hrb74

My Feedback: (7)

steve how do you rate the construction of the 152 i'm torn now between the hangar 9 182 and this ship how's the sturdiness of the firewall and nosegear on your model thanks [email protected]

hrb74

My Feedback: (7)

Mr. DJ could you send an updated webpage or address for the us distributor of the austars models. thanks. [email protected]

steve2972

My Feedback: (2)

Hrb74,
The construction is very good,nose gear etc very good!I`ve also had the Hanger 9 Cessna 182 which is also well made,however I`d recommend you swap the supplied nose leg for the Sierra strut.Depends if your`re going electric or not.If electric I would recommend the Austars 152 as its easier to convert.If going gas/glow I guess its down to if you want a 152 or 182.

Both fly great!

Steve

hrb74

My Feedback: (7)

Thanks for the info steve, i'm going to go with a zenoah 26, and the 152 if i can afford the shipping how does she hold-up when you put it through manuvers?is the air-frame worthy?

steve2972

My Feedback: (2)

You`ll need to strengthen the strut mounts on the fusalage as these are held on by captive nuts in the balsa skin! I cut away the sides and placed hardwood blocks where the struts will be attached.Easy modification but a must if you want to "wing "her out!

hrb74

My Feedback: (7)

Steve, did you cutout the existing balsa/blind nut all the way or just strengthened it and did you do anything with the wing blind nuts, control surfaces where control horns mount? any info when you get a chance or think about it would be appreciated. thanks

steve2972

My Feedback: (2)

I cut out the orginal blind nuts and remounted on hardwood blocks,no other mods required.Wing nuts all ok.!

hrb74

My Feedback: (7)

Thanks again steve how was the firewall and landing gear sections, do you recommend strengthing these areas i seen the pictures of the H9 and i'll be quite frank, i think the firewALL is too thin and probably made my mind up on which plane to get. also did you replace the elev. horn control wire- i read on a thread that it was flimsy?

steve2972

My Feedback: (2)

The Firewall and landing gear sections are fine,but please bear in mind that I converted mine to electric.Sorry ,I forgot I also replaced the elevator push rod with a 3mm rod.Other than that everything else as stock!

hrb74

My Feedback: (7)

steve- not to be a pain but if you could add any details to that it would be great any welding or soldering?.. about how thick is the firewall in the 152? is it thicker than the H9 182? are you still flying the 152? if so how is she holding up?.. Thanks

hrb74

My Feedback: (7)

Thanks again for the info steve ordered mine last week from steve at austars, hopefully it will arrive this week without damage.

DVM100

Hey guys,

I too have an Austars Cessna 152 which I originally flew with an SPE 26CC gasser, then a MLD 28CC gasser, and just last week I converted to electric with a Turnigy 270KV, Sentilon 100A ESC and two 5000mA 5S in series. Swings a 16 x 16 APC prop and flies really scale like on about 1/3rd power. Just love it!

Dave

steve2972

My Feedback: (2)

Nice
Do you do mild areobatics with yours?If so do the wing struts hold up ok.On mine when I did a loop the struts pulled away from the fuselage thin balsa.The blind nuts are only attached/secured on the thin outer skin of the fuselage.

Steve

DVM100

Steve,

I have glassed my fuze with 3/4oz all the way to just behind the rear windscreen. I have strengthened the areas around strut fixtures with ply inserts and 6oz glass. I do some basic aeros with mine but limited to loops and Split S. I have also strengthened the plate where the main gear attach to the fuze by using firewall ply and additional bolts. Where possible I have got rid of ALL blind nuts because they are normally the first things that pull free. I use brass threaded inserts for all my strut fixings, undercarriage and even the cowl - although now I've gone electric the cowl is not so much of an issue. My all up weight is now 7.5kg which is quite a lot more than she wqas when she first flew, but she is MUCH stronger and more resilient.

Dave

steve2972

My Feedback: (2)

16.5lbs is still a good weight for this kinda` plane.I`m thinking of getting another kit and stripping down and re-glassing the entire structure!

