OK, update on the RV-4

Having a be-atch of a time installing the engine. Stock motor mount is an incorrectly pre drilled, boat anchor. After wasted hours jerking around with it, I'm using the Hays mount instead.

I'm standing beside myself realizing that you poor uninformed masses are still shelling out hard cold cash for these overpriced substandard ARFs. Those who do not heed history are doomed to relive it over and over again.

Wow
I purchased there "Hot Rod" a few months ago.
Looked great in the box.. BUT
As I put it together problems started poping up.
The ailerons (preinstalled) were to warped to use. I ended up glueing a 1/16 piece of balsa to each one and clamping it to straighten them out. Then I had to cut out the hinges that were way off center and reinstall them.
The elevator halves were connected together with the usual U shaped piece of wire. However on halfwent up and the other down. Had to cut them apart, flatten the assembly and reinstall the wire..
The rudder looked alot like a corkscrew. I removed the covering and using clamps, water, heat and then a coat of glue I managed to straighten it out.
I junked most of the hardware. The clevises had screws in them which would have ground out the holes in the servo arms in no time at all. the push rods were all too short. I replaced the springy wire landing gear with an aluminum one.
The biggest single problem with this plane was the wood used for it. Looks like it came from old packing crates or something. A lot of it dosen't look like balsa or hardwood, somewhere in between.
On the positive side, this thing is a blast to fly. Goes fast or slow and really rips up the sky. Good design, just wish they were built a little better.

My previous post was after building the "hot rod". Flying it was a different story. A club mate and I spent the afternoon replacing the undercarriage of the plane. The nose wheel wanted to bend in as the plane rolled down the runway. I lost count of the roll overs that occurred during this brief jaunt to the field. One of the mains toe out, causing the plane to track sporadically down the runway. There were a couple of times the plane did a massive YAW upon takeoff, causing some hair raising moments.

I guess I was luckier than most in that I didn't have to straighten any of the wood parts. The plane came in great shape. It flies well after quite a bit of tweaking. On my last landing of the day, the nose wheel sprung out of the top support and caused a pretty bad nose-over. Had to re-install the tail section which had broken away from the plane. That, definitely, is balsa.

My instructor and I reviewed the desk-jet printed flyer that accompanied the plane. After now believing that I was lucky to get the kit in the condition it was in, I may veer to another vendor for my next ARF. I know that being on the fence doesn't help much for a recommendation.

FYI
http://www.chadfrisby.com/teststand/index.html

YEP YEP.... I have read also very bad things about there stands
Like mentioned before : Stay away from V-Mar. You will get hurt (could be feelings or could be physically with the stand)

Exactly, Their add says "Up to 1.8 and beyond"..ha, my A**. That's a 1.8 Saito in the pics...the stand lasted about 2 minutes....Probably would work fine for .60 and below, but I'd just as soon hold the dang engine in my hand than use one of THOSE stands again!.

ilrcflyboy
I gave up on the nose gear on mine. Made a tail dragger out of it. Kind of squirrly getting it off the ground some times but overall I am happier with it this way :-]

Hi guys
Well I have made the mistake of buying two of these DISPLAY models. I first bought the Corsair and was so happy at how pretty it was and how well it went together. Than I tried to fly it. It came off the ground like a dream but acted very tail heavy, even though I made it nose heavy according to the instructions.
Coming in for a perfect landing, touched down and the wing EXPLODED wheel blocks split down the middle and turned the wing into a bag of wood. After some massive repair I had to recover about a third of the wing assembly, I was reedy to fly again when I picked the wing up in my basement I took it into my garage and set it down, no differently than any other wing since I started flying in 1972. All the sudden I heard 2 sharp pops. Looking at the wing I noticed that 2 of the original wing bays just shattered in a beautiful star pattern. Well, back to the repair table.
Since before the first landing catastrophe I bought a Beaver, This thing is still not finished and I have had to fix broken wood, where I have apparently held it in my hand a little too tightly, or set it down too roughly. as far as I am concerned these things look very good hanging from my sealing in the work room, but I think that is all the decoration I will buy. This is the last kit I will ever buy that comes from V-mar and Vietnam any one who reads this PLEASE spend a couple of $ more and have an airplane that you can actually fly and bring home without sweating the whole time you are flying worrying about if you will bring an airplane home at the end of the day.

Thank you for listening
Otto Kudrna

Ditto for me on both my Hotrods. I didn't have to mess with the rudder though, and I left my warped ailerons alone and just rigged the plane up to fly straight.

I learned a few similar lessons from my first Hotrod. I put these lessons learned to use on www.rcairport.com you can see all the build tips I put in for this kit. The nose gear that comes with the kit is not long enough, it folded a few times on my first kit. On the second kit, I replaced it with a fults dual strut and it rocks.

