Contributed by: Steve Herlacher | Published: November 2007 | Views: 107913 |  Email this Article
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Review
by: Steve H.
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Available from your
local hobby store.
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See
the Great Planes
Revolver in action
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Packaging
Ease of Build
Great looks
Completeness of kit
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Stock
battery mounting method not secure
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Great Planes introduces a new great looking ARF called the
Revolver designed for the average sport pilot.
It
can be powered electric or Glow and Includes everything needed
down to the spinner and pilot figure!
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The
Revolver arrived without a scratch and each part was packed in
plastic. After removing them I noticed there were not any wrinkles
you normally see in the covering, it was applied perfectly. I did
go over it with a covering iron just to make sure, but even then
it did not show any signs of not sticking to the airframe.
Almost
everything you needs is included to complete the Revolver, if
doing it electric you will need to purchase the mount separately.
They even include the polished Aluminum spinner and pilot figure!
The
first thing I did was glue the CA hinges in the ailerons with
thin CA. Included was a sheet of Great Planes hinge material that
was cut to the proper shape, then I used pins to hold them centered
before gluing.
Mounting the control horn was next, as you can see in the
picture I could not
get the holes of the control horn lined up over the center of
the hingeline like suggested
in the manual, there would be no wood to put the one control horn
mounting screw into if it was extended that far over the center
line, so I put them as close as I could.
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Contents
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Could not quite get it out far enough
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This is where I put it
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Anti-rotation pin glued in
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Wood
block glued in place
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Servo installed
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The Plastic anti-rotation pin in each wing was glued in with 5 minute Epoxy.
The servo mounts include small blacks of hardwood that I glues to
the hatch with 5 minute Epoxy, there are laser etched lines that
show where to put them and they fit the Futaba standard size servos
perfectly. After they were dry there is a hole to put a small screw
through the top of the hatch for added security.
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Screws in top of hatch
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You can see where the wire hits
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Remove some of the wood with a Dremel
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When I tried to install the servo/hatch in the wing I noticed
one of the square blocks that hatch screw goes into was preventing
it from fitting, it hit the wire of the servo. I took a Dremel
and removed some of the block so it would fit being careful not
to remove too much so the hatch screw could still have something
to screw into..
The
Linkage setup was pretty basic and worked well, be sure to install
your servo arm and center it before mounting the servo to the
hatch.
The
manual shows putting a small screw in the wingtube after sliding
it in place to the fuse. This is supposed to hold it centered
but I found I did not need it as my tube stayed in the center
by itself, and this was just an extra step in the assembly process
at the flying field.
The
wings were then complete.
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Servo and linkage finished
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Looks like a large Boomerang
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Tail
Glued on with elevators hinged
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The
tail was installed next by aligning it with the wing mounted to
the fuse with the Aluminum tube. My model was in perfect level
alignment with the wing. After measuring to the wingtips to ensure
it was well centered I removed the covering with a hot soldering
iron so the balsa would not be scored, then I glued it in place
with 30 minute Epoxy. After it dried I installed the elevators
and rudder with the CA hinges, just like the Ailerons, and installed
the included control horns. The tailwheel is glued in the rudder
before you hinge it.
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Rudder with tailwheel before hinging
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Wheel and axle mounted
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Gear and pants mounted to the fuse
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installed the Landing gear next so it would be easier to work on
the fuse with it on its legs. The Axles were bolted to the nicely
shaped landing gear legs, then the wheels were installed with a
couple wheel collars, be sure to grind flat spots on the axles and
use Loctite. The wheelpants already has the holes drilled and blind
nuts installed, so all I had to do was bolt them on then bolt both
legs to the fuse. Only took about 10 minutes to complete the gear. |
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Servos mounted in tray
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Tray mounted in fuse, notice Soldered Elevator linkage
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Slot is too large causing slop
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Hardwood tightened it up
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The
Elevator and Rudder servos installation was next. They were mounted
to the radio tray, which is slid into the fuse. The front of the
tray slides in a slot and the rear of it is held down with screws.
The receiver battery pack will mount to the bottom of the tray
if you are using one, before you install it in the fuse. I did
not use a receiver pack so I went ahead with mounting the tray
in place. I noticed the front of the tray was real sloppy as the
slot in mine was a little too large, I could have just glued the
tray in but I didn't want to do that in case I changed setups
sometime and need to remove it. I used a piece of hardwood to
tighten up the slot and then it was secure.
The
pushrods for the rudder and Elevator are 4-40 rods that slide
through the pre-installed tubes. The Elevator has 2 wires, one
for each half, that have to be joined with a couple of wheel collars.
You can see that I also silver soldered them after getting the
alignment of each Elevator half correct so they could not come
loose no matter what.
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Complete power system used
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Motor and mount
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How to wire the UBEC
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In
the above picture is the complete power system used. Instead of
a receiver pack I used a UBEC which powers the receiver from the
main flight packs. The motor mounting was very easy, all of the
holes in the firewall lined up perfectly and it was a matter of
bolting everything together and getting the correct length from
the firewall to the back of the prop adapter which is 4 5/8".
