Hi guys,

Has anyone here built one of the old Royal kits? In particular the Mitchell B-25 or the Stuka JU-87? I found they are still available from another manufacturer who took them over.

One reason I like th B-25 is I got a chance to fly a real one back in 1954 and was amazed at how easy it was to fly. I had never flown before so when the pilot asked me to come up to the co-pilot seat after we were airborn I jumped at the chance. He showed me the important aspects then let me take it. After watching me for about 15 minutes he said "You got it" and went back to the nav seat for coffee. He checked on me from time to time but I flew from Lubbock, Tex to Ft. Worth and then on to Roswell N.M. and back to Lubbock before he took back over. So I'm still in love with that plane.

Back to the kits, the 25 is a twin so cost and maintenace would jump but I've read the Stuka is prone to tip stall very easily.

SO - all pros and cons welcome.

Royal kits had a great reputation, as long as you were a fairly experienced builder. I have been around a couple of the B-25s and they were excellent airplanes. Guy in our club had the kit up for sale some ten years ago for $100 and I have kicked myself ever since for not getting it.

I have also seen the Stuka take off and fly. But not land.......[] It was well built, but after several minutes the engine happened to quit prematurely, and it tip stalled about three times on the way down, on a fairly experienced pilot.

Clair
AMA 15654

Great flying planes, they are a builders kit and they do not survive a crash very well being totaly sheeted, I have a F4U and P51 both were built in the 70's. Most scale plane have the habit of tip stalling. Both plane are 60's and I have 90's on them.

Chevyowner:

The old Royal Kits were Maratuka Kits relabeled, and Maratuka is still producing. They are still available, Hobby barn I believe still carries them.


I am currently building their P-38 and be forwarned When you open the box it looks as if someone has cut down the rain forest and sent it to you.
Plans are good, Instruction manul works quite well for lighting the fire place, plan on building from the plans. The quality of the wood was very good considering the kit I have was shipped in the 80's. lots and lots of sticks and blocks of wood. Sorry I'm not familiar with the B-25 or Stuka Kits, but would expect them to be very much the same. cowlings and that sort of thing are available in fiberglass from a number of source's. If you decide to get in to this let us know here and many will answer ? and assist in anyway we can. Having built three or four Kits from trainer to say pattern or even stick bilt free flight would be of great assistance before attempting this. Not to say that it an impossible task but the experience will help.

Egor

I built the Royal B-25 kit back in the 80's. Here's the deal. I was probably way over my head when I built this one. But, I agree with Azcat and outlaw, they are builders kits. I built the nose crooked on mine and had to take it apart and do it over. I had fixed gear and Saito .45's for power and it was plenty. The first flight was pretty easy- just a little aileron trim and it was flying hands off. It was a great flying plane, despite that I had a wing warp in it that should have made it unbearable. I checked the incidence (of course, after it was too late to do anything about it) and one tip had -1 1/2 deg. (maybe this was washout) and the other tip had +1 1/2 deg. I was at least prepared to do major trim inputs at take off, but just didn't happen. About half of the aileron trim took care of it.
I was flying it one day, and was coming across the field, and about the time someone hollered "You only have one turning" I noticed it. I remembered about not turning into the dead engine, but due to our field layout, a turn away from the dead engine would have put me behind the pit area and toward a motel, and I wasn't about to find out how big a turn I was going to have to make, so I put in a little left aileron, and it immediately rolled on it's back. I had altitude, so I cut the power and pulled out underneath completing a half loop, and headed for the field. I had it coming straight at me and couldn't tell how fast it was flying. It finally stalled into the corn from about 12' altitude. Apparently the engine quit when I was flying straight and level, because I had no indication it had quit before I saw the prop stopped. I have read before that the twin rudders help with this due to having one in each air stream. Never the less, it was a good flying plane. I was just outside of my envelope at the time. Fixed it back up as a solid nose version and sold it to a couple guys in Ashville, NC.
Randy