duraplane aerobat 40
 

just wondering if you guys (or gals) have flown one of these duraplane aerobat 40 planes. i've been looking for some sort of a high winger for springtime and saw this thing in the tower hobbies sight. looks like it might be a fun one to work the winter bugs out on. anyone had any experiences with one of these planes? thanks in advance.

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

i have the duraplane trainer and it flys great

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

Flying a duraplane is better than not flying at all, but I don't know anybody who has owned one and spoken enthusiastically about it.

Edit: Except for -Extra- who typed the above post while I was posting this

Duraplanes are designed to bounce when crashed and to be easy to repair. Flying characteristics are a secondary consideration.

If you want to build a quick kit or ARF and not spend a lot of money, you can find airframes in the same price range that will fly better and be easy to repair if dinged up:

Lanier Fun Fly .40 kit
Great Planes PT 40 kit
Tower Trainer .40 MKII ARF
World Models Sky Raider Mach I ARF

In fact, I'll stop right there. If you want a .40-sized high wing plane with good aerobatic capabilities, the World Models Sky Raider Mach I is a better choice in every way than the Duraplane Aerobat kit. It's only $10 more than the Durplane kit, but it's 90% pre-built, includes all hardware, and is pre-covered. It will fly much better than the Duraplane, and it has a semi-symmetrical wing for good inverted flight and aerobatic peformance.

Compared to the Duraplane Aerobat kit, the World Models Sky Raider Mach I will be less expensive to finish, will fly better, will look better, and will go together far more quickly. With an ARF like the Sky Raider Mach I available, there's no reason to build a Duraplane Aerobat. Call Airborne Models and order yours today:

http://www.airborne-models.com/html/...p?ProductID=15

http://www.airborne-models.com/img/SkymachIRedLarge.jpg

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

thanks so much...looks like a keeper

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

duraplanes are fairly heavy. Think guided missile. no seriously I learned to fly on one but it took longer and landings and flight was fast compared to other trainers. Also handles poorly on the ground. A 40 la in this bird will be hell due to being underpowered, an 46 ax will do well

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

If I am not mistaken the aerobat is the same as the old durabat I used to fly. It needs a powerful .46 to fly it and it floats like a rock. It's a bear to make a good landing due to it's high wing loading. When landing keep lots of power on. Or go with the other suggestion of a Sky Raider Mach I.

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

well, i had a friend give me a used duraplane 20. it's in pretty good shape actually...all things considered. it was an electric setup so it's missing the fuel tank....the airlerons are tiny. i wonder if they even do anything. the elevator and rudder surfaces are nice size and have nice throw but....oh boy. and the other thing that worries me is the flex in that darn tail boom. it twists real easily...i dont know. maybe i'll try to put floats on the thing and save it for winter flying . it's a cute little cus....could use a recovering job too. might as well start with a new plane...what the heck.

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

You aren't kidding when you say the tail twists easy. When I used to snap roll my durabat it took the tail an extra second to make the rotation!!! Don't worry. If the bolts holding the whole thing together are nice and tight it will stay together during the most violent manuevers. If you refurbish this one, I would put a strong .25 on it.

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

I dont get why everyone says its like a rock and hard to land iv flown mine atleast 25 times and had smooth landing on all but 1 and yes the tail does flem but nothing you can do about it but it will hold up i do loops and rolls and it rols perfect does loops str8 and nothing has broke and landing is the funnest part to me cause there always so smooth and jsut when it lands you get this good feeling when its real smooth its an all around good plane to me my dad straitend the wing out by bending the metal rod in the wing and it flys inverted perfect!!! And man this thing is fast when you open it up with a tower .46 and slows down when i want it to iv been deadstick all the way across the runway bout 100 feet in the air and had time to come all the way around and it still landed at tha other end so yea it will flow..So in my opinion the Duraplane 40 is an all around good plane to me..

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

sweet guys....thanks for the stories. i love this stuff. i've already begun the rehab on the duraplane. i just couldnt hold back any longer. i'm going to re cover the thing and fix her up nice. just something to beat on a bit thats all this is for. like i need another plane....jeeeeeeez. have fun guys

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

haha u2 im sure the duraplane will be pretty fun to fly

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

well, i've been working on the duraplane. here it is in it's new colors. not 100 percent complete yet but it's pretty close. i put a 40 engine on it and threw it on the C.G. machine for giggles. gotta add tail weight but i kinda figured that with the larger engine. do you think this thing will even get off the ground? haha should be interesting. if i can manage, i'll fix up a vid for everyone. we'll see what happens. it'll be a while yet. we still have a bunch of snow. maybe i'll put floats on it for the maiden. holy crap....this is getting out of hand. enjoy the pics

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

If this is a duraplane 20 then a forty should fly it pretty decent. Your rebuild looks very nice. Let us know how she goes.

