Well yesterday we finally test flew the Texan II my son got for Christmas. It was purchased with the V-tec 46 for an extra $49. Broke the motor in on the bench (actually clamped to a ladder) and it performed beautifully. I was concerned from post relating negative experiences on the airplane and the motor. The airplane flew great, very responsive and precise. Four points are crisp and require moderate rudder on points 2 and 3. It lacks side area to sustain knife edge. Tons of vertical and does a beautiful snap on top of a loop. Still running motor a little rich but plenty of power and great idle with Pitts muffler that was supplied. It also comes with a gorgeous tuned pipe looking less restrictive muffler that I used for break in. I initially set it up slightly nose heavy and it will really slow down on landing. For now - NO complaints, great flying machine. Skip

Just wait till you have a heavy landing, it will disintegrate before your very eyes

I have a freind that has one of these planes, he has an OS 46 on the nose. He think he flies the Texan II more then any of his other planes.

He mod the plane by mounting the engine upright. Not exactly sure why he did it, since the OS 46 flies just fine inverted. I've been watching him fly that plane almost every week for just about a year now. I have not seen any bad tendencies while he's flying. I haven't flown it myself, he may just be a really good pilot.

I do plan on getting one after watching his all the time. Looks good, especially the landing, they are nice.

Flew the Texan II all weekend and it performed beautifully. Engine is running better with very little hesitation in mid range as we are leaning it out more as it is breaking in. Slowing it down on landings as we get use to it and no tendancy to tip stall (still set up a bit nose heavy). Time will tell but for now I really like this airplane and it is getting a lot of attention at the field. Skip

VMAR got (and deserved) a lot of bad press over the past several years. However, the recent additions (Texan II, Edge, Pilatus) are gettin great comments. For those who do not like the VMAR line, I'd be curious whether they dislike the new stuff or not?

That must be the case, as with many ARFs, there seem to be growing pains. I looked in every place I could to detect any bad joints, inferior materials, or design weakness and all looked good. It's a $149 ARF but I believe it is a structuraly sound and good looking airplane and it flies great! Skip

I had the 80" wingspan Texan II from vmar. As far as building it went, the cowl needed a lot of work and I used a different motor mount. The covering started to bubble after a while but if you ran your hands across it they would smooth out. As far as flying went, it was awsome. It is very stable and easy to fly. It slows to a crawl witht the flaps down and looked great on low passes. I didn't put the retracts on it but wish I did. I had a magnum 1.08 with a pitt muffler which was plenty of power. Unfortunately one of my aileron servos failed and she bit the dust.

I have one of their very early PC9's, in RAAF "Roulettes" color scheme, got it in 1999.

The color has faded and the covering wrinkled, but the model structure has held up well and it still flies very nicely, powered by an inverted Saito .50 up front.

Changes? The wheels (The VMAR supplied ones where square) and I junked the VMAR spinner. Also had to lower the fuel tank for the inverted 4 stroke installation. That was about it.

Yes, it will certainly disintergrate with a real heavy (like nose 1st) landing, but there aren't too many ARF's that won't bust something if the landing is on the real heavy side.

After 4 years it doesn't really owe me anything, so if it died tomorrow I wouldn't be too upset.

My PC9 has survived harder landings without damage, than my Kyosho Super Stearman was able to. (The latters soft dural undercarriage bent and tore out when it ran into a grass tussock.)

I have Blue Texan II with an OS 120.
Flies great and I have more than 120 flights on it.

No complains

howdy all i was also thinking of this kit i noticed you mentioned it didnt knife edge but yet read the review by model airplane news and they say knife edge is done easy? im guessing the nose heavy is whats stopping yours im curious though i want a plane that will do some aerobatics.

Get a Chipmunk, it'll do what ever you want.

There are lots of models out there that will do awesome knife edges and other aerobatics, maybe a TopCat profile plane.