rsrogers

My Feedback: (10)

I am thinking of getting a 120 Ryan STA from Great Planes. Has anyone got one of these? If so how do you like it & is it a pleasure to fly. Really think these planes are beautiful! But are they worth it?
Any replys would be greatly appreciated

Thanks, Steve!

wagas

My Uncle has one with older OS 1.20 FS and loves it. A friend of mine in my club has one with a saito 1.8 (overpowered) and loves the airplane. One day I will get one. I haven't flown one yet but by talking to these guys and watching them fly them it's like flying a Sportster or something like that. Good Luck. Great planes not offers the Military version of this also..

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

Wagas, I cannot comment on the flight characteristics as I have not flown mine yet but I can comment on the construction. I decided to strip mine down and refinish it in a more scale like manner. So far I have been very impressed with the way it is built. Good glue joints, tight fitting parts, good wood selection. A very well thought out and executed design in my opinion. So far I have stripped the fuselage and one wing. I filled some minor imperfections with spackle and quickly block sanded the fuse but that was all that was needed before I re-did it with glass. On the wings I did not have to do any work except sand the tips a bit more and they could have been immediately recovered. However, I decided to put on scale ailerons and add the flaps as well as lay the aileron servos down in the wing. The main reason I am spending all this time on the bird is because I was impressed with the basic structure so much. I have a ways to go as I'm adding lots more detail but I definitely think it is worth the money. In fact, the only thing I did not like was the mediocre Monokote finish, sure wish they made it as an ARC! Good luck, Chad Veich.

PS-the glass parts look very nice also

rc-sport

My Feedback: (12)

A fellow flyer made his maiden flight with his last Saturday. He has an OS 90 in it, under powered for me, but he said it flew very scale like. It's definitely a show stopper. Have you seen the military version that has been released?

rsrogers

My Feedback: (10)

Thanks guys, so far good reports so I may end up with one of these. Does anyone have any pics of theres? I'd love to see them if you do
Thanks, Steve

Jimmy Bananas

My Feedback: (13)

I got and assembled mine last year..have a Mag 120 4-stroke in it, inverted and one of the best ARF's I have..weights 10 Ibs,and flys like a dream...no modifications...my wheel pants are still in good shape...I fly mainly off of grass.....good luck

Roby

I must be doing something wrong.......or I'm too much of a
perfectionist

I will admit that ARF's have come a long way but some of the
fundamentals are completely absent , and yet this kit continues
to receive rave reviews.

Who in their right mind would mount a tail wheel assembly into
balsa wood ? It "might "work for a short while but expect a
repair job down the road.

The fuel tank location is way to high for a non pump engine.
How GP ever expected that setup to work on a non pump
engine is beyond me.

I don't prefer to side load directly to the servo on a pull pull
system , but that's my choice. no big deal there.

The cowl mounting , ahhhhhhhh I'm not going to go there,but
again this is my choice as I don't want to have to repeatedly
have to repair it.

A reversed servo for the elevator? wasn't that a pleasant surprise. I guess I must of missed that on the front of the box"list of items
required to complete this airplane" it indicates 6 servos but
never mentions "reversed " Again no big deal there, as I have
several new ones anyway. I just wish they told me and not wait
for me to discover it.

I'm working through all of this and I expect that within 2 weeks
it will be in the air. I've crunched all the numbers and I expect it will fly as pretty as it looks.

No more Great Planes ARF"S for me.........now I know why I build
from plans.

One more thing.......... The product support was non existent ,
they never answered one e-mail

Happy flying
Roby

Hoot

My Feedback: (1)

Roby:
Good comments about ARFs. I was reluctant to say anything bad about them because most modelers I meet today think they are the best thing since sliced bread. I recently built a Great Planes Space Walker and had problems similar to your experience plus the molded wing tips didn't fit properly and the color didn't match. The mounts for the wing bolts are held on with screws through the side of the airplane with the heads exposed. They just let the screw heads dig into the balsa side.
In general, it looks good and does fly great but I don't think it will last. I'm afraid to do a snap roll because there is a disclaimer in the instructions about aerobatics and I've read about structural failures on there other models. Maybe other manufactures make better products. I suspect that this type of ARF will eventually end-up being sold at toy stores. These new ARFs really make you appreciate a Lou Andrews Areromaster kit. :disappoin

