Carl Goldberg Products Distributed By Great Planes Model Distributors
P.O. Box 9021 Champaign, IL 61826-9021
Telephone: 800-637-7660 Telephone: 217-398-3630 www.carlgoldbergproducts.com
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Goldberg "Pitts Monster" VIDEO
High Quality Construction
All Hardware Included
Nice Covering Work
Slightly
vague instruction manual
For this review we will be taking a look at a really nifty electric aerobatic biplane, the Carl Goldberg Pitts S12 Monster Biplane.
This little monster that is anything but scary. It's a well designed and built scale replica of the real thing and it exhibits some really nice flight qualities much like its larger cousins.
So much fun it's scary
At first glance this appears to be an exceptionally well thought out and built airplane that promises to be a great flying little aerobat.
Enough with the formalities, let's get started and see how it's going to come out!
4 Channel Radio (Minimum) w/ 4 hi torque micro servos
CA Adhesives
30-min Epoxy
Various Standard Shop Tools
As you can see, this plane comes in a nice clean container and all the parts are safely secured inside to make sure that everything gets to you in pristine condition.
My first impression is that this plane is built with a lot of attention to getting everything just right.
The covering work is exquisite and the paint work is very clean. The cowl and wheel pants are beautifully painted with colors that perfectly match the covering.
Pretty much all of the hardware that is needed to complete the assembly is included in the box. Most everything on the plane simply bolts or screws together.
The only exception to that rule is the stab that will need to be installed and glued into place and of course you will need to install the control surfaces using the provided CA hinges.
Manual
Click on the pic above to go to the manual.
The manual for the Pitts Monster EP is full of nice photos and some written guidance and for a moderately experienced ARF airplane assembler, there should be enough information to get the model put together correctly. There is an addendum to the manual online that will help you to locate and secure the blind nuts required for screwing the upper wing to the struts. This simply requires locating the blind nuts, removing a small area of covering and using CA to secure the little plastic blind nuts in place.
LANDING GEAR INSTALLATION
The landing gear assembly is very quick and easy. The first step is to bolt the 2 piece landing gear into the pre installed blind nuts.
Next all you have to do is install the provided wheel shafts into place. With that done just slip the wheel pant and wheel assembly hardware into place and tighten everything up.
The final step is to simply secure the wheel pant to the landing gear using the supplied screws. The holes are already drilled for you in the landing gear so all you need to do is line it up,
pre-drill and then install the screws. It just does not get any easier!
Looks Great!
WING ASSEMBLY
The first step in installing the wing is to install the control surfaces using the provided CA hinges. The hinge slots are pre cut and in perfect alignment so installing the hinges goes very quickly.
The next thing I did was install the aileron servos. Just slide it into place and screw it down. That's it.
Next, install the little control horns that are provided with the kit. Locate the pre marked holes and put the horns in the proper location. Finally just wick in a little CA around the horn and you are ready to proceed.
Once you get the horns on, locate the provided piano wire and cut off a piece about 1/2" too long. Make a Z bend in one end and install on the control horn. Then use the provided retainer to secure the pushrod to the servo arm as shown in the center picture below.
Once you get the servos powered up you can adjust the linkage and once you have it all tightened down, just snip the excess length off of the pushrod.
TAIL FEATHER ASSEMBLY
The first step in installing the horizontal stabilizer is to find the center of the stab. Once you locate the center slip the stab into place and use a string line as shown above to perfectly align the stab by using the string to measure from the center of the fuse at the cowl to the stab tips and from the wing tips to the stab tips.
Once the stab is centered up, use a sharpie and trace around the perimeter of the stab where it meets the fuse on both sides of the airplane.
Remove the stab and carefully remove the covering about 1/16" inside of the marks that you made so that no bare wood is exposed when the installation is complete.
Mix up a little epoxy and once you have the stab reinstalled and close to center, carefully apply the epoxy so as not to get it anywhere but in the joint. Slide the stab out a little bit one way and then the other to get the epoxy where you want it.
