I'm a little bored so I thought I would start a "My Assembly" thread on the Ohio Model Planes new GS540 Arf.
My last assembly was a H9 1/3 Sukhoi. The quality was superb and OMP will have some big shoes to fill.

I was one of the first to order my GS540. However, I was in the middle of a move and wasn't able to open the box until tonight.

My first impressions of the GS540 were good. The box is big. Upon opening the box it was obvious that somebody at OMP took alot of time packing the parts. It wasn't your typical H9 or Great planes packing. The parts were kind of just stuffed into the box with a bunch of paper in the voids.

I first pulled out the wings and an instant smile filled the room. The covering was perfect, the glued joints had sufficient glue and the ribs were undamaged. So far so good.
Next I removed the ailerons. Man, these things are big. I'm glad I purchased some good digis.
Rudder was next. again I was wowed by the size. Covering looked good. There was however a small area with NO covering in the corner. No big deal.
Next came the fuse. Again, first glance showed absolute perfection. Second glance showed that there was NO covering on the inside corners of the motor mount. 30 seconds of closer looking showed that none of the inside corners on ANY of the parts had covering (pics below).
Now I am a little dissappointed. I have no monokote which means I have to run to the hobby shop and pick up a roll. I consider this to be unacceptable. ( I thought these things were inspected by OMP before they were shipped?)
It was kind of down hill from there. The landing gear was aluminum. ( I was told by OMP that they were going to be something else. The name escapes me right now) So I will be pulling out the drill press trying to lighten them up as much as I can.

Hinges were CA type hinges. I couldn't tell by looking but I don't believe the slots were pre cut. Again no big deal because I had already purchased robart super hinge points . Seems like replacing hardware is just a standard practice with arfs.
Control horns were plastic. I already bought Nelson control horns so I didn't worry too much about that.

All in all, I would have to rate this arf an 8. I am really unhappy about the fact that I have to buy white and red mono to patch the covering. It will continue this thread untill the assembly is complete. Other than monokote the only thing I need to buy is CF pushrods.

I will be installing the Moki 2.10 with a sport muffler. The tank will be on the CG and I will be using the Iron bay regulator. Any balancing tips would be appreciated.