RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

First I've heard of this engine. Good to see new competition. It keeps good engine builders on their toes, therefore better quality is the outcome.

Now, if somebody would send me one to test on a new GP Cap...:D...anybody hear me???:):)

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

I've asked Santa for that very same Cap and if he really wants to make my year, I'll take the GP or QQ YAK also, preferably the QQ version. Either the Cap or YAK by themselve would not upset me at all

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Bill, I understand that Aerobob has the first 100 GP Yaks spoken for....[X(]

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Wanna bet :D J/K

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

If I sound excited it's because I am

I ordered a Brison 3.2 two days ago to go into the Ultimate and it's now sitting here next to me and I almost don't want to install it. The thing is absolutely gorgeous and I really do not want to dirty it up. I already got finger prints on it. Granted a DA-50 is also a gorgeous engine. It's a guy thing for sure. ;)

I also ordered a MSC 22X8 which will be here tomorrow and considering the tag on the 3.2 says it turned a 20X10 at 7240 I should see close to the same thing. If this thing runs anything like a DA-50 then holy cow Batman, this plane will go ballistic.

Now all I need to do is get a 2.4 for my CG Sukhoi and my Great Planes Gene Soucy Extra and the only glow I'll have left is my little 4*60

Engine alone is 3lbs 3 ounces

Bisson muffler with the bolts is 9.4 ounces

Ignition box and spark plug is 5.3 ounces

Total weight for everything is 4lbs 2 ounces

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Hi Maudib---Geesh! the prop looks like it's gonna be a long ways from the last crank bearing!---Hope all that machining is "Dead Nuts"---

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Yeah it's definitley a "customized" conversion engine... well, it's on it's own merits by which it will be judged. Go get 'em beta guys... :)

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Bill, The Brison is a "PURDY" engine for sure and you are going to be shocked at the power output of the 3.2
Be sure to follow the note that was sent along with your muffler and use the Permatex Ultracopper and an ample amount of Locktite on the bolts.

Anybody know how many bearings the CRRC engine has...or if there is a "parts" view of it?

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

BTW guys...I gave a follow-up call to Hobbico yesterday about the landing gear issue and the rep told me that a replacement set was already in transit to me. Now that is SERVICE. All I told him was my name when I called them Monday morning. He had already looked up my order and got my address to mail me the gears.
KUDOS KUDOS I have very high regard for them.[sm=thumbup.gif][sm=thumbup.gif]

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

GP/Hobbico has always been a good company for service. There were some issue with paint match on the canopy of the Patty Wagstaff... they send how many to people who requested one... (my replacement didn't match much better, but it's the thought that counts). And overall they bend over backwards to take care of their problems. Mainly for two reasons... they are very particular about their manufacturing processes, so thye have a level of confindence that only a few incidences of faulres will be around, and taking care of those poeple is only good business... and second, their cost on these things is ridiculously LOW.

Most every 50c engine out there will perform VERY well on this bipe. They all start and run pretty well, and are within at the VERY most 1/2 lb of each other... many are just within an once or 2. That Brison is gonna look nice on the nose and better yet, nice in the vertical attitude! :)

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Yeah, tande,
I thought the same thing when I say this engine for the first time. That's one reason why I went with the new Fuji 43. It has three bearings supporting the crank.

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

This crrcpro 45fi engine looks good in my ultimate and the total weith was like 3.60lbs with muffler installed, now I had to install, 2 pieces of wood to keep the 7 1/4 distance from the fire wall./ the engine comes with the muffler, like i said the only thing is the bolt for the spinner that is not drilled. So for now I am not worry abaut weith because of the power this engine will output. Hope I am not wrong. Call GP abaut the landing gear they say so far they do not fabricated the landing gear out of aluminum.

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

The web site says aluminum, the person I talked to said aluminum. He mentioned they had one in the office after going out to the warehouse to get one of the replacements. I'll soon see. I actually expect the ones I paid for either today or tomorrow and maybe the ones GP is sending me for free soon after

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

The website, when referring to the "landing gear"...

Tower says:

Landing Gear: Fiberglass main gear with steel steerable tailwheel assembly

[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXLGN4&P=Z]Replacement gear[/link] listed at tower says:


This is the Landing Gear for the Great Planes Ultimate Biplane, GPMA1307.

FEATURES: Constructed of fiberglass and painted red
Prebent and drilled

INCLUDES: Two landing gear sections (part #9) for the Great Planes Ultimate
Biplane

You'll find that they fixed the orignal typo, where it said 3/32 "steel". In the "landing gear" description it was really describing the 3/32 steel spring wire used in the tailwheel and went on to describe the tailwheel wheel itself... simply a typo.

And I think the the guy from GP who was on the phone with someone here simply made a mistake... the gear are fiberglass... and I doubt there could POSSIBLY be aluminum gear to "fix" a problem JUST found out about.

And I don't think there is any problem... just a random incident.

just my opinion...

