclina

Thanks a lot. I don't have a lot of electric experience.

I would love to put my .25LA on this plane, but that 1/8" thick firewall with the wood motor mount just tabbed into it looks pretty weak. If I go glow, I'll double up the firewall and bolt on a plastic engine mount. It is a very lightly built plane.

If I go with glow, I have everything I need to get it in the air. If I switch to electric, I'll need to spend some cash. Especially if I go LiPo, as I only have chargers that will do NiMh or NiCd.

I'm probably gonna think it over for a few weeks before I commit one way or the other.

mclina

I started putting this together today. It's been pretty easy so far, which is good because the instructions tell you nothing.

I have decided to stick with my .25LA for power. I bought some plywood and a motor mount, but then decided to try just beefing up the factory setup. I don't know how well it shows in the photos, but I epoxied tri-stock all around the firewall and the motor mount. I just didn't want to add too much weight.

The tail went together very easily, and the wing assembly was uneventful. The landing gear actually looks better than I expected, but it is a very light setup.

The stock tank looks OK, but I will probably spend the $3-4 and buy a Dubro next time I am at the LHS. I may also try to find some better looking wheels.

mclina

Here's an "I should have checked this a long time ago" for you. The stock motor mount is WAAAYYYY too small for an OS .25LA. I really should have measured that one a while ago, at least before I pulled the engine from my Gnat. [:@]

I have gotten a lot more assembly done, including the tail servos. Everything about the plane just says "electric". It is such a light plane: 13 ounces total without a motor or battery. I think I am going to go that way. I don't think it would last too long as a glow plane.

And one more thing I keep forgetting to mention, the plastic parts (cowl and wing bolt support) are the wrong shade of yellow. They do not match the body color at all.

I am still thrilled with this little plane. The workmanship is excellent, the hardware is all pretty good (for an electric) and the little touches like the bracket that slides in to hold the fuel tank in place, are very well designed. Did I mention that the instructions are completely useless?

I am trying out a few motors I've got left over from old planes. If they don't work, I'll have to come up with a power system.

mclina

I have decided to go electric, and I placed an order for this powerplant, along with a couple of 3S LiPo's (1550 MaH) and a LiPo charger.

TowerPro BM2409-12T / 25A BEC / 8x3.8 Prop Combo, about $24.99 at United Hobbies

My cub, with everything except motor, esc, and battery, weighs 17 ounces. This equipment should add about 8 ounces, giving me an all up flying weight of 25 ounces. That's just over 1 1/2 pounds, so I think this should give me plenty of power. Maybe even a little too much?

Like I said, I'm new to electrics, so I am making some wild guesses at this, but I'm excited to see how this works out. I'll post an update when I get my next package from China.

opjose

If you can keep it in that weight range it may work out... it certainly will be a floater as well.

Frankly I would have gone with a .15 or .25 equivalent, but this would have increased the weight and wing loading more towards the top end of the stated weight.

I have one of those motors and it looks a bit anemic for that size plane. I was going to put it into a small foamy...