RE: GP Super Stearman
 

Is the Stearman full acrobatic (to do hammer-heads, snaps, tambles...)? Does it fly slow?
I have a Saito 150.

Thank you all!

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

Got mine done and just have to set the throws and balance it. Just waiting on a good calm day for a maiden flight. Lord willin take it home together in one piece.

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

Ive decited to order one today, but would like to know the problems involved with installing a saito 150 ? or if theres any problems, was thinking on the line of fuel siphoning, tank height, changes, servo mounting,ect also the balance, is it nessary to add the weight to the nose? I have the saito 150 with slimlines smoke muffler for inverted mounting .really want to thank all of you for your contribution to this thread its great to read about others and their planes and the engineerint that goes into them and how iteams are over come with the rewards of flying them thanks .

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

Mine didnt nead any weight added. And I put a G26 and my battery and reciever were on each side of the servos and stuff. I would figure that you would need a bit of weight. It says with an OS 120 you need about 18oz of weight give or take. Mine balanced perfect with my engine. No doubt that 150 will do the job though.

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

A friend of mine has one of these GP Stearmans and he is installing a O.S. 1.60 2 stroke in his. Its not quite ready to go but if anybody is interested I will leave a post here to let everybody know on how it flies... Yes he did have to build out the firewall a little but that was not problem.

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

Hi All,

I finished one of these Super Sterman Bipes for a customer last week. A Saito 150 was used, Hitec 635 bb servos for all control surfaces, slaved the top wing ailerons to the bottom, Hitec 425bb for the throttle, Hitec receiver, 1650 Ni-mh receiver battery, Cermark HD switch and no weight was required to attain the recommended balance point. I used an incidence meter to set up the top wing since I noticed that the top wing would "rock" while I was trying to mark & drill the mounting holes in the fuse for the cabanes. While the rivet/panel line decals took some time to cut out and apply, they sure enhanced the look of the Stearman. I did add the simulated flying wires as per the instructions which helped the look a lot.

The test flight was uneventful. The take-off was straight down the runway, the tail lifted after a short run and the 150 had plenty of power for the Stearman. Since this was not my bipe, I just trimmed it out for straight & level flight and landed after a few laps around the field. The landing was great...it just came in for a nice wheel landing, then the tail settled and I taxied it back to the flight station. I think that the new owner will let me wring out the Stearman a little in the near future and then I will let you guys know how this one does.

Great Planes certainly did their homework on this bipe...it builds easily, the instructions are wonderful and it flies great. Also, it is beautiful on the ground & in the air!!!

Jake

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

rcjake-rcu, thanks for the info on your stearman, very informative . Ive decited to run the saito 150 inverted, Ill run hitek 625,s on the controls , cept the throttle, standard on that, hope this flys like a two wing cub, , thats about my speed, any other info that comes will be welcomed, this plane is not drawing the the responce that others have brought on rcu, wonder why? hanger nines large 182, ect. well see ,hey thanks alot for the information hope the owner lets you wring it , out , will be watching for your next report, jim

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

I have finished building and flying the GP Stearman and will share some of my thoughts and experiences. I purchased a built Stearman of unknow origin a few years ago and really enjoyed flying this thing for several flights. It met an untimely demise when I flew the battery out of it. The old Stearman flew on it's own in a big circle for about 5 minutes losing altitude with every circuit until it crashed full speed into the ground. I haad intended to repair this plane until the one from GP came along. I operate a hobby shop in Van Buren Arkansas.

When I received this ARF I was extremely pleased with what I saw. I havew been modelling for 50 years and I can't build one that nice. The finish on the landing gear and cabanes was superb, flawless gloss white better than I have seen on any model. I don't know if it was powder coated or what but it is perfect.

The parts fit was excellent, I mean excellent for all parts. The construction of the plane took about 12 hours. Wing alignment was eezzzzeeeeeee. The wheel pants and engine cowl eeezzzeeeeeee. Everything fit and everything worked as it should. I installed an new but older version of a YS 120, before the air chamber. I have read the comments about the spinner not fitting the props and the hinges etc. and that because your trying to use too big of an engine and prop. Use what the paid engineers designed this plane for.

