I just picked up this ARF of the Zero from Seagull Models and I was quite impressed with what I received for 139.99 at my LHS.
The model is entirely built up with an unbelievable number of stringers in the round fuselage.
The plane comes with everything you can think of to assemble, even the foam to wrap the fuel tank.
It is covered with Ultracote siver (not exactly scale), but the covering job was outstanding.
The cowl and rear cone are fiberglass, not ABS. Comes also with painted pilot, spinner, etc.
The engine mount and pushrods are already installed and all the control surfaces are hinged and pinned!!
I believe I can have this finished in 3-4 evenings.
The literature on Seagull says they use CA and epoxy. The first sign of that was the firewall which looks to be epoxied and has triangle supporting stock behind the 1/4" plywood firewall. You don't see that in many ARF's.
I am going with a TT 46 and Hitec 425 BB servos. It has two aileron servos, no flaps.
I am mostly interested in building scale kits and from plans, but got this to be a practice "warbird" plane before I fly my Skyshark SBD Dauntless I am working on.

Horizon is the agent and here is a link to the zero on their site: http://horizon.hobbyshopnow.com/prod...p?prod=SEA2000

I saw one already put together at my LHS. The quality was impressive, I must admit. It comes with fixed gear, but couldn't tell if retracts are an option. Looks good.

Jesse

Retracts are not really an option, but for $139, I was not expecting them and would not invest for this size plane. It is just for fun flying scale.

I put the wing together in about 2 hours yesterday and I am working on the tail feathers and pushrods.

kIT LOOK GREAT , SEAGULL USE TO BE IMPORTED BY hOBBY pEOPLE. They had a p51 . I dont know why they dropped the line because the planes look great . It may be a result of getting Sportsman or Modeltech

Not a lot of interest expressed on this ARF, but I might as well post the finished product. It was one of the easiest ARF's I have every assembled. Other than the cowl, the rest of the plane went fast. Some of the best fitting parts of any ARF I have assembled.

I opted to mount the TT 46 engine sideways with a Pitts muffler rather than inverted as the instructions indicate. I don't like to mount 2 strokes inverted unless I have too.

I will try and get it in the air in the next couple of weeks. A great plane for $139.

It looks nice. Thanks for the pictures of the kit.


SJ.

How much weight in the nose did it take to balance it? What was your all up weight minus fuel? I just got my wings glued together tonight with servo's installed. I read so many posts on zeros saying you had to add a lot of weight to the nose and many were just opting to hang a bigger engine out there instead. So I talked myself into buying a lightly used O.S. 91 surpass four stroke. The engine is about 23 oz with muffler as compared to a TT .46 which is 17 oz with muffler. Its my first four stroke and I can already see some challenges. Like having the carb behind the engine. I think I am going to have to cut into the firewall so the engine can fit futher back. I am sure it will be interesting. Hopefully the extra 6oz in motor isn't too much. I am also going to try out a 3-blade prop.

Looks great Milkman. Keep us posted on a flight report.

We had to put a lot of weight in the nose also. I helped a friend build his Seagull Zero. We put a Thunder Tiger 46 in the nose. When we were finished we had to add 13 oz of lead to the motor mount to get her to balance at the mid-point of the suggested CG range. When we finally had her balanced, the all up weight without fuel was 6 3/4 lbs.

She flew well though and responded very nicely, but, here is the bad news, she had one takeoff and zero landings. My friend was doing a mild split-s when the nylon pin in the factory supplied clevis we used on the elevator sheared off and he lost all elevator control that resulted in a steep nose dive, tree slamming, hole digging contest that totally destroyed the plane.[:@]

You're talking about the nylon clevis that you screw onto the pushrod? Did he have the fuel tubings overthem? I found a couple in my kit yesterday that I thought were not fully locking when crimped. I though they may be good enough but I think I'll take this as a warning and replace them with name brand clevises. I have plenty in my parts drawer anyway.

Let me know how the planes flys... I have a friend who has a trainer and wants to get it as a second plane... Can it be used as a second plane? Throws turned down? It's cheap enough... just fill me in on tendencies... Thanks

MILKMAN-RCU

HOW DID IT BALANCE OUT ? DID YOU NEED NOSE WEIGHT, AND IF SO HOW MUCH? I AM INTERESTED IN THE MODEL, BUT DONT LIKE TO ADD WEIGHT.
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME
LEN LOGUN

Below is my posting - post #9

We had to put a lot of weight in the nose also. I helped a friend build his Seagull Zero. We put a Thunder Tiger 46 in the nose. When we were finished we had to add 13 oz of lead to the motor mount to get her to balance at the mid-point of the suggested CG range. When we finally had her balanced, the all up weight without fuel was 6 3/4 lbs.

