sundowner 50 or 80"?
 

I really like the look of the downers and was thinking of putting one in the "hangar". Ive read the horror stories about the snapping. This would technically be my 4th plane. I beat the piss out of my nexstar, but it lives, Im doing ok with the GP minnow and learning the ropes of a quick taildragger. My 3rd plane is going to be a goldberg sukhoi with a 1.20 2 stroke. Its just waiting on some parts. What do you think about the sundowners? I would like the bigger plane as all of the rest of my planes are smaller in wingspan than the nexstar. But at the same time the cost to build a nice 80" downer would be a lot more. For now I would just like to buy a kit and pick an engine later. What would you do?

Thanks,
Erik

RE: sundowner 50 or 80"?
 

I can't speak for the 50, but I had the 80" with a Moki 210. It was set up to best suggested CG on RCU threads and it still had a nasty snap in a moderately hard pylon turn. I attempted to twist and heat some washout in the tips but the wing structure was too stiff to yield good results. It needs a long runway to land if you don't have a head wind. After three sessions, I pull the engine and controls and sold it before I killed it.

Maybe I got a bad one or I expect too much.

RE: sundowner 50 or 80"?
 

Yeah most flight reports on here scare me. Any other nice and complete looking arf's out there that will pull some good numbers? Im really lliking the lil toni but is basically a re-worked minnow. Or the other way around. :eek: I would like a plane that would pull a solid 130mph and run circles around some of those darn strykers that rip up the sky.

RE: sundowner 50 or 80"?
 

I know it's not scale looking and smaller,but look at the other thread running now "best engine for Viper 500" post # 7 sums it up well. This is the quickest, cheapest way to test the waters for speed......and "pull a solid 130mph and run circles around some of those darn strykers that rip up the sky."

It will need some easy fixes, so look up the threads about that.

RE: sundowner 50 or 80"?
 

The small one flys great.

I guess Ive not "tried" to get one to snap in a turn. Perhaps it is possible. It is NOT going to turn like a Q-500 or QM40. But so far its quite good for a sport plane.

The mistake some folks make - a sharp pylon turn comes from a balanced design, airspeed, a light airframe weight, and correct CG placement. It does not come from a crud load of elevator throw.

It takes a LOT of energy to cause a plane to change direction rapidly. That energy has to come from lift generated by the wing. If asked to do too much by forcing a high AOA in a turn, the wing stops flying just as if you performed a level flight stall. Its that simple.

Keep the wing loading light, expect reasonable turn radius.

RE: sundowner 50 or 80"?
 

i have the minnow and several toni`s. they are not the same plane. stick a 90lx or 120ax in it and go. the sundowner flys like a smaller toni, which is what it basically is. the minnow needs a lot of power to make it fast, a 140 4-stroke or thereabouts. the sundowner is fast with the 60lx or the 75 ax.