Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

Hey has any one flown this plane with a .91 four stroker on it? If so how did it preform?? It was quoted for a .91 - 1.20 4 stroker. Any comments would be great, please excuse me if this has been posted before. I could not find anything about the performance.
Thanks everyone for your help!
Jon

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

I have the sta-m verison of this plane and it is powered by a saito 120. I think that the plane would fly very well with the 91. I take off at half throttle most of the time. I will tell you though that this is one sweet flying plane . I don't know why Great planes quit making them.

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

Im guessing the M version is the 2 seater version, mine is the single place version. I love the plane so far. Will be flying mine for the first time soon. My Ryan has the optional Robart landing gear. I am still hoping to hear from some one who put a 91 4 stroke on theirs!

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

anyone??? (bump)

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

Jon, I have this plane new in the box and haven't flown an STA with the O.S. 91 FS, so, I can't actually comment on your question. That being said, the assembly manual says on page 3 in the engine selection section, that they flew the prototype with an O.S. 91 FS. I have flown a friends STA with an O.S. 120 and I would call it "sporty overpowered". Meaning it had more power than the airframe needed. A Great Planes giant Spacewalker (similar configuration, weight and size) with a 91 FS flies easily in a very scale manner.

If you are expecting to fly this plane "on the wing", like a full scale plane, the 91 FS will do nicely. If you are expecting to fly it with pure power, the 91 FS isn't the engine you need. In this case I'd suggest a 120 class engine from O.S., Saito or YS. To throw another engine into the mix for you to think about, look at the Evolution / MVVS 26cc gasser. Plenty of power and it'll fit nicely. http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...odID=EVOE26GT2

Good luck, the civilian STA is a beautiful looking and great flying plane. You're gonna love it!

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

Do you know why Great Planes discontinued the Ryan? I have my Ryan ready to fly as soon as the weather gets better!

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

No I don't. The only reasons I can think of for them to discontinue it are slow sales and / or being an older design. The giant Spacewalker was also discontinued. More recently, their 60 size Tiger Moth got the axe.

I hate to see any of the above planes become discontinued. The STA, Spacewalker and the Tiger Moth are all timeless to me. The STA especially. The look of that plane is why I got into RC and, to be honest, I'm a little scared to assemble and fly mine for fear of tearing it up!

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

well i cant wait to get mine in the air... with the 91 i needed to add a little nose weight which i hated to do but had to..... im sure it will fly really well thou

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

The plane won't notice the nose weight. One thing though, the landing gear is very close to the fuselage centerline and you have to par close attention to taxi-ing while using ailerons in a crosswind. I've seen a lot or the STA/STA-M's drag a wingtip due to strong crosswinds or turning too fast while taxiing. The only damage I've seen from this was some covering scrapes from concrete. It's no big deal on grass though.

Let me know how the maiden flight goes!!

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

ill post a video of the maiden...... I put in the robart struts for gear too they work great so far

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

I have a Saito 150 in mine, and it is a pleasure to fly. Half throttle take offs, and cruising.

I test flew a friends with a Magnum 91-4c, and there was a big difference. The plane requires full throttle most of the time and there is no reserve. It may be his set up, but I think a larger engine is called for.

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

I was fortunate enough to fly the prototype with an OS .91FS at the D.O.G.S. fly-in when Great Planes first introduced the Ryan STA. I was able to fly around at 1/4-1/3 throttle when I just wanted to cruise around. The Ryan with a 91 will do any and all scale aerobatic manuevers with ease. I was impressed with how well the Ryan handled through the entire flight envelope with the 91FS. It will fly in a very scale manner with the 91. I recently finished a new Ryan with a 91 and am anxiously awaiting spring to fly it. Feel free to PM me with any questions about how the Ryan flies.

Jim

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

Thank you for your reply zemkes!! Did you set yours up with an in cowl muffler or no? What did the prototype weigh when you flew it? Sounds like it will fly really well with my 91. I also put a remote glow on mine that works at 1/2 throttle and below to keep the glow plug hot so im pretty sure that will help out a bit too!