She flew well though and responded very nicely, but, here is the bad news, she had one takeoff and zero landings. My friend was doing a mild split-s when the nylon pin in the factory supplied clevis we used on the elevator sheared off and he lost all elevator control that resulted in a steep nose dive, tree slamming, hole digging contest that totally destroyed the plane

Spyder0069 - Yes I am talking about the clevis that screws onto the elevator pushrod. I assembled the plane myself and I follow a stringent preflight check before I test fly a plane. Restrictor bands for all clevises is one of the checks. I test flew the plane and after I had checked it out my friend started flying it. The total flight time had been about 10-11 minutes. The restrictor tubing was on the clevis, in fact, it was still on the clevis after the crash. The little pin that snaps into the control horn just simply sheared off and when it came off of the control horn he lost elevator control and the plane crashed.

I would definitely suggest you use different clevises instead of those supplied in the ARF kit. Good luck!!

Sorry for the delay in responding, I just now got my e-mail telling me there was activity on this thread!

I have not been able to fly my Zero yet, lousy weather here in Kansas City.

I looked at my weights and I added about 9 oz of lead to the nose on the motor mount box. I also used that as an opportunity to laterally balance the model and ended up putting most of the lead on one side of the motor mount "box" vs. in the center.

The plane weighs about 7 1/2 lbs with the lead in the nose.

Regarding the plastic clevis.......I am always afraid of plastic clevis, I always use the Sulivan metal clevis with the retaining clip. In this case, I did go ahead with the plastic clevis, but now that I have heard the story of the failure, I think I will go with Sulivan. The only reason I did not to begin with was because they are 2mm metric and all I had was 2-56 or 4-40 in my parts supply. I will make a trip to the LHS and get some metric Sullivan 2mm before I fly it the first time.

Only other change I made was replace the fuel tank with a Sullivan tank. I have has ARF tanks leak before an it really just ruins the model. That was really the only item in the box that I thought was cheesy (except maybe now the clevis).

Bull-RCU - I really don't think the Zero would make a good second plane. I would recommend a Ultra Stick, 4 Star 40, Something Extra or the like. The taper wing and fully symetrical airfoil would be a little much for a second plane IMHO.

BTW.....on another forum, I read that it has a tendency to drop a wing tip on final if you do not keep your speed up.

The friend of mine who wanted the zero... Today I talked him in the 4 star 40... He paid for it and took it home... Going to put his OS 46 in it...

Well I just finished mine. I haven't weighed it in yet. For those that have flown, where did you balance yours. The instruction just seem like it is too far back. I have always balanced my planes on the main spar as a starting point in the past. I have a O.S. FS-91 four stroke in mine mounted inverted. I put a 12oz tank in it. The servos are all in the center section. The instructions show the elevator servo in a rear mount which I didn't use. I made my receiver pack with 5 AA nimh cells. Energizer just came out with 2000mah versions I built my pack with those. It is mounted in the cowl on the right side of the engine box (to help combat engine toque and the four stroke muffler comes out on the left side. I also built a microprocessor controlled on board glo that lights in the lower 1/4 of the throttle. Its AA 2000mah batter is on the other side of the engine box. I got a master airscrew 3-blade 13x8 prop only to find out from a O.S. tech that 13 was a bit big so I cut an inch off each blade and rebalanced effectively giving me a 11x8 which is in the range. Replaced the red 2-blade spinner with a 2 1/2" black 3-blade spinner. 3" Skylite wheel were used but I had to dremel the hubs so that the wheel collars would be recessed slightly into them and fit properly on the short shaft of the stock wires. Oh, had to buy those wheel collars. There was no way I was going to leave those collars with big screw sticking out of them that came with it on the plane. Half of the clevises I had to replace with my own stock and I may put all metal ones. While screwing 2 of the stock nylon clevises onto the rod they snapped right down the center section where the rod screws in. I have never seen one do that before. They were half way on before they snapped. I could see a in flight disaster there. I had to buy a extra roll of ultracote too. While trying to get the millions of wrinkles out with my heat gun, on the elevator control surface the cote pulled away from the surface because the edges weren't heated up well from the factory. So went along all edges with my iron, recovered the elevator (luckily it wasn't mounted to the plane yet and was easy) and got it assembled. By the way with the skin off you could see the buld job and the elevator lightening holes were hand cut out. Lines were not straight and looks like some sort of saw cut it out bceause you can see were the went over the edge slightly in spots. Can't see it with the skin on. I bet some 12 year old kid got paid big bucks for that job. Anyway, the plane is done and beautiful. I fired up the engine in the garage and aside from some tuning it I can tell this is going to be one fun plane. With all that work, bigger engine, batteries on the engine box, ect. the plane balances about 1/4" behind the main spar at about 2" away from the fuse sides. Does this sound close to those who have flown theirs? I'll have to snap some pics when I get a chance.

