Will they fly well
 

Hello all

I have 2 arf,s that I want to put Hommie 25's on. The first is a 1/4 GP Giles 202. the second is a GSP Katana 1.4. I'd like to know your opinion on these set-ups. Will they fly ,if so...how well?

Thanks, Randy

RE: Will they fly well
 

Probably not the best vertical performance you've ever seen.

Wing loading will be pretty high. Count on landing quite a bit faster than the same plane with a Saito 180.

RE: Will they fly well
 

put on a walbro wt-499 carb, remove the flywheel and magneto,instal a glow plug adapter and run on straight methanol 25 to 1 oil and hava blast,it will weigh 2.5 lbs and have the power of a 30-35cc gasser


Darin

RE: Will they fly well
 

I will strongly advise against the Homie 25cc in the GP 1/4 Giles. I just put together a GP Giles with an ST 2300 and it came to 12.6 lbs RTF dry. That works out to just under 30 Oz/in2. Even a Homie 25 glow version will add another lbs easily. I'm sure it will fly with a Homie25, but it will likely turn into a snap-happy plane and not a lot of fun to fly. Also, even with the relatively lightweight ST 2300, my GP Giles wants to be nose heavy. I had to stuff the 5-cell flight battery pack and 1-cell OBG driver way back behind the wing to get the CG in the recommended range.

OTOH, I am right now putting together a Sportsman Aviation Super Decathlon with a Homie 30cc on CH Ignition. With 2 elevator servos in the tail, the balance is right on target so far. The Decat has 1245 sq. in. wing area, which can easily carry the extra weight. The GP Giles only has 973 sq.in. These weedie conversion really are much happier in floaters like Cubs, Taylorcrafts and such. 1/4 scale aerobats are not a good fit.

RE: Will they fly well
 

Thanks for the comments. Is there a better gasoline engine to put on these? I not into 3d just yet, just basic stuff. I can land a plane that has to come in hot. I have a GP .46 Giles kit plane that I am flying now. It has to be landed a little fast. I am itching to get into gas so bad. I didn't see any comments on the GSP Katana 1.4. Thanks for all the info.

Randy

RE: Will they fly well
 

The better question would be: are there better scale aerobatic planes to put gassers on?

The 1.20 class aerobats, as tempting as they are, don't generally lend themselves well to gassers. They are on the hairy edge of suitability. There are gassers like the MVVS 1.60 or RCS 1.40 that are lightweight and compact enough to work accetably, but 3D ships they don't make. Yes, you can put 35-50cc gassers on these 1.20 planes - and people have done that with varying degrees of success. They go straight up, but not much good for anything else. With around 1000 sq. in. wing area, they prefer to weigh in at 10-13lbs RTF.

Move up to 80" wing and 1200 sq.in. (e.g. GP Patty Wagstaff, H9 CAP 232, etc.) then it's gasoline alley all the way.

If you really want to stay in the 1.20 arena, you might do better with the Katana, since it tends to build tail-heavy, so a little more weight up from may be okay. Another good candidate for gasser is the H9 78" Edge, which is a very stable platform so a little more weight won't upset the flight characteristics too much. I don't own either one, so these are just my opinions.

RE: Will they fly well
 

I have a Creek Giles 202, same size as your GP Giles. I have a Brison 2.4 on it and It flies great. Final wieght came in at 13 Lbs. Balanced fine with placement of both battery packs. Your Homies maybe a little under power, but a good gas like a Brison, BME, FPE would work great. OH buy the way it does alot more than just go straight up. GO with gas you won't regret it.

RE: Will they fly well
 

FWIW, Randy Ritch of Ritch's Brew flies a H9 Edge 540 with a BME 50cc. He says it flies great. On the other end of the power scale, I've seen a Zenoah G-23 used on a H9 1/4 scale Cap 232 (72" wing). Probably weighs close to 15lbs, and it does fly. It certainly can be done. A lot depends on your expectation of the plane.

RE: Will they fly well
 

I have this setup with ch ignition and the engine weighs appx 3.5 lbs the plane flies well and will hover at 3/4 throttle, pull out is slow so you would have to be careful in a low altitude stall. 17x6 apc @7800 bennet muffler and walbro 167 carb.

RE: Will they fly well
 

Well, here's my two cents worth...

From my experience, I have set a personal limit of no less than 1000 square inches of wing area for a potential gasser plane. I converted a custom Big Stick to a small gas Kioritz engine, and it flew well and I enjoyed it, but I did notice the extra weight. That plane had 845 square inches. On the lower end of the scale, you definitely have to watch weight in the engine installation. Use electronic ignition, a lightweight battery pack, and move the equipment around so you don't have to add ballast to adjust the c.g. I just talked to Bill at CH Ignitions today, and they are testing units set up for the 7.4 volts that a two cell Lithium battery pack would put out. This would be a good choice to save a little weight, especially in the nose where we need to be careful with weight on these gassers.

So the bottom line is; it can be done. The 3D guys will tell you it can't, but if you do it carefully you can have a nice flying plane in the 120 size, as long as it has enough wing area, a light enough installation, and you don't expect the super light weight/radical performance the 3D guys strive for in their projects.

Once again, just MYOP,
Take care,
AV8TOR

RE: Will they fly well
 

Thanks all for the help. I guess the way I see it is:

1- The 25cc is a little on the small for the 1/4 GP Giles 202 & GSP Katana 1.4 If correct what would be a good choice for these birds. I have a US41.

2- Would the 25cc fly a 1/4 cub of something like that? If so, which one do you suggest?

Thanks, Randy

RE: Will they fly well
 

If you set up your homie 25cc right and I mean you can get 7200-7500 rpm with an APC 18x8 wide blade prop, and I get that outa my homies with a muffler and large carb both got from Pete at wacker engines.com as my only mods, then you can expect great performance outa most 120 size planes. Lanier Stinger, sig 4-star120, any Dynaflight giant scale and Cubs would also be great fliers.
25cc of any gas motor wont turn any 120 size plane into a 3D aircraft but for honest, cheap power that you can fly on season after season and use the money saved for better airborne equipment the ryobie 31cc and homelite 25cc and 30cc just are hard to beat. Piper