Okay, sorry for the delay, life caught up with me and so did xmas. On the plus side, I was able to finish the assembly and maiden flight on the chippy.

As I stated before, I used a Super Tigre ST400 motor and 30A ESC instead of the Great Planes  versions. Only difference I can see is perhaps you would get more power from the RimFire motor.  

First of all, the chippy comes well packed and in it’s own separate sealed packages. Typical Great Planes arf, well made, no crap materials used as far as I could see. I did have to do the normal “arf” duties like tighten up the covering in some places and prep the parts for assembly.

 I did apply thin beads of Deluxe materials Super Phatic glue on some of the more critical glue joints for that extra bit of strength.

 For the servos, I used the recommended Futaba S3114 micro servos and they all fit perfectly into the trays and bays. Now the manual says to use a pair of six inch servo extension leads on the aileron servos. * love that this plane has separate wing servos*, if you feel up to a bit of soldering, make up four 3inch extensions, because the extra three inches will be a bit of a pain. I ended up tucking most of it back into the wings.

 Another nice touch is the fact all the drilling is done for you, including the leading edge wing dowels. However care should be taken when trying to find the holes through the covering.  Now for the aileron push rods. I personally found them to be… strange and perhaps a weak point. However I used them to find out if my suspicions will be true. They are a length of wire with a V bend about 2/3 of the way up the pushrod. This is to be used to “adjust” the trim of the ailerons. I think that the v bend my start to weaken and allow the ailerons to flex. Use your own best judgment here.

 Everything went together well, no real issues. However do be very careful of the cowl. Unlike the beautiful fiberglass wheel pants, the cowl is made of a very thin lexan/plastic. Now it’s beautiful looking but it’s very delicate. I squeezed mine a bit too tight when it slipped in my hands and broke along the top left corner. I patched it up with a bit of thin CA, and covered the “damaged” area with some extra decals I had sitting around.

 If you follow the manual, you should not have any problems at all. Including the part about adding extra weight. I ended up adding about the same amount as stated in the manual, approx 1/2oz. Now if you went with a slightly heavier battery, you may not have to add any extra weight at all.

DO NOT USE  a Great Planes C.G machine like the say to in the manual, the plane is too light to give you an accurate balance. Use your fingertips.

Model ready to go for maiden,

Super Tigre ST 400-outrunner motor

Super Tigre 30A brushless ESC

4x Futaba S3114 micro servos

Futaba R617FS receiver           

KyPom  1300mAh 3S 35C lipo

Great Planes 8x6SF electric prop.

 Maiden flight came one winter day, partly cloudy skies, about –4C with a wind approx 8-10kmh from the north/northwest. We went out to test fly our “winter” fishing/flying planes on the ice road so smooth runways and lots and lots of room to play.

 I decided to go with a simple 5 min flight to start with and check the amount of battery life left after a charge, as it turns out I could bump it up to 7-8 min flights no problem.

 The lil engine puts out a fair amount of torque and you have to be quick on the right rudder or your going to take an abrupt left hand turn. Once she got into the air, a couple clicks of right aileron, a couple down and she was flying straight and true.

 I found the Super Tigre to be lots of power, the vertical was not unlimited, but it was more then enough to do any aerobatic this plane should be able to make. It’s not going to 3D for you, so don’t try. You may get more power with using the Great Planes Rimfire 400, but it’s not needed.

Flying is a joy, the chippy flies just like her big brother. Straight, true and very stable.  The classic covering scheme shows up quite well and you can actually fly this lil bird a fair distance away with out loosing which way is which. Landings, which we thought would be a bit of a bear, was in fact so easy it was crazy.

Line her up into the wind, reducing the power as you come in, chop it about a foot off the ground and she will come in a sweet as you please. It’s quite nice having a steerable tail wheel with this beauty, and she moves around nice for her size.

 When you adjust your throws, make your low rates the same as the manual says for high rates and then make your high rates another 10-20% higher. The low rates in the book are way too low. However that is my own opinion, so please use your own judgment

 All in all, this is a sweet plane that will be as gentle as you want it to be, but open her up and she will do just about anything you can ask it to do.

quote:

ORIGINAL: rica1

Don't know if you mentioned it prior, is the wing flat bottomed or semi-symmetrical?

quote:

ORIGINAL: IronButterfly

Hello Aeronut,
 Anyway pass along more experiences with your bird and I will update later.  Did you mention flight times you are getting with the Chipmunk?