bikerbc

Thanks for clearing that up Al .. I would not be surprized if you know my buddy Gerry Freck .. He lives down there somewhere in your area...He builds and flys Cubs a lot ..

140driver

maukaonyx

Ditto from me on the struts...did the folded wing happen with struts installed? Jon

bikerbc

I too would like too know if the struts were in use at the time of the wing failure..

maukaonyx

Maybe we will never hear an answer if they made a faux pas and flew without the struts. Oh well, moving on...here are a few pics. I only have to do my graphics on the plane now. It could fly now if I wanted to try it, but I love to dress planes up. Will use some of what was in the box, and make up some others of my own using my Cricut. Hey, my pilot is velcroed in there to a wooden box that I built between the batteries. From 5 feet away you cannot see most of the stuff under and around him in the cockpit. I just went for effect and not details. I can yank the pilot to get access to the batteries. If he does not stay put, I will add seat belts, haha! Jon

maukaonyx

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nitro wing

My Feedback: (1)

if the pilot is velcroed in, Id be a bit concerned over him dislodging and jamming the rudder cables or similar

maukaonyx

Yup, I shall see how it goes when I test run the engine soon.

AlW

My Feedback: (17)

Predman,
You spent quite a bit of time in this forum badmouthing the Bravata but you seem to have disappeared since I asked you if the Bravada whose wings failed in level flight had the struts installed. There are 3 or 4 of us here who would like to know the answer to that question. How about a response?
Al

maukaonyx

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phakur

My Feedback: (13)

Hey Alw-

Just a point I am NOT the guy who had wings fold up on himand I do believe that flying with the struts is a mustmy Bravata flieswith 16 clicks of trim, and I also believe this plane deserves some badmouthingI've built many ARFsand had to do a fair amount of modding to some of thembut none had this kind of known and admitted to defect without the manufacturer doing something about it.

I can't afford many planes at this price and thought I was buying the bestand I will saythat the construction is very good, and the hardware excellent (except for those crappy foam tireshehe) but the defect in the wing and the response from Aeroworks is just plain terribleI am in the market for a 20 or 30 cc Yak, I have seen some AW for sale at good prices-no way will I give them any more of my money.

Larry

AlW

My Feedback: (17)

phakur,
Take a look at my last post - it was addressed to ''Predman''and not you.
Al

maukaonyx

I almost had a maiden on Tues, but the engine would not advance over half throttle without sputtering no matter how I tuned it. The errror was mine in not assigning an EPA to the RCEXL kill switch in my xmitter. All is well and it is ready to fly now. If I can attach a couple pics of the finished product from Tues, I will. It's pretty hilarious how my largest plane fits inside my smallest car! Jon

maukaonyx

My maiden went WELL today!!! It was probably my most relaxful maiden ever, thankfully. I will get to the point people want to hear about....aileron trim. Mine required just one click of right aileron trim, just ONE. Recall though that I warped my wings as close to resembling each other with my heat gun at the very beginning of assembly, which was Jan 2013 for me. Apparently that was enough, and it stayed put all this time while sitting in the house during assembly. We'll see how the sun affects the wings over time. Elevator trim was....none needed! Nor rudder. My engine started easy peasy and ran like a clock for both flights. I took the plane down the runway to test ground handling first, and it is very positive. Steered straight as can be, and turned around n half the width of our grass runway, which is 50' across. With that done, I brought her to the east end of the runway and took off. Gradually applying throttle, she ran straight down the runway with nary a rudder input, and she rose off ground before I hit half throttle, and in just at most 25'! Surprised me to be up so fast. She flies docile as can be. I think this plane could easily be used for a trainer! I did a number of inside loops (hey my wings did NOT fold), cuban 8's, rolls, inverted flight, and knife edge. All are predictable and graceful. Note that all rolls are basically slow rolls with this large wingspan. I will see if I can get more throw. It would be cool if the flaps could act both as inner ailerons while also being flaps...that would help the roll rate. Then again, this is a high wing plane with a huge span and not a 3D plane. Landings...piece of cake. I did not use flaps on both landings and wow the plane still comes in slow and drops in light as a feather. Winds were less than 3mph for my flights. I did deploy half and full flaps during the flights. There is lots of pitch up so I will mix in some down elevator with the flaps for further tests. I really like this plane now. My buddies at the field all oohed and aahed over it too. Might have to wipe off their drool from the Bravata! Few pics from today follow. Some pics show how little trim my ailerons needed. These pics are with 2 clicks right trim. I later reduced it to one by recentering the left flap down a few more percentage points in my xmitter.

