After many attempts to tame this beast, it's time to hang it up.
Plane is a Modeltech Giles 202 (60), originally outfitted with an ENYA 120 up front, two elevator servos aft with a match box, an on-board glow (Enya plugs face forward). The Enya weighs 12 oz more than a Saito 100, but I still needed 7 oz of lead in the front. It balances at the manufacturers balance points.

First few flights proved ugly - it snaps left on any type of hard inside maneuver, and requires SIGNIFICANT elevator to fly inverted. I could just barely turn an outside loop.

After checking all incidence and adjusting to 0-0 (3 degrees engine down thrust built in), and removing the on-board glow and extra elevator servo, I moved all the electronics up front to get rid of the 7 oz of lead. It STILL comes out to 10 lbs 4 oz!!! And it STILL snaps at low and high speed. I had to fly it on pins and needles!

Left rudder works fine with just a hint of down pitch coupling, but right rudder rolls the plane hard left (significant adverse yaw) and hard down. Yes, the plane was balanced axially.

In the end, a touch-and-go attempt found three snaps into a cartwheel on the ground. While the damage is repairable, I found a disconcerting problem - one aileron and one elevator half came out with NO DAMAGE TO THE WOOD!! The hinges either simply pulled out or broke at the hing line. I wonder how long this plane would have lasted in the air!

I'm sorry, but no matter how sensitive we want our planes, these snaps were rediculous! And the weight is built into the ARF - a lighter engine would required lead in the nose.

Sorry guys - don't get into this ARF -- too heavy and very unstable... IMHO.

I'm afraid I had exactly the same experience with mine, powered by an OS 91FX.

Mine, however, had the added excitement of one of the stabilizer sides breaking off on the first flight while flying level! Luckily, the other side still worked OK (I had dual elevator servos), and the break was clean enough not to flap around, making it possible to land.

So, having fixed that, I flew a few more times, but finally gave up due to the horrendous snapping which was making it too much like hard work to fly. I just couldn't trust it to come out of any sort of dive, at any speed, without flipping over onto her back.

I tried everything, including reducing the elevator movement to such a small amount that maximum throw was not enough to loop!! CG movement forwards and backwards, checking equal elevator movement, checking lateral balance, - the lot!

It looks good, and flies level pretty well, (big deal!) but that snap has made me move onto Extras and Edges.

-David C.

I will third the motion! Mine went in a few weeks ago for the third time. Mostly due to the snapping part. I mixed in ALOT of coupling and it took out alot of the problems but this plane is quick to snap! didn't like it. But now I don't have to worry about it because its nothing more than a pile of electronics! On to the next project. DP 540T. With Moki 2.10. Lets see how bad I can mess this one up.

With a Webra 120 mine balanced just right and weighed 9 lbs. Elavator broke off and stab cracked on first flight, straight and level, half throttle. Landed ok and fixed with good hinges and guide wires. After 30 or so flights of trying to sort out the snap problem I gave it away. Bad airfoil design and too much wing loading.

A friend of mine has one, The first one snapped the elevator, for the cost of freight it was changed over for a new one. This one also snapped the elevator too.... after writing a nasty letter to model tech they sent him another one. He was lucky enough to swap it for a World Models Midget Mustang and pay the difference, the best thing he could have done!


Don't touch this model !!!!!!!!

You guys don't like snaps now do ya ? CAPS always snap and snap and snap thats what their airfoil was designed to do. The CAP 232 is better but still snaps and snaps .... Make it nose heavy and it lower that tendency, but come fast for landing or else, GUESS ???? SNAP [>:]