Bugalooob

I finished putting this plane together last week with the recommended .46 engine (OS), came with retracts...The problem is that I had to add about a pound and a half of weight to the nose plus move the battery to inside the cowl to get this thing to balance..I don't have a scale but this thing must be over 8 lbs...I took this flying brick to the field yesterday for its maiden flight and basically it took the whole grass runway to take off, made it to about 15 feet in the air but couldn't gain anymore altitude (I know I was screwed at this point)...I tried to turn it back to the field but there just wasn't enough power in the OS to keep this thing up and it went down in a cornfield...After an hour of searching I found it with minor damage to one retract....I got it home and was ready to strip this thing down of anything useful and throw it in the trash but I calmed down and thought about putting a bigger engine in it, if I stick a lawnmower engine in it then it should balance out without needing extra nose weight but with this plane maybe not...

simmo8

sorry bout your plane
you have got to hate bad maidens i had one just recentley with a 1000 dollar glider i smashed the fuse first test throw {not my fault}
i would definitley get a bigger engine in it and try to get it back into the air
good luck mate
happy flying for next time

simmo

Bugalooob

Forgot to add that the wheels the zero came with are too small for grass runways, I put on 2 1/2 inch ones and they were still too small(plane just keep flipping over)..Had to go with 3 inch wheels which won't fit into the retract holes in the wing no matter how much you enlarge the hole.. Plane is so heavy the wheels were sinking into the field

Bugalooob

Thanks Simmo, I only paid 150 bucks for the kit but it took alot of work to put it together since the instructions were so bad and the hardware sucked

simmo8

its too bad ai i spose that its just a part of the fun in this hobby

outdoorhunting

You might want to check & see if you can move the engine forward on the motor mounts. That's the first thing I do when tail heavy. Also, I think it is Dubro that has the " Feather-lite" wheels. We have a fairly rough grass strip also. Some of the guys put a small spacer under the back of their retracts, shoving them at a slight forward angle. They say that helps. Good luck.

crazyp

same problem i got this thing together and seen how much weight i had to add and took it back apart now it sits in the rafters in the garage

bassfisher

My Feedback: (21)

Having built and flown the CMP Zero (there is a really good thread on this plane), the .46 is way to small for this plane. With the high wing loading, plus the additon retracts, the plane really needs a .61 2S or at least a .70FS (marginal performance) with a large prop. I flew mine with a .91 FS and a .80 FS. The instructions were way off for the CG, but this was caught early. I also built mine with fixed gear. This allowed me to use larger wheels when flying off our grass runway. I did have to add a pound of lead on the firewall, but this was not unexpected due to its short nose. I also strengthen the fuse by adding balsa longerons from the cockpit back to the tail. It flew fast and showed a couple of bad tendencies, but those were induced by me. It also likes to land fast. My advise, put a bigger engine in the front, put quality hardware in the plane, make sure the wheels are a little forward of the LE, and have fun. Mine is currently up in the rafters, but only because I am flying the engine(s) in other planes.

ZERO-322

My Feedback: (2)

I TOO OWN AND HAVE FLOWN THIS PLANE , I AM RUNNING A THUNDER TIGER 46 WITH A PITTS MUFFLER AND A 10X8 PROP , FINISH BUILDING WEIGHT IS AT 6 1/2" LBS , BASSFISHER YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT THE CG AND THANKS TO ALL YOU GUYS ON RCU I CAUGHT IT EARLY AS WELL , BUT WHAT MOST INCLUDING ME , THOUGHT HEY IF YOU HAVE TO ADD SO MUCH WEIGHT TO THE NOSE OF A MODEL IT MUST BE A POOR QUALITY KIT ( NOT TRUE ) YOU RAISE AN EXCELLENT POINT THE NOSE IS SHORT TO PRESERVE THE SCALE LOOK , SO THIS HAS TO BE DONE , WHAT I AM CONFUSED ABOUT EVERYTHING RECOMENDED ENGINE , THROWS , AND FINISH WEIGHT OF THIS PLANE, EXCEPT FOR THE CG , HAS WORKED OUT EXACTLY AS THE MANUFACTURE SAID IT WOULD , SO WHY IS EVERYONE ELSE HAVEING TO GO WITH SUCH EXTREME MODIFICATIONS , AND I DIDN'T ?
OUTDOOR LOVE THE IDEA OF MOVING THE ENGINE FORWARD ON THE MOUNT , I AM GONNA DO THIS AND TAKE OUT SOME LEAD BRING THE WEIGHT DOWN EVEN FURTHER , THANKS FOR THE TIP !

jeffk464

Bassfisher

You said your zero flew fast on a 91FS, how fast would you estimate. I have an OS 91FS and was wondering if this would be a fun plane for it.

bassfisher

My Feedback: (21)

Jeff- I would estimate 60-70 MPH. It can get up ang go, but read my post and the other posts concerning the plane. The OS 91 will be a great engine. Some folks have been putting 120FS and flying the wings off of them. I really need to get it flying again!

chistech

I had the CMP 50 Corsair and it was a great flyer. It's bad tendancy was to flip over on it's tail. It too had small wheels and I managed to get larger 2 3/4" wheels on it. The NP mechanical retracts were of poor quality and I had to do lots of re-work to get them to be reliable. I used what I think to be the perfect motor for this ARF and probably the Zero also. Buy a TT 91FS. It is the heaviest in it's class but also a powerhouse. I use a 13x8 prop and it was a awesome performing plane. I would say it would easily fly 80 to 90mph but I never flew it that fast. Because of a rough field and it's tendancy to flip, it got off the ground too soon and stalled breaking the cowl and cracking the wing very slightly. It is repairable but just sits in my garage. One thing we did find is the plastic end of the supplied pushrods had come unglued and moved out of the tube. It stalled in the same direction as the rudder was turned so we don't know if it was the pushrod that caused the crash. BE CAREFUL OF THE PUSHRODS AND THE PLASTIC ENDS. They look good and go together easy but epoxy doesn't seem to hold the ends in the tube.