Diablotin or U Can Do 3d?

I'm ready to buy a 3d airplane. I've narrowed down my choices to the Diablotin and the U-Can-Do-3D.

It seems that the Diablotin is lighter and can do 3d with a .40-.46. Here are the specs:

Wingspan:61"
Wing Area: 924 sq. in.
Length: 65.5"
Weight: 4.5 lbs.
Wing Loading: 11 oz/sq ft


Here is my math for the Diablotin

Diablotin - $269
O.S. .46FX $109
Servos 5@ $14 = $70
Receiver Battery $19
Prop n Spinner $6
12.75 x 3.75
Receiver HT
Super Slim 8ch $60
TOTAL======= $533

Here is my math for the U Can Do 3D

U Can Do 3D $190
O.S. .91 FX $199
Servos 6@$14 = $84
Receiver Battery $19
Prop n Spinner $6
Receiver HT
Super Slim 8ch $60
TOTAL=======$558

Wingspan: 65"
Wing Area: 1024 sq in
Length: 68"
Weight: 7.75 lb
Wing Loading: 16-17 oz/sq ft

So my senses tell me to go with the Diablotin. Is there any benefit that I'm over looking?

It would seem better to stay with a .40 size airplane. The engines are cheaper and fuel consumption will be less.

What should I do?

I just got into flying larger airplanes and have to say that the larger size seems to make them more stable, which is a good thing if you are going to practice 3D manuvers. I'm in the process of finishing my UCD3D and it looks like it will be a blast to fly. Quality of the ARF is good with less assembly than any other ARF I have seen.

Fuel consumption will be higher but if you learn your tricks faster due to the increased stability there has to be some offset there...

I still have some .40-sized planes in the works and own many engines of that size with no intent to abandon the small stuff.

Hope this helps.

Tom

I have both and the Diablotin may be the better choice BUT:
The wing tips on the Diablotin will be crushed when you get it. I've seen it on 2 of them.
They are usually on backorder and take awhile to get.
If you get one securly mount the horizontal stab supports. One of mine pulled out and half the stab and elevator went bye bye.
It's built so light that it's more fragile.
The instructions consist of a 8.5X11 drawing of the plans. No text.
It takes awhile to put together and needs ALOT more thought than the UCD.
The wing won't fit in the saddle because the dowl hole is off on the fuse.
Landing gear and wheels are worthless.
No motor mount or tank. Take the included hardware and throw it right in the garbage.
The plane does fly slooooow and 3D's good. They are cool planes. My avatar has a pic of mine before it's mishap. I still have it and can fix it but I haven't had the motivation.

The UCD is a little more user friendly, can't fly quite as slow but slow enough, has alot better knife edge. Both plane hover EXCELLENT. UCD goes together ALOT easier and ALOT faster.

The Diablotin comes with a tank from what Zb said. Which version of the Diablotin do you have? That plane looks like the Diablotin Super. The Diablotin has different wing tips than the Diablotin Super, (no holes, less likely to break). From What I know the Diablotin Super is intended for electric only. So, if you equipped yours with a glow setup, I would understand your problems. The Diablotin Super is built lighter for Electric use ONLY. The Diablotin weighs 46oz emtpy and the Diablotin Super weighs 36oz empty. Im sorry to hear about your misfortune with the Diablotin Super. Believe it or not the Diablotin is significantly different from the Diablotin Super. Also, Zb specified that he ships all Diablotin in two seperate boxes for better safety precautions.

I have the Diabolic and really like it. I also like dealin with Zb at Esprit models. The one point I must make is that the weights he gives are a little underestimated. I have found this to be true in building two of his models (also the twin Diablotin).

You can see video of both of my planes on his website. The Diabolic flies really nice with a YS 91 and weighs just over 7lbs dry. It would fly well with a powerful 60. Its tough to put anything bigger on the nose cause its so long and therefore would require substantial lead added to the tail.

As far as flying though, the diabolic with the 80deg travel, full flying stab is quite unique. The waterfalls and elevators are tighter than anything out there, and it does some tip/knife edge spins that are mind boggling.

Good luck!

P.S. The diabolic is extremely durable. Thrice the plane has hit the ground (once shot down--failsafe went to full idle and full up elevator, twice the engine died in low hover). The total damage for these crashes was a broken motor mount and a small tear in the covering.

The instructions on the Diabolic are superb. I had mine ready to fly in under 8 hours.

If you want to learn 3d the cheapest way is to buy a profile from aces1 or carl goldberg 330. they are both awsome airplanes. great for hovering.

I have a Diablotin Super on glow with a weight of 3.75lbs with great performance. I have had a Nolimit 3D, which is close to the UCD3D in size at 5.4lbs the performance was OK. I have been looking at the Kyosho Flip 3D, and I think it might be a better choice than the standard Diablotin. This is just my opinion others might very. Tom

Mine is the Diablotin Super that is for glow or electric. It comes with 2 - 8.5X11 plans, one for gas and one for electric. If they have a little heaver one for gas only you should get that, it wouldn't be so fragile. I would still be shocked if the gas only version had good landing gear, decent instructions and hardware but maybe it does. Don't get me wrong, IT'S A GREAT PLANE! I have had a blast with mine and really like it. I guess I'm getting too spoiled with these ARF's that go together in 2 nights and you don't need to think or go to the hobby shop for parts!

I picked up a Flip 3D from my LHS yesterday (I crashed my Madness when my thumb hit the Rx on/off MK push switch when I launched it vertically, baaad idea!).

The construction and covering finish is very nice, definitively heavier than the Madness. I estimate the final weight to be 5.5Lbs instead of the 5.0 I had with the Madness & OS46FX/Duralites. The hardware plastic bag is over 4 Oz. by itself (it comes with metal hinges, will that rust with time??). The elevator halves are coupled and will only use a single servo in the back. The kit include a wire brace for the stab (they know better now!). The rudder doesn't have any fixed part, and the servo is on the back as well. All the hardware is included, even has some molded plastic fuel dots! Instructions are typical to Kyosho (japanese with a bit of English here and there).

I expect the flight performance to be very similar to the Madness (same design and dimension). I would have loved for it to be lighter but as discussed earlier, it is a tradeoff between weight and durability.

Ben

We do have all Diablotins in stock.

Also the shipping damages have been solved. NO MORE UPS.
Right know we use Priority Mail and the plane is shipped in two boxes.

One more think, you don't have to use crazy strong engines, the plane will hover at 1/2 throtle with .46 FX
Also standart servos are sufficent.