Nice one

Steve

Parrot Girl

Hi Guys,

are the main gear on your cessna 152's a bit toe in?

Mine are, and it the tires were quite badly chewed up flying off the tar strip at the bowylie fun fly. I am wondering if they are meant to be like that or if a hard landing has done it... I can't remember how it was before I flew it.

DVM100

Hi Corrine, I think you'll find it's the bitumen of the runway that's done it. I've had the same tyres on mine for about three years and they are like new. I have a slight toe in but hardly noticeable really. Dave

apalsson

My Feedback: (1)

I have one of those 152. I bought it a couple of years ago but took my time building and then got caught up in relocation so she has only ever flown some 4 times.
I also have the toe-in issue with the mains. In fact, the drilled mounting holes in the mains were tapped for 4mm screws but two of the holes in one of the legs was very badly stripped so I had to drill them and tap with a 5mm.
The nose-gear reinforcement for the firewall they supply didn't fit wither. I had to significantly modify it to make it fit.

During the build, I accidsentally poked a hole in the covering of a wing panel. Resting on what Austars had insisted that the plane was covered with Oracover, I figured this was an easy thing to patch and tried to apply Oracover I had in the shop but the covering on the plane is absolutely not Oracover, it is some other stuff with much higher shrinking temperature. I finally got Monocote to adhere in a reasonable way.

Last weekend, I flew the plane the first time with the struts on. It was a simple 10 minute fight, no aerobatics, no dives, loops or other high stress manouvres but one of the struts tore out of the anchor point in the fuselage. Upon inspection, I found that the only thing holding it in place was a sheet of 2mm balsa and a small plywood patch around the size of the 3mm blind nut.

I approached Austars with this and they swore black and blue they had never heard of this before. The guy I corresponded with told me he had built and flown many of those planes, including high stress manouvres and never had a problem.
The only thing they suggested was they were going to forward photos of the damage to the factory so they could improve future planes.

Given Austars line that "we manufactured this in our factory" blah, blah, slipping the responsibility onto the factory and leaving me dangling in the air is pretty weak.
Poor quality but even poorer response

I'm not often this harsh on suppliers but this episode leaves a particularly bad taste in my mouth.

If I had been met with a bit of understanding and maybe an offer of some minor compensation (small discount on a replacement for example), they woudl have had a loyal customer.
Now they have someone who will never buy of them again and is happy to show the entire modelling community the quality of the planes they sell

I attach some photos of the damage

steve2972

My Feedback: (2)

Same thing happened to me a couple of years ago regarding the wing strut ripping out of the fuselage.I told them about this and got basically the same response!

apalsson

My Feedback: (1)

And they swore black and blue that this problem had never been reported to them before [:@]
Here I was prepared to offer to buy of them another plane (different plane, of course) and maybe get some small discount to make up for the loss of this one!
I paid AUD$799 for this plane! (for you Americans, that's around USD$900)

DVM100

If they say they have never heard of that before that's absolute rubbish! Mine was the same and so was ParrotGirls.

apalsson

My Feedback: (1)

I have heard from several others with the exact same issue

apalsson

My Feedback: (1)

Here's their response:
Please note that the underlined areas are underlined by me

So, my remedy is going to be permission to spend my time on a report and photos for the factory to help them improce future models?
Also - with the struts being anchored into a thin sheet of balsa, do I believe they wouldn't get ripped out doing "full aerobatics"?
Does anyone care for landing a 96" Model Aircraft with the struts dangling down from the wing and not be concerned an accident might happen?
Lastly, they always feed you the line "this is the first we hear of this"

I guess I'll buy my planes elsewhere in the future

XTRA230

My Feedback: (10)

HI Guy's
Seems funny to me I had a problem sent in the asked for Pic's and the problem was overcome so dont think it is to MAKE A Better model I am sure they have enough people to do that with out outside help how else do they no there is even a problem w/out evidence

XTRA230

My Feedback: (10)

Hi Again
Just wondering since my last post have you had a resolution yet !!