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I bought the Zero because it was cheap, at only $37.50 on clearance from BPhobbies (spotted it when I bought my Bp21, intended for the Tiger Moth 400, but since routed into the Zero!!!.) For some reason, the silver version was deeply discounted. I did my research here as to construction/flying tips, and found that (as seems the case with most GWS planes), it tended to be tail heavy......VERY tail heavy in the Zero's case. I built it up as an aileron only plane (no rudder), using my Futaba 3ch AM radio and two Futaba servos. The brushless BP21 went into it, and I left the motor almost sticking out of the cowling, to get as much weight forward as possible. As suggested in other posts, I put in 1/8 inch spacers at the front of the wing to reduce the angle of incidence.

Ok, hooked up the 11.1v 3c Lipo, slid 1/2 way into the notch (I hogged out a lot of foam before joining the fuse halves, but apperently not enough to get the 3c all the way forward.) Full throttle, tossed her and WHOAAAHHH!!!!!!! STRAIGHT UP!!!! I quickly chopped throttle, put full forward trim and glided her in for a really hot landing, as she porpoised and kept stalling with anything less than almost full down elevator. As I was wiping the sweat off my face (95 Farenheit helped, but most was from the shock of that almost disastrous 1st flight!!!), I adjusted the elevator more down at neutral trim. As suggested by other Zero owners, the elevator tabs must point in what would look like a down position on any other plane. If you look closely (which I didn't do till after the first flight), the horizontal tail is designed in an upward angled position (effect is nose down in flight.) I also added 1/3 of the GWS clay to the inside of the cowling. I then switched to the 7.2v 2c Lipo, which easily slides all the way into the front of the firewall.

Ready to try again, I tossed her at full throttle and she immediately went into a 45plus degree climb. I added almost full down elevator trim and was able to get her to fly level at full throttle, although she was still gaining altitude like crazy.....so THIS is what it's like to be brushless.....I never would have imagined!!! After I got her trimmed, she flew like what I guess a warbird should fly like (this being my first high performance low wing plane): FAST, fast, fast, super tight turns, super quick roll rates, not the slightest hint of recovering on her own if you let it get a bit wild......very disconcerting at first since I've never flown anything like it. Even my PZ Stryker (stock) seems slow and sluggish compared to the Zero. But once I got comfortable that she was stable and would do everything I told her to do, it started to get really fun!!!!

Did plenty of effortless loops, but wasn't brave enough to try a roll yet. Still haven't got comfortable with that on the Tiger Moth 400, and the one time I tried it with the Stryker, lost control and barely saved it!! I believe, however, that the Zero will probably be easier to do a roll, since it seems so much more responsive. Flew around for 10 minutes, with plenty of juice to spare, but it was getting dark and so I decided to bring her in. Boy was I in for a surprise.....this thing drops like a rock with no power!!! Even the Stryker glides fairly ok, but not the Zero!!! I'm used to bring all my planes in power off, but I had to bring her in with 1/3 throttle, then chop it just before touch down. As it turns out it was a fine belly landing (I chose not to put on the cheesy GWS main landing gear)

So, for any prospective GWS Zero builders out there: It's true, this baby is real tail heavy and out of control if you don't have the proper elevator adjustment and CG. Even after the successful 2nd flight, I feel it's still a bit tail heavy and plan to add more weight to the nose cowling. I'm also going to hog out the battery compartment some more so the 3c Lipo will slide all the way forward. I can't imaging wanting more power than I had with the 2c Lipo, although I assume I'll eventually get used to the plane and eventually want that extra ooomph!

Bottom line is that as my first low wing warbird, I'm very happy with the Zero, and I enthusiastically recommend it for someone ready to step up to their first warbird. Just be very careful about not letting her get tail heavy, and you'll be fine!

scott

cobra26

CONGRATULATIONS on your maiden with the Zero! I'd say a hairy start but a most successful one - particularly because it was your first low-wing flight. Way to go!

Aeromite

soarhead-RCU

glad you got your first flight in. You know these planes were designed when nicad and nimhs were the power source of choice so the Zero seems to be hard to balance without major surgery when lipos are used.. Also when you go brushless the added power wants that wing to lift like crazy. I changed the incidence of the wing by sanding the TE of the wing saddle up about 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch. This has been discussed in many Zero threads and eliminates all the down trim problems and ballooning as you fly at high throttle.
Once you get her trimmed out right I think this is the best all around flying GWS warbird IMHO.
Enjoy!!!
Bob

midvaguy9

Hey congrats on the succesful flight, i just madened my GWS corsair with a stock power setup and it flew on rails, no trim needed in flight and it has enough pwer to do most fai manuvers. Maybe i should upgrade it to brushless, seems like the way to go if your zero is any indication. THANKS FOR THE REVEIW ON YOUR BRUSHLES ZERO.