Seagull PC9 trashed
 

Ok here we go!!!!
the seagull PC9 was a fun plane to fly for about a half gallon of fuel. I'm using a tower .46 pro. started with a 12x6 and was just getting used to it and changed to a 11x6 tonight for a little more speed and it worked, a good bit more speed then........ out wide and back in at me WFO.... there is a lesson here!!!! anyway when it went by it sounded like a freight train so I pulled out and it stopped fluttering, Hmmmm???? I got me a little throttle to go around for approach and when I pulled back nothing!! SOMETHING BROKE HERE and off into the distance, Down in a corn field. In the next county. Control horn pulled right out of the elevator and man did it trash this thing.
Totaled!!
This kit was weak at best and I did all the little things nessasary to make it "safe" to fly but several things just made it one I'll never try again. If it were built good it would make a nice plane. Very stable and easy to land and quick. Might look for a good tucano or pc9 kit.


Ok out...Miloh.

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

I too had the PC-9, I really loved this plane, its beautiful once built, but she was definately cheap. I lost mine to a dead receiver battery, this thing shredded when it went it, there was nothing left. POS.

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

I was interested to read that you too lost a PC9 due to elevator flutter! Mine was coming of the bottom of a loop then a loud drumming noise was heard and then no elevator control, straight in!!!! Total right off, even damaged my receiver! I looked through the wreckage and the metal quick link complete with security tube still over it had ripped out of the control horn, unreel! This was it's first flight after about 8 mins would you believe? Shame as it flew perfectly with no trim adjustments needed at all.
As i was well peed off i wrote to the distributors JP Distribution U.K. and after a couple of letters, returning the tail of the plane and a conversation with the MD, as a jesture of goodwill they gave me credit to the full retail cost of the kit! It was never decided what caused the flutter, but my best guess is that the pushrod had warped after being fitted and became flexible. Who knows, but it is definately a kit problem, factory fitted supported pushrods would certainly cure it.

Regards,

Dave Weatherhead (England)

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

weird..I have it and I love the plane! Flown it alot and I have had no problems with it. I have a review of it in the User Review section as well. I love the looks and the price is hard to beat. I dont see it being considered "cheaply made" anywhere. Most the work is done for you but you still have to go through and double check a few things. :D


Mine has a 46fx on it and it really hauls around niceley. Sorry to hear all the bad luck you mates have had with it. Maybe I got a good one ;)

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

SORRY BUT THE SAMETHING HAPPENED TO MY SEAGULL PC-9, I REALLY LIKED THE MODEL. FLEW GOOD, LOOKED GOOD FLEW IT FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS ,WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS. THEN ONE AFTERNOON DOING SOME LOOPS, I HEARD THE DREADED FLUTTER NOISE, AND STRAIGHT DOWN IT WENT. AFTER PICKING UP THE PIECES, I SAW THE ELEVATOR CLEVIS HAD SEPERATED FROM THE HORN, IM SURE THE FLUTTER CAUSED THE PROBLEM. BUT I LIKED THE MODEL SO MUCH I GOT ANOTHER ONE------THIS TIME ASH CANED THE NYLON CLEVIES CHANGE THE PUSHRODS AND BRACED THE TAIL USED METAL CLEVIS------------SO FAR SO GOOD
LEN

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

I had the same plane. I had a little hard landing in grass and firewall came right off with engine. The wing also broke. I also think this ARF is weak.

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

this is very weird...seems I am the only one that has not had any problems. Now keep in mind a rough landing can damage just about any plane. I have had a few bouncers and I have seen no problems with it. I will reinspect it this week since we are expecting snow again on the weekend and will post my find.

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

DiabloKid:
I spent about 20 hours on mine before flying and it was a nice flier, fast too. Mine had a warped rudder, I'd like to see it made of something a little more substantial, The entire group could be done up a little. And hopefully you won't ever have to see how it fairs in a nasty headon with the ground. I know it was not built for that....LOL but to rebuild was not even considered, Trashed.
Flutter got mine for sure but I never thought to hassell them for another one, maybe I should have.

Flyman.....Why you yelling?? hehe......

Ok out....
Miloh.

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

I also have one yes it is a cheap arf, but I already had a 46fx and radio sitting at home and for $120 from my LHS I had one more to fly. With the 46fx it really alls a#$.IT looks great in the air and I have had no flutter problems. I have around 50 flights on it and love it. After about 25 flights I put it in a corn field pretty hard (MY FAULT DUMB THUMBS) broke the fire wall out but not much more. Two days later back in the air. Say want you want this plane is a lot of fun and you can't beat the cost.

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

Amen to that! For the price the plane is hard to beat. Looks great, flys nice what else do you want! I am on about 25 flights now on it. Gonna put in about 10 more next week pending snow :(

Just a safety precaution I am going to seal the hinge gaps on the elevator with clear packing tape

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

Yes it looks good, and it flys nice, easy to land, and fast as hell with a pro .46. But........mine is no good to anyone now is it. What more you ask?? First of all I'm not mad or trying to give anyone any hassle but I would like more than 5 or 6 flights out of any plane no matter what the cost!! It's gone now and I have replaced the parts of the motor that were damaged and I'm glad you had no problems from yours, But... FLUTTER GOT MINE!! and a few others it would seem.
Live and learn, Take your lesson and move foward.

