For those of you waiting for a new one Tower shows them back in stock. If the BGX 3500 balanced okay my BME 44 should be great. The BGX 3500 is 49 oz w/o muffler. MY BME 44 with muffler, ignition, battery, and switch is 59 OZ.

Chris

Hey guys,...being the one that started this thread, I havent had much time to get on and see the posts. Ok here's a question,....has anyone checked the balance on this bird with a Brison 3.2 ??

Thanks guys and Keep the posts coming

I will let you know how my BME 44 comes out. What is the weight of your 3.2?

Chris

it generates 26 lbs of thrust and the engine weighs 3.25 lbs

AnnMarie,

thanks for reading. first place I checked was the website and it hasn't been loaded there yet. An email is on the way.

have a good day,
Scott

What about a Saito 180 ? That engine should pull 15lbs straight up? Would it fit in the cowl w/ out cutting (sideways) ? Any thoughts ? Thanks-Mike O.

More like 12 lbs --

I've settled on the following and most are on the way:

Fox 3.2 (with a Moki 2.1 held in reserve)
3 different sized props for experimentation
5 Hitec HS-5945MG High Torque, Metal Gear Servo - Airtronics Z
1 Hitec HS-5645MG High Torque, Metal Gear Servo - Airtronics Z

I'll be using my trusty Airtronics Stylus Radio

Are y'all using the pushrod hardware provided or do you have your own favorite brand?

I am putting in a BME50. I have the plane all put together. I do not have a motor mount for my engine so I have not mounted it to check how the CG will come out. I use all the hardware and two rudder servos mounted in the tail. I have a feeling the plane will come out tail heavy. Is anyone using a pull pull setup with one servo mounted further forward? I was lucky on my plane, I did not have any problems with my wing are stab tubes. I hope to have mine in the air in a couple of weeks. If any one has any questions are need pictures, feel free to e-mail me. [email protected]

Thanks, Joe

What engine mount are you using for the BME 44. I had heard guys using the Hanger 9 metal mount but that is too heavy. Use the Great planes 1.20-1.80 mount. I think the 300 comes with one. I bought one for mounting the BME 44 on my Giles.

Chris

Got mine today everything looks good except the cowl is cracked. Will have to wait and call them Monday I guess. What is the procedure for getting a replacement cowl? Thanks!

opened mine up a little more... workmanship looks great - the only things I noticed was the colors of the cowl, fuse and canopy trim were all a little different. Cowl was lighter and brighter than the fuse, canopy was darker and deeper red than the fuse. Tried to take pics, but the lighting was off - I'll try under natural light tomorrow.

Not that it's a huge issue, just the plane is tooo pretty - maybe its the engineer in me nit-picking...

Havent checked the fit of the tubes, altough its had a few days to settle down in the coolness of the air conditioning.

can't wait til I have room in the hangar (house) to get this one going...

X300pilot,

Try to get a weight for the Brison 3.2 with everything required. I thought my BME 44 was going to be around 52 oz, but with engine, pitts muffler (pitts weight more), ignition, battery, and switch it is 59 OZ.

Chris

Has anyone found a carbon Fiber or Fiberglass landing gear replacement yet? My landing gear weight 10.7 OZ! heavy!

Chris

Any of you guys installing a ZDZ 40 on this bird? Want to know if this will be enough power for unlimited vertical? Also, I looked at one today at LHS and the engine box looks weak with the 1/8" ply used. Will the engine box/firewall handle a gasser?

Thanks

The engine box looks pretty strong to me. The manual has you pin the firewall with a dowel that is provided. I think it will be okay. Bigger is not always better and is usually heavier! I am putting a BME 44 on mine. I would go ZDZ 50 if you can, but I think a ZDZ 40 would do fine.

Chris

I was reading in the manual about installing the servo tray---does anybody else already have the tray already installed? (wonder why they did that?)

Yes my servo tray was pre installed. I starting building mine this morning. I inspected all the parts. Here is what I found:

Left Wing panel - numerous bumps in sheeting and covering

Right Wing Panel - Just aft of the leading edge the sheeting is crushed

Cowl - Paint is chipped is several places and cracking in other.

Canopy - Paint is chipped in two places and tinted plastic is scratched

I was going to build all day, but there goes that idea. I am pretty pis*** that this many items get's past there quality control. Of course GP is not open on the weekend to talk too. I will call them monday. I was real excited about this plane, but not anymore. At least the fuselage looks good. I did find an extra piece of balsa in the fuselage. It is 3" long and looks like it was ripped off someplace. I don't see anything missing inside, but that does not make me feel much better!

Chris

Has anybody balanced this with the Moki 2.1/Bisson muffler yet, using a pull-pull and something like a Klett or Sullivan tailwheel? If so, did you need the weight of the radial mount to get it to balance, or did you use the mount that came with the plane?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

vtsmx

chris,
You can contact our support team 24/7 via email at [email protected].

It sounds like your kit had a rough time in shipment. While the exterior box may look fine, a box this large flexes and moves, with the potential of interior damage without exterior damage visible. As you state, this level of damage would not have passed QC and have been intentionally allowed to ship.

If your kit was purchased via mail order, please contact the mail order location to determine how they handle potential shipping damage claims. If it was purchased at a dealer, please return it to your dealer and ask them to exchange it.

Regardless whose product you purchase, we always recommend inspecting it the minute it arrives and not waiting until you're all set to dig in up to your eyebrows on it, as sometimes, despite everyone's best efforts, damage happens either in packaging, in shipping, or item(s) can get missed in boxing or esp in reboxing during QC.

amcross,

Thanks for the reply. My hobby shop only had one. He is just starting the shop and does not have much in stock. I am going to call Great Planes when they open at 8:00C and see what they want me to do. What I would like too havwee done is one shipped with a call tag for the defective unit. I really don't want to wait while I ship this unit back, get it looked at, and a new one shipped.

I did look it over quickly when I bought it. I was really worried about the wing tube not fitting, but the wing and stab fits perfect. The only problem I noticed was the cowl. I decided not to call GP until I look it over good. Good thing I waited. I agree with you this must be shipping damage. The wing was on the bottom of the box. I drop of the box and it gets crushed. You know all the shipping company have quota's for there truck loaders. I have seen them throw boxes ten feet!

Thanks,

Chris

I'm using the Moki 1.8.Bisson Pitts muffler on the GP mount. With the single rudder servo mounted on the receiver tray and pull-pull (elevator servos still on stab) and stock tailwheel, Balances just fine at recommended starting place. I can move battery either way to make adjustments to CG.

Total weight is 14.4 lbs without stickers

Hello Pettit

I have a question for you,....when you made the rudder pull-pull,....where did the cables exit the fuse, did they come out where the rudder servo was normally supposed to go??...if they did, then what did you do to that area? did you close it up with balsa or ply then cover over it and then open up an exit slot for the cable?.....

Thanks!!

I didn't open the covering over each hole for each rudder servo and drilled holes under that area for small plastic tube. The pull-pull wires pass through these tubes. I tried to make it as straight a line to the servo as possible.

OH!!...OK,....I see,......I have heard of a few guys doing this for balance reasons, I will be using a brison 3.2 for power, I guess I should wait to see how it balances first with the engine, and then decide if the servos should go forward or aft of CG.

Thanks Pettit for your input.

Allen. (x300pilot)