planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Well, I must admit, it looks great on the box art, but now that I've been trying to get rid of all the wrinkles in the covering, GP's quality department needs to start inspecting every 100th or so kit. I just spent about 4 hours trying to make a prune look like a plane, one wing tip looks like they bonded the covering down to the tip former so it shows a 1/4' of flat balsa on the tip, the covering, no matter how high I go on my Top flight iron, will not shrink, just gas, and I pop the bubbles and it still won't shrink, and the checker board pattern apparently will rub off if you use sig thinner for dope to clean up the epoxy excess. I actually can't wait to fly this bird, but I can't wait even more when I get my first hole in the covering! I will not hesitate to rip the crap covering job right off this bird and cover it in a good craftsmanship, covering job. It's almost like they put the covering in an oven at 400 degrees and then covered the plane, it just won't shrink. Except the cheap garbage covering on the bottom. That will pull if it get luke warm from sun light. If you buy one, try your best to shrink it but don't be upset when you can't get that monocote to shrink. I just don't understand, I bought a GP pitts about 5 years ago, the covering was wrinkled, but it all came out just fine, this is hopeless.

lear31A

My Feedback: (123)

Use a Heat gun! Works like a charm.........................

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

I did, I almost melted a hole in the covering, but it still has wrinkles all over, plus it will pull the trim if used too much and bubble the trim as well. I should take a pic of the tip to show the "expertly covered in monocote" job, heck if that's expert then I must be a guru of covering compaired to this covering job? Should I call and ask for replacement covering to make it right? or would you think that would be a little overboard? Screw it, here's the pic's, forgot to mention, they sliced the bottom covering too far in the alerion cut outs, so there are slits going up the wing, this is just making me think I'm wasting my cash on a sub-par plane, should have saved the extra money and got the kit instead.

FlyingPilgrim

My Feedback: (26)

I had the same problem on mine. I hit it with so much heat to shrink the top covering, that it destroyed the bottom covering through the wing on one edge, and I had to use some clear to adhere the bottom in place where it shrunk away from the edges. I did the best I could to get it right, and it came out OK. No one will notice the faults, as it is on the bottom. I did not complain to Tower, as it was still a good deal in spite of the covering, and is still a beautiful plane. The good points out-weighed the bad, and if it flys as reported, it will more than make up for the covering problems. That's the gamble with an ARF. It was still a great deal for the money paid.

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Yeah, it's almost as big as my pica jungmiester, and if you stand back about 10 feet, you don't see the flaws to a point, but I just tried to shrink the fuse covering with the heatgun & iron, no luck near the tail, at this point, I'm just going to finish it off, but send a e-mail and pic's to GP customer support. I'll even specify that they either send me new covering material for it or at the least, new wings due to the sliced covering.

KW_Counter

Plane Builder,
What are you griping about, at least they used monocoat.
I just got a GP Dazzler and used a stick on material.
I used acetone to wipe off some epoxy drips and took off the coloring.
I'm not even going into the poor design and lack of QC here.
However, you will here about it here in the near future.

GP USED to be one of the premier suppliers. What has happened?

KW_Counter

CHRISTANEAGLE

I had the same issues Plane Builder. I have never seen monocoat so hard to shrink, in fact it didn't. I tried both an iron and then the gun with very little success. One other problem I had was as I was joining the bottom wing together using 30 minute epoxy I was sliding the half's together holding the two leading edges at the last 4" I put my hand around the curved end and it buckled ! I was in a fix, so I slid it together and taped it until the next night. I peeled the covering back and it wasn't broke, the balsa was very thin and the grain ran in such a way it had no strength. I soaked it with thin CA and ironed the covering back,it has a small wrinkle I can't get out. I did maidened it this weekend and it flew great. A deadstick landing down wind and I never flew a bi-plane was a heart stopper.

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Yeah, I want to get it all together, and the covering scheme looks awsome, but it's not till I tried to shrink it that I became concerned about the covering. I guess I'll just have to live with it, but the first hole in a wing panel and it's getting stripped and recovered, just as an example, I went flying this weekend, I brought a Eagle II arf that I use as a trainer, I bought it for a friend and he decided to keep it at my house, since he only flies when I train him, I also had my lil extra by HERR, I had to recover it in monocote after a small incident, bolth have been sitting in the back of my cherokee for 3 days now, the ARF eagle is wrinkled and sagging, even the covering on one tip of the wing has let go and is no longer is attached. I ironed down all the edges and shrank the covering on it when I assembled it for him, so it has crap covering in my mind. The herr lil extra is still tight as a drum and has nothing wrinkled or peeling up on it. I really hate having to re shrink covering before flying any plane, it should stay tight no matter what. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one to have this issue with the covering.