RE: New Pattern Plane?
I bought this plane when it was being sold on ebay, as well as a friend of mine. We both like it very well.
I set mine up with a O.S. .46FX mounted inverted using a 11X5 prop, Futaba R127DF RX, 4.8V 2,000 mAh Battery,
and standard Futaba servos 4/3004 (E,R,Ail's) 1/3003 (T). Total weight was 5.5 lbs. dry. It came with all the hardware needed
to finish it to include a pull pull system for the rudder, push rods with clevises and control horns.
My friend set his up with a .40 size engine and soon decided to change his power plant due to poor vertical performance.
He upgraded to a .61 size engine, but he has some nose heavy issues now. He mentioned doing away with the pull pull and
mounting the rudder servo in the rear to help with balancing.
Once mine was trimmed, I flew knife edge from one end of the runway to the other with no coupling at all.
Vertical was unlimited but a little slow. Landings are a little fast but nothing a past-the-trainer pilot can't handle.
Snaps are fast and look very violent. I had one deadstick that was not close enough to the runway and had to land in tall grass.
It broke the gear mounting ply plate out of the frame and folded the gear under the wing. I had to take the front part of the fuse
apart and rebuild that area, not a big deal. Same thing happened to my friends as well. A thicker and larger piece of ply needs
to be used in this area to prevent this from happening. I decided to loose the wheel pants and go with a little larger wheels in
case that were to happen again.
I had a friend of mine who flies some 3D, fly it. He had it hovering and torque rolling. It is a great plane to fly pattern with
even some 3D on high rates if that is your forte. I would suggest this plane to anyone if they are wanting to get started in pattern with out having to make a huge investment.