STLPilot

My Feedback: (21)

Ok guys usually in this industry when you produce a bad plane, the forums are flooded with complaints. When you produce a good-great plane people really seem to talk about it much less, which I assume because you are out flying your plane instead of wasting your time online.

We've shipped a bunch of V2 planes and have head some nice comments, but we are looking for really in depth evaluations of the V2's so that we know you the customer are as happy about the quality as we are when we looked through some of them when they arrived. We are not trying to make you our guinea pigs, we just want to make sure EACH AND EVERY plane has the same quality control throughout our container. Or just to let us know that we may have missed something.

OMP prides itself on quality as best we can. Since we are the world distributor on the Katana V2's we really would like to hear your feedback on the quality of the plane. When we were a deal for the Accel models we really never had the opportunity to provide feedback or help them to increase the quality of their planes. But now we just want to know your feelings and list ANY likes or dislikes of the plane to make sure that the factory is living up to the quality control which they promised they would do.

We would really appreciate this very much and please feel free to be as frank as possible. We already know about the manual and have posted it on the site. If you need a hard copy send us an email and we'll mail you one if you don't have a printer.

Thanks Much!

TEAM OMP

profile540

I got the kat70 the quality is 2nd to none, even with out the manuel its an easy arf to put together.As a matter of fact im a quadrapledgic with use of my arms but no finger movement"special sticks to fly"my caregivers nice young ladys put these together for me with my direction and its still a breeze.This is my first wing tube plane and i cant believe the fit of all the parts it is great.I own two of the accel kat 40.im going to start flying off the deck more so maybe i have an excuse to by the kat40V2..............anyways i hope u guys keep this plane in stock.i bought the edge 540 40 size arf good plane but the quality isnt near as good as the v2 kat............keep up the good work !

charrua

My Feedback: (47)

ok I got some comments!!!

I kind of made my own review of the Katana 46 V2 on our site http://www.whiteknuckleairlines.com/html/review.htm

and here I'm copying and paseting what I think:

"Things I didn't like:
1st: it didn't came with a manual or any kind of instructions,,, that made me mad ,,,when you wait for that long and paid that much you want everything!!!!
but it's not that big of a deal!!!

2nd: The control surfaces came already hinged just half like the ailerons elev. and rudder all it needed to be done was glue the CA hinge to the plane.
But I didn't like that 'cause most of the kits come with cheap CA hinges or the kind I don't like because they are to hard and stiff,, and I always like to replace them with the Great Plane CA Hinges they are much better,,, and I didn't feel like digging them out to change them.
Some people may like that cause there is one less thing to do but with the stock hinges the control surfaces get really stiff and if using standard servos will make them work harder.

3rd. the tail wheel it's junk!!!! NO GOOD!!!! my plane it's already touching on the rudder just by sitting on the shop!!! I'll have to change that.

And that's it for the thing I didn't like it's not really a big deal and doesn't make the plane bad at all it's just my personal preference.,, I actually think the plane is great!!!

In general the plane looks really well built I like the wing design,, the covering it's perfect,,, I do like the Main landing gear besides being a wire it's seems to be plenty strong and light,,, I like the tunnel for the elev. and rudder servo wires inside the fuselage... and it's really easier to build than what I expected since the H Stab. glues with thin CA and also the Fin it goes pretty quick.

The hardware package that came with the kit it very nice also,,, the control horns a really nice,,, but since I am a pain in the butt I upgraded the wire push-rods and clevises that came with it to 4-40 all threaded push-rods and ball-links and the servo arms and du-bro safty-kuick-links on the control horn sides"


Ok and this is after I had the plane built and flew it for first time this one thing I noticed that I would change!!!

The throttle servo gets all oily becasuse it's too close and in the same side as the muffler and aslo the hole for the throttle servo wire it's getting all the fuel inside I'll have to close that somehow so no fuel goes into the fuselage!!!
I would move the throttle servo inside the wing!!!!

Ok this is my 2nd profile and I really like it after all the things I said I didn't like this plane is great,,, it flew very nice the 5 time I flew it on my maiden flight after I had the mishap with the landing gear!!!!

This is very stable plane and easy to fly that I think this is my Glow Foamy!!!!

OMP has done a good work on this plane I think.

