RE: GSP Katana 72"...DETAILED BUILD and 3D FLIGHT REPORT  
View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Tower Hobbies
Enter up to 4 keywords or Tower stock numbers
Logged in as Guest



Users viewing this topic: none
  Printable Version
More Resources on the
Katana
  • See User Ratings
  • Suggest Compatible Equip.
  • Check for Retailers
  • Discussions on this Product


    • All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> ARF or RTF >> RE: GSP Katana 72"...DETAILED BUILD and 3D FLIGHT REPORT
    Page: <<   < prev  2 3 [4] 5 6 7 8 9 10 11   next >   >>  

    Login
    Message << Older Topic   Newer Topic >>
    RE: GSP Katana 72"...DETAILED BUILD and 3D FLIGHT ... - 9/9/2003 4:37:39 PM   
    Dangerous Dan



    Posts: 1818
    Joined: 7/19/2002
    From: gainesville, TX, USA
    Status: offline     		Also does anybody have any pictures of the wing bolt mod?

    _____________________________

    when inverted down=up and up=$$

    (in reply to Dangerous Dan)
           Post #: 76

    RE: GSP Katana 72"...DETAILED BUILD and 3D FLIGHT ... - 9/9/2003 5:01:55 PM   
    cstevec



    Posts: 1742
    Joined: 5/4/2003
    From: Tappahannock, VA, USA
    Status: offline     		Just a thought here but you might consider the 5625 and 5645 servos instead. I have a Sig extra with those servos on it and they perform very well. Plenty fast enough and 80-130 oz. torque is more then sufficient for the plane. The 5925's are a good investment if you are flying a 35% or greater plane but kinda overkill for the 72" Katana. Best part is you can buy 'em all day long for 54.95. Most hobby shops that stock 'em sell 'em for around $49 so it won't take half as long to save up for 'em and they come with metal gears.

    (in reply to CCDave)
           Post #: 77

    RE: GSP Katana 72"...DETAILED BUILD and 3D FLIGHT ... - 9/9/2003 6:11:10 PM   
    Dangerous Dan



    Posts: 1818
    Joined: 7/19/2002
    From: gainesville, TX, USA
    Status: offline     		cstevec,
    Thanks for the advice! I have already purchased the 5925's, When I retire this plane for a 35%(year or two) I can reuse the 5925's and the Li Flight Pack in it. They were a bit more expensive, but .08sec at 6volts wow!

    _____________________________

    when inverted down=up and up=$$

    (in reply to cstevec)
           Post #: 78

    RE: GSP Katana 72"...DETAILED BUILD and 3D FLIGHT ... - 9/9/2003 9:06:14 PM   
    ptgarcia



    Posts: 2057
    Joined: 6/19/2002
    From: Fontana, CA, USA
    Status: offline     		Chief Aircraft sells Hitec 5925 and 5945 servos for $79.50. Under $400 for 5 servos.

    _____________________________

    Pauly
    Corona RC Club

    (in reply to Mach1Latus)
           Post #: 79

    RE: GSP Katana 72"...DETAILED BUILD and 3D FLIGHT ... - 9/10/2003 1:15:40 PM   
    Superfast


     

    Posts: 117
    Joined: 12/24/2002
    From: Grandview, MO, USA
    Status: offline     		Here is a link to my Katana page on my website. It has some pictures of my hatch mod and the wing bolt mod. The wing bolts are really simple. I went to Lowes and picked up some hanger bolts. They are 1/2 wood screw, and 1/2 bolt. I screwed them in inplace of the hooks, glued in a few spacer blocks and spun on some wing nuts. It works great and didn't require alot of time/money to do.

    Katana Page

    Hey chewy, I went ahead and ordered the Mezjlik 19x8 carbon prop to try. The guys at Desert Aircraft agreed it should be a good match for the Brison 2.0. Should be here in the next day or so.

    Scott

    (in reply to Planeclothes)
           Post #: 80

    RE: GSP Katana 72"...DETAILED BUILD and 3D FLIGHT ... - 9/10/2003 1:56:37 PM   
    Dangerous Dan



    Posts: 1818
    Joined: 7/19/2002
    From: gainesville, TX, USA
    Status: offline     		Thanks Scott Looks Great! In fact the small bottom access and the spring issue had me reconsidering the purchase of this kit, when I saw your removable canopy pictures I desided to purchase this plane. Thanks again for sharing your work. I have a few have a few questions if thats ok:

    Hatch:

    I see the mounting tabs, but I cant see any bolts in the finished Pics that show how the removable canopy is attached, please explain.

