SBS_Pilot

Hi

I bought this plane a while ago, but the seller wasn't sure of what it is (he had bought it used himself, and never flown it). He thought it is a Piper Cherokee, probably for a .30. Can anyone help med identify it?

Some measurements (approximately):
Span: 126 cm (50 inch)
Chord: 22 cm (8.5 inch), un-tapered wings
Length: 88 cm (34.5 inch)

It has full span ailerons which are 2.5 cm (1 inch) deep. The cabin is made of some kind of plastic. The covering of the fuselage and fin is stripped (not by me) to repair some old damage, so I can't give any information about the colour(s) of the fuselage. The covering of the wing seems to be some kind of pre-pattern covering (not trim-film) which make me think it have been an ARF.

Is it a Cherokee?

Any guesses for the brand and/or age?

If you can't ID it, can you recommend a size for the engine based on the size?

Thank you for any help

/Stefan


Edit:If additional photos are needed to calrify anythinglease tell me and Iwill take some more pictures.

red head

It looks a lot like the Midwest "Cherokee 40". I don't have any measurments so can't compare. The measurements you gave do sound about right as I remember it. They did not make it as an ARF and you had to cover it in your own way.

I still have one in storage and it is a very nice flier. Mine started with a 40 size engine and after a few flights I switched to an OS 46 with a 11X5 prop . The Midwest Cherokee came out about 1990 /91 if I remember right. I built 3 of them, very nice kit.

Hope this helps you some. ENJOY !!! RED

SBS_Pilot

Thank you Red for your fast answer.

Midwest Cherokee was unknown to me, and googling for a while haven't come up with much. In fact, the only picture I've been able to find is the one in post #10 in this thread:www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php But in that picture is the windows see-through and that's not the case with my model. Do you know if it is common that a part like a plastic cabin cowl is changed during a models production years, or does it mean that my model can't be a Midwest Cherokee 40?

I haven't been able to find any measurements at all for Widwest Cherokee, but I have found a picture of the box to Cherokee Babe from VKModel Aircraft Company (www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php). The Cherokee Babe is a 53" span with a recommended engine .23 - .40. Since my model is 50" it makes me think that it might be smaller than a Cherokee 40. In fact, the Cherokee 40 from Great Planes is listed at 60".

I am way too new to powered flight to say if this information rules out my model from being of a 40-size Cherokee of any brand, so I would be very pleased if someone could chime in with some comments here.

Thanks in advance for any input anyone may have

/Stefan

red head

I just measured my Midwest wing and it is also 60" so yours isn't a Midwest, sorry. Also to answer one of your questions, on a real long production run they might make a change but not likely, I know for a fact that Midwest didn't. Some companys do put different type materials in their kits to fake canopies etc.

If it were mine I would probably put a 40 in it and go for it, but thats me and I have a few years at this. If I had a 4 stroke 40 I'd use it for sure as it would be about equal to a 30 or 35.

Now I'm going to be a little mean. If you are new to power flight you better be sure and get some experienced help with this plane, it's a sweet flier but it IS NOT for a beginner and I'd hate to have you crash it before you really get a chance to Enjoy it. ENJOY !!! RED

SBS_Pilot

OK. Thank you anyway for your time and effort of ruling that one out.



Thank you for caring. And I am going to follow your advice. My experience in powered flight so far is with one Easy Star (R.I.P. I got a little carried away and tried to learn how to make a roll with it. Now I know what height is too low to learn on ) and a depron trainer. In addition I have two .20 balsa trainers (one Happy 20 (unknown brand) a RET high winged trainer with an Irvine 25, and one Kyosho Vacation 20, a ARET high wing trainer with a a OS 20) and a Skyward 40 (high wing RET trainer to which a previous owner have added flaps and wheelbrakes). All of them are almost ready to fly, they just need some minor repairs and installation of radio gear, and I will begin with learning powered flight on them, as well as learning how to handle a glow engine.

I got this Cherokee(?) in a bundle together with a glider I bought a year back and my initial plan was to keep the glider and sell the Cherokee, but now I have become a little bit in love with it, so now I'm not sure how Iwill proceed. I guess it will depend a bit of how much I like flying my trainers and how much I like to fly with glow fuel. At least I know I want to have something to fly those days that are to windy or cloudy for flying my glider, but I don't know if I want a electric or glowueled plane, a trainer, a delta or some speed freak. The only thing I know is that I feel the Skyward 40 is my upper size limit.

On a slightly different subject:is it possible to say anything of how this Cherokee will behave compared to a high-winged trainer?


/Stefan

red head

If it flies anything like my Midwest ( and I think it would ) it will be smooth and very controlable. I would say that it doesn't like to get to slow on landing but yet it can float in pretty nice.
I do a lot of aerobatics that this plane isn't supposed to do but it does. It is a nice lazy flier if that's what you want, but it"s NOT a trainer. ENJOY !!! RED

SBS_Pilot

Thanks!

I think I will keep her for a while and decide later if Ishould fix her up or sell her to someone who could use her potential better than me.

Happy flying!

/Stefan

Firepower R/C

My Feedback: (10)

I stumbled across this ARF a few days ago... still trying to find where I saw it!!! It was not called a Cherokee, it was called an Easy flyer or something. I am sure this is that plane, as others were commenting that it really looked like a sport Cherokee even though it wasn't called that. I will keep looking.

SBS_Pilot

Thank you for the info Firepower. That gives me something more to google for. Please post here if you do remember where you found that discussion.

/Stefan