Miloh.

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

I built it and it has a warped vertical fin. I tried to email the people ([email protected]) in Australia but the address is NOT VALID!! Who do I email now??? I want a new kit because even the ailerons are warped!! Anyone else find the tank a tad high causing the carby to drip like a guy who had too many beers without going to the toilet? I don't know if I should even take this bird off the ground yet unless these people who built it can rectify the problems.[:@]

RE: Seagull <span class=
 

:DThey are sending me new kit after giving me a phone call following my fax to them this morning!!!!! see you next time:)

RE: Seagull <span class=
 

I hate to hear about all the problems folks have had. Many seem to be related to the horizontal stabilizer and rudder. I built this model a year ago and have been flying it problem free with a 46FX. Like one fellow said, it's a screamer with that engine. I will keep a closer eye on the rudder and stab.

Anyone recall where C.G. is on this plane. Seems like it was about 3" from leading edge of wing. Getting ready to fly it today with a 7 oz digital camera on it and want to mount it as centered as I can get it.

Thanks

RE: Seagull <span class=
 

phantomflyer:

Do not use the dowel rod under the tank if you mounted the engine upside down. It is to high in that position, I put mine on a bed of foam then stuffed more foam in on top of it. My vertical fin and ailerons were warped as well. both ailerons were warped the same way so it didn't seem to hinder the flight of the bird.

lcbabj:

Can't remember the balance location for sure. It was a metric measurement tho. I remember I converted it to inches and think it was about 3 3/8s. not sure tho.


Miloh.

RE: Seagull <span class=
 

[8D]Hello from Niagara Falls, I have one with a super tiger 45 in it, plane flys fine, i wanted to slow mine down a tad so I put an evolution 3 blade prop on it, looks great with the squared off tips, like a real turbo prop does. flys goood, only thing i don't like about mine is the tank seems small as I only get about 5 min of flying time, mine also was straight, balanced perfectly, no weight needed at all, another thing i did was put a thicker nosewheel wire on mine as it had a tendancy to bend on our rough grass fields here. Its hanging in our local hobby shop for the winter as i have a plane with skis i will be flying most of the winter, am building a cessena on floats right now that should work ok on snow tooo, I thought the seagull kit was of good quality, instructions sucked but the planes seems very sound, good luck with yours. Butch in Niagara

RE: Seagull <span class=
 

rcflyertwo:


Congrats on a good one, don't know why some futter and some don't. It shook mine all to hell and back. Good luck.


Miloh.

RE: Seagull <span class=
 

A guy at my club had one of these. He said he had to spend quite a long time fixing up some stuff that he considered sub standard.
I.E while he was putting it together the wing mounting block in the fuse fell out in his hand [X(]

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

Just bought the PC-9 for a bargain price $179AUD:D and everything checked out until I started building[:o]. After reading 'phantom flyer's' comments about the plane, I too am tempted to contact the distributor. Overall the plane looks really good, but there are just alot of things that take away from it. The dowel pushrods? I am a beginner and even I got concerned at the look of them. The tiny fuel tank which mind you is way to high. The wire for the wheel on the wings do not sit flush in the grooves - I can see those wheels ripping off. The plane also arrived with plastic coating not properly done - bubbles in a number of places. [&gt;:]. If I keep it, I am certainly going to incorporate all the hints I have read so far - Thanks.


Polar bear_909

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

you get what you pay for....cheep cheep cheep

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

ORIGINAL: josephair

you get what you pay for....cheep cheep cheep

What can I say....Good point! Just have to make the best of the model. Have you or anyone else for that matter got ideas about strengthening the firewall??

What about the fuel tank being lower in the plane - do I need to drill more holes or can the fuel/ filler lines go out the same hole??

I was also thinking of doing away with the pushrods and installing the servos at the back???

Who's got any ideas about how a O.S. 46LA will go??

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

46la will fly the plane niceley. Dont move the servo's to the back, not worth the effort on this plane. Use foam to adujust the tank to a proper height to match the carb.

I just swapped my 46fx for a Magnum 52 LXS and I love it. Almost 100 hundred flights and so far no problems.

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

Cool photos. Good to hear that you have had that many flights. I was getting concerned about the frequent negative feedback on the forum about the PC-9. Is it worth strengthening the block where the wing screws go into and is worth replacing those screws??
How about replacing the dowel pushrods with good ones, a must?
By the way did you use the fuel tank provided? and if so what's the flight time?

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

I didnt do any strenghtening at all, I replaced the supplied wing bolts with dubro's and I used the stock tank and get an easy 15 minutes with decent throttle management.


matt

RE: Seagull PC9 trashed
 

cheers, thanks for your hints.

I'll post how the flying goes in a couple of weeks.