I am thinking of getting this airplane (I can't believe I'm doing this, I'm a diehard builder!!), and in all the writing that has been done about it, specially when it comes to the right powerplant, I haven't once seen anyone mention the Saito 1.50, I don't really know how much pull this engine has, I have never used any of the two in my stock pile, so I don't know how much difference is there between the 1.50 and the 1.80, in raw power I mean.
I would think this airplane's airframe is more suitable to glow than gasoline engines, I do have Quadra's 35 and Zenoha 38 that I could use, but with these engines major butchering of the cowl is mandatory, and as I mentioned earlier, these ARF's don't have a hole lot of meat in them, and am afraid the airframe would be short lived by the shakes these engines are notorious for, any comments will be appreciated.

Walter,

The Saito 1.50 is an excellent choice for the T-craft. We flew the prototypes with the 1.20 (good power) to the 1.80 (torque rolling power). The Saito 1.50 with an APC 17x6 prop on 30% heli is more power than you need. For scale looking flight the Zenoah G-26 (just replaced the G-23) is the best choice along with the Saito 1.20.

Good Luck with your project!

Regards, John

To : Walter D.

You're gonna love this plane !


When I was assembling the model (last winter), I wanted to add more scale features to it. After digging around, I was able to contact the owner of the real aircraft (Harold Hanson). I talked to Harold many times last winter. Harold was nice enough to take pics of his plane, blow them up into 8x10's and mail them to me. He also supplied me with much written documentation to add more scale authentication.

I have created about 100 semi-scale parts/features to my model (complete interior roll cage. landing gear springs, three-point harness, gas cap and gas cap nacelle, venturi tube, wing fillets (Harold INSISTED I added these fillets), rudder trim wheel, interior door handles, etc.

Mine is equipped with an inverted Saito 1.8 and an ElectroDynamics On-Board Glow system.

If you are interested, I could scan Harold's 8x10 photos and store them in my "Gallery"

Let me know.

That's a great idea Joe! I know for a fact that I'll be getting this airplane before the year's end, Ho Ho Ho!
I am a scale builder myself and love to add those finishing touches to all my airplanes, even those that are not so scale, I always went to my local small airport and shot dozens of pictures, that's when all you had to do was to just walk over to the airplane and shoot, now things are a little more difficult.
I'll for sure be downloading those pictures for references purposes as there will be many more people people taking advantage of your idea, thanks, and email me when you start doing so, best wishes!

And to John:
Hope you have received my thank you email, if not, thanks again for reassuring me that the Saito 1.50 is also a great choice for this beautiful airplane.

I have finished mine and am waiting for the weather to cooporate. I would need to put skis on it now to fly it. I would do that. Does anyone know if there are some pre-made, or do I need to make them myself? Also, for the interior of mine, I covered the servo tray area with a piece of cardboard covered with thin cloth. It looks pretty cool all enclosed. I would also be interested in seeing pics of all the details Joe Mamma. I'll get some pics on here of mine soon.

This ARF was the subject of a DIY RC Hobbies segment. The link, below, will take you to a page where you can see how much cowl "butchering" was required to install the Zenoah G-23 (plenty of power for this craft, BTW). If a G-23 can haul it around, I would think the Saito 150 would be more than enough.

http://www.diynet.com/DIY/article/0,2058,8531,00.html

Yeah, my cowling looks almost like that except for not as wide an opening where the pitts muffler comes out. I put a choke on mine too. So I have another slot hole to move the choke lever. The G-23 should work fine for me.

Walter,

Don't feel bad. I used to be a die hard builder too but time contraints, family, a home, girlfriend other hobbies and work all conspire to take time away from building. I've decided ARF's are the way to go. Great value for the dollar today and you're in the air in no time.

My buddy has the T-craft with a G-23. It's plenty of power. Plenty. A Q-35 or G38 would be too much IMO. The airframe is strong enough to take the gas engine and it will fly great at half stick. If you want to get nutty and go full power the airframe will handle that too. My friend's even has smoke. He can fly all afternoon on 1 tank of gas too.

hth

Jeff

All true Jeff, I must have at least 15 kits in their boxes, plus 3 unfinished airplanes and now my free time is at a premium, after changing cities and jobs. What is incredible is the amount of back and forth talk this kit has created, and the good thing is, it is all positive, I doubt anyone could go wrong with this one.
Thanks to all for their input, it's what makes this part of the hobby a lot of fun.

Walter, dad and I have a Saito 182 twin in ours. It flys awesome..the only thing with the 182 is since the carbs are on to of the crankcase you need to cut the top of the cowl and the carbs sit flush with the top of cowl.. dad put seperate servos for the elevater halfs in the cockpit. He moved the engine out more so he did'nt have to add weight to the nose..Looks alittle like a Super Cub with the cowl moved further out!!! Can't wait to add skies!!!
good luck
frank