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

I used the stock muffler on mine. Sorry, I don't remember what the prototype weighed. It has been too long since I flew it. I used a remote glow on mine but only went with the one that is used for starting only. You should be very happy with the way the Ryan flies. Like I said in my previous post, it flies very well through the entire envelope. My first flight on the prototype was also the first time I actually saw the kit. Like I mentioned above it was at the Dayton Fly-In in front of approx. 5000 spectators so as you can imagine I was extremely nervous but the Ryan flew incredible. If you setup the Ryan as close to what the manual says as you can the outcome is a plane the flies very very well. Again feel free to PM me and we will talk about the Ryans flight characteristics in more detail.

Jim

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

I have a Great Planes Sta- Ryan with a OS 120 in it. A great flying plane. But diffacult to land so I put sea commander floats on it. With the OS 120 in it I had a very diffacult time geting off the water. So I put a Saito 150 in it and it flys great. When I put the wheels back on it it has way too much power but still flys great. I fact sometimes I am a bit affraid of ripping of the wings. Terry

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

My guess is that it just wasn't selling like it needs to so they concentrated their efforts on the new smaller 49" Ryan STA kit designed for electric power.

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

I've had mine for nearly 2 years now.
It has a laser 150 ( 120fs power but a bit more torque, 16x8 prop) Cline regulator and robart struts, wheels and point hinges.
It's very easy to fly this plane in a scale like maner, including take offs and landings.
Slow and low fly by's are a great crowd pleaser.
I love mine and agree it's a shame GP stoped making them.

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

Might as well get my $.02 in. Mine has the Robart struts, OS 120 FS. I have to land mine on the mains. Trying to do 3 point landings result in a large bounce back into the air--a couple of times with not very pretty finishes. I bought the OS 90 degree muffler extension that allows me to contain the muffler in the cowl. There is a spot that the header pipe is very close that I had to cut out--the cowl that is. I had difficulty using the supplied wheels with the Robart gear. The yokes that hold the axle would rub on the wheels causing one to not turn well. I cured problem by chucking the wheel in a drill and sanding the tire a little more narrow. Solved the problem. one other thing. Mike Stokes who was the GP rep for our area brought two STA-s to our annual four stroke event a couple of years ago. Both were powered by OS 91 and both flew great. He let anyone that wanted fly them and they got a real work out that day.

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

I agree, wheel landings are the way to go with the STA.

I ditched the standard wheels and went with Robart alu ones.

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

I was too cheap(sounds funny after shelling out $130 for the struts) to buy the Robart wheels, but that's the best bet. This thread has me cranked to fly the STA this weekend. I havn't flown it for over a year.

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

I keep mine for nice days too, and scale meets etc.
However, this thread's got my going too.
Had mine out today, it looks SO scale in the air and such a relaxing plane to fly.
Just got a Beila carbon prop for mine - white with red tips 18x6 - need to get a menz cut spinner before I can try it out though.
Happy days. :D

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

Hi Didg--

Didn't realize you are in Scottland. How is the weather over there? My co-worker's wife is from Scotland and reacts very negatively when someone hears her accent and asks if she is from England-LOL. One of our club members is scratch building a Curtis Jenny and has a Laser engine, probably a 150 for it. The engine is beautiful and the workmanship on this plane is stunning. below is link to it, but I think you will have to paste it into your browser.
http://www.hawksrc.org/DispEventPic.asp?PicKey=113

Best regards,

Greg

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

Hey guys, I love all your responces! thank you very much so far! I will be flying mine soon with the Magnum 90fs and the robart struts! I cant wait!! Ill try and get a video of it in action and alot of pictures!

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

Always have to chime in. Am sorry I sold my STA after two flying seasons. Mine had a Magnum 1.08 2 stroke and was sweet to fly. The airplane has no bad habits and is beautiful in the air and on the ground. Robart struts are the ticket for no bounce landings and adding life to the pants.

Dressed mine up with custom decals from the golden age era.

A beauty, only sold it thinking I could do another...then GP discontinued it!!

RE: Great Planes Ryan STA question
 

Hi Greg,

The weather over here is cold and windy just now, roll on the summer. [8D]

Your mate will love his Laser.
They take a bit of running in, best to start off using 10% nitro for easyer starting - though this isn't nesessery.
once he's had 2 or 3 galls through it he can reduce that to 5 or 0% - I use 10% all the time with my 150 but its cold here.
Make sure its primed good and wet ( even if its inverted ) before lighting the glow and starting it.
Once run in they're very reliable with a nice low tick over, no need for onboard glow.

Dick,

Love those "golden age" decals, where did you get them from?

Didg.