I opted for the four aileron version and soldered the two elevator wires together instead of the clamp but this was the only deviation from the plans. This thing is gorgeous when done and now for the flying. The YS has a tick over idle and I mean slow to the tune of less than 1000 RPM and instant throttle response. I used no additional weight and didn't even put in the weight box. I might haave been a tad rearward on the CG but not much if any. It required just a little down trim to keep from climbing and it flies comfortably on about 1/4 throttle. loops, rolls, stall turns great. I have only flown it once and then a short flight. This thing is a total winner in my books.

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

Great review & pics !

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

Well, I think that it is a great kit...with one exception, my top wing had a bow in it. The Right Top panel was straight, however the Left Top panel had a bow in it, at about 31 inches from the center of the wing to the tip....1/4 inch bow. I called Great Planes, their answer was to send the
wing back so that they can check it...I wish I would have found this problem sooner...the panels
were connected and the ailerons hinged. I had to cut the wing in two to ship it back...what a bummer this delays the whole thing for abouyt 2 to 3 weeks. They need to see if it falls under the warranty...why would I send it back unless it was flawed...:(
Received a postcard from Great Planes...MY WING IS BACKORDERED !!! :(

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

I'm trying to finish mine up, break the engine in, and get some test flights in before our big bird fly-in next weekend.

I'm using a Saito 150. I had to notch the firewall to clear the muffler. I also must have bumped the cowl and ring when I was tack gluing it, turned out to be off center. A coupleof shims on the tabs took care of that!

I also used the stock spinner. Being a machininst, I opened up the backplate hole in a lathe to fit the 150. The opening actually fit an APC 16x8 prop, although I'll try a woody for looks.

John

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

Well, I give up! How do I get the linkage for the 2 servo wing setup to get the correct movement on the ailerons? I tried moving the top arm back like the RC report reviewer did, that didn't help. I can get correct movements in one direction, but it always binds in the other directions. help?

John

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

Builder Jim,

I did not need to make any mods to get the Saito 150 installed in the Super Stearman and no weight was needed to get the bipe to balance. The 150 supplies plenty of power and yesterday we had a flight that lasted 12 to 15 minutes with the stock tank and still had fuel left. Not too bad...

I did get to do a few aerobatics with the Super Stearman this week-end, but just did rolls, loops and stall turns... it performed all with ease. The rolls took about 3 seconds to perform with full deflection at the factory recommended low rates. Spins are very nice and the Super Stearman sure looks great on those low fly-bys!

This ARF from Great Planes is their best yet. Keep up the good work, GP!!!

Jake

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

THAT IS WHAT SLAVING IS ONLY USING 2 SERVOS WITH THE ROD CONNECTING THE TOP AND BOTTOM AILERONS.NOT SLAVING WOULD BE USING 4 SERVOS FOR AILERONS AND NO ROD IN BETWEEN.HOPE I HELPED

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

yes, I'm slavingthe 2 wing servos for the upper ailerons. I had to compromise. The lower ailerons are about the low rate throw, and the uppers are between high and low rates (which aint much!).

Also had the first 2 flights on it Saturday.

This saito 150 was a HECK of a lot easier than the old one to get started and keep running! I ran the first 10 minutes under 4K rpm as the manual stated. I thought I was at the 5 turns out, but it was actually 5.75 turns out! After the first ten minutes, I started changing the needle, etc, topping about 9.2K with a 16x8 APC.

It idled and transitioned just great at that setting, so I left it. Ran it maybe 10 more minutes.
Then took it out to fly. First flight was just great, no bad tendencies. Engine ran without any tweaking, but was rich enough to leave a nice smoke trail! :)

I leaned the engine a bit, but didn't seem to change the RPM either way much. Put on a second flight, but overran the runway on landing and went into the weeds, which knocked the wheelpants screws loose and ended flying for the day.

John

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

WOW I must have had the kit with the "heavy" tail. I powered mine with a Saito 1.80, fly's great! Also had to add about 13oz to the nose in the weight box to balance it. Great flying airplane!!!!!!

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

I haven't built mine yet. Haven't had the time yet.
I have been reading comments about difficulties with slaving the upper ailerons and am wondering if I should fit 4 wing servos or not. The ones of you who have done this, are there any comments?

Ari

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

I went with the 4 servos becouse of not having the hi torq ones for 2 so I went with the 4 settup. I havent flown it yet but I believe it will have great response.