BDL

I have about 20 flights on my GP Ryan and love it. I have added the Robart struts ($109) to cure the bounce on landing and added a hard point and new tail wheel. Like most ARF's the hardware still leaves much to be desired, however the quality of the work and time savings for this ARF is well worth it. I run a Saito 150 GK for power and it has plenty of vertical for scale aerobatics. The plan lands like a dream on ashphalt. I also recommend adding wing skids since the close coupled landing gear make tip overs possible. I have pic's on my web page if interested. => http://hometown.aol.com/blowery2/index.html

Good luck and if you have questions, please call me.

BDL

T M Jorgensen

I found the Great Planes Ryan Sta to fly much like a large cub. In that it responds slow to the controls but flys very nice. Infact I refer to my Rayn as my low wing Cub. One bad habit it has just like the cub is with the norrow landing gear and large tail surface. It has a tendancy to ground loop on landings and very sencitive to cross winds. but other than that. The Ryan is fun to fly and interesting to land.

Jimmy Bananas

My Feedback: (13)

Well I built my Ryan STA last year,have a Mag 120 4 stroke,weights 10 Ibs, and flys like a dream.....not one nose over ( and I fly off of grass) or ground loop. no Expensive Robart struts ( Don't need them)..this the best ARF I've own and will try the RYan STM-M now.......Basically they are the same,except for paint scheme and 2 pilots instead of one......should be another good flyer from GP......................

Roby

After reading all the post on this thread, it's good to know
that when I'm done it will be worth all the extra effort I've
put into it.

I still have two questions, and I hope someone will respond.

How do you get a non-pump engine to run with the fuel
tank so high without flooding ?

Or am I the only one that has had to relocate the fuel tank to
where it is supposed to be ?

Roby

dmyers0403

My Feedback: (48)

The GP Ryan is a great quality ARF kit. I was very impressed with mine and it flys great. Yes I do change some things as always with any kit such as hardware etc. I did add the Robart struts. I will add a front brace to cowl, no problems yet. I us a old 120 FS Surpas (on CH Ignition) without pump which required the tank to be lowered. The high tank position caused flooding due to syphon effect. I used short flex header pipe to extend muffler to bottom of cowl bulge for exhaust exit. I do limit my rudder throw on dual rate for take off to keep it straight. Plane looks great when it runs on gear. Flys easy.

bruce59

My Feedback: (181)

I just finished assembeling mine.. very nice, going to give it a test
flight tomorrow, i have a first place 1.3 gas engine on it.. nice running motor.. wish me luck haha!!!

Leo

The carb. position of my Laser 150 four stroke, necessitated a tank position shown in the picture. One advantage is easy access, as the servo tray donīt interfere with it
BTW, I think the GP Ryan is overpowered with this engine

high flyin

Just ordered the GP Ryan 120 and I am looking for a good gas motor to go on it, any ideas?

Stuka Jon N

My Feedback: (33)

My Ryan Sta-M is a very pleasent flyer. I have a RCS 140 gas engine in mine and the power is just right. The only change I made to balance the gas engine was to install the reciever battery in the rear. Great Plane. Stuka Jon N

DTRAX

JUST GOT MY RAYAN STA DONE,THIS ARF WENT TOGETHER VERY NICE,CHANGED NOTHING 91FS FLYS GREAT,LANDING ARE NICE ON GRASS I USE FLAPARONS WE HAVE A SMALL FLYING FEILD.

twist

HI, I have the ryan sta-m with a saito 91s mouned inverted, runs no problem at all. Have to say out of 15 arfs I have this is the best flying. If you want a fast plane get something else. If you want a scale flyer with grace that you an fly without fear this is the one for you. 10 out of 10 for this one, assembly and construction are good didnt like the rudder hook up but has been fine so far, same with tailwheel and pants. Sure if you crash land you will have problems but if you are competent ou cant go wrong with this one.

scaleflying4life

Hi guys.
dusting up a new tread.
im from holland and have a question.

im looking for an greatplanes ryan sta or stm.
in europe they are gone like never, existed
my quistion is is there anybody willing to sell its ryan ?
and ship it to the netherlands (europe)?

regards from holland.

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