tyor

i use the cg from the manual

Bryan McLarty

Colin Wollin:
It's been a while, but I'm almost positive that the listed CG is what I have had success with. Maybe another confirmation here could back me up. But, yes, it's good.

j301

My Feedback: (12)

I wish I could say definitively, but here is what I have experienced with the factory cg: It flies very nimble, more so then my Giant stick. It seems to want to land fast, then as the tail settles it comes off the ground again. It has a tendency to nose over and the ground handling isn't too easy. These are traits both nose and tail heavy planes have, so until I can get it fixed and back in the air for some more testing, Im curious as to what others say too. (I have a heavy NGH 35, and a pound of lead in the front if that means anything)

wollins

Thanks guys! J301 what's your all up weight?

j301

My Feedback: (12)

I haven't put it on a scale yet, I'll have to get back to you on that.

tyor

Some pics of my val from this weekend

RickVB

My Feedback: (24)

Well, this thread is long dormant, but seems to be the most popular ESM Val thread, so I'm posting here. A new shipment is impending from VQWarbirds, so the opportunity to pick one up is again available.

My question is, did anyone ever measure their cowl for engine fit? I'm wondering if a Saito FG-33 will fit (diameter 198mm)...?

tyor

I checked. It wont fit

j301

My Feedback: (12)

The cowl is roughly 6.5 inches in diameter so that means the heads would be poking out a bit. Weight wont be a problem, I used a NGH 35 and still had to add a good amount of lead up front. Unless you really have to have a Val, I wouldn't suggest this plane unless the price has come back down to earth; the engineering and material/build quality are closer to something you would expect from CMP while the price is not.

RickVB

My Feedback: (24)

6.5 inches?!? Wow, so absolutely nothing but electric will fit in that. That's too bad; I hate cutting up cowls.

As to the price, just what do you consider "down to earth"? At $440, I consider it to be almost in foamy territory...

tyor

The material/build quality is not the best. but it looks good and is a fantastic flyer

j301

My Feedback: (12)

Back when esm was priced in the low to mid $300's, ya they were worth it because they were lesser modeled or unique offerings and looked good (stand-off speaking). Tack on the higher price, $100 shipping, all new hardware and re-engineering/bolstering materials, and you are in the range of topflite and hangar 9 planes that come with balsa wood that doesn't act/feel like a sponge, actual usable hardware, straight wings (in my experience) that didn't require opening up to find out what was rattling (and a covering that didn't shed its coating of colored powder and impossible to match after all the cutting you will have to do). If you have ever built a CMP, the $250 kit bash specials, you knew what you were getting and that you had to fix a lot of shortcomings, its very similar to esm but now 2x$. I personalty just don't feel they are worth the price hike when there is better out there for not much more money and a lot less hassle. They are simply pricing their goods competitively while not even trying to compete in quality. And I've never seen a foamy go for $550, not one that is only an air frame anyway (no servos, motor, esc, rec, etc etc etc that come in the comparable sized Carbon Z T28 PNP for roughly that price shipped for example). I am just offering my humble opinion here, so take from it what you would like.

JohnMcGowan

My Feedback: (15)

I realize this is a very old thread but about the only one I can find for the ESM Val. I recently acquired this plane but cant find the starting or listed CG anywhere. Can someone who has flown this plane help me out with the cg measurement please?
Thanks!!

tyor

From the manual

JohnMcGowan

My Feedback: (15)

Thank you tyor. Did anyone experiment with the c. g. by moving it back any? Any cg tips would be appreciated.

tyor

The cg from the manual is perfect.