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

thanks....will do

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

Looks like you're having fun rebuilding your Duraplane, bobrev06x! It wouldn't have been my first choice for a new project, but I can see where getting one for free would be awfully tempting to rebuild.

Hopefully you'll get a chance to maiden it soon.

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

yeah, this thing is pretty cool actually. man, at first i was really discouraged. first of all, it was converted to electric flight so there's no fuel tank...had to buy one of those plus, i needed another servo...."cha ching"....and i bought two rolls of econokote to spruce up the apperance a bit. i have a bunch of monokote but i needed to use something "low temp" so..."cha ching"....more money. plus, i needed another receiver......"cha ching".....tail wheel assembly...engine mount.....there's no end to it. but it'll be a blast to get limbered up...thats what it's for. i sold my other trainer to a guy at our field and wish i hadnt. so guess what???....in the mean time, i've won an auction on ebay for a lanier explorer 40 so thats coming to! holy crap. i've got to thin out the shop pretty soon. here's a pic of my real babe. she's going up for maiden this spring too. it's a small scale yak 54 with a 46 engine. this is gonna be good. i just checked the balance and it's nice and flat for now. gotta see how it goes...really anxious.

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

ok all, here's the updated snaps of the duraplne that i've been rebuilding. check out the pics earlier in this thread of the thing when i first got it and check it now....lol it looks pretty cool actually. probably wont get off the ground but, i guess there's only one way to find out. a friend brought me over floats today to use which was so awesome of him. i'll mount them up tomorrow and in the mean time, i'm still waiting for ups to bring my shipment of little things so i can finish her up. what a riot. there's still plenty of snow at the field so these floats are definately going to get a test. "lets fly!"

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

Looking good man,im sure it will fly and it will be a blast.Shoot us a video if you can.

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

still waiting for my ups delivery. aileron stock.....fuel tank....tail gear.....i'll be pretty much ready after that. i'm going to smoke the wings right off this old beast. not really.....i'll have to go nice and gentle which is what i would do anyway. this thing is probably going to be overloaded but i have to fly this month one way or another. i'll let you know. i'll try to have a video. chow for now!

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

Hehe, sounds like you only spent about twice as much as that WM Sky Raider Mach I ARF would have cost. It is turning out nicely, though. Looking forward to hearing about your first flight.

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

well, got some things from the UPS guy today. stuff to finish the duraplane floatie and another trainer from an ebay auction. lanier explorer. i'm working on the floater right now. got the fuel tank plumbed and mounted and i'm working on the tail wheel assembly. i'd like to fly this thing off the grass at some point and i figured while i had the rudder off (because i recovered everything) i'd stick a wheel back there. i still have to make ailerons and cover them/install. so i've got my work cut out for me here. anyone wanna help? lol i can handle it...it's fun stuff. i'll have pics soon and hopefully a vid of the first flight of this beast on floats. "chow!"

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

well, here she is. 99% complete. ailerons all made and covered/installed w/ ca hinges.....fuel tank installed and plumbed, tail wheel assembly all in and working. all i need now is some courage...lol i'll put her back on the C.G. machine and move some weight around and she'll be ready. wish me luck!

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

Put a hot 45 to 50 in it and have fun boring holes in the sky. Sure it will take more speed to land and more speed to take off but that is to be expected because the wing is short and yes the plane is a a little heavy.

A number of people give these planes a bad rap (okay I am old) but really they are not that bad at all. I have seen and flown the Trainer 40, Stick and Durabat. Once you understand that you are flying a plane that can take a beating and keep on going and that you need to fly it a little faster than most of the built up planes of similar size they do just fine.

If you do not want a PVC and Foam plane then I would suggest any of the 40 sized fun fly planes. An Uproar would be a good choice.

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

thanks thumprding....i actually have a lanier explorer 40 that i've got to put together at some point. this duraplane 20 was given to me by a club member as a fixer upper because i had shown interest in flying another trainer this spring before i break out the other planes . and where there's still snow on our field, another friend/club member gave me the floats to put on in hopes of a "march" flight. we've flown every month now since last summer. i am new at this...started last year. i have soloed and flown my other planes...a cap 232 , 40 scale.....and a copy of an edge, 60 scale. i also have a 40 scale yak 54 thats going up this spring. so this duraplane is just something to play with. it should be fun.

RE: duraplane aerobat 40
 

If you want to improve that plane call up Duraplane and order up the foam wing extention they use on the Trainer 40. The trainer 40 uses the same wing as the 20 but add on about a foot of span by gluing on extension. All you would need to do is remove the cover ing from the tips and glue these on and then recover the ends. If I remember correctly they use the same fuse so all that would be required to convert it to 40 sized trainer would be a new engine mount, a 40 and the wing extensions.