RCU Forums - CAP 232 40 engine?

Ville,

Well, I hear the args for and agin' the big Saito so I will drop my two pennies here..... :-)

I have built two of the GP Cap 232, in both of them I ran a YS 91 FZ. It was not too terribly hard to balance and get wing loading correct. Personally, I would never have done anything different, but.....

The planes are VERY tough to land, I usually just shut the engine off (no second chances there...) just the prop wheeling is too much for this plane to slow down. I modified both of the kits to have dual ailerons and tried flaperons on the second version but it changes the wing characteristics so much that I haven't really been able to program decent flight into it with them deployed to any sort of effectiveness yet.

When I do land with the engine runnig, it has to be at the fron of the strip and have plenty of run out, our strip is paved so things wheel along pretty good. I tried putting some pre-load on the wheels but I lost a couple of props due to nosing that I freed them back up.

Also, to get good flight times you have to put a much bigger tank than the wing is designed to pack, makes take off longer than you'd think with a big FS in it.

On the flip side... what a blast! Pure vertical, lots of oohs and ahhs when it gets to the line. Fast? Holy crap yes! I had to use pinned hinges, stronger servos than standards and two more hinges per surface to get no flutter, big worry there. you also have to beef up the firewall a little and the structure where the gear attaches. I also sheeted one side of the vert fin and rudder with 1/16 sheeting.

Motor fits nicely when you get done but you willhave a big hole in the side of the cowl.

In contrast, I am now building a Midwest Lil Cap 232 (62 inch wing) and am going to love it I think. But I am going more conservitive on the engine this time. I am using a YS 81 2Stroke with a pitts muff. It is a heli engine that I have re-ported and put ceramic bearings in. I think it will be fun.

I think the two kits are very comparable and love the GP kit, I recommend it to anyone building their first aerobatic machine.

Hope this helps... BTW the first GP Cap got sold right at the field because it impressed one of the IMAC stallwarts so much! had to build another and enjoyed every minute, learned from the first, better the second time!

Enjoy,
Adam