cstevec

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Finished and flying:

Mokken

My Feedback: (63)

Anyone flying one with a g38? I'm only concerned about the motor clearing the cowl, I don't want to cut holes where I dont' have to. What motor fits the best?

Thanks,

BE_BXL

I will be using the speedster as a tug plane. So I did put a mvvs 58 on it, with a mezlik 21/12 three blade prop, and a KS86-4 4-chamber exhaust pipe in the fuse. Plenty of power.
[link=http://www.moonrakers.be/bodys/Album/vluchtboek/Biggs/speedster.wmv]Here[/link] a small video taken last weekend, it was its maidenflight.
And [link=http://www.moonrakers.be/bodys/Album/Bouwprojecten/Rearwin_Speedster/Bouw_Speedster.html]here[/link] some more pics of the speedster.

With this setup the plane weights just over 10kg (22lbs). This seems to be a lot more than mentioned by Kangke. So 5 lbs overweight compared to what Kangke says: 14-17lbs. They testflew their speedster with a zdz40 on it. That is not that much a difference. I did not add any lead, and the plane balance just fine...

@cstevec & @John_RedSox: What is the weight of yours?

sbaugz

My Feedback: (37)

I have one on the way from RC Showcase. I will be using a ZDZ50NG with sullivan skywriter smoke system. I have also ordered a set of sullivan 4.5" aluminum rims/skylite wheels. Servos will be hitec 645Mg and 625Mg all around except for throttle.

This will be my third large kangke (waco and monocoupe) and I am sure it will be just as nice. Hope to get it flying within a few weeks. I will post some pics.

Tym1_Me0

cstevec

Sorry to jump in so late on this thread, but I just got around to installing the engine in my Rearwin.

Q. Did you have any trouble getting your engine centered in the cowl? Hardmounting the engine to the firewall, my prop shaft sits about 1/4" low in the opening. This is with the cowl installed butted up against ledge formed by the first former and the fuse side. I could overhang the bottom half of the cowl over the fuselage, but it will sure look bad. I don't think shimming up the bottom of the engine mount is the way to go as it will change the thrust angle. I haven't measured it yet, but eyeballing it, it looks like O deg. up/down. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

cstevec

My Feedback: (1)

Which engine did you put int it? I did the Roto 35 in mine, it fit perfect. I mounted the cowl to the airplane, then centered the engine in the propshaft opening. I can't say how it would work with a different engine.

Tym1_Me0

I put a Homie 30cc in it. Did you have to shim the engine (bottom, top, left or right) to get it centered? If so which way, and how did that affect flight characteristics?

thanks

cstevec

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No, I just mounted it up straight. As I said though I centered the shaft in the opening before I drilled the first hole in the firewall. If I remember correctly 1 or more of the mounting bolts came pretty close to an edge. I thought I had a picture to help a little but I don't.

Tym1_Me0

Thanks for the info, cstevec. I propped up the tail of the plane so that the stab is level, and put a degree gauge on the prop shaft. It is 0 deg also. so if this airplane was designed without any up/down thrust, then all I have to do is push the bottom of the cowl farther in to center the engine in the cowl opening. I'm not going to be using a spinner, so it won't be as noticable if things aren't exactly lined up.

I have some questions about the wing struts. The fuzzy pictures in the instructions don't help much.

Are the fuse mounting brackets screwed into the balsa on the bottom of the fuse?
If so, have you stripped any out?
Does the strut end fit on top of or under the fuse mounting bracket?
I am guessing that the wing ends get the clevises and they pin thru the holes in the wing brackets. That hole is much bigger than a clevis' pin. Is the attachment solid?

sorry to have so many questions. I'm used to building kits with very detailed instructions. this is my first experience with "we assume you know...".

Thanks!

cstevec

My Feedback: (1)

Yes, the wing struts mount to the aluminum bracket, which attaches to the fuse underneath the belly pan. When it comes to the wing end you need to be careful. There are blind nuts mounted under the covering of the wing but they are a bear to find. In mine, a couple of them had glue in the threads & I ruined one of them. It now has a wood screw in it. I also femoved the threaded rod from the wing struts & inserted 4-40 rods, then changed the type of clevis to a Dubro 4-40 type with a screw in it. Kangke says the struts are purely for looks but when I first built mine it broke every one of the factory cheap#$%@ metric clevis's & pulled two of the original rods out of the struts over the course of the summer. Seems to me like they are kinda functional!

It is a very nice looking plane & flies well but if I were building it over again I woulda put a 50cc engine in it. With the Roto 35, it flies very "scale like". It does loops & stall turns, but I need some altitude to do them. In a stall turn, when you put the rudder over she falls about 50 ft before she pulls out & starts flying again. Looks cool & very scale like but it is kinda un nerving the first time you try it. One last thing. Toss the tail wheel. Don't even put it on the plane. It is in no way capable of controlling that plane on the ground. Trust me, I tried it.

You are right, the instructions are not a lot of good.

Tym1_Me0

Thanks cstevec. I'll take your advice about the struts. I'm "underpowering" mine for 2 reasons.