From 1-10 I'll give it a 9 1/2+

RVator

My Feedback: (1)

My Katana should be ready tommorow. Christmas shopping and other stuff keeps getting in the way. The plane is very good quality with near perfect covering, I haven't seen any wrinkels. The cavity for the rear servos is nice and makes a clean looking profile. All I have left to do is mount the battery and set the throws. I balanced at 6 3/8 with an OS 91 FS and a 1200 ma nicad pack sitting against the wing tube. I hope to fly it soon.

charrua

My Feedback: (47)

I balace mine as recomended and with an OS 50SX for my liking it was nose heavy!!!

profile540

can anyone tell me a good c.g for the kat 70 for 3d

STLPilot

My Feedback: (21)

Thanks for the feedback everyone and thanks for the review charrua.

Enjoy your planes gys and have a nice Christmas and Happy New Year!

charrua

My Feedback: (47)

Thank you for a nice product and MArry christmas to you too OMP!!!!

jb86

My Feedback: (8)

i am almost done assembly, 46 size katana v2. i have no complaints at all, i have found a few small problems but not at all worse than i have every seen. quality is excellent thru out. i take my time, replaced hinges w/dubro nylon pin, hs 81 throttle, hs5245 mg digital mini rudder, hobbico cs35 mg minis (hi torque) elev & ailerons. i made up lite ply plates to mount the mini servos onto standard size hole. added white stripes under wing for orientation. italian flag was first to go (no thanks!). everything went together well as instructions. the wing fairing was a little off, i sanded fuse to level it, then used epoxy/microballons (hole became a little sloppy), same on horizontal (i can't glue a stab w/ca, no way). elevator was warped, align one counter balance w/stab, the other was off by 1/4", twisted opposite & heat gun, it's fine. equipment; ys 63, mpi 6v miracle switch, 900 lipo 2 cell (savings w/miracle switch of about 1-2 ounce), fma quantum8. i should shave off 4-5 ounces with my equipment.
i have one problem; included are 4 control horns (black base w/threaded rod), one of them the black plastic base is not molded correctly around the threaded base. i don't feel safe operating w/this, would you please send me a new one? my email for contact is [email protected]
thanks,
jon b

jb86

My Feedback: (8)

i maidened it today, enough daylight for one flight. flies well, but still need to wring it out. dry weight is 4.5 lbs w/equipment listed in previous post. OMP - i'm still waiting to hear about a control horn. my only complaint i think is the landing gear, it's junk. way to weak. i will put a sullivan tailwheel on it, the non steerable sucks, and is flimsy. the mains flex all over on a gentle landing. i'll replace w/tetherite.
will you please contact me about the control horn?
jon b

ArmandD

[img][/img]
This is a pic of my friend Mike hovering his 40 size Katana V2 (w/ O.S. 70 4-stroke) and dipping the tail in the snow! We are in Alaska and it was 18 degrees. He absolutely loves the plane.

I have the 70 size Katana with an O.S. 1.20 4-stroke... tons of power... I am loving it (I also hovered it down into the snow).

I like both arfs... in fact i may buy the 40 size also.

Whipper32

Hi, I recently got your Katana v2 40. I've got a couple of things to say. First, the plane look really good, flys very well(makes me look good!) and is very easy to handle. I really like the plane. But, there are a few things I would like to mention. While putting the plane together I found that the elevator stab slot was way to loose a fit. While that wasn't a big deal, it did take me a lot longer to aline, cut the covering and glue. If I even breathed wrong the stab would move, very hard to get proper alinement. The rudder stab was way to tight, first test fit spread the fuse so much there was a bow in the center of the rudder slot. Had to sand the edges at the front and rear of slot to get better fit. I have seen your 70 model and the rear servo holes are offset. The 40 model are not. This makes it hard to get longer servo arms to get the throws needed. Mabe offset like the 70 model. The holes for the rear servo leads, (Wire tunnel) where to small to fit a servo extension and the heatshrink to hold from coming loose, some sanding took care of this. Tail wheel in my opinion was too flimsy so I put a Goldberg with hard linkage for steering. When installing the motor I found the wood motor area to be a little soft. When tighening the bolts the wood gave to much, my fault for tighening too much, and squished the wood. I had to take motor off and cover with epoxy to strengthen. It sounds like a lot wrong, but it really isn't much different than any other model I have put together.