Before the epoxy begins to set be sure to double check the alignment to ensure that the stab is centered, aligned with the fuse and the main wing. Allow the epoxy to set and you are ready to move on to the next step.
Now it's time to install the rudder and tail wheel. The rudder is slotted at the bottom of the leading edge to accept the end of the tail wheel assembly opposite of the wheel itself.
Just mix up a little 5 minute epoxy and once you have applied the adhesive, slip the tail wheel into place. Make sure that the wire is all the way in the slot so that it does not get in the way of the hinge line. Once the epoxy sets we can install the rudder.
Next just use the supplied CA hinges to install the rudder onto the vertical fin. Again the hinge slots are pre cut so this is really easy and only takes a couple of minutes.
Finally, just install the control horns on the rudder and elevator, hookup the linkage and you are almost done!
WING INSTALLATION
The wing installation is pretty easy but it does require a little patience and attention. First you must identify the struts and figure out which are the left and right, then which are front and rear. If you just follow the pictures in the manual this is not hard, but it's easy to get them in the wrong location if you don't pay attention to what you are doing.
Screw the struts onto the fuselage using the provided screws. There are these little plastic blind nuts in the fuselage that you screw through, but mine were pretty loose and kept popping out so I just touched them with a drop of CA and that secured them into place. I would do this with everyone that is on the plane before you get started just to make the job easier and quicker.
Probably the most difficult part of the whole project was locating the screw holes in the top wing. There are some pre drilled hard points under the covering that are supposed to be marked but all of mine were not. With a little Braille practice I finally found the mystery hole and got the top wing screwed to the struts.
Although vibration should not be a problem I did harden those holes with a drop of thin CA.
The bottom wing is removable, so the cabanes, wing and aileron connecting rods are all bolt on. There are some of those little plastic blind nut thingy's on the cabanes so again, tack them in place with a little CA or they are going to fall out when you are not looking.
As you can see, everything bolts up nicely when it's all said and done and the alignment looks to be perfect. Moving right along.
MOTOR AND ESC
For this plane I will be using an ElectricFly motor and ESC. Should be ample power for sport flying.
The motor screws right on in about 1 minute. Nothing to it.
Install the ESC in the motor box and the battery will go just in front of the wing for a good balance. With this combo the ESC and battery needed to be as far back as possible to balance.
ElectricFly Rimfire 35-30-1250 Motor w/ ElectricFly Silver Series 35A ESC
Max BEC Output ...................................... BEC: 5V/2.0A
On Resistance ............................................. 0.01 ohms
Size ...................... 52 x 26 x 8 mm (2 x 1.02 x 0.31 in)
COWL INSTALLATION
The cowl was really easy to install. The hard points are already installed to accept the mounting screws.
All you need to do is center up the cowl, get the front of the cowl about 1/8" behind the spinner
back plate and tape it in place. Finally pre drill the screw holes and harden them with a drop of thin CA. Slide the cowl into place and screw it on. Done.
CANOPY INSTALLATION
The last step is to install the canopy. Most people use R56 canopy glue and a lot of tape.
As usual I used 30 minute epoxy and a steady hand to carefully lay the canopy in place and tape it down. Let it setup and it's a done deal. Let's go fly it!
Ok, so now it's time for the rubber to meet the road.
The system powered right up and I used the stock motor settings, since I bench ran it at home to get the motor rotation right we were ready to give it a go.
With a little power the plane rolled out smoothly and took off nice and gentle. With a little elevator and aileron trim it was ready to be put though its paces.
The plane flies nice and quiet, that is it tracks straight and holds a good line. The motor provides plenty of UMPH and so the plane climbs very nicely.
Rolls were nice and straight and gentle loops were nice and smooth.
Be sure and use plenty of rudder throw, I setup the rudder so that the throw was such that the rudder was about 3/4" short of touching the elevator halves at full throw. You are going to need it for stall turns and knife edge flight.
Knife edge flight was good, but there was some coupling that will need to be mixed out. The plane is right on the CG to just slightly nose heavy at the recommended CG, so maybe a slightly aft CG would help this out a little and reduce or eliminate the need for mixing.
