stgrlee

I have the Cap 580 and the Electrifly Bi-plane. My son has a Flatana, none of these have wing flex, the 580 will harrier and the Electrifly will do anything you can think of. The Flatana does it all with no flex. As far as breaking the wing, you must not have built it right. If you keep the scrap from the kit you can repair almost any crash. Some guys don't follow the building directions then complain because it dont work. $39.95 is a good price. (IMHO). Yep GWS servos dont work. Oddball size shaft.

shuttlepilot

My Feedback: (2)

I've been following directions building planes for about 25 years now. 6 foamies so far. This is the only one that has had significant wing flex. It is what it is. I probably won't have any other 3mm foam planes because I like to fly outside too much.

GIFLYRC

OK, perhaps the problem of wing flex and flutter is too much power.
Mine was powered with the stock motor/GB witha 3s1p 880 lipo

At WOT, Mine was like a limber ---- ah- noodle

Roger aka GIFLYRC

Propwash in Pa

Okay, I am brand new to this "foamy" thing. Flew one in the back yard the other night and was hooked. Bought a Matt Chapman 580 with the upgraded outrunner motor. I am a little worried after reading this thread. I did read in the instrucitons not to fly at full power (level) because of flutter. Does the flutter and bowing go away at 1/2 throttle. What other foamies are recommended? I am looking for fun in the yard when I don't want to drive to the field.

Propwash in Pa

Okay, I am brand new to this "foamy" thing. Flew one in the back yard the other night and was hooked. Bought a Matt Chapman 580 with the upgraded outrunner motor. I am a little worried after reading this thread. I did read in the instrucitons not to fly at full power (level) because of flutter. Does the flutter and bowing go away at 1/2 throttle. What other foamies are recommended? I am looking for fun in the yard when I don't want to drive to the field.

rcMitch71

Has anyone heard about the RCU Flatout biplane?

flyindy

My Feedback: (12)

I have the SU29 and Extra 300L from fancyfoam.com and they are great - very quick build - foam is machined out for Hitec 55 servos, wire routing, RX and carbon fiber. The recommended gorilla glue which works well is the only thing that slows you down. Painted - assembled - first flight in 1 day. Use the recommended paint and you are ready to assemble with in an hour after painting.

mrfx2001

My Feedback: (2)

Will the rimfire motor power thhe SU29 and Extra?

dhl7000

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Folks:

I have been flying for a few years, own about 20 planes (8 foames, 8 nitro, 4 gliders) and this is the first time I have ever posted a comment about a plane I've purchased. I built the GP Chapman 580 over the last two days and flew it this morning. Building was no problem, although it certainly takes more than "2-3 hours" and I agree with previous comments that the plastic hinge systems are not obviously better than hinge tape.

After flying this morning in relatively light (3-4mph) winds, using a standard HM HC2808-0980 outrunner brushless set-up, double-checked CG and various control set-ups, all I can say is SAVE YOUR MONEY and invest the $40 in any of a number of other foamies out on the market. This plane is way too flimsy and has no obvious performance advantage over more rigid and well-engineered planes out there. The airframe is a lighter weight material that will clearly not take too much abuse, the landing gear arrangement is a set-up for breaking (which then exposes the aileron servo to the ground when doing wheel-less landings, which is what I do routinely), and wing flutter is definitely an issue. This plane reminds me a bit of the E-flight Tribute, which I think is also an incredible waste of money relative to what else is available.

I suppose this might be a fun plane indoors where you don't need to worry at all about wind, speed is slower, and landings are simpler (i.e. no grass or other obstacles), but again, I doubt it is better than lots of other options.

I have a number of the Fancy Foam (www.fancyfoam.com) planes and have probably logged over 200 hours with them at this point. There's simply no question in my mind that they are better than the GP 580 in every way except that the airframe ($35) lacks any graphics, but it is easy to color with paint or markers. If you want the graphics, go for any of the Shock Flyers. The RC-Xplanes (www.rcxplanes.com) also look quite nice, but I have not flown one as yet.

Dr.Watson

My Feedback: (10)

it powered my neighbors Goldberg Eagle 400 so it should carry those around.

my flight instructor/neighbor had the CAP 580 and was not pleased with the plane very much. the wing flexed very badly and the carbon fiber rod for the landing gear went right through the wing...ON THE FIRST FLIGHT. all he did was snap roll. he's had it for maybe a month and hasn't wrecked it once and the wing is tore off of the fuse. he went and got the flatana and is in the building process right now. i've been eyeballing the turmoil for a couple of days now![&:]

Propwash in Pa

I need to jump on this band wagon. I was very disappointed on the Cap 580. The overall air frame is weak and failed me on the first flight. I strike this up as an investment in learning. I want to get another Foamy in short order. I was thinking about the Extra from balsapr.com. Does anyone have any feedback on this plane or company?

Hey DHL7000, you mentioned other planes and manufactures. What is your short list? 12-15 oz., outdoors.

dhl7000

My Feedback: (1)

Hey Propwash:

Go for the Sukhoi from Fancy Foam; see http://www.fancyfoam.com/sukhoi_su29.htm. Just an awesome plane when equipped with an outrunner brushless and long servo arms. I just ordered a yak from Insane Foamies to compare...

