handt

My Feedback: (26)

Hellow everybody

I would never buy kmp model again i have the corsair it has never flown the wing is weak the gear is the worsed nothing goes together
right and service what service? I have emailed them 10 times ytd nobody has talked to me. I spent allmost $400.00 for this plane it sets in a box.If it didnt cost so much i would just throw it away.For those of you that have had good luck thats great but for those of you thinking about getting a kmp plane i would look some were else.

MMallory

My Feedback: (1)

Starboy,

I generally hate to respond to this type of email. However, you are mentioning a few things I don't understand. Would you please clarify what you mean by a weak wing. What didn't go together?

I'm not saying the plane I have is perfect but for the price I expect I will need to make a few bits fit. Also, for the price of these kits, I must say, the retracts can't be expected to be Robart quality. Will they work at all? I have a World Models kit with cheap retracts that have hundreds of flights on them. Yes, they wiggle, must be bent back almost every flight and generally look cheap. Wait...they were cheap.

Mark

Tom in Cincy

My Feedback: (16)

Well I got my blue and gold Skymaster a few weeks ago and have started the build. By the way Andy the windows are not cut and taped as you say. However the fit is not as bad as Red Z had run into so maybe they changed the vacuum form mold abit. The hardware included is as bad as my other KMP Skylane and needs replacing. Add about $50 -$60 for descent hardware.
I was wondering if glueing in the wing tube would add any strength to the wing. Looking in there I could not see any sheer webbing. I am counting on the fact that no one has reported a wing failure and that the wing design is OK..
I am trying to figure out a way to run the elevator pull-pull. I wonder if it would require a pull-pull system on each end of the elevator to avoid a twisting problem. I am getting ready to buy the power plants. Looking for a lower cost 4-stroke solution.
Well back to the build.

Tom

oneflyrn

The windows I received looked fine but did not fit at all. Holes were all too small. The air induction on top of the wing is 1/4" too high so there's a lip. Those were really the only two general complaints I had about it. Rest of the plane looked great. No seams and the cowls fit perfect. Paint is great but will be changing gold to red.
As stated in earlier posts, the instruction manual needs some serious work and a few more photos. Have made several of the corrections in my instructions and plan to send a copy back to KMP to help them out. (It's always easy to complain, but just as easy to offer solutions.) Only thing left to do is balance it before I fly it this weekend.
As a suggestion on low cost 4 stroke engines, I also wanted 4 strokers in it so went with low cost Magnum 91's from Hobbypeople.net. Routinely have them on sale for about $160 each. Have another in a Cub and has performed flawless for the last 4 years, in winter flying with skis or summer heat on asphalt.
I'm not particularly fond of the little bubble in the middle of the horizontal stab to cover the elevator servo so a pull-pull would be nice but be somewhat labor intensive to set up. You get out of it what you put into it though, I guess.
I used 3 1/4" spinners from Great Planes. White spinners with aluminum back plates. Look great but a pusher spinner is not available and had to cut the prop slots in the spinner to allow fit. Foam tires? Forget it. I went with Skylites. Same weight as the foam but they resist going "flat" like the foamies.
All in all, I was satisfied with mine. Will have to let you know what I think of the flight characteristics after this weekend but from what I've read on here, it should do fine.

MMallory

My Feedback: (1)

I used a Hited low profile servo for the elevator. This eliminates the bubble in the back. It will fit by widening the existing hole a bit. Haven't flown the plane yet, I am still working on the wiring.

Mark

oneflyrn

Thanks for the info. Didn't think it would be low enough so didn't bother to try. Will do this and throw a strip of monokote across the stab to cover it up.

Darin

callshot

Which Robart Nose Gear strut did you use on the Skymaster? There are several in the catalog.

Thanks!

GRANT ED

I used a robart 654 on mine.

Tom in Cincy

My Feedback: (16)

My Skymaster is real close to the maiden. It weighs in @ 17.5lbs. Front engine Saito 100 single. Rear engine is a Saito 91 single.
I am using the stock nose gear. The elevator servo is full sized but laid over on its side so it wouldn't stick out the top of the stab.