1. I want to fly this plane very scale like ( I have a Cap 232 to do aerobatics with)

2. The plane was expensive enough! Putting a $400-$500 motor on it just is not feasable right now.

So you haven't had any problems with the wood screws stripping out of the fuselage?

cstevec

My Feedback: (1)

Well it surely will fly scale like with a 30cc weed eater in it! Should make you happy. I like the way mine flies too but with the factory tail wheel it was a bear on those long takeoffs. In the wind it will take off in about 50 ft. With no wind or a tail wind, about 150-200 ft!

No, I haven't had any wood screws strip out. The strut bar on the fuse goes all the way across on mine so the struts kinda pull against each other.

Tym1_Me0

O-o-o-oh! that's what that long bent piece of aluminum is for. I thought the little short brackets just screwed on each side of the bottom. Thanks!!!!

And BTW, I would NEVERfly with a WeedEater engine. Mine came from a leaf blower.
I had read that they tend to bounce with the tailwheel. maybe I'll pull mine off. Did you install some sort of a skid?

cstevec

My Feedback: (1)

The little short brackets go on the wings. Two on each side for the tops of the struts.

I am using a Sig leaf spring style tail wheel. I ran a bolt through the rudder & attached the tail wheel to the rudder with 2 springs. Works well.

If you do a decent landing, the plane sticks to the runway like glue. Bring it in with a little power on. The front gear is a little springy but after nearly 3 years I haven't bent mine yet & my wheelpants are still virgin! This is actually a very enjoyable plane to fly & with my 35cc engine & a 20 oz. tank, i get bored before it runs out of gas.

lever02

Moken, I just started assembing my speedster and I am using a G-38. There will be holes cut in the cowl for the spark plug and velocity stack for the carb, of course the pipes for the bennett muffler. I also picked up some 4.5'' wheels at the Perry show and replaced the tailwheel mount with one of bennetts. I was worried about that thin firewall and added a piece of 1/4'' lite ply. The prop came forward a hair more than needed, but should work ok. I also talked to Ray at kangke and he swears the firewall doesn't need any reinforcement. Bennett also sent me the linkages to operate the throttle and choke. This is really a nice arf, and I'm sure it will fly well with the G-38.

cstevec

My Feedback: (1)

He's right, the firewall is fine as is.

jbflier

There is a fellow in our club using a G-38 on his Monocoupe.The plane is not only awesome looking, but flies great as well..........[8D]

hayman1

My Feedback: (5)

hello guys i have had my speedster now for about a year, and I'm powering it with the Fuji 32 it's about 34cc and will fit completly within the cowl with only a cutout for cooling in the cowl.It will handle the speedster very nice,big even loops and most any non 3-d move is in the Fuji's power band.Oh the best thing of all it balances rite on with no additional weight needed. This has been a great plane to fly,I have thoroughly enjoyed it and as well there Monocoupe to.Great work Kangke!

grassroots

Hello,
I bought a Kangke Rearwin and in my opinion it's not worth what they are asking $459.00 + $50.00 shipping. I bought mine at Chief for $429.00 including shipping, it's still not worth it! Save your money. The paint used on the fiberglass is very hard, the paint cracks and chips off very easy. Kangke did send me a new cowl to fix the cracked chiped paint, but the new one is starting to crack now. They did not send new wheel pants even though they suffer from the same problem and I asked for them to be replaced. The windshield dose not fit and is total crap I don't know why they even supply one. The servo hatches are small and some standard servos will not fit, I think they designed it around Hitech servos only. My Futuba 3010's didn't fit without making new stand offs, which required cutting the supplied stand offs off. The tail wheel assembly and main tires are junk they should have left them out of the kit and charged less. My fuselage is twisted out of square about 1/8" at the tail post, making it hard to align the tail. After following the manual, centering, squaring the tail by the instructions and after the glue set I test fit the wings and measured from the trailing edge of the wing to the trailing edge of the horizontal, it is out about 1/4 of an inch. So I guess the wing is not square with the fuselage. Over all I am very disapointed, either this was Lemon or Kangke is not that great after all. I bought mine after reading the reviews and post by others. No one mentioned any problems and it sounded like a good ARF. I post this in hopes to reach those considering this plane like I was. I would not buy this ARF again.

mfuess

I bought the 1/5th scale version Rearwin Speedster. It's OK. I used an Evolution 26 GT in mine. Flies great...


If you are interested in the 1/5th scale, here is a complete review: [link=http://tech.flygsw.org/]Kangke 1/5th scale Rearwin Speedster[/link]

fredmcl2

Hi, I bought a used Kangke Rearwin Speedster and am about to buy a new Zenoah G-38 for it. From what I can tell from this forum, that should fly this plane, right?

Also, there are several muffler choices, and I would appreciate any advice on that. If stock will work, that would be cheapest, of course.

This will be my first gas motor. Do I need electronic ignition, or is stock good on the Zenoah motors?

Thanks.
Fred from Maryland

lever02

The stock 38 is great.

fredmcl2

Lever02:

Thanks for the info, that is what I thought, and will go ahead a order the G-38.
Fred

flying_phil

My Feedback: (4)

Hi mfuess,

I just bought the 1/5 scale Rearwin Speedster at the Toledo show last week. Unfortunately, they didn't have one I could look at. Can you tell me if it's a one piece or two piece wing? I'm going to use an Enya 120 4 stroke for power.

Thanks,

flying_phil

fredmcl2

Two piece wing, Phil.

Fred
Maryland