Whoa... beautiful shot there. Great image quality. Shows off the metallic nature of the blue covering well... that _IS_ metallic blue, right? Looks awesome.


Which gas engines are you guy running? How are the results?

-Steve

No that is pearl purple ultracote. I am running a brison 2.4 and my brother is running a 3w 24cc. Both engines are a good combo.
The gas engines bring the weight up a touch but I dont care it is worth it for the power and price of fuel.
My plane with all the mods I made wich include aul. gear and with the wheel pants is 13.5
My brother has his rudder servo up front and with the 3w engine he had to add 10oz of lead to the nose for cg.
I dont know how they will balance with a glow engine in the nose, you will probably have to install the ele. servos up front as well.
Fred

I had a mishap with my GSP Katana after six months and about 100 flights (clipped a pine tree on final). All but the last five flights were with a Saito 180 and I had five GREAT flights with my RCS 180 gasser (rear mounted carb). I love the GSP Katana but I hate the covering and I don't really want to recover the whole plane again and that bottom hatch is a pain, so I am thinking of getting the Creek Katana as a new home for my RCS 180. Does Jet Hobbies sell this ARF and does anyone know the correct web address?

Derf, I am originally from Niagara Falls. Do they still fly at reservoir park? My dad used to belong to the !QUOT!Sunday Flyers!QUOT! club, we moved to Florida back in 1983 and I have only been back to the falls once since then. Is Ace Hobby your LHS? I stopped by there and saw Ronnie, that place hasn't changed a bit (neither has the city) in 20 years.

Derf, Awsome pics! I think I need one. I am just finishing up my Dave Patrick Edge 540 with Poulan 46 gasser w/electronic ignition after that definately a Creek Katana.

Yes we still fly at res park. Ace is still in the city but he is mostly into models and slot cars.
I go to Universal Entertainment on pine Av.
Mark is a good guy and treats me well. If you go with the Creek Let me know I will send you some pics of the top hatch mod it makes life better.
Take care
Fred

Did you have to make a top hatch? Or does the Creek come with one already? I have seen some people make a top hatch for the GSP Katana but I am hoping not to have to make that many alterations.

I had to make it, the plane only comes with a bottom hatc. It is easy to do and it takes about 2hrs to ready to recover

Does anyone know what the wing area is on the Creek Katana?

According to the Creek spec. sheet, it is 961 in.

I have not flown my white Creek Katana yet but thought I would add my two cents worth since no one has posted any comments on the Creek Katana in a while. Barring the weather this Sunday, My Katana will take to the skies. A big issue with this plane and other Creek models has been the CG. Reading all the posts, I did everything I could to move weight forward because I was using a light engine. I installed a MDS 1.48 with a pitts style muff. This engine is 2 oz. lighter than the OS 1.60 and when running properly has the same power according to others. Of course, I have the new C-2 carb. and the engine runs great. With a APC 16*8, H-9 4-cycle super plug, and cool power 10% I am getting 9,350 rpm and the engine is not even broken in yet. I will switch to a 18*6 when broken in. I installed my rudder servo as far forward as possible with a pull-pull system. The elevator servos are in the rear. The throttle servo is attached to the bottom of the fire-box. The 2400 nimh battery is velcroed to the top of the fire-box. By using a battery bigger than necessary, that helped the weight issue. The velcro allows movement of the battery as much as 6 inches back from where I now have it. It weighs a hare less the 11 pounds and the CG looks to be about midrange of the recommended. I will post a quick comment after flying. I have gotten a lot of great ideas form everyone who posts here on RCU. A big thanks, as it sure made building this model a lot easier.

I have an OS1.60 on mine, and I plan on doing all the same things you did BMB. What size fuel tank did you use, and where did you mount it? Living up here in Iowa, I won't be flying mine until spring. Even if I were a cold weather flier, my right hand is in a cast, I can't use my right thumb.[] Make sure you post a flight report.

I used a twenty ounce sullivan and centered it in the firebox with foam block. I installed a fueling port in the cowl near the opening for the needle valve. A double stripp of velcro works great for battery placement on top of the box as there is plenty of room to adjust the battery to help with the CG.

BMB, great info. I am going to order this plane tomorrow. Do you have a flight report & some pics? They STILL don't have pics on their web site. I am either going to hang an O.S. 1.60 or a small gasser on mine. Decisions, decisions. Oh, and speaking of decisions. what kind of servos are you guys using? Thanks!

Here's a pic of my Katana that I got earlier this year. It's currently powered by a G-26 and weighs in at 12 lbs dry. I'm using Hitec 605's for the ailerons and elevators and a 625 with a pull pull system on the rudder. It flies great with this combo.

Wingman, how's the vertical? Will it hover? Is your g-26 stock? Man, that's a great looking plane! A $300 gas engine (g-26) would make it even better. Did you have to add any weight? Thanks for the info!

Finally, I have flown my Katana. Due to high winds, I took it easy with my first flight. Took off effortlessly at 2/3 throttle. Flies great and is real stable a low speeds. The mds 1.48 has plenty of power and the plane climbs vertically with authority at 3/4 throttle. The plane uses a lot of runway when landing. I'm sure that with the bigger prop I am going install (APC-18-6), it will be easier to slow it down. I am using the hitec high torque digitals on the rudder and aileron halves (5965's I think?). I used two standard futaba coreless servos on the elevator halves.

I originally had an RCS 180 installed and it was awesome. Unlimited vertical and it would hover effortlessly. At that time, I had the rudder servo in the tail along with the elevator servos and had to add about 8 oz of lead to the nose. In late September, the 180's ignition module went bad and had to send the engine in for repair. Not knowing how long it would be gone, I put a new G-26 with a Bennett type muffler. At that time, I also moved the rudder servo to the center fuse area. I was able to remove all the lead as a result. Due to the weather here (cold, windy) I have only a few flights with the new setup, but it seems to have nearly the same flight performance as the 180 (vertical is not as strong).

Thanks, Wingman. If it won't hover with the g-26, I guess I'll go with the 1.60 fx. You really have to spend some major bucks IMO to get great power to weight in a gasser.

Can you hop up a g-26 so it will hover this plane?

That equalizes when you figure out your fuel bill. You probably come out way ahead in the long run.

True. What mods can I make to a g-26 to make this plane hover?

oops

Man those Katana's are beautiful planes. Couple of easy questions: I'm proficient with helis and have just started with a UCD-60 and having no problems handling it. Would the Katana make a good second plane for someone in my situation? Who makes them? It looks like a large Funtana. Am I onto something there?

IMHO,

You would wil have a blast with one.

The bigger they are, the better they fly and the Katana gerenally has has a bigger wing area (lower wing loading) than the edges, extras, caps, etc

If you can accept the high costs of engine, servos, props, fuel, etc and you have a vehicle that has enough space to cart the model to the field and back, then go for it!

Check out the GSP Katana as well

Are the models sold by Chief and GSP the same?

nope