Ah, the Modeltech Great Lakes. Only had to read a couple of sentences to realise that this was definitely the same one that I used to have.

First time out put a 46FX and the mandatory ton of lead in it. When I was able to cox it of the ground it used to fly like a demented squirrel!

Eventually damaged it and put it to one side, but in a moment of madness decided to repair and recover it. This time I extended the motor mount and lengthened the cowl to try and reduce the weight. Put a Magnum 52 4c in it with only 1/2 ton of lead. Motor was a good match for the plane but still very squirrely to fly.

I remarked to one guy that I hated to fly the thing, when he asked the inevitable question "why fly it then" I replied that "I always feel good AFTER I've flown it!"

Kept it for a while and took it out from time to time when I felt that I needed to challenge myself. Eventually it decided for reasons unknow to fall out of the sky (from level flight). It still could have been repaired but to avoid future tempation to do so I stomped on the remains!

I guess all in all I got my money's worth out of it! If anyone still has one around I would definitely recommend lengthening the nose to reduce the nose weight required.


Terry