greg booth

Hi Vulture,
Yes I have a trick to help with the tail assembly. They did not provide the holes in the bottom of the fuselage so I had to drill two small holes. To help align the holes with the plastic extensions I put two thin rods or stiff wire all the way through the fuselage and into the plastic extension holes where the screws go. I then inserted the plastic extensions through the fuselage and pulled out one wire and then without moving anything I put in one screw. Then I pulled out the other wire and put in that screw.

Regarding hand launch. From my experience this plane will not hand launch. Maybe with the trainee wing but defiantly not with the aileron wing. You must take off from the ground. I think this is due to the thrust pushing down on the nose.

Other issues I found with the plane: The servos are very weak. The servo wire extensions are too weak and bend when in compression. To help them out I cut the foam hinges and made hinges with wide plastic tape. I plan on replacing the tape with real hinges in the future. I made a little fairlead out of a tiny loop of stiff wire and put it between the tail and where the servo extension exits the fuselage. This prevents the servo extension bending when in compression. A stronger extension would have probably been the best solution but mine worked. After a complete servo failure I decided to replace all of them with stronger servos. The landing gear is really a joke. I have ordered new stronger landing gear and bigger wheels from Tower hobbies because I have to land on rough grass. I found that the motor got hot and the speed controller totally fried. I do not think they programmed it for the li po batteries that came with my plane. I replaced the speed controller with a waypoint 25 amp and was happy to find that the motor now runs cool.

Regarding flying. I have hade more successful flights with the aileron wing. I think you must have calm wind for the trainer wing to work and I have not had calm enough weather. I think they intended to use the heavier ni mh batteries in these planes. Mine came with much lighter li po batteries and it was tail heavy until I enlarged the battery box and put in two batteries. I have been told that balancing planes is critical and tail heavy is the worst. Because I am a beginning pilot I installed a FMA co-pilot receiver and infrared sensor. This greatly helps a novice like me control the plane with the aileron wing but it cost as much as the entire plane!

Over all I find the plane has nice features but the electronics and the fit and finish is abysmal but repairable if you have the time and money. The crashworthiness is outstanding.
Good luck and tell me how you do.
Greg Booth