I agree the plane has no bad habits at slow speed, it's me that has the bad habits at slow speed I haven't quite mastered the landings on this plane, but it seems stable enough. I guess I just caught a bit of rough luck on my first attempts. I know my knees were knocking like mad those first two flights.[&:] I hope that once I get comfortable with this new plane I will be greasing them in on all three points just like the manual says. If your already comfortable with landing other sport style aircraft, you should have no trouble at all with setting the Shoestring down nice and easy. If you feel at all uneasy about landings, don't say I didn't warn ya about the gear weakness. It's just an annoyance to have to fix, but can be done easily enough.

Luke[8D]

i would glass the wing joint.. beef up landing gear..and i put flying wires on the tail. i lost my waco.60 due to tail folding up.. dont want that to happen again

Airick,
Comparing the quality of this plane to a Global ARF is apples and oranges. Beefing up the landing gear for a grass field is warranted but the other mods are uncalled for.

I did glass the wing joint partially, and reinforced the gear area. Mild modifications for peace of mind. With the way the tail is put together on this plane I can't see a need for extra reinforcement in that area, the fuse holds it nicely. Fun plane to fly

Luke[8D]

im sure youre probably right basin bum but i wanted to at least feel better in my mind about it. the sportsman aviation waco wasnt a bad arf, too much power i think for full throttle snaps and such.wasnt meant for it didnt mean to compare this arf to any other arf.. ive also had a GP extra 300s fly apart into pieces, and i think that also is a dandy arf. just trying to clear things out of the back of my mind, thats all. my wife says its pretty because its yellow, yes dear. hope to always have at least one. come to think of it.. the wings folded up on my goldberg tiger 2 with just a ttpro .46 on a downwind run.. straight & level. i beat the hell out of that plane and never dreamed that would happen. also a very good arf. but still as you say, no comparison

Airick,
It sounds like you finally got a plane to fit your style of flying. I am guessing you like to fly fast and the other planes, especially an Extra are not ment to be flown fast. The Shoestring on the other hand was ment to be flown fast, enjoy it.

ya.. i flew the waco basically smooth and slow. with the way it took off straight up out of a hover real fast as long as i wanted it to it was hard to resist pushing it, especially with 4 stroke sound. thats the only thing im not happy about now with the .91. i miss the sound. ive got a funtana with saito100 thats nice for slow/violent stuff. im almost 40 and completely, utterly addicted to this. wish i would have started years ago. im really wanting to do a Cant Z sorry for going off topic

I remember when We first were talking in threads about the WACO 60. I got lucky and got a great one. When I put mine together I could tell it wouldn't take a beating like a Pitts or Ultimate and I only have flown mine slower without the snap type manouvers. It's one of my Fav. planes. The plane looks great doing slow rolls / loops and hammerheads. I've only being doing this a couple yrs and I'm in my 40's so I know how you feel when you say you wish you would ave started sooner...

Beef up the landing gear or it will break!!! maybe not on first flight but no matter how skilled. Fix it now and save yourself the greif later...

The Shoestring will slow down for a great 3-point flare and roll out. I fly mine (my second) with a Saito .91 4-stroke and it's a wonderful, pretty, fast, head-turning model that stands out on the flightline and in the air with its good looks and performance. I start throttling back as soon as I turn on downwind, go to 1/4 throttle as I turn on to base, then 1/8th as I turn on final, then I pull the nose up to level or a tad above level to slow it even more and use throttle to control the glide path on final. Since it's already coming in level or a tad nose high on final, when I flare it's in the perfect 3-point position.

The point of reinforcing the landing gear cannot be impressed enough on this plane. The undercarriage/belly of this plane is immeasurably weak. The stringers will break if you sneeze in their general direction. The fuse formers will snap in two in you cough in the same room. Well, maybe not quite that weak, but they do break very easily under some very light loadings. There isn't much longitudinal support (fore to aft) for the gear mounting block. My gear ripped out on a littel bounce and the ensuing belly slide took out the stringers halfway down the fuse from the firewall back. I will post pics ASAP of the damage and the resulting repairs to show how I am going to redesign the gear mount area and underbelly. I love the way this plane flies, and it isn't all that hard to land really. I suppose I had a touch of bad luck in the gear department. Maybe GP should consider a slight modification of this model in that area.[8D]

I have to say, Mine isnt weak...I was doing touch and goes, and hit one real fast, and actually bent the gear...no breakage of the wood...just rebent the gear to proper shape and off I went...I did pull off the covering for inspection, and did glass the areas and joints while I was in there...it aint going anywhere,lol..

I have one of these to with a Saito 91 and love this plane! I would probly rank it to be my #1 plane.