    What did you use as a guideline when first cutting out for the hatch?

    Did you re-use any of the material that you removed?

    In the first picture there is a open former aft and a closed former forward of the canopy mounting area, as well as a cross support in the center over a former, was these already there or did you make these?

    What color/brand of covering did you use to match?

    Is the wider balsa beams on the sides where the canopy sets origional or added?

    How did you attach the clear canopy?

    Wings:

    quote:

    I screwed them in inplace of the hooks


    Is there enough support in the wings to do this?

    Weight:

    Is the canopy mod add or remove weight compared to the bottom hatch?

    Does the wing bolts add or remove weight compared to the springs/hooks?

    What was your final weight?

    I know this is a lot of questions, but Like I said before I have saved up for a long time for this plane and you only get one chance to do it correctly. I appriciate everyone here on RCU that has shared do's, dont's, hints, etc...

    My Katana will be here tomorrow....I cant wait

    Thanks in advance

    < Message edited by dntmn -- 9/10/2003 7:57:32 AM >

    _____________________________

    when inverted down=up and up=$$

    (in reply to Superfast)
           Post #: 81

    RE: GSP Katana 72"...DETAILED BUILD and 3D FLIGHT ... - 9/10/2003 2:02:55 PM   
    Dangerous Dan



    Posts: 1818
    Joined: 7/19/2002
    From: gainesville, TX, USA
    Status: offline     		Just a warning if you are planning to use a Mezjlik 19x6 or 19x8 on an OS 160 you will have to buy or make a shaft adaptor, the hole in the 19x8 is too large for the oS 160 shaft. I had this combo on an Six Extra 300 xs(May it rest in peace). I reamed the prop slightly larger, and pressed in a brass tube that its ID matched the od of the 160 shaft. It took about an hour to do, but it fit and balenced perfectly.

    The Mezjlik 18x6 has a smaller shaft hole and don't have this problem


    Dan

    _____________________________

    when inverted down=up and up=$$

    (in reply to Dangerous Dan)
           Post #: 82

    RE: GSP Katana 72"...DETAILED BUILD and 3D FLIGHT ... - 9/11/2003 4:14:33 AM   
    Superfast


     

    Posts: 117
    Joined: 12/24/2002
    From: Grandview, MO, USA
    Status: offline     		WOW if thats a "few" questions, I am sure glad you didn't have "ALOT" of questions

    - That hatch is mounted in the front with dowel pins and the tabs slide inside the fuse side and are secured with #6 screws through the side of the plane.

    - As far as a guideline, I kinda guessed. I did reach around inside and poke some small "t" pins through so I could get a good reference as the where the balsa was. I tried to leave as much balsa as I could so I didn't weaken the center of the fuse. I few of the guys at the field cut out more than me and simply added some extra balsa to beef it up.

    - The only material I re-used in the hatch was the former for the instrument panel, other than the it is all new balsa.

    - The original forward formed is right there where mine is, I simply doubled it with lite ply to make it a little stronger for the dowels pins. The rear former is stock also. When the plane comes that former is covered in 1/16 balsa. I sanded off the sheeting to give a little more clearance for the new hatch.

    - The only part I recovered is the top blue section. When you cut your hatch take a piece you cut off down to your LHS and match the color. It matches to a Darker Blue Ultracote.

    - Wider beams towards the rear of the hatch area were original.

    - Canopy was attached with small screws touched with a drop of ca to keep them in. I t should make the canopy removable if I ever need to in the future.

    - The blocks in the wings should be fine. Just make sure you drill them out a bit, the wood is very hard and will split. I coated the screw section with epoxy before screwing them in, and was able to get some epoxy on the backside also through the lightening holes.

    - As far as weight savings or not. I really don't know. I didn't weight it before I did the mod. The weight wasn't a concern to me at the time, I was more concerned with gaining access to the wing area !!

    My plane is some where in the 12 1/2 pound range with a Brison gasser on the front. Even with the added weight of the gas engine I still had to add 4 ounces of lead to the nose. Now that I have flown the plane quite a bit I have some plans this winter to lighten it up a little bit. I am going to move the rudder servo forward and eliminate the nose weight, go with lighter batteries and probably switch to carbon fiber landing gear. I figure with those mods I should be able to shave a good 1/2 pound off the plane. Don't get me wrong here, the plane flys great and will do anything I ask of it. It has unlimited vertical and will hover quite easily, not to mention knife edges are a blast ! I got my carbon prop today, so tomorrow it's off to the field for some flights.

