plasticjoe

My Feedback: (22)

I hear good and bad about Goldberg Kits lately. Something about Lanier buying them and the quality and accessories changing/degrading. I built a 10-300 kit last winter, unknowing about "changes" with the company. The kit I built is was laser cut, the instructions were photocopied and stapled into a booklet. The only thing that I did not like about the kit was the 3 pc ABS cowl and the ABS wheel pants. I used them anyway, but am surely going to replace them this winter, the ABS cowl is already cracking at the seams. As far as the bulding of the kit, it went as smooth as anything. I would for sure build it again and would rate the instructions and assembly as excellent. Just trying to get a feel for how others see the quality out there and seein if I was "lucky" getting a good kit, or if I got an older kit by the luck of the draw.

taildragger01

My Feedback: (10)

I builtr the Goldburg golde anaversery Cub last year I like the well fitting cut parts ant the ease of the builing . she was a little tail heavy off of the table but nothing that couldent be fixed at the field. the cub flys like a big trainer and had no problems with the wind,

LSP972

My Feedback: (13)

All CG semi-scalers have come with that crap egg-shell ABS furniture. The first Ultimate I built in 1992 had it, as did the Chipmunk a year later, and the Anniversary Cub after that. Toward the end, before Lanier bought them out, you could pay extra for "SpectraGlass" cowls and pants, etc. Dunno how good they were; by that time, the wood in CG kits had gotten really bad, judging from the few I looked at in the hobby shop, so I lost interest.

We're told that Lanier has re-engineered some of the more popular kits, employing laser cutting, etc. That is bound to be an improvement, eh?

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

Hi folks,

I just finished up the old CG Chipmunk. At the time I started, tower hobbies didn't have them ( and may not have them yet). SO I jumped on Ebay and found one. So my experience is with the older genuine Goldberg brand name.

These are very very simple kits for people that may have never built before. It is difficult to mess one of these kits up. On the other hand , it is also difficult to build one perfectly.

As for quality, there is a good deal of plywood in a Goldberg kit. The balsa was OK. After market cowls and pants are available.

What I do find impressive about the CG Chipmunk, is its weight. For a 60 size bird, 6 pounds isn't that bad considering it is a plywood airplane.

I must admit that I am somewhat bias on the subject of Carl Goldberg. Having run across his name in Nasa Tech Briefs years ago, and realizing his standing in the aeronautics field and modelling arena, I respect him for his contributions to both.

And in addition, I am an enormous fan of Art Scholl. So building Carl Goldberg's rendition of Art Scholl's Super Chipmunk was an emotional experience. The plane should be fun to fly and its signifigance will definitely amplify the experience. These men were two of my heros. I can't imagine a more rewarding project.

IowaSilvia

My Feedback: (97)

I bought an old CG Sukhoi off of ebay last couple of weeks and just started yesterday. I first took all the die cut parts and traced them on paper. That way, god forbid, I crash it, I'll have another "kit" to go by. But most of the parts fell out decently and some were a pain and were die crunched a tad. They will work. I've only put together the horizontal stab. and so far so good. The real test point will be the wing. The main gear is on the wing and I've heard it stinks having it there. I'll beef it up the best I can and go from there. The abs cowling and belly pan are cheap. I'm going to lay 5oz fiberglass inside of them to beef them up. They should last then. I'm also going to glass the whole plane.

I guess the retail price is like 180 for it now with fiberglass parts and probably laser cut pieces. So I'd say it would be worth it. For a 120 size plane. I payed 115 for this kit. I say that was ok since others went for over 150. I think this one went cheap because the person listed it with Carl Goldbergs name spelled wrong and didn't have as many hits.

Dick Smith

I have been flying the Goldberg Chipmunk for years and it remains one of my best flying airplanes. I am now building the Goldberg Sukhoi that I just purchased before Christmas. I have most of the frame work done and have found little to complain about with this kit. I did find that the fire wall was marked with the line for the engine offset wrong. They tell you that the V should be at the top. If you put the V in the firewall at the top the engine line is left center. In every other airplane that I have build the right thrust line is always at the right as you are looking at the firewall. I remarked it and preceeded. I also had difficulties mounting my engine mount for a 150 Saito that I will use for power. The firewall is small but with a little adjustment worked fine. The landing gear is mounted in the fuse, and I am sure will be strong enough to absorb any of my hard landings. I did use triangle stock to reinforce the landing gear area. The only thing that I am troubled about is what servos to use. Although I do not put 3 D stress on the plane I do some acrobatics and think that I should use servos with more torque than the standard servos. Does anyone have suggestion on what servos to use. I do not want to spend a lot of money on servos.

