tomx

Hi, guys,

I went to the local hobby store this afternoon to buy
a GWS tiger moth as my first rc plane (suggested by
some friends from this forum).

Unforturnately it is out of stock. But I saw a beautiful
Wattage Super Decathlon (all wood). Does anybody
have any idea on this plane? Is it good for a first plane?

Thanks a lot!

Tom

blvdbuzzard

The plane does look like a winner. I would think that the plane would not be as easy to repair as the TM. With the balsa and covering the crashes would be hardto recover from, where as the TM you just break out the 5 minute epoxy and you are ready to go.

I think I will be getting a Decathalon in the near future. I did check out the plane a couple of weeks ago.

Dru.

darenm

My Feedback: (2)

tomx,
I would have to agree with blvdbuzzard. This looks like a really nice plane & with it's high wing would make a nice trainer. HOWEVER i would not suggest you get this model until you have some flights under your belt. If you check out the GWS Slow Stick ($35) first and get used to flight. Then you could move up. A stick Plane or Foamie are ALWAYS a best bet when it comes to 1st flights. Really easy to repair, unlike the plane your looking at. Also for some other first planes, check out the "sticky" in the Beginners Forum.

Epoxy Cup

I have all three of the aircraft mentioned, however I have not flown the Decathlon yet (still in box). So I'll tell my opinion, just my opinion.
1. Slow Stick ($35)
This is SLOW, if you are just learning it is great and probably the best if you have to train yourself with no instructer. Easy to assemble and fly.

2. Tiger Moth ($55)
Another great flyer from GWS. It fly's slow also, just a little faster then the SS, but looks really cool being a bipe. However it is a little bit harder to set up being a bipe than the SS, a little more fragile, and really requires a few modifications in assembly. The mods are easy, dont have to have but highly reccomend them. You can find on the tigermoth squadron web site.

3. Decathlon ($70)
I have not built it yet. The kit looks great and of course its balsa and covering. One thing this does not come with a motor and gearbox, the above two include this. Flight characteristics ??? I have a Goldberg 80" decathlon with Magnum .91 fourstroke. It does not fly like a cub and will tend to snap if you go to slow and downwind turn, this is true though of most sort aircraft. It is not a trainer, however the electric may fly differantly, im not sure. Looking at it I think it will have a fairly high wing loading for electric so it will probably require a little more experiance to fly. But it looks nice and real balsa and covering is better than foam.

Just my two cents.

KillerLoki

I just bought the decathlon 2 days ago and have yet to get in the air due to Wind here but hope to get it up tommrow (SUN.) morning If no one posts to this about the flight I will try to as for the kit being all balsa yes and if you do crash its better to have so building exp and covering exp. to do any repairs you might get your self a kit and start building it like a sig kidet senior or seniroeta? and build it and that way you have a jist on how it is done! just my appion

Epoxy Cup

Hey Killerloki

Let me know how it flies? Your braver than me. My beautiful Decathlon is sitting staring at me, I just don't want to doink it. So I'm waiting for someone to give a flight report on this model. In the meantime just got and flew a mini wing called the speedwing. It has a GWS 180 motor and I used my Tmoth Kokums for batt. This little 24" wing is a real kick. But of course not as cool looking as the Decathlon.

KillerLoki

hey epoxy cup
I should get it off the ground tommrow morning if the wind permits it I have the mini speed wing and could not get it to go for me due to my radio JR 622 does not have elvoron mixing and I picked up a mixer for it but the speed wing is just sitting on my shelf for now. Just a recomendation get the wattage su-31 great foam plane with arobatics(around $50.00 bucks at hobby people) and if you have a crash its really easy to repair I hit a palm tree with mine then it nosed in to tha ground and i just had to epoxy a small tear and replace the gear drive(cheap) and prop and was in the air again. I live in a mobile home park so i like these park flyers to fly around my mobile park while im recovering my super stik 60 size. I will try to post the flight tommrow if I can fly it.

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

A Decathlon does NOT make a good trainer. It may look like a typical trainer airplane, but the original (full scale) Decathlon was/is a highly unstable aerobatic plane for expert pilots. I suspect the Wattage was also designed for aerobatics.

logan6700

I also ordered a decathlon i don't intend to learn how to fly with it intend to have fun flying it. I want to try a direct drive system on it. I have a .09 gas powered engine around here and a brushless motors.

KillerLoki

Well guys I have too say my Decathlon is sitting on my shelf for the time beeing due to I could not get it to fly, for a ground take offs it would get up too speed and start doing doughnuts even with some up elevator applyed so i did a couple of hand tosses and both times it would fly out about 30 feet or so at around head high then slowly bank to the left still at head high and i would apply right aileron and nothing it would just keep in that left pattern like it was going to do about a 30 to 40 foot circle around me even with full right aileron then about half way through its circle around me it would flip inverted and nose in to the grass luckly no damage to the plane except for the last time I tried to hand launch it it did the same thing then the batt went through the firewall and plastic cowling the funny thing is all my control serfaces all workeven after the final flight. luckly like I said it never got above head high so when it did go inverted and hit the ground it did not do too much damage to the plane, more frustraiting than anything. I pulled my servos out of it and am using them in my mini speed wing right know so as soon as i do fly the wing into the ground then i will get the deacthlon back for flight testing again. Thanx

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

Those sound like pilot problems to me.

Those "doughnuts" the plane was doing is called "ground looping." It is a problem that is very common on airplanes with conventional landing gear. Most of the time it can be controlled through skillful use of the rudder.