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

Did you find you had any of the binding problems that have been reported or did you have a problem geting the throws right?

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

I didnt have any problems. I might go back and do a few things different as setting the throw on the top to make it different than the bottom but as for binding no.

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

In retrospect, I'd do the 4 servo wings unless someone has the magic formula for the exact horn layout for the 2 servo setup.

I'l also put a little thicker wood inside the wheelpant ply plates for the screws. As it is, I'm gonna drill out the wood screw holes about 3/16" or so, and epoxy some dowels in them, redrill and tap fo the woodscrews, then reinforce them with CA. I'm going to look into using #4 screws instead, also.

John

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

Just like to mention for those of you contemplating a gasoline engine for the Stearman (as am I),
according the GP product support group, the stopper in the fuel tank provided w/ the kit is compatible to gas but you will need to replace the flexible tubing w/ gas compatible type. This should save replacing the tank &/or buying a conversion kit which may not duplicate the original stopper

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

I've been following this thread from its beginning. I purchased mine at the end of April and finished building and setting it up last weekend. I built it with an OS 160 FX, Bisson muffler, Tru-Turn 2-3/4 120 spinner, Master Airscrew 16x10 prop, Futaba S3010 servos everywhere except throttle, slaved ailerons.

Mine had the problem where the wing aileron hinge slots were slightly off center. I'm new to building, this is my fourth ARF plane. I didn't know this was much of a problem until after I had already glued them in and read about it in one of the posts. The ailerons moved with a little resistance in one direction on some of them, but it worked out after moving them back and forth several times.

The plane balanced near perfect at 5-1/2, I set all of the throws as noted in the manual. I broke in the engine with 4 tanks before putting it in the plane and once at the house when assembled for setup. The OS 160 FX would run at 9,500 rpm with the 16x10 prop ( this is the middle of the recommended props for this engine).

I took it out to the field yesterday morning rechecked all of the throws after assembling. It took off perfectly about 100ft, half throttle, straight down the runway, turned great flying fantastic, a little down elevator to fly level at half throttle.

About five minutes into the flight it rolled unexpectedly, I gave it up elevator, when it was level it rolled again then went down into heavy ( about 7ft high) weeds.

I was very disappointed, I knew it was a mechanical failure. I took me about 30 minuted to get in the truck and drive out then track down the crash site using the controller and wiggling the sticks. I was happy to find it by hearing all of the controls responding. When I actually made to the plane it was mostly intact landing gear ripped off, one of the nylon clevises on the right aileron had come off, the top wing cracked in the center, the hinges pullout on the top aileron where the slaved clevis had torn, cowl ring broken, and prop shattered.

Everything is completely repairable!!

I will be replacing all of the clevises with metal ones and a lock nut.

I also realized after reading some other post that this could have been caused by binding of the aileron either because of the offset hinge slots or slaved aileron setup.

Also, no parts are currently available from Tower

I'm looking forward to your comments,

Lmnorthga

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

Very sorry to hear about what happened. Especially on a maided flight. Once I have mine fixed with no glitches I will have my 1st flight too. Lord willin with better results. I used the 4 servo settup. Keep us informed.

RE: GP Super Stearman
 

Imnorthga: Sorry to hear about the accident. Just a few words:

I just lost my 1/4 scale Extra 300 last weekend because of two failed aileron servos. They were S3010s. All I can say is "beware"....they are "high torque" servos, but with the plastic gears, they still have a weakness. I ran off the short grass into the tall grass at my field one time and it stripped one of the servos just from that. I replaced the gear set ($10 from Tower) and it was fine after that, until last weekend when I was coming out of a 1/2 Cuban Eight and both aileron servos decided to break at the output shaft, causing a death spiral and totalling my Extra.

I'm going to follow this thread, as I am on the lookout for a replacement plane to use with my OS 1.60FX.

From here on out I'm going to go with AT LEAST HiTec 645s with metal gears and more torque, and a guaranteed gear chain.

Also, the metal clevises with lock nuts work great (used them on my Extra and never had one come close to coming off)....just be sure to use clevis keepers (small pieces of fuel tubing) on each clevis to keep them from opening up and coming off your control horns.

--Rich