Dick Smith

Cyberwolf

My Feedback: (4)

Hi I have two of the sukhoi's ,alot depends on what engine your planning on useing when it comes to servos used.The more power than more torque is needed .I have a 160 FX in one and use Hitech645MG doubled on the elevator and airlerons,and one on the rudder with the pull pull system,this seems to be ample with the engine I run.Also they wont break the bank to purchase.
(Caution) Putting the gear in the wing ,My older sukhoi was made that way ,untill I finally changed it and put the gear in the fuse where it works out much better.IMO there one of the best flying machines you can get for all around airobatics.Good luck happy landings.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

I bought the new CG Skylark 56. It was a nostalgic move on my part because I had the original kit back in the mid 70's. The new one is an ARF. I had a couple of problems with it. First of all, I wanted to put in a four stroke. I have a brand new OS52 Surpass (two tanks run through it for 'break-in') but had a devil of a time getting it installed. They put in a set of rails for engine mounting then supply a set of u-shaped 1/4" ply mounts. I guess the intent was to mount the engine on the u-shaped mounts then put the u-shaped mounts on the rails. This was never specified in the build instructions. They intended for a blind nut to be installed on the bottom of the u-shaped mounts, and cut a groove in the installed rails to accomodate this. I found this out after attempting to install the engine then bolting the engine to both the U-shaped mounts and the rails. The groove caused the u-shaped mounts to bend down. I wrote to CG and found out that the intent was for a blind nut installation on the upper u-shaped mount. I still don't quite understand the installation, but I put wood spacers in the slot and mounted everything together.

Next was the way they mounted the already-installed nose gear hardware. They bolted it to the rear of the firewall. Ok. Fine. But the bottom set of bolts were put in BEFORE they put in the balsa pan in the bottom of the engine compartment. So, the screw heads are now an integral part of the cowel pan. The top bolts were loose. I did not notice that during construction. After about 10 or so landings, the nosegear broke off where the loose bolts were. All landings were nice and smooth so it was not a hard landing. When it broke, the left side main gear got the brunt of the landing and broke a part of the hardwood in the wing. When I looked at that, there was practically no glue on the hardwood piece.

I took the covering off of the wing beneath both left and right side main gear and looked it over. With the problems getting a new nose-gear mount installed and the poor glue job on both sides of the wing main gear, I decided to convert the plane to a tail dragger. That is working out just fine.

The plane flys just great, though and I am otherwise happy with it.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I built Goldberg kits for many years, and they were very good.

I did notice however, that shortly before they were bought by Lanier, their QA went down the toilet.

Now that Lainer has them, their quality appears to be back on track.

RCPilot100

My Feedback: (4)

I have built something like a dozen Goldberg kits over the years. The old kits were quite good in comparison to what was out there. All flew really good. About 3-4 years ago, my Sukhoi went in at a meet because of radio interference - it was the old design - flew like a charm - and I never had an issue with the LG. When I got back from the meet, I called around and found a kit about 50 miles away. Drove over and bought it - it was the new design. When I started building it, I found that parts were cut incorrecly, specifically the plywood ribs as part of the design change for the lg on the fuselage. I called CG like I had many times before and was basically left out to dry. I put the kit aside and built several other since then. This fall, I started work on it again - and am making mods to convert it to 3D capable. It should be very capable with a YS 120. But to answer your question, I will probably never buy a CG plane again - getting burned once is their fault - getting burned again would be my fault.

Dan

hellblastervolly

Hello.
I have 1 older version of the Super Chipmunk and 1 older version of the Sukhoi both kits look good so far but haven't check all parts to be correctly cut. Im building my workshop as soon as I start them I'll let you now, I will make fiberglass cowl and pants using the ABS cowl and the ABS wheel pants that come with them as a mold. For the Sukhoi I may use a Saito 180 but was thinking on a 3W 24 gas engine, has anyone tried this before or know if it will work? For the landing gear Im placing it on the fuse will see what happens.

Fernando