Planejaw

My Feedback: (53)

Sounds like a great maiden flight. Don't mix in too much down elevator with the flap. Remember, you want it trimmed for an average final approach (speed and profile). Yes, she does balloon up with flaps selected, particularly if you are at normal flying speed. Let her slow down and establish a good approach and when on Final, that's when you tell just how much mix you'll need when flaps are deployed. Normally, just a few degrees will do it, if any.

maukaonyx

Gotcha, sound approach (pun intended) same as I was planning. Jon

bikerbc

Thanks for keeping us up to date.. I know I am one of the guys that has been putting in negative input , but I am just as quick with the positive when I believe it is warranted . I hope this plane is not as bad as I have been led to believe .. Congratulations on your maiden .. I had a maiden with my highly praised Hanger 9 1/4 scale PA18 that stood my hair on end .. My knees are still shaking .. But I did get it down in one piece so its all good...

Planejaw

My Feedback: (53)

Ken, what happened with the maiden of your PA-18? I've flown mine a few times this summer with an OS 22 GT.

With the Bravata, once you get it all trimmed out, (particularly if you have a warped wing and use trim or a trim tab), It is a very nice flier, great with the DLE 30 or 35, mildly aerobatic and does beautiful touch-and-go's. Graceful is a good term to use. It's just a shame that the importer, Aeroworks, will not stand behind the airplane.

bikerbc

I was flying off the Hanger 9 floats with a G26 and it was stubborn comming off the water then when it did it felt like I was on the verge of a stall and I was wallowing all over the sky , I got into the pattern the wrong way and came within 3 ft of a head on and I got yelled at ( this was at a float fly,The Fall Classic ) All I wanted at this point was back on the water , but I had it settled down and my landing was picture perfect ..I had spent all day trying to get my motor running properly till I found a flaw in the insulator block. I had a spare motor so I swiped the block from it and got it running finally .I think I am under propped though . I am running a 16-6..I am recovering from a stroke and stress saps me something fierce .. I could barley walk .. My spotter had to taxi it back in for me .....Thinking things over I might have been using too much up elevator and holding the float tails in the water..Next time I will try letting it build up more speed on the step and then pull back if it dosent fly itself out... Sorry for Jacking your thread Aero Works

maukaonyx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDceGs1eLro&feature=c4-overview&list=UU3g77-tCJyWkjkSMPowPyPA Here is a vid that my son shot on Sunday for me of my Bravata on its 5th and 6th flights. Not that exciting but it reflects the graceful nature of the plane. Sorry about the bouncy landings captured here, but believe me the plane lands smooth and soft just about every time, lol. Jon

maukaonyx

FOUR more flights with the Bravata today and I am very happy with it. It has a pretty wide speed range even with just the DLE-30 in it. Made a couple of the landings with half flaps, and couple without flaps. It does slow down with the flaps, but the plane lands fine, and slow enough, without them deployed too. I was able to increase my roll rate a little bit with slightly more throw that the hinge line would allow, and by taking out some of the aileron differential. This plane makes fine loops, and flies inverted pretty effortlessly, which surprises me. Knife edge is kinda fun to do and see. This plane garners lots of compliments at the field due its size and good looks. I was not happy with the wing warp but I got out the warps with the heat gun, and they seem to have stayed away. I still think AW could have done better and SHOULD do better to make the painted parts match the covering better, but I am starting to forgive and forget as I get more happiness from flying the pretty bird...I have 10 flights on her now! Good luck to my Bravata brethren, but I think folks have been scared off! Jon

kochj

I have purchased MANY planes from Tower and they send out parts right away if the wing is warped, or cowl color is off ect ect...

The issue is color is off ( paint/oracover) and wings don't match becuase they are twisted?? The entire wing?? or what???
If it isn't any big deal for the buyer than it shouldn't be any issues for Aero-works, why don't they fix the wings with heat guns and water, before they ship them out??

maukaonyx

Someone else can revisit these issues if they like...it's all discussed earlier in this thread.

AkimRU

From Russia with love!
I love this plane very much!

AkimRU

I try to load the photo