I just bought one of these, and was wondering if anyone has anything to share about hits and tips ? Like/dislikes ?

Here are some pictures of mine so far.

I have installed an old Magnum 65GP SE , which should be enough...

You're going to love flying this plane. Mine has an OS .61 in it. It can be speedy or docile. I have over 200 flights on mine and it is still going strong.


Bob

Yes, you will---I have the one with water floats & a OS91 four/stroke---Makes an excellent water plane---No wood to get water/soaked---Love it!---

Great, thanks [sm=thumbup.gif]


Cant wait to the weather clears up, and I can try her out

I love mine too. Floats, and a Saito .91 Four Stroke.

The only thing I did different, was to run a nyrod to the water rudder and skip the cables.

One thing I would do different, is to swap the wing mounting bolts with SAE nylon bolts and nuts, or even metal bolts. The kit supplies #7 metric, I think.

Great Plane!

Bill

There are a couple of long threads on this model down in the Seaplanes section. All the contributors seem to be very happy with the model.
I am certainly going to obtain one but have to go overseas to do it. The local guy with the ARC rights isn't to interested in actually bringing them in.

Hmmmm. Maybe I will get 2.- 1 for floats and 1 for land U/C. (I'm too lazy to change back and forth.)

I have floats on mine and have experience only with the float set up. Before you test for stall speed, make sure you have enough altitude to recover. I found this out while making a slow banking ready to land about 50 ft above water. When it stalls, it drops a wing and rolls. I managed to recover it at the last second just before it would have hit the water, and landed it safely. The next time I took it higher and performed a snap roll and then a diving spin that I could not recover as I did not have enough speed, and it dove into the water. Loosened the floats but no other damage. Flew again the next day.

I suspect the extra weight and drag of the floats may have contributed to the "down fall".

The wing bolts seem to be very tight to screw in or out. It acts as if it's about to snap every turn, but has held for over 40 flights.

I flew her today !

And it flys great. Mine stalls like a delta wing with the CG at 80mm from the LE. If you keep feeding elevator, at near zero airspeed, it just mushes in nose first.......if the wings are level. If thy are not level, it wil drop the lower wing.

It lands a little hot, must be because of the clean lines it has.

Sonnich,

Try setting it up for flaperons, they help a little.. I built mine with 2 aileron servos for this purpose. There is plenty of room in the wing. It does land hot because it is fairly slippery but it's a blast to fly. I find that I can fly this plane well in almost any wind with very little trouble. It cuts through the air like a hot knife goes through butter!

SJN I also fly the Cessna both on floats and off land and have been for a long time. I don't know how many flights as I lost my flight log but it's a lot I have only had one time that it stalled and snapped and that was MY fault, I was shooting short pattern landings and pulled it around too sharp with too much elev. It hit pretty hard but I took it right back up and did some more -- this time watching it a little closer. You get the same response with the floats if YOU turn to sharp and pull too much elev, but it sure is fun.
Just remember this plane was designed more toward scale then Aerobatic, I push mine but I know --- one of these days !!!!!!
As I said I've had mine a long time and it has been one SUPER flier, you should get a lot of good flying from yours.
In respect to the Nylon bolt that holds the wing, mine all fit tight also and I have all the Falcon planes and the only time I have snapped a bolt was on a forced ground loop to keep from hitting someone that walked out in front of me on takeoff. I turned the stub out put another bolt in and went flying. That would be a real good reason NOT to use a metal bolt. You would not believe some of the stories I could relate to these planes and what I've seen them do. DON't ask what was said to the guy!!!!!
If you decide to mount the floats just be SURE to score the mounting post real good and put LOTS of glue in the holes.
YOU will ENJOY !!! RED

[sm=thumbup.gif]

Great to hear the succes stories.
Im keeping mine stock. Maybe floats later.

I saw this neat one on floats: http://www.andersh.com/rc/video/cessna.wmv looks fun.

Got some video of the first flights on mine: http://media.putfile.com/Cessna56

Yea, looks like you got it nailed!---Watched your video---What size prop are you using?---

And they come in Red or Blue?

Even better excuse for 1 of each!

Im using a 12/7 prop on my Magnum 65.

Mine came with blue/red decals, instead of the blue/light blue decals shown on the box.

I did not like the blue part in my decals, so I cut it out so only the red part ws left

Otherwise it would have looked like this pic

I like the Light Blue Decals.

So do I.....I was a little disapointed when I saw they where red.

I guess thay can be orderd. But for now, I think mine looks ok.

Hi Sonnich!---IMHO the 12x7 prop is aggravating the "Hot" landings on that airplane---As was mentioned earlier it is a "Slippery" bird!---I use a little larger engine (91 four stroke) & a 14x6 prop---Really helps slow this bird down!---Don't know, would your engine handle a 13x5 or 6?---Might be fun to try---
Have Fun!!---

Yeah, maybe its not helping. But I do like the extra speed it gives at cruise

Did any of you guys beef up the balsa horizontal stabilzer spar ?
It seemed so weak, that I glued on an extra piece of ply triangle stock to it.....just to be safe

Sonnich,

Mine wasn't balsa. It seemed to be some sort of semi-hardwood.

That is strange...Im very sure mine is balsa.

Also, im flying with a little up trim on the elevator....is yours the same ?

My elevator was up a little then I adjusted the ailerons so they have maybe a half of a degree down position when neutral. The allowed me to take the elevator trim back to neutral.

Im pretty sure that my Spar wasn't balsa, I think I would have replaced it, but it's been a couple of years since I assembled it. I have another ARC ARF at home, the Carosel low wing. It has the samw Horizontal stab arrangement as the Cessna so I'll check that tonight when I get home.

Bob

Thanks [sm=thumbup.gif]

Or you could try a slightly less efficient Prop One with wider blades.
A Master Airscrew "K" Series 12 x 6 or 12 x 8 perhaps?(They don't make a 12 x 7)