The huge YAW you mentioned is a nasty habit of this aircraft when attempting to take off too slowly. I made the mistake of trying to take of too soon and was rewarded with a 180 degree turn just about a foot off the runway, with the prop hitting the ground and sending the engine flying. I've since learned to let the aircraft lift off pretty much on its on and I've never had a problem since. (Remember, with the symmetrical airfoil, this aircraft needs more airspeed over the wing!) That is why thie kit is called and advanced trainer, as noted on the box, for a semi-experienced flyer. (eg... second aircraft).

She flys well, but she's not forgiving like a flat-bottomed, high dihedral trainer.

I finally got tired of messing with the nose gear on mine and made a tail dragger out of it. I like it that way. Like I said, I like the way it flys, it is fast with a OS46fx in it. The other day I hit a wing tip while landing. Not that hard but the whole end of the wing shattered like glass. Some strange wood in those wings.

My very first (attempted) flight in the first hotrod netted me a hole in the wingtip, it was very light balsa, patched up easily though! I'm very happy overall with both the VMAR kits I've bought, if you buy it with the mindset that it will need some TLC, the results are much more enjoyable!

As for the nose gear, I also put a dubro gear in and it bet over all the time as well. The fults double strut is awesome!

Here are a few pics.

A close up of the dual gear.

An ode to my first HotRod... R.I.P.

Someone had metioned earlier in the post that RCM had some positive reviews. The person who did the review own a hobby shop in CT. Right now he has about 10 VMAR arf sitting on the shelf for sale. Do you think he is going to give them a bad review ? I have the Vmar cap can we say junk... I should have bought the sig somthing extra at twice the money. Oh it does fly... I supose if this were you first aerobatic plane it would be ok but It will sit in my basement until the next aution comes around.

So Lt Dan where did you find that gear ? Looks nice. The wing tip in mine had what appeared to be a real rough finished balsa, kind like it was cut with chain saw or something. And it was thin hard and seemed brittle. I got it fixed easy enough and seems fine now... Been thinking about a second one (embarassed look on face here) and building it light and right and using it for a fun fly plane. I like the way the darn things fly. Really a love/hate relationship.

I know how you feel with the HotRod. It does fly great, but has so many little flaws. When I purchased my replacement HotRod, I went ahead and made a list of everything I had to replace before it came. Building was much easier the second time around, knowing what had to be done. It went very smooth and built up beautifully. As seen in the photos, I spent two nights on that kit.

I bought the Fults dual nose strut from Tower's website, but I have also seen them at Hobby Town, it was something like $14.00 and well worth it!

Thanks, might have to give the second one and your gear a try...
As a taildragger takeoffs can be a challenge at times. Read as squirlly on the ground.

Several guys in the club has recommended I convert it to a taildragger, but since I've purchased dual nose, I don't think I'll need to!

One of the guys at my field fly's the V-Cap and swears its the best flying cap on the market. He will argue with you till he turns blue and never give up. What make this interesting is this is only his 3rd plane, first was a trainer, second was a fun-fly that he promptly stuffed in like a lawn dart. I let him make a couple of passes {up high} with my Super Kraft 232, he didn't like it, said it was too sensitive and {are you ready for this}too hard to tumble. About 1/2 hour later he snapped his in on final, He is going to buy another V product. Takes all kinds to make the world go round.

I spent 6 hours at the field today, lost count of my flights after about ten. I now have over 50 flights in my HotRods without a single problem. (Other than those that I've caused, that is. ) I am loving this plane!

On a side note, I bought a SIG Kadet LT-40 for a buddy for Xmas, we opened it up and I was extremely impressed with the quality. They've definately got VMAR beat by a ways, but I still love my HotRod!

Outcast,
that is my point exactly. I think this is a fine aerobatic arf for your 3rd or fourth plane. but for an experienced pilot who is looking for a good aerobatic arf I would say this is marginal at best. It is heavy for one, and the constuction is sub-par in my book. I would have been better of with a sig something extra arf for twice the money.

Lt Dan
What is it about those Hot Rods... Sure get to be fun..
I ordered my second one today from Quantum

I'ts great to know what other's think about products. Youse guys are "my" Consumer's Report. I think it is safe to say I won't be trying any VMAR's anytime soon. Since I started in this hobby, the only product I am unsatisfied with is one I bought without using ya'lls input (which was readily available and known to me). I bought the GP Extra 40 size landing gear for my sig SE to save a few bucks. I got snookered by my own intelligence. Now I'm out $9 and have to wait for the TNT gear to get here. But, I do have plenty of scrap aluminum. At .27 cents per pound, I got at least .30 cents worth! By the by, my wish list at Tower has been cleared, so I think Santa is coming Ya'll be good now, ya hear?