ORIGINAL: wesson
ORIGINAL: kahloq
... What I dont like is the fragile nature of the fiberglass. When I was drilling out pilot holes for the screws(hexbolts with blind nuts) to secure the chin piece, a chunk of the fiberglass broke off. It was small enouhg to keep hidden when the chin piece is affiex, but still it worries me that with regular repeated landings, the plane will start to crack apart in places. Already, I have large paint cracks around the vertical stab area...
Hello all:
I've been sitting on the fence for quite some time, following this thread closely and trying to decide whether or not I want to purchase this kit. Is anyone else experiencing fiberglass problems, or does anyone else have fiberglass concerns? I seem to remember, many threads past, that someone mentioned that the fuse was pretty thin. Also, I'd love to hear from kit owners who did not modify the landing gear area (IOW, did not cut up wing to move the gear closer to the leading edge) to report on the 109's ground handling in stock configuration.
Peter
I believe the fiberglass is msotly ok. My fuselage arrived with cracks already in it, so it was probably shipping issues from Nitroplanes(where I bought it from). I had to have the fuse replaced cuz the first one was really bad(definite shipping/hanlding porblems and not manufacturing issues).
I wouldnt worry about the glass work. Yes the fiberglass is thin, but its that way on KMP fuse's as well. Thin doesnt mean bad. However, textile strength would be more of a concern if structural crakcs start to appear(which they havent yet).
The chunk that came off was in a spot that close to an edge anyhow. Drilling through any other location in the fuse, there wasnt any problems.
I didnt modify the retract rails or move them closer. I only had to sand down the rails slightly to fit the gear from Sierra Giant..nothing more.
The ground handling will be better with the stock location as they are spread further apart then scale(not a lot though). As far as nose overs, I cant give info on that yet as I havent had a chance to do any taxi tests because we have 10 degree weather currently.
I would go ahead and buy one now while the sale is going on at AK-models. I just bought a spare kit just for future use. With shipping, it only cost me $250(thats with the 20% FLYAKM discount code)