Hello, an older flying buddy of mine gave me (2) of the GREAT PAINES - sorry for the pun cap 231 ex's. Whats wrong with these planes?? besides love to snap?? & is there anything I can remedy? I have about 15 years of RE-KITTING expericence. Also one of the ARF's is put together the other is NIB Any help would be appreciated
THANKS MUCH !!!!!!!
DAVE







LOVE THE SPEED OF THIS SITE

I have one of these with an OS61fx, and it flies beautifully. The only problem with this plane is when it 1st came out the manual said to glue the wings together while laying flat on your building board upside down. That was an error, this planes must have more dihederal. Make sure you have the latest version manual, version 1.1 , that doesnt say glue the wing together while upside down on building board.
Also, make sure you use 2 wing hold down bolts instead of the suggested one.
Use high torque servo on rudder with pull/pull. thats about it. Daz...

I have one of these planes that is 3 years old. I found the landing gear attachment weak. It hardly had any glue. I have been told by a dealer that the wings are built with wash in instead of wash out. That would explain the snapping problem. Mine snaps terribly if slowed down too much. Inverted it will solw to a crawl with no bad habits but it is hard to land inverted.

I love the plane. It is built well except for the gear mounting area. I would love to build a new wing but dont have a source for a kit.

This wash in problem may explain why I have the only CAP231 EX left in our club! You do need to land it fast to keep it from snapping.

Mine lands at a crawl, if your getting terrible snapping, you probably have too much elevator throw, make sure you are using the recommended throws. I have no prob. with snapping, Rexbirk, thats funny I'm the only one at my field with one, 2 other guys had one they both crashed. Daz...
Here is a link to the review:after clicking go to reviews
http://navigation.helper.realnames.c...3&uid=30017356

From notes I read from Ann Marie, it appeared to me that Great Planes pulled the (B)ARF due to inconsitant problems with the wings. That may explaine why some had a lot worse problems than others. I have told people for 2 or 3 years now that I built and fly the 40 size GP CAP 232 KIT, and have test flown the GP CAP 231EX and there is no comparrison. Correctly balanced and with the recommended throws, the CAP 232 is a *****cat that with high rates that will do anything in the book, and a few not named yet! However, the example of the GP CAP231EX that I test flew did everything negative mentioned in the above posts, ...all in about the first 3 seconds of flight! It snapped (twice) on takeoff (I was able to recover), but I then put it back down quickly and lost the landing gear (plate pulled out). We finally got the plane to fly somewhat sanely, but ended up moving the CG forward (almost 1/2") of the recommended point, and cutting the elevator throw down well below the recommended throw. Finally also moved the landing gear forward to prevent a tendency to nose over on grass field takeoffs. Having to hold up elevator on the takeoff roll to keep from nosing over is NOT a good idea with this beast!
Even at that, landings were a handful, and best done at high speeds! I never was able to put an incendence meter on that plane, but given how it handled, it wouldn't suprise me if it had the previously mentioned wash-in instead of wash-out.

Lee

Please let me know if you would be interested in selling one.

Thanks

I had one back when they first came out in 1998. I flew the pants (both literally and figuratively) off it for about a season and a half. Glued my wing the upside down way. Used originally a Saito .91 in it and replaced it with an MDS 68 - a better choice. I also moved my battery pack back behind the servos to improve it's performance. Aside from a crappy covering job and fixing the LG block atleast once, it flew great! I loved it. It met it's demise when the battery pack broke loose from its mooring and came unplugged in a wing down pirouette. It didn't stop when I did. Ah well.... For the record, I didnt have any snapping problems. I also didn't try to land it at a stall either. It's an aerobatic plane.

Xp8103, I understand what you say when you said you glued the wing with the upside down method, cause my 1st 231ex said glue it upside down, well my 1st one crashed. Greatplanes sent me another one, and during the assembly process they changed the manual and you glued it right side up with a dihederal block on one end to set the dihederal. This one has been great ever since. I think the manual was screwed up on the initial kits, and this is why so many people had problems with them. Daz...

The "I'm the only one in the club with one!) Thing makes me feel much better. I love this airplane, it's a rush to fly! Just don't overdo the elevator. Mine came out of the box with 2 degrees of + incedence in the right wing half. Work it to 0 deg., raised the ailerons some and am flying the heck out of it! Still doesn't like to land at slower speeds. No one else in the area clubs (4) seems to have one.

I just aquired one this summer too. It's a bit over powered with the Saito 180 I've got on the front......extremely unlimited vertivcal. I strengthened the firewall with gussets, and additional ply along with fiberglass. I also strengthened the fuselage where the landing gear attaches (just from what I've herd around here). It flys absolutly beautifuly, but with too much elevator throw it will snap. I've got pictures if you're interested!!

You have a Saito 180 on the GP Cap 231 EX, wow now thats got to be overpowered, the plane originally came out with the engine recommendations of a 46Fx engine. I have a OS61fx in mine, and it flies great, and lands at a crawl. Daz...

No way.... a .46!?! I'm pretty sure this plane reccomends a 60 2-stroke or a 90 4-stroke..... THere's no way this plane would preform with a .46 in it!!! We are talking about the same Cap right??? (64 inch wingspan) I tried it with a YS 90 AC on it ..... not enough vertical, and since I had a Saito 180 sitting around I figured why not!! Now it's got vertical with a little to spare!!

Read it for yourself, actually they recommend a 40- 60 2 stroke.
http://www.greatplanes.com/airplanes/gpma1230.html

I'll be damned.... Pretty broad range they give ya for an engine (.40 to a .61 2-stroke).......I guess it should read .91- 1.8 4 stroke !! I couldn't imagine how much of a DOG this plane would be with a .40 2-stroke!!

I can verify that it is underpowered with a 46 FX. That did'nt kill mine though - it was the Matt Chapman blue and green color scheme gave my color blind eyes fits trying to tell top from bottom!
Rich

Hey guys, had one of the GP 23ex ARF's... Being really new to the hobby in 1971, after my 2 tours in Nam, radio systems weren't go to the hobby outlets, buy a system Thought what a good idea..so off to Heath Kit. (AM) of course and built it. Mounted the recommended motor and off to a ball field to learn to fly, Needless to say, I brought my beautiful plane home in a trash bag...Smile now... My first learning experience... It ain't easy Magee.. Hope you got a chuckle. Now, on to the real issue, I brought all the puzzle pieces home. Many hours recreating the new parts, and scratch building the plane again. Have since recreated several of the plane, with the most recent all framed up, ready for covering. LOVE THAT PLANE. Had planed to power with fuel again, but went to our field couple days ago and the majority were using gasoline or batteries.... So... Suggestions please. I'm thinking lets skip messing with liquid fuels??? Where can I get good info on where to go with this... Thanks, for reading...GOT2RETIRE