Overall I would say that the plane flies nicely. It's nice and gentle in the air, turns, rolls and loops nicely. It's a piece of cake to take off and land.
Let's have a look at the video and you can see how nicely this plane flies for yourself!
Check out the video to see this "Monster" in action!
The Monster
Flight Video Small (15mb) CLICK HERE
The Monster Flight Video Large (30mb) CLICK HERE
In summary let me just say that I appreciate the opportunity to review this little beauty. This is a well built, nice flying aerobat that performs nicely with the setup used in this review.
From the packaging to the construction and finally the flight quality this is a good EP airplane that leaves little to be desired for a small scale aerobat.
If you are a moderately experienced pilot that is just looking for a simple, attractive aerobat that is just fun to relax and fly on a calm day then this little Monster is an excellent way to get your flying fix!
Carl Goldberg Products Distributed By Great Planes Model Distributors
P.O. Box 9021 Champaign, IL 61826-9021
Telephone: 800-637-7660 Telephone: 217-398-3630 www.carlgoldbergproducts.com
Comments on RCU Review: Goldberg Pitts Monster S12 EP
I purchased and built this plane this winter and it is indeed a beautiful plane. I was very excited to fly it. Once it was built, some design flaws became evident:
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1. Flip the control horns on the top ailerons around so that they mirror the horns on the bottom ailerons. This will prevent aileron differential between the 4 control surfaces and give you synchronized aileron movement.
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2. for @#%^& sake, reinforce the landing gear area. Every comment I have heard about this plane mentions the landing gear folding on even soft landings. The plywood structure in the fuse is not strong enough to handle anything. Box it in with ply and epoxy it to death.
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3. build a battery tray: Goldberg doesn't really provide a good battery tray area in the fuse, take some time before the wings are attached to build a nice tray for whatever battery you are using.
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4. all of the hinge slots for the ailerons were cut crooked on my plane and most of the ailerons were warped too. Make really sure everything lines up and is straight before you glue the hinges in.
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My Pitts died on the second flight due to a Rimfire motor failure...I brought it in as best I could but everything was sheared off the bottom of the plane (bipes glide like bricks after all) Great Planes (who now owns Goldberg) was kind enough to refund the purchase price for my plane and motor but I didn't get another Pitts, I got the Great Planes Ultimate Bipe instead. I just didn't want to go through another Pitts build I guess. Good luck
was the wing strong?a friend of mine bought the reactor and the wing folded after just a couple of flights.when you said the fuse was weak we dicsovered the wing spar wasnt using carbon fiber to strengthen the wing which we felt was important for 3D flying.(advertised it as 3D)It seems like a lot of electrics have weak landing gears so I have had to beef a few up.I have become a fan of 3D hobby no warped wings everything is of good quality and after nearly 40 flights on shp extra the motor works just fine and the landing gear is still in tact even after a few hard landings.I am always looking for new planes but it seems the major vendors are playing to masses and putting out electrics that are of ify quality
From the reviewer,
This plane was not advertised as 3D, it is a sport flyer. The wing is fine and is plenty strong for what the plane is designed for and the plane performs very well within its design limits. The landing gear is not beefy and cannot take any abuse so it is probably not a bad idea to reinforce the landing gear support a little as has been mentioned. Just be conservative because you do not want to add weight.
I think clouddancer03 may have been asking about the wing on the GP Ulitmate Bipe that I got after the Pitts disaster. The wing on that plane is fine, I also have a GP Extra 330s from the E-Performance series as well. I thought that the Great Planes E-performance series planes are great. I had no problems with construction or durability. Both of mine have had some hard landings as well. I think where people are having problems is flying 3D rates for high speed maneuvers (keep in mind that 3D maneuvers are done below stall speed.) and these high speed extreme maneuvers are putting undo stress on the planes. There are times that I really don't understand why some people have the problems they do...I guess you just never know how they've assembled the ARF. The Goldberg Pitts is a beautiful plane and I thought that other than the landing gear it was built very strong, especially the wing. I just ran out of patience with it. Agreed that many ARFs seem to be on the cheap side but I like the time they save.
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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