Don't forget to turn the rear tank around so the clunk remains in the rear and the stopper points forward ELSE it won't run very long!

A few shake down tests, a few drops of Loctite and this thing should be in the air..
Tom

IronCross

That was quick... Looks real good.. Looking forward to your flight report... Were the windows that hard to put in.. How was the fit on the rest of it... I really want one of these but after reading some of the negative posts I am a little leary... I saw one at the Castle (West Coast IMAA gathering) flyin and it was really a nice looking plane.. It was done in yellow though instead of blue if I remember correctly..

Tom in Cincy

My Feedback: (16)

My windows fit pretty good. The right-front-side window was the worst and I did have to use a Dremel with a stone grinding wheel to open it up a bit to provide a good fit. Seriously it just isn't much of a problem. Overall the fit and finish is A+++ . The paint job was A+++. The seams A+++. I see nothing wrong with any of the ARF except the hardware was pretty bad. I was surprised as to how many hours I have in it. But then its a big plane. There are 2 engines. 10 servos. Flaps. ect...
I'm sure it will fly like a sweety. I have their Cessna 152 and I love it.

In my opinion if you want a Cessna Skymaster this is the way to go. I could of never built this good of looking model.

Tom

Meesh

My Feedback: (135)

Tom,

I have one with the same color scheme still in the box. That is a flat out GORGEOUS airplane. You helped me make up my mind as to which plane to build next.

Did you have to add any nose weight to balance? There is only a 30 gram difference in weight between the Saito 100 and the 91.

Thanks!
Bob

IronCross

Thanks Tom.. That is what I wanted to hear.. Just waiting for that flight report now...

Tom in Cincy

My Feedback: (16)

Bob, I had to add 8 oz of lead to the very front of the cowl. I have a 5 lb lead ingot that I cut pieces off of and then hammer away on an anvil. I can conform the lead to about any shape that way. I used Shoo glue adhesive to secure it to the inside of the cowl. In addition I have 9 1950 mah NiMh cells just behind the fire wall. 4 are in parallel for the glow ignitors. 5 in series to power the radio.
AUW of the batteries is 12.6 oz.

Flight report coming soon. Fingers crossed. Nervous..nah my knees always do that

Meesh

My Feedback: (135)

Thanks Tom. I had read that it would be a little tail heavy. I may try using either a Saito 100 Twin up front with a Saito 91 in the rear or a Magnum 91 up front with the Saito 91 in the rear. Maybe sub C cell packs would work too instead of having to add dead weight. I have a Sierra Precision nose strut for mine so that may add a little.

Thank you for the feed back!

Good luck to you on the maiden. What's that knocking sound I hear??

It's probably a ***** cat to fly.

Bob

oneflyrn

Not sure why you want to turn the rear tank around. The way mine fit, the tank was slanted with the butt end (opposite the stopper end) being about 1 inch lower than the stopper end. Even during a good climb, the back end of the tank contained most of the fuel. Not so sure how this will effect inverted flight but flew just fine otherwise. Did maiden flight on mine yesterday and was quite squirrely for the first couple of minutes. Quite a bit out of trim. From the comments posted on here, I really was concerned about being tail heavy. After adding 15 oz of weight in the nose it was ever so slightly nose heavy but figured it would be fine. After having to trim the elevator up nearly 10 degrees on the first flight, I will take about 4 oz out of the nose and see how it does. After 5 minutes of flight, the front engine died on a low pass (too lean). I throttled up to full power with only the rear engine running and it was not only able to maintain altitude but was able to climb very slowly. Coming in to land required about 10 degrees of flaps with a 15 mph head wind and 1/4 throttle. I'm sure will be much better second flight with weight correction. Not exactly thrilled with the rubber band method of securing the outer wings to the center wing so will install a couple of screws into the aluminum spar after gluing a wooden dowel inside it and a ply back plate inside the wing. Also of note, I had the throws on the elevator and ailerons about 50% of max. After take-off and after hair became full gray, I switched to full throws and response was much better. Looked awesome in flight.

