Just bought a GP Fun-one kit on ebay cos it was going cheap. Anyone got any experience of this model, engine recomendation, undercarriage configuration etc.

Thanks

Stuart

The GP Fun-one has a high wing loading. It's not as maneuverable as the ad blurbs claim. It tends to tip-stall viciously. Build it as light as possible and put the largest recommended engine on it.

I built one and put a O.S. .40FX on it. Flight characteristics were marginal. It doesn't loop worth a flying rat's rump.

Dr.1

I've been flying my Fun One for years and years and still consider it one of my favorite planes to fly. I have an ancient ,tired, gooey old O.S. LA.40 that moves it just fine. It's not a rocket but very steady and dependable. Obviously it won't hover or do 3-D but does pretty much everything else. Knife edge is marginal but that's probably due to my set up and inadequacy. Never had a problem with any bad flight tendencies. It is set up as a tail dragger and will float in nicely. I'd probably build another (if I could find one) if this one bites the dust.

I've been flying my Fun One for over 6 years now. It is a blast to fly and does not have a high wing loading. I put dual aileron servos in the wing and use flaperons. In a calm breeze this plane will slow to almost a stop with flaperons. Mine came out 5.5 lbs in taildragger config, with an OS .46FX engine. It has plenty of power and really rockets around the sky. It has a good vertical, though it's not unlimited. I've done knife edges across the field with it. If it's balance correctly (I had to add some lead to the tail), it can be very maneuverable, though it was not designed to hover. I've seen another guy fly this same plane with an OS .46FX and a tuned pipe and tumbled it about fifteen feet off the ground right after take-off with plenty of time to recover. Of course he's one of the best pilots around, but this plane is a blast to fly. It does tip stall, but you have to really slow it down to worry about it and I've seen Caps tip stall much worse. It also looks good, so fun building and flying.

Wow....A Fun One....I remember those days...You'll love building and flying it....if only Great Planes would remember us kit builders!

Thanks guys, taildragger it is. I've got a spare Irvine .53 sitting in a drawer I'll probably go with that,

Some guy you know tumbles his in right after take-off, and yours tip stalls badly. Sounds like a high wing loading to me in both cases. Check the wing loading on yours and let me know, please.

Dr.1

I think you misunderstood me. The tumble was intentional. The pilot was showing off. The plane did not tip stall. Also, I did not say mine tip stalls badly. When it stalls, yes one wing drops a little, but it is not violent and is easily recoverable. Many r/c planes behave this way. I calculated the wing area on my Fun One to be 556.5 square inches. My plane weighs 5.5 lbs. When you do the math and the conversions, that comes out to a wing loading of about 23 oz/ft^2 . I will graduate in May with an Aerospace Engineering degree and am in the process of designing an r/c plane for our senior design project. I've done my research and this is not a high wing loading. I do know of some things that could be contributing to your plane flying badly.

1) If your CG is too far forward, it effectively increases your wing loading and can make it behave the same way as having a high wing loading. I had to add several ounces of lead to the tail of my Fun One.

2) The bad tip stalling could be caused by a warped wing. If your wing tips have negative washout (wing tips are at a higher incidence than the wing root), then they can stall before the wing root and cause it to tip stall violently.

FYI: A high wing loading does not cause a plane to tip stall. Wing loading is directly related to the stall speed of the plane, though. The higher the wing loading, the higher the stall speed. The cause of tip stalling is when the wing tip stalls before the wing root.

I just recently uploaded a video of my Fun One. Just follow this link to watch:

http://www.rcuvideos.com/video/FunOneApril1507sm-wmv