Has anyone built this plane? I am currently building this ARF and looking for any tips that might be helpful...

I bought this plane because it was pretty cheap and looked like it was a good value...

Has anyone else found the engine mount to be too short?

I am on my second one, another yellow one. Radio problems finished off the first one. They are great flyers, I really like them. I put in a 12oz GP tank and a Saito .56. Unlimited vertical etc with this set up. In fact full throttle on take off will put you in a nasty torque roll. The 12 oz tank will fly it for a good 15-20 min. Much longer then I last :-]. Careful if you use the WM tank that came with it. They have a nasty habit of leaking. The metal disk vibrates loose after a while.

I have one I have been flying for 4 years. It is the best little plane I have ever had. I have an OS .52 in it and it has almost anough to tork roll, but not quite !!

I had Stan's Fiber Tech make me a few of the fuse cover (cover for wing) and they have performed great. The fiber glass is much taugher than the cheap-o plastic one in the kit.

Over all, a 9 out of 10 for me anyway.

AcroFlyer

Mine both came with a fiberglass "cockpit" cover. Beautifully done but the fit is not the best in the west. I wonder if stans still carries these things. Have wanted to get a third one, put an Irvine .53 in it and try racing it. Looks like it might really haul.

How did you fit the larger tank in there? Are you referring to a Great Planes tank or does the GP you are referring to mean General Purpose?

I tried to put a Sullivan round 8oz. in mine and it was to long... If I were to squeeze in there the wing would not go on correctly...

The Great Planes 12 oz. is 5 1/4 inch long and the sullivan is 4 3/16 long...

Can you post some pictures of this... Or email them to me?

Thanks,

Sorry about no pictures, digital camera is out on loan. It is a Great Planes tank. I enlarged the opening mostly to the left looking at it from behind. The tank sticks out approx 3/4 of an inch past the former with the wing slot in it and the top of the tank "wrapped in foam" rests on the bottom of this former. The wing tab slide in the slot just fine and the wing itself pushes the tank down a little and holds it in position. It is just foam being compressed so all works out fine. I have around 50 flights on mine now and no problems with it.

I'm finally having a ball with this one! Crashed it twice with a Magnum 52 that was not set up properly! Pilot error I'm sure wrong prop probalbly! That's history now! So Mores law applys!! If the engine your trying doesn't seem to have enough add more! I had a Magnum 46 on the bench looking for a Home! It found a very happy one! I added a Pitts style muffler! I Had to add a little weight to the tail not much. You could probably hand launch this one straight up! Flys awsome, Lands nice a little hot but I think I can slow it down now that I'm getting use to it! I replaced the Landing gear with the gear with something stronger! The only thing I'd like to Improve is the roll rate! I've got all the deflection I can get out of the ailerons and it slow roll's! Snap rolls are a different story! Knife edge no Problem! All and All a Great flying Bird! I have the blue one and the colors stand out fine!

Iron Cross, how the heck did you get that big tank in that small space and still put the wing on. I ordered that tank and when I got it this morning I tried to fit it in the plane and even with it all the way to the front (touching the firewall) it still sticks out way too much. The wing doesn't even have a chance of fitting on the plane. I understand there is some trimming involved, but I just don't see where you could cut that would give it the room needed to fit the tank and the wing at the same time. PLEASE let me know your secret so I can put this tank in. I have a newly broken in Magnum 52 2-stroke in the nose and will only get about 5-7 minutes flight time with the original tank. Any help would be VERY apprecated! I was hopeing to be up and running at the field as early as tomorrow afternoon. Thanks, Eric.

First I put some small triangle stock along the bottom of the ofending bulkhead. Then I ground the bulk head down to the triangle stock. I then wrapped some stickyback foam (kind used to seal camper shells aprox 3/16 thick) around the back of the tank and across the stopper where it hits the firewall. I stuck the tank in all the way and thats it.
The top of the tank rests against the slot the wing tab goes into and the tanks sticks a good inch back into the "servo bay". With the wing off the tanks sits a bit higher then the wing saddle but when the wing is put on it pushes the tank down a tad and slides right in. It holds the tank in place. Snug fit on mine but it works. I have a Saito .56 in mine and like you found the supplied tank was just to small.