Using full up elevator is the WORST thing you can do, and only makes the problem worse. You need to get the tail off the ground so the fin and rudder can "bite" the air and keep the tail straight. Also, by holding full up elevator, you encourage the airplane to take off too early, which will result in the plane tip-stalling, flipping over, and crashing on takeoff. It takes skill to make a successful ROG takeoff with a taildragger like the Decathlon. This is NOT a beginner's plane.

As for your problems with hand launching, they're typical of a pilot who does not have much time on the sticks. You probably chucked the plane UP into the air, and are yanking and slamming the controls every which way in a futile attempt to get it to fly. As with the ground looping problem, all you're doing is making things WORSE!

You're launching the plane UP into a partial stall. When the plane is stalled, the control surfaces have little or no effect. All they do is create more drag and keep the airplane from getting up to flying speed. Eventually, the plane tip-stalls, flips over, and crashes. This will happen no matter what plane you have if you don't fly it properly.

When you launch, it should be straight ahead, or even slightly down. Let the plane build up some speed before you try to maneuver it. Concentrate on keeping the nose and wings level, then work into gentle turns.

If you do launch it upwards by accident, the first thing you should do is give the plane some DOWN elevator to get the nose level, or even pointed a bit downwards. Many less-experienced people instinctively yank back on the elevator as if it were some magical UP-stick...

Anyway, I hope you can use this information to improve your piloting skills and have better luck with your Decathlon next time.

Don 07tncav

The Decathalon is NOT a trainer. It's a very fast little plane that is a good #3 at least. I have one and enjoy flying it, but it's a handfull!!
Don

KillerLoki

wel thanx guys but I have been flying about 6 years or so I have had my # of tail dragger planes low wing planes ect its not pilot s is tossed flat and level at head high I have also had my few park flers as well and I have never had any problems and so you also know I do have Helis and hover them. so i can say that its not pilot error here i do have the experance.....

logan6700

Sounds to me like you were using the incorrect prop and or gear. Don't blame the design for it crashing blame your radio gear ,servos , battery and push rods basically any thing you touched. if you built the plane all stock using recommended parts then it should fly. why would you want to taxi a electric tail dragger i could see landing it but taxi. you could try setting the rear wheel fixed. as for the left turning int he air maybe the control arms got binded up some-how. check your cog and your controlling suffices. When i get mine i want to go direct drive with it because i have never had a geared plane actually i did but it never got off the ground. Sorry for my out burst but i depend on these forums to make choices on what i want. you cant just bash a product only when its all stock and i do agree with mkirsch

. Many less-experienced people instinctively yank back on the elevator as if it were some magical UP-stick...)

Epoxy Cup

Killer

Sorry to hear about the trial flight. I was surprised cause mine flew so well. I have had the same type of thing happen to me though. I had a Graupner Terry I ended up throwing away. If it had been balsa instead of foam with crummy foam hinge I probably would have fixed it.

Well you have been flying a while so I suppose you checked that the stab and wing are level with each other? I think I also did a lateral balance on mine as well as front to back CG. The other thing I can think of is I have more throw on my ailerons then suggested and that may give me more control but you must be easy on the stick if doing this.
Ground handling is a little exciting but not bad with the amount of power (stock) gets off the ground fairly quick. By the way what are you using for battery cell count/Mah/weight?

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

KillerLoki,

No offense intended here, but you can't say it's not pilot error. You're the pilot, and your opinion is hardly objective. Many times, I've watched planes flounder and crash, and listened to their "experienced" pilots say, "It wouldn't fly," when as an observer, you could clearly see that the plane was recoverable, IF the pilot would just push the nose over and get some airspeed. Looking over to the pilot, you could clearly see him yanking full-back on the elevator and frantically swinging the ailerons back and forth, the two WORST things you can do to a floundering airplane. The pilot normally doesn't even realize he's doing it; it's instinct.

logan6700

can i use this 5x2.5 direct drive prop ??? on a regualar 400

KillerLoki

are you going to put on the stickers on you plane logan6700 or leave it as is. have you flown it direct drive yet if not let me know how it does. thanx

logan6700

YaY
I just got down from the hill i have flown my decathlon 2 successfully flights. As for my setup i did not have recommended parts i used a speed 400 direct drive setup with a 2x2.5 prop. I ran into some trouble while building i didn't know how to mount the motor to the fuse so i mounted it to the cowling, the cowling holds it shape because it fits about 1/2 inch over the nose and held in-place with 4 screws i mounted the motor using 2 screws and a washers i took the spinner from my wattage hawk and placed it on there. As for the flight i was nervous the winds were about 10 mph i gave her a firm toss she didn't even loose alt on the toss she quickly got up to speed and i mean speed there was one problem i found out the hard way on both flights its dam hard to land her :-) She comes in very hot i killed the motor and tried gliding in but she over shot my area on the second flight at 2/3 throttle she just wants to climb you can fly this thing at 1/3 throttle i only flown her for 3 min each time because the winds can affect her but i think i can push out 12 min flights just from how i seen her perform may be even 20-30 min flights with my astro 010 brushless setup :-) but ill try that another time. I am using sano 720 mha nimh 4 oz 8 cell pack. she was fast and wanted to climb i even tried ground take off on a basket ball court she did it with a little push to get her speed up. it tired it on the road but It was too bumpy and too much friction.

logan6700

i am leaving her the way she is the decals are ugly and she has the same paint scheme like my .40 size cub. I didn't install the servo for the rudder because i don't like flying with rudder i glued the rudder in place so when on the ground she will move in a straight line

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

Very cool logan. Maybe this will inspire KillerLoki to give it another try

logan6700

Check this out my micro cam system to be mounted on this bird. It runs on a normal 9 volt battery the battery sits inside the case. the range on this can is not impressive about 50 feet but the ant is only 6 inches i am hoping if i increase the ant length i will get better reception