The CG instructions were confusing since the directions were given as cm back from the wing tips and not the leading edge per normal. When I figured everything outm, it was about 1" behind the spar. I have added about 9oz of lead in the nose. Hopefully, that will be enough for a safe first flight.

That doesn't sound right. 9 oz. is a bit much to add to a .40 size plane. The instructions does say 6 - 8 cm from the leading edge at the wingtips. Sounds pretty confusing, especially if the wingtips are rounded. Still, 9 oz. sounds like too much.

Jesse

Hmm 1 inch behind the spar? Ok, you go first. Ha ha ha I think I am shooting between the spar and 1/2" behind the spar. World models makes a 60 size plane that is just a tad larger but we may be able to cheat and view their CG and come close. They usually post their manuals and I have many of their planes all of which flew great. Their's is a 60" span (635 sq. inches) where ours is 58" span (550sq inches). Kyosho also makes a 40 size but their wing dimensions are quite a bit smaller and so is the all up weight.

I'm glad to hear that you liked the quality, I was just given the option of reviewing one of these, but instead I chose the Spacewalker (also from Seagull). I hope it's as good as you say the Zero is!

The Seagull Zero is, imo, good value for money. Mine is now over 12 months old and flies well!

I repainted mine in dark green with an orange under-belly like the Zero training squadrons. I fitted an SC .53 and 12 x 6 prop which produces a good power range. The supplied undercarriage fits well forward on the wing and I found that mine needed to be bent back slightly ( this was done off the model).
Otherwise a very good value for money model. It flies sedately if required and can be powered up to suit. The ample wing area produces gentle controlled landings.

Although the box lid shows a green model they are supplied in silver.

I have test flown the Seagull Zero ARF with the cg per the instruction books recommendations. I called Horizon Hobbies to clarify the CG stitauion and they said the 6-8 cm was from the LEADING EDGE OF THE OUTERMOST RIB. I marked those positions and stretched a string from each wing tip cg position and made my cg marks on the fuselage. When we balanced the Zero it took about 12-13 oz attached to the motor mount to balance about the mid-range position of the recommended range. The all-up weight without fuel was 6 3/4 lbs and she flew very well, so I don't think that the 9 oz is too much for this aircraft if she balances in the prescribed range and the overall weight is satisfactory for a .40.
I hope this input helps and good luck to you. Let us know how things go in the test flight.
PS - You might want to check out my posting in this thread on this bird.
Howard D. Keney - hdkeney

I did the same trick with the stretching the string between the wingtips. That is how I arrived at the point 1" behind the spar. I realize this is farther back the the ususal "balance on the spar". Hdkeney: what did your measurements translate to at the fuselage relative to the main spar? With the weight you added, I assume your test flights went OK?

I appreciate all the input. I am going to replace the plastic clevis but my LHS did not have the 2mm metric Sullivan clevis, so I need to order. They look to be metric anyway, as my 2-56 Sullivan did not seem to fit?

Milkman - I don't remember what the wingtip distance translated to at the fuselage, but I do remember that it gave me a bit of concern because of it being a good bit further behind the main spar than what I am usually used to using. I had talked to Horizon Hobbies and they had assured me that the cg position was a good one. I used the translated center position at the fuselage as the final cg position and the plane flew very well and handled very nicely. Other that the clevis that sheared, she didn't have any vices that I noticed. As mentioned in another post, when she got very slow and did stall, she would drop a wing tip and start a spin rather than mushing into a wings level straight ahead stall. She would recover very easily from this condition and the speed at which she dropped her wing tip was well below approach and landing speeds. Based on her high altitude stalls and slow speed performance I didn't anticipate any difficulty at all in the final approach and landing. Unfortunately, as I said earlier, the landing was never meant to be because of the sheared pin on the factory supplied nylon elevetor clevis and the resulting crash.

I hope this help
HDKENEY