Tom in Cincy

My Feedback: (16)

Ok Darin, well when I had my plane out at the field the other night my buddy noted that I had the tank in backwards. It took me a while to figure out what he was talking about but I tend to agree with him. In all the ducted fans I have see or plumbed, they have always had the clunk towards the rear of the plane. I believe during a pull out from a dive or any acceleration the fuel should tend to pool toward the back of the tank. I agree it should not make any difference until the tank gets low on fuel and then I believe your odds of sucking air instead of fuel greatly increases. I double checked the instruction book (ha ha) and they show the clunk toward the front. I am going to go with the stopper in front and clunk in back..

I have my balance point set at 105mm from the leading edge. This is set per the Great Planes accu-balance. Was the plane squirrely because it was out of trim or because of the balance? Was it just the pitch (elevator) out of trim or was the ailerons out of trim too? When I was adjusting the elevator pushrod links I found it hard to judge when the elevator was in line with the stab. The twin boom rudders block your view. Can you tell now if its level ?

I have spent the last 3 evenings trying to get the engines squared away. Getting the idle's down, getting the trasition smooth and just overall running well.

I had lots of loose hardware after 15-20 minutes of running. Everything is loctited now. No loose hardware tonight. Just loose mufflers. I am locking them down with JB weld as I type.

I am using some rubber O rings on the hooks. They should hold as I don't think the outer panels would normaly want to pull out. Ill let you know.

Hopefully tomorrow night will be nice. I want the first flight to be with calm winds and a pretty blue sky!

Tom

oneflyrn

My first thoughts of the rear tank were to do as you have done, mount it the same direction as the front. After checking the fit though is when I noticed the angle of the tank. Figuring the people who wrote the instructions knew what they were talking about, I assumed this was correct. Having the tank mounted as you have done, is probably a better set-up.
As far as the flight characteristics, the elevator was at zero incidence when it took off. It took a fair amount of up elevator to get it off the ground. Once airborn at about 20 feet, I eased off of the elevator and it wanted to dive immediately. After getting enough altitude to adjust the trims, I had to trim the elevator up, almost to the point of running out of adjustment. The ailerons were also off. Once everything was trimmed, it flew pretty good but could tell it was nose heavy.... easy to dive, hard to pull up. After landing, you can easily see that the trimmed elevator is about 10 degrees up for level flight. It definitely need flaps to land at a reasonable speed, so again, an indication of being nose heavy. I re-checked the CG tonight and found it to be about 95 cm from leading edge. Not sure what happened from the last time I checked it. Brain fart or something, who knows.
Good luck on your flight.

Oneflyrn

vicarh

My Feedback: (1)

Red,

Your photos show what looks like aluminum tubes stand-off motor mounts. Where did you get these or if you made them could you share the techniques? I have always built using plywood plates but this method seems a lot cleaner and certainly lighter. Remember a photo in hand is better than ... no, no that has to do with birds!

Vicar

Tom in Cincy

My Feedback: (16)

Oneflyrn, I meant to congratulate you on your maiden flight. And I am glad its flying well since the trimming.
I'll be ready to keep the sticks off center until I get up to altitude. I'm Psych' ed..
Thanks,
Tom

hattend

My Feedback: (20)

Measure the length extension you need and go here:

http://www.geocities.com/roger_forgues/engstandoff.html

I have bought two sets from Roger and he is very fast getting them out the door.

Don

vicarh

My Feedback: (1)

Don,

Thank you very much for the reply. I will consider them even thought they seem a little pricey, specially if you add the right thrust.

VIcar

red_z06

My Feedback: (11)

vicarh:

I buy the right diameter k&s alu rod and cut them to size. If you don't have access to a milling or lathe u can use circular miter saw with good sharp carbide blade to cut it. For less than 1", I just drill it through and use long screw. For long ones, I drill and tap both ends and screw in from both sides.

red_z06

My Feedback: (11)

someone said something about drilling wing tube to hold the wing. try drilling and tapping then ca to strength the root rib of outer wing and drill on the boom and use 1/4-20 nylon screw to secure. It will be much tighter and slop free than screwing to wing tube.

vicarh

My Feedback: (1)

Red,

That is what I figured you had done but wanted confirmation. My local hardware store has round aluminum rods up to 3/4" and it is cheap. I am going to give it a try.

Thanks,