Mitsu1

My Feedback: (13)

I have a Flight Model 28% 50cc Katana S thats ready for maiden. Peakmodel sells an updated version of this plane currently, however I bought mine several months ago from another vendor. I love the looks of this plane, .. but the manufacturers have to be absolutely retarded for doing this: .... Instead of writing their own manual for the kit .... they simply photocopied the manual for World Models 29% Katana! Now, .. mind you ... mine is a 28% Katana. 80" span versus 84" span. Absolute nothing ... not one thing in that manual they supplied applies to this airplane. I equate this to going to the Jeep dealership and buying a Grand Cherokee ... and the dealer hands you a manual to a Ford Explorer![:@]

Anyways ..the World Models Katana has fairing fillets on both the leading edge and the trailing edge. The manual clearly illustrates with arrows that CG is measured from the beginning of the leading edge fillet where root meets fuselage. Well ... the Katana I have doesn't even have leading edge fairing fillets! The 7 7/8" that its calls for would give me an extremely uncontrollable model!

So, ... I went back to my scratch building days and plotted and calculated my own CG range by finding the Mean Aerodynamic Chord (MAC) and then measuring back from the leading edge to find 30 -33% of the chord for a balance range. I double checked my calculations and found them to be accurate by using 2 different online CG Calcualtors. I wanted a rearward CG, and was shooting for 33%. 33% represents 6.18" measured at root rib from leading edge. I am actually at 34% ... a little over what I wanted. Everthing is very neatly locked down. Everything I fly, I try to target 33%. I'm skilled and I don't see a real prob with a maiden at 34%. .. Your thoughts?

GmanBill

My Feedback: (10)

We don't know how skilled you are, the 34% sounds about right for the Katana and it should be pretty solid there. The real question is do you yourself feel comfortable with your skills and ability to fly it?

Mitsu1

My Feedback: (13)

My skill level is not a concern. If the plane will fly, we're all good! My question really was for those who actually know the percent rearward balance they've flown at, ... and what was the experience? Like I said I balance all my planes at 33% rearward balance. I did a search and read several who claimed to be 3D pilots saying they start at about 28% and move rearward until they get the feel they want. I can't imagine starting at 28%! I start at 33% .. and well ... have never had a need to move rearward from there, .. but never felt a need to move forward either. I guess I just wanted to know if anyone was knowingly past 33% .. and did you start from that point?

darryl-e

just bought one of these planes from PEAKMODEL. would like to know how it flys? what your cg was finally set at? How much it wieghs AUW? what you used for radio gear/motor?? any concerns with the plane??

any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance Darryl

SunShyne

My Feedback: (68)

I am a noobie but 30% usually does the trick and a bit farther to 33-34% is good for certain models for me so I say go for it and keep it on low rates to feel her out before you give it the goods!

good luck

Mitsu1

My Feedback: (13)

Ok, I maidened my plane about 5 or 6 weeks ago. I did not trust the balance point that was given in the instruction manual because the instruction manual that was included was from a World Models Katana instead of a Flight Model Katana. So, I decided to go with one of the online CG calculators and figure the CG on my own. Well, something went wrong wwith the calculations, because what I thought was 34% rearward balance turned out to be .... "twenty something" percent! That was OK .... The plane just started off really nose heavy when I was expecting a near tailheavy plane.

If I recall correctly, the manual said to balance it at 7 7/8" measured at the root. I should have stayed with that afterall. The maiden was uneventful ... I just had to use more elevator that was expected and aerobatics were not what they should have been. I have since talked with Jose Ribeiro who has one of these flying 3D in a couple YouTube videos. I asked him where did he balance his at, and he said "50% of the cord, measured at the wingtip".

Now, the info you requested. My plane flys great. It's balanced properly now and is incredibly aerobatic. My plane has a Copperhead Venom 45cc with a Xoar 21X8, turning 7000 rpm, but I'm about to try a 22X8. The plane weighs 14lbs. 4 oz., has a 2700mah 6 volt NIMH battery and a 1650mah NIMH 4.8 volt battery on ignition. I am flying with a Futaba 9CAPS radio with Xtremelink XPS 2.4Ghz module and receiver. Servos are all Hitec analogs except the digital 5955TG that I had on the rudder. It seemed to be overkill on the rudder, (.. and I felt that 5955 would be better served in my upcoming 35% plane) ... so I switched it out for a 5645 digital, but now it seems this servo doesn't have the necessary holding power, so I may go back to the 5955 or something stronger than the 5645. Whe I bought the plane I got it from a dealer on Ebay. He told me I needed to upgrade the aluminum wing tube to carbon fiber because he had had a failure of the aluminum tube. So, I bought a carbon fiber tube. He told me to seal the leading edge because he had had one loose top covering from one wing because he felt it wasn't sealed properly at factory. I bought clear monoKote and did this, but I feel the real reason he lost covering is because mine came covered in cheap and horible Chinacote. The film and the adhesive separates very easily. I've had no problems at all, but I made these changes before the initial flight.

The roll rate on mine is blurringly fast, and it can be rolled up into some of the tightest, violent looking aerobatics if you what ... and still land like a ***** cat. In short ... its a great plane. I'm still fine tuning mine to my tastes, but it is very, very 3D capable. It can harrier with very little wing rock, and the Venom 45 engine is very powerful for its size and I have unlimited vertical.

darryl-e

thanks for the info. Mine is making its way as i write this. Should be here in the next couple days. Myself and a buddy bought the Katana and the edge 540 i will be matching mine with a DL50 and my friend will be matching his with an ftl45. They will not be flown until next spring[:@] as here in Canada winter is setting in[&o].

djandy1pl

Hi guys,

Anyone here ???

I just bought that plane and weight is horrible 15,8lb ... Is it normal ? I have there DL 50ccm ...

Anyway, how You like this plane , is it fun to fly or what ?

Thanks for any reply.
Andy