The
Phoenix 85HV Speed control was mounted under the motor box and the
cowl was cut open for it so it is in the direct airflow to keep
it cool. I programmed the ESC with the Castle Link and free software
downloaded from their website, it is very simple to set it up this
way. Mounting the cowl was as easy as putting 4 screws in
after lining it up with the back of the spinner. They even included
the adapter to mount the Aluminum spinner! |
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Motor mounted
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Phoenix 85HV mounted
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Cowl cut out for ESC
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Adapter included!
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Covering removed from cooling holes in the rear of the
fuse
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Battery tray
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The
battery mounting was the last thing I did to the Revolver. The
manual says to use the included plastic tie
Wraps and mount the batteries to the wooden tray as shown above,
they give extra trays for more than 1 set of packs. After they
were strapped to that, they are supposed to be slid into the fuse
where the fuel tank normally goes, and a piece of foam wedged
between them and the canopy is all that holds them in place.
I did not trust that to hold the packs securely so I just used
some velcro on the fuse in the fuel tank tray and a velcro strap
which holds the packs very securely.
I made some thumb screws for the canopy so I could remove it without
any tools, they are just a dowel rod with a hole drilled in it
on the end so you can put the 4-40 bolt head in and glue it with
thin CA.
Afterwards I put them in a drill and sanded them down a little
bit, then sealed the wood with thin CA. This makes battery changing
a simple process.
The included painted pilot figure was then glued under the canopy
with 5 minute Epoxy mixed with Microballoons.
The pilot figure really makes the look of the aircraft complete.
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Packs installed with Velcro straps
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Series harness to wire the packs in series
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Thumb screws for canopy
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Pilot figure
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Battery charging with the 2 balancers
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They come with 2s or 3s leads
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charging was done with the Equinox balancers in line, they work
in "interface" mode which is while you are charging they
charge the lowest cells first till they are balanced or they can
be used as a stand alone balancer which will discharge to the lowest
cell in the pack. They include very good instructions and have adapters
for 2s or 3s packs. |
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revolver tipped the scales at 6 1/2 pounds with the batteries in
it. That is right in the middle of the recommended specs. I used
a Wattmeter to test the power system and with the 11x5.5 APC electric
prop it pulled close to 60 amps and 1300 watts! I knew it would
fly the Revolver well at almost 200 watts per pound!
UPDATE
ON THE CG!!
The CG was not set per the instruction manual, my manual is incorrect
and it says the CG should be 4 15/16" back from the leading
edge at the root. The CORRECT CG is 4 5/16" back from the
leading edge at the root. My model balanced perfectly right on
the correct CG with the packs in place. I have been told this
was a typo and the current production kits should have the correct
CG in the manual
I
followed the control throws in the manual for the first couple
of flights, they seem small but they are enough to fly the model
well and to decide how you want to setup your plane after you
get a feel for it.
The
rates are as follows:
*Elevator low rate 5/16" up and down
*Elevator high rate 1/2" up and down
*Rudder low rate 1 3/8" right and left
*Rudder high rate 2 1/4" right and left
*Ailerons low rate 1/4" up and down
*Ailerons high rate 3/8" up and down
I
took the Revolver out for its test flight on a somewhat windy
day, but it did not effect its performance at all. Takeoff required
some rudder input and a little bit of runway to get airborne then
it just accelerated in the climb.
I
flew a few circuits and tested the CG while inverted and it only
took a touch of elevator to hold level flight, perfect for this
type of aircraft.
I
then tried some aerobatics and the Revolver does a great knife
edge with only very minor coupling, it doesn't require very much
rudder to hold it either.
Spins were very nice in either direction and it looked great in a
stall turn. Point rolls are precise and the Revolver fly's similar
to a pattern plane.
The
Rimfire motor makes a great whistling sound when you give it full
throttle and the plane really moves, I had my Radar gun with me
and it clocked the Revolver at 95mph on a low full speed pass! Of
course it doesn't have to be flown that fast but if you get it too slow it can snap but
nothing out of the ordinary for this type of plane, its not a 3d plane after all (which I am used to flying
mostly)
Landings
were difficult at first since the plane wants to keep on flying,
it took a few tries to get them right. I had the Phoenix 85HC
set to Auto lipo cutoff and I got about 7-8 minutes of flying
before I noticed the packs were low, those full throttle passes
are too addicting.
After landing the motor was barely warm, even when pushing it this
hard. The ESC was also just warm to the touch along with the
battery packs so this system works very well in the Revolver.
After
the maiden flight I found that I only added a tiny bit more throw
to the Ailerons and the Elevator, everything else was setup perfectly.
See
the Great Planes Revolver in action
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planes has a winner with the Revolver. Whether you go Glow or Electric
it is a fantastic looking and flying airframe on the ground or in
the air, and the pilot figure really adds a scale touch to it. It
is perfect for those calm or windy days, so its just a perfect plane
for any day! The assembly is very straight forward and it can be
assembled in a couple of evenings. The Revolver is an easy conversion
to Electric so don't be scared if you have never done one as there
is no real conversion, just bolting different parts to the airframe. |
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The comments, observations and conclusions made in this review are solely with respect to the particular item the editor reviewed and may not apply generally to similar products by the manufacturer. We cannot be responsible for any manufacturer defects in workmanship or other deficiencies in products like the one featured in the review. |
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