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Maudib,

I can assure you that I spoke to them and they assured me it was aluminum. The replacement gear link you supplied is correct and the other day it said aluminum so they have been making changes.

I'm pretty sure when I looked the other day I copied the exact wording from the site into this thread. I'll go back and take a look.

EDIT: I went and looked and I did not copy the exact wording but I know they said aluminum before. Guess another call to GP is in order

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Hey, Maudib,
I hope you are correct with your assumption that this landing gear incident is isolated. And it very well may be. But, on the other hand, it also could be a design flaw. I am speaking of experience here. In the late eighties early nineties I was the sole manufacturer of fiberglass model helicopter rotor blades her in the states. The only other available blades came from Europe. In the beginning it was a trial and error kinda thing. My rotor blades were tested by a guy named James Wang in D.C. Many blades split at the seam until I got the technique right and my blades would hold up under the enormous stresses. It could be the same here with these gears. If the person who laminates the gears is not trained well enough it could turn into a problem part. I also hope it is not a design flaw. Otherwise the replacement liabilties could become a burden for the manufacturer. Like I said before, once I get my Ulti the first thing I will do is to inspect the gear thoroughly and test the flexibility before it goes on the plane.

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

For those of you who are looking for this plane and have not been able to find one because they are on backorder, I know of a NIB, just PM me and I'll give ya the details

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Oh I understand where you are coming from... but based on the pic shared, it didn't look like the curve of the gear was much larger, or "blown out" by a delam. It simply looked as if there was a void in the gear during laying up that was missed by the 'layer-upper" :)

I could easily be wrong, but I doubt this gear was intended to be hollow either. Yes it can be done, look at props... but then again.. look at the PRICE of hollow carbon props...

Yep, I'll stick with my hope and guess that it's a Friday gear, and not enough resin was used... I sure hope so, because I like the looks of the gear and the airfoiled shape... just a real nice touch on the plane.

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

I'm pretty convinced of two things. GP has really no clue what it is and that I also agree I got a Friday or Monday morning gear. I did call them again and do give you an idea of what the outcome was it was simply we are not sure.

I just has a family member fax them a printout of the site I had at home from the other day of the gear where the site said it was aluminum. For 13 bucks I'm betting it's fiberglass.

Oh well, hopefully my gear was a Friday/Monday set and is a very isolated problem

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

12/1/2005 1 pm CST

Contact Chief Aircraft if you are interested in getting a GP Ultimate 1.60 as they have some stock. I know this as I just ordered one from them.

I will also be trying a GF45i gasser on my Ultimate. These look promising. This will be my first non-Extra in a long time. I currently have 7 Extra's in flying condition. (I know, this is an addiction.) These range from a 36" electric to a 35% running a 3W100.

Safe Flying!

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Bill, My Ulti being one of the first, Certainly puts me in that "isolated" group. Even my wife said in no uncertain terms, '' until that landing gear problem is resolved, that plane STAYS on the workbench.... no ''if's, ands, or but's''. [:o] It kinda sounds like it may take a while to correct the gear problem unless GP is right on it. I have some very good machining skills here at work and will attempt to fashion a gear in tempered alum with all the correct shape. One last little item, RCM mag, June 04, page 42 has an excellent ignition kill switch idea, My friend is just now finnishing it as I type this. May be worth your time to look at it if you have the mag. Seeya then, MM

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

blikseme300

I just got done reading the 10 page thread on that engine, yep it looks sweet but it seems they have a problem with them running backwards and turning too manyh RPM's because they are coming from the factory with the timing way to far advanced and also RFI. One guy even found metal shavings in his and had to tear it apart and clean it. Of all the people that have posted in that thread it looks like only 2 or 3 have had no problems.

Yep, nice price, good looking engine. I'll wait a tad longer to see when they get them a little smoother and the quality a little better. I don't mind beta testing but not on this Ultimate, it's just way to nice a plane.

MM,

I'll go a little more in depth since I just got off the phone with GP again. There has been 5 calls today about getting gear replacements because of splitting so take it for what it's worth based on the previous info we all saw on the web site.

I am still waiting for a call back from the two guys I talked to today to try to get the lowdown on what the replacement gear is made of. They do not know themselves which goes against what I was told the other day.

I will say this, they did refund the money I spent on the replacements I ordered from Tower and I also found out that the ones that were supposed to be sent to me the other day were never sent, so they are shipping me a set again

So before anyone decides to tear me apart, I am just reporting the things I have been told for the record, so don't kill the messenger :D

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

So you AND MM had the bend delam?

I wouldn't put too much faith in the numbers just yet... you'd be surprised at how many will request replacement gear just because GP is handing them out.

Heck I don't own an Ultimate yet and I could call them and they would send me a set out. Some opprortunists will see this as an opportunity to get a backup set and therefore the numbers of "incidents" may be skewed.

