Anyone have the .30 Waco from Hobby People? Don't know about the quality. Looking for a small bipe and don't see too many available.
Thanks
Jim

I was looking for more information about this one too. Some questions I had were if it was just a snap rolling machine, or does it actually fly nice. My experience with some of the smaller planes have been anytime you add elevator, it snaps.

Also, how is the qulaity of the kit? I have assembled the Global Freestyle and had no complaints about it. So is the Waco like the Freestyle's quality or is it like some of their older offerings that weren't worth much?

Any info anyone could provide would be appreciated... Thanks

Do a search, you should find quite a bit. Mine was good quality and looked great. It was not terribly aerobatic but it did not snap with elevator. I put a Magnum .28 on it and although it balanced perfectly, it was way too much power. It would hit 90mph no problem. Takeoffs are very challenging.

Why the takeoff problems? Poor ground handling, touchy elevator due to short airframe or just too much power?
Jim

It just seems to want to dance around on the ground. I think most small airplanes do that. I almost wanted to hand launch it. If you get one, just throttle it up very slowly and keep it straight with your rudder and climb out shallow. It taxis fine and I never had problems with the elevator. The new OS 30 four-stroke would be a perfect match I think. Once off the ground, it flys really great.

I have had one for a while now. I put a Saito .30 in it. It flies very scale with it, no un-limited vertical. Great sound with the little Saito. The sound matches the plane perfectly. A low-pass is a thrill.

Take-offs are a challenge. It get's squirly, and you must make sure you have plenty of speed before pulling back on the sticks. Not enough speed on take-off and it will snap in a heart beat. I turned mine over numerous times.

It loses speed QUICK. Make sure to carry some on landing approach. Deadsticks can be a challenge. Just make sure to keep the speed up.

Make sure to re-inforce the gear as it is extremely weak.


The plane flies beautifully. Tumbling maneuvers are phenomenal. Snaps are unbelievable, knife edge is not. Flat spins are very nice. Low passes however are my favorite. Roll rate is very good on high-rates.

The waco is one of my favorite planes to fly. It is always a challenge, but it is so beautiful in the air. I really enjoy it.

I have a video of my plane here. It has been recovered to a more easily viewable pattern. http://www.ballangrud.com/beergator/.../waco_High.wmv

Ivarb

Enjoyed the video of the Sportman's aviation Waco. I have a
os 40 four stroke, would this be too much for the Waco? Is this
a quality ARF. Thanks for any info. Adamtapps

I've just bought a waco and was told by a fellow club member that his 30 magnum 4 stroke is not enough power.

What would be the biggest 4 stroke possible to put in it? Sensibly.

Could you put an os40 fs in it?
Is there an engine that is considerably more powerful than other 30 size FS?

Any help would be appreciated

I agree the Magnum .30 is too weak for the plane. I would try a Saito 30 or OS 30 or 40 four stroke.

Do you think the OS 40fs will fit? What about weight penalty's?

the best little bipe is the jamara waco 30. it is a quality kit and flyes really well on a 25 2 stroke. itis also highly aerobatic (my one has a OS 25fp in it)

OK...Saito has a new 40 -4-stroke now...same case as thier 30 size,but more power....Retailing for $ 179.95...looks awful good....check it out...Has 0.65 bhp, same as OS 40 4 stroke....

I have an OS Wankel on this plane and I haven't had any problems with the plane snapping on takeoff. I did break one stab when it flipped over on a landing (the wheels caught a clump of thick grass). My plane takes off at 1/2 throttle nice and scale like. Also, mine doesn't bleed as much speed as I would have expected. Maybe my CG is more forward than the others. If I remember correctly I balanced it per the instructions. This is a great little plane, it handles like a much larger model. The only issue is you will need smaller than standard servos.

Mark M.

HI Guys,

I fly mine electric, mega motor 22/30/3, 9x6 prop, 10 cells. It's a little heavy this way (65oz) but flies great. As longs as I build up enough speed take off is fine, landings are a little hot but not bad. I guess it flies at 60 mph or so. I have plenty of power, usually fly at 60-70% throttle. The only think I noticed is that it will tip stall without much warning and the torque of the motor comes into play at take off and for example at the top of a looping.

Marcel.

Mine flys well on a saito 30. Take off at 1/2 throttle etc. (I also get torque effects on loops and throttle up.

The fuel tank split after about 30 flights and now i have fitted a larger one.

The CG on mine is way back from what they suggest but this doen't effect it. Landings have to be made with some throttle though or it can kartwheel on set-down.

I've also designed an "Amoco" sticker scheme. Looks much more colourful.

I will take one of the top of the wings soon.

Neil,

Nice looking bipe! I have moved the CG forward a little and it does seem to make the plane more stable. I prevent the torque roll at the top of loops by throttling back (saves on the battery too).

Another guy at my field also flies one on a geared car motor (magnetic mayhem, 10 cells, 1:4 geared) and his flies very nice as well.

Marcel.

Marcel

Does the CG make a big difference to the ground handling on this plane?

If so i will need to put a heavier nut on the engine.

Neil

Neil,

For me it seems to help preventing tip stalls (can't really explain why). I have also started flying the Waco at a field with a nice runway and I have not seen the typical torque roll at take off, this is maybe because the speed is now higher at take-off, I used to fly of grass and struggle to make it into the air.

Marcel.

what are your flight times?

Neil,

So that's where electrics still fail, my timer goes off at 5 min, so maybe 6min max. And with this plane I wish it was more like 10min. Except for the flights being too short the conversion was a success. What are your flight times?

Marcel.

Marcel

On the standard tank around 10 mins (Safely). I,ve put a larger one in now (From a Wildcard ARTF) but haven't flown it again yet. I would expect 15-18 Mins.

I Don't suppose you could fit a larger battery in? The weight on yours is probably much lighter anyhow.

Neil

Neil,

Mine is a hefty 65oz now, do you know how much yours weighs?

Marcel.

A Picture of my Waco flying this weekend.
You can kind of work out the stickers.

Neil

My buddy had two of these (both red/white and black/white patterns). First of all the black/white pattern dissappears very quickly when there isn't perfect daylight. It was real easy to lose it in the cloud in the evening. Re/white one was pretty visible. Although these planes look awesome on the ground and in the air both had similiar problems. Squirly take offs are the truth. If you haven't flown a cub on takeoff then don't start with one of these. He could fly his .25 size p-51 fine but had a lot of problems taking off with this plane (tip stalled on takeoff a couple of times and had problems correcting with rudder others). I suppose thats another point. Know how to use the rudder and not just the tailwheel. The CG was hard to work out on the planes. With a os FP .25 it was real tail heavy. Had to add several lead weights to get it to balance properly. The second had a Magnum .28 2 stroke and it was WAY more power than this plane needed. It really ballooned when you throttled up. Once balanced it was a neat flying plane. Very quick even with the standard .25. Rolls were very quick. The landing gear and mounts on this plane were horrible on both planes. A hard landing (bounced or tall grass) will generally twist the landing gear mounting block right out of the fuse. Took a lot of restructuring to get the gear blocks solid. Also the quality of balsa used in both of his planes was HORRIBLE! Looking inside the fuse towards the back and many of the stringers were warped or shreading straight from the factory! The glue was not holding well either. These planes were returned to the manufacturer after writing a letter and they replaced them with sufficient counterparts. So would I buy one? Maybe, but not for the $140 price they go for. On the other side of things I had a global Focke Wulf .15 size arf and that was by far the toughest, highest quality, arf that I have owned. So with that said maybe they have fixed their QA with this plane. Just check it over real good before putting it together.