I have a question. I purchased the Hangar 9 pawnee 40. I was setting it up and when I got to the engine installation I ran into a problem. when I installed the engine mount I notced that the mount was on an angle, If you looked a the plane from the top the left side of the engine mount on the plane is 3/16th inch longer than the right side this cause the engine to be mounted at and angle and i am thinking that this will cause problems later on when I want to fly the dang thing. Any thoughts?

Sounds like you're describing engine 'right thrust'. This is normal. Most models have the engine mounted so that it is pointing 1.5 to 3 degrees to the right of perfectly straight ahead. This right thrust will help to counter-act the torque of the engine causing the plane to turn to the left as the throttle is increased.

I hope you are not planning to fly this plane as your first R/C model. This looks to be designed for experienced pilots. I wouldn't want your new plane to be destroyed on the first flight...[]

Thanks, i was kinda thinking that was why it was mounted that why. Now i can move on and finnaly finnish setting it up. And no this is my 4th plane its just that I have not notced that much of an angle before well i have never seen it like that. thanks again.

The wing on this plane is quite big, I'm thinking it would fly a lot like a Slow Poke, which makes me wonder if some might consider it as a second plane. Has anybody here had any experience with it? Go for it, Sawater. We need a guinea pig to test my hypothesis!

NorfolkSouthern

Norfolk - I've been flying my Pawnee for about 1 1/2 months. I would not recommend as a second plane, maybe as a third plane. I have not noticed any bad habits, but I'm sure it has a couple that I have not been bit with yet. It flies like a big low wing Cub. It likes rudder on take-off and in the turns. I like my .61 2S on the front end, and some folks have gone even bigger. Mine does not do crisp aerobatics, but flies very realistically with beautiful hammerheads. After some experience flying larger planes and really learning how to use rudder, it is a great flier.

Sawater, it is a really uniquely beautiful plane. Good luck and take some pics for us!

Sawater, how long have you been flying RC? If you are a beginner, well, this is not a plane for a beginner. This looks more like a third plane than a trainer.. definitely not a trainer.

Gorgeous, though.

CGr.

Mornin CGRhave a cup of java on me this morning.

I just saw that the recommended engine for the Piper Pawnee is a .46-.52 two stroke (Hobby Zone), and that it has an 80" wingspan and weighs 8-9 lbs. It sounds to me like a .46 wouldn't be enough to adequately pull this plane. Am I mistaken?

Top of the morning to you too, Irish. I just had my last cup on you, thank you very much!!!

CGr.

It would fly, but not well. I'd personally go with a .62 - .72 four stroke. Some guys that have gone with bigger engines have complained about it being very nose heavy.

I have been flying for about 2 years now and this is my 3rd plane. I started with the boomerang 40 and than I had a home built plane given to me by a friend, I compeletd an old piper cub that was also given to me from the same guy flew that for about a summer and now I have this one. I am hanging a saito 82a into it and hope that will be the right engine for it. I am new to the fourstroke so if anybody has any advice in that regard that would be great.

Perfect engine. Lightweight and very powerful.
I'm getting one of these planes myself this summer. I'll probably go with a two stroke, or a magnum 70 FS that I already have.
Wish I had an 82!!!

NorfolkSouthern, I let a guy at my club fly my Pawnee and he said it reminded him of his Slowpoke.

I agree with bassfisher, this is not a good second plane. I own one and it isn't as forgiving as something like a 4-star, Rapture, Pulse, Tiger and so on. That big wing is a little deceiving, it does have soem bad habits. Maybe a 3'rd plane perhaps but definitely not a 2'nd.

A for engines on this plane, a .46 2-stroke or .70 4-stroke is plenty. It is meant to fly scale so there is no need to overpower it. I have the Saito .82 and it is way more than enough.

ChuckW

what kind of bad habbits? are you talking about I would like to know so that I can be prepared for them. thanks. sorry I put your quote in and forgot to add my question stupid.

I'm thinking that one could be shorter coupling between the tail and main wing, due to the wing's large size. In order for tail surfaces to be effective, there has to be enough air movement. The only way to get enough air movement would be to obtain enough adequate airspeed before getting off the ground. With the drag from the struts and the large wing, it may need to come in under power. I have read in other places that Cubs have a tip-stall tendancy when below stall speed, so the Pawnee may be the same way.

My experience with the two Slow Pokes is that they are not difficult to fly, but tricky. They float a lot, and the nose will lurch down instantly once the wings lose lift. They have to flare just right to get a decent landing. A Slow Poke is not as easy to fly as a Four-Star or Great Planes Rapture 40, but it will recover more easily from a stall. The floating, spongy feel, and stall characteristics are issues that will cause discomfort for some people with the Slow Poke, making it less suitable for a second plane. I'm thinking the Pawnee would share many of the Slow Poke's characteristics, and also be more prone to damage on a hard landing, that would put the Pawnee into the 3rd or 4th plane category.

NorfolkSouthern

Oh, for goodness sake a Cub won't 'tipstall' unless you try something incredibly wrong. I tried stalling the thing in the most uncoordinated way possible and still didn't get anything but a mush forward. [8D]

Give a little up elevator and slowly increase throttle be ready on the rudder when you do. Assuming no cross wind conditions exist you will need to give it a little right rudder. As the airplane builds speed let go of the up elevator and begin to relax the rudder to keep it straight. Once you have plenty of speed gently rotate don't horse it off the ground. I tell my students that you shouldn't move the elevator control, but give it some 'pressure.' This ensures a nice smooth rotation. Landing isn't bad. Keep a few clicks of throttle until you flare. Then idle the engine and let it sit down gently. With a tailwheel airplane you're not done flying yet! Keep an eye on the airplane as the tail wheel sets down and be ready for some rudder input to keep it tracking straight. As you taxi back keep some up elevator (unless the wind is coming from behind) to keep the wheel down.

Maybe "bad habits" is a little overkill. It's just a little trickier than something like a 4* or Tiger-2. You'll need to use little more rudder than you might with other planes and being so large but so light it can get tossed around pretty good in the wind, especially on landing. It's not going to tip stall like a P-51 or anything, just not as friendly as some other planes for someone graduating from a trainer.

I had mine at our clubs giant scale fly in today and I somehow broke the wing tip. Everyone seems to think they saw it happen differently but I drifted to the edge of the runway on landing and I think it caught a pretty tough weed or something.

thanks for the info guys I hope that I can get out this weekend yet so we will see what the plane will do. Hopefully it will behave itself and fly nice.

NorfolkSouthern, What you wrote about the Slow Pokes sure describes the way my Pawnee flys and lands.