Don't get me wrong... there very well MIGHT be an issue... but I sure hope not...,

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

There is an issue, I just ran my engine again (non flight) just to run it in a little more and when I set the plane back on the workbench, there are 2 small chips in the left gear leg. If it chips out just from running an engine on the ground....then what???

The plane was sitting on a clean asphalt driveway, so there is no way the prop could have picked up anything.

I'm not stating anything to try to slam the plane or the distributor, just the facts as to what I have found.

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Up near the bend? :( I can't hardly imagine just running the engine chips the paint... man and I REALLY want them gear to be alright...

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

IFLY,

that just bites. I'm like MM and his wife. There is no way this plane is gonna see any more airtime before we get the gear situation handled. The last thing I want to see happen is the gear fail on rollout or takeoff. GGGRRRR

Looks like thevirginian is gonna be busy laying up gear sets since the site Maudib found seems to not want to answer the emails and voice messages I have left.

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

The paint layer seems thin as does the fiberglass. My guess is if he take a really close look he'll find out the fiberglass is chipped also

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

It is up near the bend and the fiberglass is chipped. My plane is GROUNDED untill this is worked out. I would probably go stark raving insane more than what I am if I were to come in for a landing and see the gear fail and almost 2 grand start tumbling because of it.[:@][:@][:@]:(:(:(

Man, they didn't waste any time re-vamping their tech-notes and replacement gear sites. Glad I have copies of both the originals.

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Quick someone find a hole in the sand so I can stick my head into it.... :)

Grampa... say it isn't so....

Oh, well... if it is a problem GP/Hobbico will own up to it and make good.... Perhaps if it IS a problem it is in manfacturing processes and can be corrected... I REALLY hope these gear stay as they are...

And RC Supergear has gone silent running huh? Too bad... Somebody help us! :)

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

What about pettit's Ulti?
He was one of the first ones who has maidened his Ulti and we haven't heard from him since. Wonder how his gear is holding up? Hey, Pettit we need to know. Please acknowledge, ya hear?[X(]

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

a few days ago it was for sale in the market place.

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Guys, don't take this the wrong way; but welcome to the H9 27% Extra/Crap Landing Gear Club.

I'm waiting on a new one of those myself, although I was able to repair the original defective one (which cracked on the sixth landing) enough so that I SHOULD be able to get through the week-end.

Sorry you guys are having this same issue with the GP Ultimate... bites, eh?[:o]

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Hey Steve,

As a member of that club, what are our benefits??? :D;):D

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

FREE FRUSTRATION!:D

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Yeah; and I just discovered that the Showtime ARF I ordered yesterday has the SAME gear on it.:eek:

There is hope, however... the airplane weighs several pounds less than the Extra, and I haven't seen any complaints on threads about the airplane; so, with any luck, it will hold up.

But I'm going to order a TNT aluminum gear for my Extra anyway. Screw me once, shame on you; screw me twice, shame on me...

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

And 3 times? a Charm? :)

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

I don't like the idea of getting screwed at ALL, especially when my hard earned money is involved [>:][sm=punching.gif]

Ok guys...I need some input here. I don't want to take my Ulti apart to transport it to our flying site. I have a 5x8 enclosed trailor, it won't fit not even "kitty cornered" into it. Just wondering if any of you have had a problem like this and have designed something such as an "angled rack" made of PVC or the like. I would appreciate any ideas [sm=sunsmiley.gif] you can offer. "Short of telling me to get a bigger trailor." If I did that I would probably come home to find "THE BIG BLUE NOTE" [&:]

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Steve,

The gear on the Showtime is just fine. I had one and I dropped it in from about 5 foot and tore the gear block out, and as the plane slid along the ground the gear rotated upwards and took out most of the wings on both sides. It didn't even so much as scratch the gear or crack a wheel pant, just some grass stains. The reason why I dropped it was I was experiencing the dreaded elevator responsiveness problem in HI alpha maneuvers. I came in really slow very nose high to harrier land the thing and all of a sudden I just lost all elevator effectiveness. This was part pilot stupidity and part knowing the plane had this problem. Some people are not seeing this elevator issue and some are. Just read the thread on the showtime. I believe it has to do with the size of the wings blanking out the elevator in certain maneuvers. The SFG's did the same thing in nose high (45 degree or higher) knife edge's.

Love the plane though, it's a great pattern ship. Just like the Ultimate, has one heck of a blinding roll rate

I actually just picked up my second showtime yesterday to replace the first one.

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

Weird, It just fits "kitty cornered" :D into my Ford Ranger Shortbed (6 foot bed) unless I read the measurements wrong and the trailer is 8 foot wide. It will not fit in my bed if I try to put it in straight. Most of the spinner sticks out the back even with the rudder hard over to one side

Could you make a stand out of PVC that will hold it tail high with to "arms" that go in front of the landing gear to hold it in place and maybe some eye hooks front and back to strap it down with bungee cords??? I've never done that but it's an idea

RE: Great planes ultimate 160
 

How about a roof rack on top of the trailer?:D