Propwash in Pa

I appreciate the response. The link did not work. Any other suggestions?

dhl7000

My Feedback: (1)

Sorry about that. Just try www.fancyfoam.com, and you will see the various plane choices along the right hand side. I've tried every one except for their biplanes, and like them all - the Sukhoi has the nicest performance in my hands.

The construction is quite straight-forward. You will see that they recommend using Gorilla Glue rather than CA. The Gorilla Glue is much, much better in terms of the strength of bonding and ability to hold up after crashes. Just be really careful to not let the glue get into the aluminum tubing/carbon fiber tube arrangement that is used for the elevator (a really cool design, by the way). Also, I have found that fixing or replacing servos on these planes can be tricky since the instructions call for using hot glue. This works well for holding down the servos, but the foam tends to rip away when trying to detach the servo. Recently, I have been gluing in thin plastic sheeting into the cut-out regions that accommodate the servos, and then gluing the servos onto the sheeting. This makes it a bit easier to use a knife to separate away the servo. If anyone has a better solution to this, I'd love to know about it.

jjbccb

Although the cap flat out is a disappointment ,, the reflection is truly awsome,, it will do it all,, i threw my cap away and love my reflection,, actually bought another! my LHS is selling them for 29.00 cant beat that!

coxsairforce

My Feedback: (2)

Fred
I had the same trouble with GWS survo's. But it was a simple fix. take one of there servo arms and glue it to the GWS arm. I drilled small holes and treaded hobby wire thru the hole and then super glued it. works Great! You will need longer screws for the arms. And I screwed the servos in, there glue idea was nuts!

I hope I can get mine to fly better then what I see on these post. Just got it and did not check out rcu first or I would have gone with something else.

I wonder if crossing some small carbon fiber rods on the top and bottom of the wings would stop the wing flex?

mrfx2001

My Feedback: (2)

Thank you, I had that same revelation a day or so ago. (About the same time the backlight on the notebook computer quit. I have a part on order for the TOSHIBA.) The glue-up servo arm is working fine. About the CAP...I'm thinking of having a first flight for trim being very careful and hanging it up in the local shop for sale. Then I will be ordering a fancyfoam.

Dr.Watson

My Feedback: (10)

well folks, i saw the turmoil on ebay for $35 with free priority shipping. i couldn't resist. it should be here by tuesday. i have heard good stuff about it too. i dont know about the side force generators. they dont seem like they would help in KE at all. but we'll see.

Propwash in Pa

Downloaded plans and built plane last week - $1.25 in material, $300 in electronics. Over an hour of stick time yesterday. Nice flying plane. Two set-ups. One for general aerabatics, other for 3D. I am planing on building another very soon.

Propwash in Pa

Sorry, I was referring to the SU-26 that was discussed earlier. http://www.fancyfoam.com

dhl7000

My Feedback: (1)

Propwash:

What plans are you referring to?

rcjeff

Personally, I am very pleased with the Extra 300S. I put the recommended setup into it (RimFire, BL-8, 640 Li-Po, & Hitec HS-55s) and it performs as expected. It's maneuverable, slow & fast (minimal flutter in turns @ full throttle), and has great response. Full throttle gives unlimited vertical and hammerheads on a dime. I slow it to a crawl for a soft, no-gear landing in grass. Granted, it is lighter and can be damaged more easily than others, but I am using this plane as a jumping off point into other & larger foamies (13 oz & up). I realize that opinions are like noses, but I am surprised at how quick people are to slam these planes. Look at the size, weight, & other specs - if you want to slam it around, buy bigger! 'Nuff said.
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dhl7000

My Feedback: (1)

Jeff:

I hope you believe me when I say that I do not get any pleasure or have any need to slam one plane or another. It's just that, based on my experience now with four different commercial manufacturers of foamies, there really is a world of difference between the GP Flat-out Chapman and either the Fancy Foam or Insane Foamie models, despite the fact they essentially all cost the same. Try the Insane Foamie Yak combined with an brushless outrunner such as the HC2808 and a 3C 1500 mA battery and you will enjoy a plane that has much better performance than the flat-outs and, improtantly, will last much longer...

GM1

Hmmmmmmmm.............. I have a Turmoil with the stock motor that has been good and Reflection with brushless that has been outstanding. I found them to be pretty durable flying indoors which is what I do with them. I kept breaking pieces off the YAK, which flew OK but was always in need of repair, so I guess it's what you like and what works well for you. The Flatouts (except the CAP) have worked well for me. I would agree the CAP isn't the best choice. 640mah and 860mah, 3 cell Li-Pos seem to be best for me when compared for weight and performance.
Gordie

rcjeff

dhl7000 - I didn't mean you specifically and I don't want to sound rough. I just have found my first foamy, the Extra, to be a very enjoyable plane with no problems in flight. And I know there are other really cool foamies out there that I full intend to look into that may very well buy and find that I like better than the GP Extra. But I was just taken back by the many comments from others on how bad they are and I disagree. Granted, they may not stand up to other higher performance foamies on the market (7.5 to 9 oz weight class), but judged by themselves for what they are in their own class, I feel they are a great deal for the $. Thanks for your comments.