Can anyone that has had the VQ 1.2 size Cap 10 from Hobby People for some time, input their experience regarding the quality of the pre printed covering that comes with these airplanes and overall assesment of its quality and flying traits. Reviews don't tell much.
Quite a few years ago I had two airplanes from Thunder Tiger with a vinyl type covering that was pre printed that sagged terribly when in the sun for only a few minutes and I remember that trying to remove this covering was almost impossible as it becomes extremely brittle and would stick to the wood frame with a vengeance, not a fun job to do at all!
Hope someone has some saying in this matter, thanks.

Walter,
I have built and flown both the VQ Cap10b and the Yellow Aircraft Cap10b Look under the reviews for RCU for the Yellow AC notes and navigate to Hobby People for the Review under that product on their web site.

VQ is good stuff

jds

Hi Jds, I've read your review, but it doesn't answer my question regarding the covering's ability to stay in good condition over a flying season, do you still have the airplane?

I have the VQ 60 size. It is adorable. The wheel pants are a little funky. But the plane is a nostalgic trip.

Walter,
There is no problem with the covering it's regular Oracoat or Ultra coat. It shrinks well with minimal heat and stays put. I dont have the plane anymore but not due to anything but my own fault. The canopy is quit large and VQ has precut black trim that you run along the front and the sides. I did not glue my canopy down but used Du-Bro #2 pan head soc screws to secure it. This works for all my planes but I failed to use enough screws and the front of the canopy black trim developed a hair line crack. During a hi-speed low pass air got under the canopy and ripped the turtle deck up and threw me into the ground. Atleast thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

jds

Well, yesterday I picked up the Cap 10 at my local Hobby People store, they had dropped the price even more (online), down to only $ 219 ($ 100 off the regular price), what a bargain!
The airplane is extremely light for its size, seems well put together, only thing I found wrong was the cowling paint, needs to be redone, wheelpants are cheesy at best ( will probably replace them) and some reinforcing of the firewall as added protection. All in all however, a terrific buy. Don't know which engine to use, I've several alternatives, Saito's 1.2 and 1.5, 25, 31, 35 and 38CC gasoline or ST 2000 or ST 3000 and also a Moki 1.5, any opinions? I'm leaning toward the Saito 1.5 or the ST 2000, the airframe is too light, seems to me to be able to handle the enormous vibrations gasoline engines produce. By the way, the covering is not a printed type material (my fears have been removed), but trims are made by applying colored film, it does look like Oracover. I appreciate all of your earlier opinions, thanks.

Walter,
Don't worryabout the fuse being light, its made that way because by the time you get all your servos , batteries, switches install you will appreciate the lightness. In my humble opinion the plane begs for a small 26cc gas engine and the cowling is large enough to hide a side carb mount Zenoah G-26EI. I would never install a glow engine in this plane. The one thing you dont want to experience with this plane is DEADSTICK. If you go Saito, install the the Gas version of the2.20 and swing a three blade propeller.

Beefing up the fire wall only adds weight to the overall plane and degrades performance. You want the weight to come out around 12-13 lbs and the wing loading tostayunder
that of a warbird of the same size.I guarantee you won't like this plane heavy.The wings on this plane are beefy and very well put together, no foam, no fiberglass,all build up.
This isgood because they bear the load andthe firsttime you lower the nose at full power and the plane comesdown the runway at about 90 mph you will beglad they are strong.

What ever you do dont let air get under the canopy, you see the results above.All I saw was a tiny cut in theblack canopy trim and air gotunder and ripped the whole turttledeck out.
When the plane smacked the grass runway at full power thewingsdidnot break, the tube bent but the wings stayed together. This kit isvery well designed.

Go for it !

jds

Hi Walter,

Did you ever build your VQ Cap 10? I just got one yesterday and was looking for any info you would be interested in sharing.

Thanks!

Eric

I can only recommend this Cap 10B, it is light, very well built and flies extremely well. I power mine with a 160FT, plenty for scalelike aerobatics. It's not a 3D machine, but if you really want to wring it out I guess a 160 2-stroke or upto 220 4-stroke would be ok.
I beefed up the undercarriage which flexed too much, and did the usual strengthening of firewall and most wood joints with thin CA. The covering is excellent, and I regard this model as a bargain.
Richard B.

My father built his model up to the point that it's just about ready for full assembly. The model is a pretty good looking ship, good covering that just needs a bit of tightening, very easy to build up. It has a bit of a problem with it's scale landing gear fairings and pants. They are thin and the mounting is up to you. I'm going to carve a pair from wood on mine.
Chris...

Thanks so much for the information! I'm happy to hear that it is a good flying airplane. It's definetly very cool looking. Yours looks great! I was thinking about going with a Magnum 180 4 stroke or a 30cc gas engine but I like the your choice of OS 160FT. The gas engine option will probably be to heavy and increase wing loading too much. A good friend of mine has a Saito 220 but hates it. He can't keep the muffler on it because of excessive vibration. It's a very strong engine but the muffler won't stay on for more than one flight. He has tried different engine mounts, flexable pipe, and rubber couplings but nothing has worked.

Will yous hover or hold a knife edge with the 160FT?

Thanks!

Hi JDS,

I recently purchased this VQ Cap 10 and an SV26cc rear induction gas engine. My engine, muffler and ignition module weigh in at 3lbs 6 oz. I have a few questions that I was hoping you could shed some light on: Did you need a large amount of tail weight to balance yours? I'm guessing that the batteries will be going in the tail at a minimum. Do you know the weight of your engine? What recommendations would you make regarding firewall / engine box reinforcement? I will make sure I secure my canopy per your recommendation.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Eric

Hi Eric, sorry it took me this long to answer your question. Unfortunately I haven't had time to build the Cap, a move across the country has set my modeling time to almost nothing. Best of luck with yours!

Thanks! Good luck with the move. I'll let you now how I make out with mine.

Finally finished mine. It flys great! Here's the You Tube link for the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7hmXqReuok