    Scott

    < Message edited by Superfast -- 9/11/2003 4:15:01 AM >

    (in reply to Planeclothes)
           Post #: 83

    RE: GSP Katana 72"...DETAILED BUILD and 3D FLIGHT ... - 9/11/2003 2:14:37 PM   
    Dangerous Dan



    Posts: 1818
    Joined: 7/19/2002
    From: gainesville, TX, USA
    Status: offline     		Thanks Scott,

    I recieved my Katana yesterday, and I must say it looked better than I expected. I have heard complaints of the white covering being transparent, but my kit did not appear transparent. I will be using 5925's all the way around. It will take me a while to finish this plane, I have a lot of other irons in the fire. First thing cut the hatch.

    Quotes from TT2

    quote:

    I didn't have a chance to weight the plane but it feels very light for it's size. My CG with everything installed ended up being about 1/2" behind the recommended CG range. Since I find that most aft-CG recommendations are typically on the VERY conservative side, I decided to leave it where it was for initial flights.

    No extra nose weight was required to get it to balance near the aft recommended CG. IMHO, people who are adding nose weight or moving the servos amidships to get the CG in the recommended range are doing the airframe a great injustice...my CG is still too far forward for my liking. I consider any CG recommendation to be just that...it's not a 'limit'. You gotta fly the plane to find the sweet spot. I spend the first ten or so flights of any plane working on setup (CG, mixing, thrust line, etc.). If you spend the time on the planes it will show...if you don't it will show. Too many people think the work is done after the first successful flight. To me it's just beginning...



    In TT2's origional post he balenced it 1/2" behing the MFG recomended aft balence point, with an OS 1.60(light) and 3 servos in the rear.

    The MFG recommends balencing 150mm(5- 29/32" out from the fuseladge, and back 110mm to 130mm(4- 1/3" to 5- 1/8" . 1/2" behind this point is 142.87mm(5-5/8" .


    How far back is your CG and where did you measure it from?

    Thanks a lot scott!

    _____________________________

    when inverted down=up and up=$$

    (in reply to Superfast)
           Post #: 84

    RE: GSP Katana 72"...DETAILED BUILD and 3D FLIGHT ... - 9/14/2003 8:46:34 AM   
    Pete 11


     

    Posts: 2
    Joined: 9/6/2003
    From: Mellbourne, AUSTRALIA
    Status: offline     		Been flying my Katana for a week now and have just started to push it a little.
    Snap roll at half throttle on a 45 degree climb and there was a instant crack sound and the wings looked like glider wings popping of the top of a high start.
    Lucky to get the plane down without any further damagr. Thought you would be interested to know.

    (in reply to TT2)
           Post #: 85

    RE: GSP Katana 72"...DETAILED BUILD and 3D FLIGHT ... - 9/14/2003 10:08:38 AM   
    gingameigs



    Posts: 39
    Joined: 1/14/2003
    From: Sydney, AUSTRALIA
    Status: offline     		I've had mine for 3 weeks and if I didn't get told about webbing problems mine would of gone bang as well. After doing some hard tumbles there was a noticeable problem around the spar area. Every web on both wings were cracked to outside the wing tube.
    I run a brison 2.4 in it and she weighs about 11.9lbs. If it had spruce spars and some decent webbing she'd be a cracker. I cut the sheeting off near the root as well as the film to get at the webbing.

    (in reply to Pete 11)
           Post #: 86

    RE: Tried Gas??? - 9/14/2003 11:18:41 AM   
    Fredo-RCU


     

    Posts: 40
    Joined: 8/3/2003
    From: Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
    Status: offline     		Just for fun I have fitted a ZDZ 40 in mine to see if it would rip apart. The only mod I have done is to fillet the inside of the engine box as it shook apart while I ran it in.
    Flight performance is AWSUM and hovers at 1/4 throttle with no bad tendancies. Haven't checked the weight as the motor would add an extra pound to the model. I am using a Y connector for elevators as I have had one of the servos reversed .No problems yet. By the way I have a spare Katana just in case....

    (in reply to Stiks)
           Post #: 87

    RE: Tried Gas??? - 9/15/2003 2:34:34 AM   
    TT2



    Posts: 648
    Joined: 3/19/2002
    From: Osborn, MO, USA
    Status: offline