Photea1

Hi. I'm looking to invest in a biplane and want it to work well with the Mintor 22CC. Would y'all recommend the Great Planes Skybolt or Hangar 9 Christen Eagle and why? Also, needing anARF, is there something better out there that would work good with the Mintor? Thanks for any help. Hide Signatures

karolh

Do you definately want a bipe type model ?

Karol

Photea1

Yes, it's a bipe next for me. Will be my 10th plane - first bipe. Am not a 3d flyer at this point, just want a nice fun to fly aerobatic bipe.

karolh

The Ultimate is a nice flying model.

Karol

opjose

IMHO the Skybolt is the better flyer of the two.

It has a longer tail, versus wing size and is over-all a larger plane.

It's also quite pretty too. More so than the Christen Eagle.

Landings are MUCH easier than with the Eagle. I've seen guys who repeatedly throw the Eagle's nose into the ground, land the Skybolt with aplomb.

The Eagle is a bit more agile, but I can more easily do things like Torque Rolls with the Skybolt than with the short coupled Eagle.

And yes I've flown both many times... Skybolt is better IMHO.

fly24-7

I have a friend who just bought the H9 Eagle. It flies nicely but ground handling is an adventure with the short tail that eagles have. Skybolts ground handle better and also fly nicely. If you're not worried about fussy ground handling, get the Eagle.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

My H9 Eagle handles on the ground just fine.

Edit:
To expand....
I have no personal experience with the newer Skybolt (though I did build one of the original kits ages ago).

I'm just finishing a review on the new Christen Eagle.

Its weak points are the ABS plastic fairings on the landing gear struts and the fact the fuel tank pretty much gets glued in.

The plane flys great, lands easily, and handles well on the ground.

I won't bore you with the full write up that you'll be able to read in a couple of weeks but I'll leave you with this.

Would I buy one out of my own money after reviewing one/Would I replace the review plane if it crashed? Yes.

Photea1

Thanks for the info. I look forward to the review. That's two for Eagle one for Skybolt and one vote for an ultimate - which I don't believe I am ready for yet. Hmmmm....

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

I will add a vote for the Skybolt. I have been flying it with an OS 61 SF in it all summer and love it. It is a great looking and flying plane.

Bruce

opjose

The Ultimate is an easier to handle plane than the Eagle.

I would say the Skybolt is the easiest to handle, followed by the Ultimate, and the Eagle is last.

Not that there is anything wrong with the Eagle, but the Christen Eagle is better suited to a more advanced flyer.


I have to disagree with Barracudahockey ( though I normally agree with everything he posts... ). The Eagle's short tail makes it tend to yaw at run-up, particularly if you have a powerful or overpowered motor/engine.

Unless you build it very light, it will have a "higher than you may be used to" landing speed that tends to "get" people not used to greasing in Bi-Planes.

That said, it tumbles and snap rolls the best of all three planes, again because of the short tail. Inverted spins and blenders are great.

The Eagle is very similiar to a Pitts in performance and flight characteristics and has similiar quirks too.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

No problem! I'm always glad to participate in an informed discussion

To be honest, the new H9 Eagle surprised me, I was expecting more excitement but with a little up elevator to hold the tail down, smooth application of throttle and easing off the elevator, the little guy tracked nicely down the runway. Yes, it needed rudder to correct, and I can see how too much rudder throw would lead to problems on takeoff, but it was very easy to take off. I would say with a Saito 1.25 the Eagle is at the top of its power/weight range as well. Maybe its just experience <shrug>

Everyone talks about nightmares landing Mustangs, but the H9 60 Mustangs have pattern/sport plane style wings and fly like such, well the Eagle is similar. A sound airfoil, and fool proof proper incidence setup and it lands quite like any other advanced sport plane I've flown. I certainly would't recommend any short coupled bipe as a first tail dragger, but quite a few people at the club have flown it and nobody has had any scares with it. They sort of hang around like vultures when I have a new review plane for some reason

fly24-7

My buddy has a YS120 in his. Maybe he's just too aggressive with the throttle on the take-off roll...

Photea1

Hey this has been very helpful guys. Would they both handle the Mintor 22 okay? I'm figuring some tail weight would be necessary.
Or do you think I would then end up too heavy overall?

Guitarman52

My Feedback: (2)

The skybolt was always one of my favorite planes. Great flyer!