Ok, after flying 11 times. The main landing gear is holding up, but the holes the gear ride in in the fuse are getting bigger. It lets the landing gear move forward and backward. I will have to try epoxy first to strengthen the holes. Mabe you guys could use a harder wood for that area. I would like to stress that I have not wrecked this plane, it has had one hard landing on it wheels, but it has not been crashed.(Yet[>:]) I also found that the TABS that hold the wings to the fuse are coming loose. The wood around them are cracking. Now I have not removed the wings yet so I do not know if it is just the light balsa sheeting, or it the tabs it self is starting to come loose. Either way there seem to be a lot of stress around those tabs. I will post my findings later.

Now for the good Stuff. After getting the cg right and correct balance this plane flies better than everything I own. The knife edges take little to no input to correct rolling. Harriers very well, inverted also. On low rates flies very easy. On high rates flies like a monster. Will do waterfalls, torque rolls, flat spins, and hovers like im a pro.[>:] This plane makes me look good!!!!

If I was to rate this model from 1-5, i'd give it a 4. I'd like to say that I am not the best builder nor flyer!!! And this is "MY" opinion!
I did not write this to defame this product, but to help make it better. If, wait..... When I reck this plane, I will defently by another!

AFSalmon

My Feedback: (3)

Thanks for the comments guys and we'll be keeping tabs on all this for future improvements.

Couple comments myself from what I read above: Never use "all-thread" for pushrods unless you want a failure! All thread will bend in a heart beat and is not intended to be used as a pushrod. If you must upgrade, use 4-40 solid pushrods threaded on one side only. use a 4-40 solder link on the servo side. The throttle servos have been installed in the nose of just about every modern profile for the last three years. Much better than a wing installation. This does not preclude the builder from properly fuel proofing a model. Use thin epoxy to fuel proof any exposed wood area and silicone to seal the servo wire openings. Also thin CA does wonders to harden up any wood holes such as the engine mounting holes.

dalita

My Feedback: (82)

I am pretty sure it is WildHare (on their 50cc gassers) that recommends using 4-40 threaded rod inside carbon fiber tube captured by 4-40 nuts. It has worked well for me. Dale

raideron

My Feedback: (1)

Hi all... My take on my V2 46...

It arrived in great shape, covering looked great all parts and manuel was included
My model did have a slight problem, But a call to OMP and it was resolved...
I'm still glueing the surfaces but all seemed to match up great, better than the few
ARF's that I have put together.. I'm not sure how my servo wires will fit, But to me
trimming, adjusting sealing and glueing is all part of the ARF build.. So over all the
model looks Great!!!.....

Things that I feel I would have liked better... Throttle serve in the fuse instead of
outside... Even tho I have not tested it, I feel a stronger tail wheel setup.. Maybe
a streeing setup.... I know a lot of the better Pro's don't use it... But this will be my
first non-steerer if I don't replace it... The mains look like they will hold up, that is
if the hole in the fuse will stay tight.... Maybe throw in))) your krazy legs....)))
But if you do.... Don't forget your first buyers:-))))))

Looks like a great Model!!!! Thanks OMP!!!!

[email protected]

My Feedback: (1)

Did more test flying today on the V2 kat 70 with the Saito 125.
The final cg st at 9 1/2" back from leading edge. I did not use any hardware that came with the kit
used all 4 40 ball links and my own tail wheel design. The Kat does everything very well and i tested it out " above the ground.
Hovers and torque rolls are childs play. It loves the harrier with the nose very high. It will rock if not even with flaps.
Very nice aircraft.
Robert

Whipper32

Well, I got the wings off and looked at where the cracking came from. The wing at the root has two pieces to which each of the tabs are connected. These two pieces seem to be glued together. This is where the tabs are starting to separate. This is the second plane I have seen where this seems to be a weak point. While I think it can be fixed with some thin CA and maybe drill and epoxy some dowels into the root of the wing to hold the two pieces together, I do think this could be really bad for someone if they came apart in air.

[email protected]

My Feedback: (1)

Flew the KAT 70 again today i have about 30 flights with the Saito 125. No problems at all . The cg set at 9 1/2'' back is perfect for me. Water falls on the deck, real tight and very slow high alpha harrier fig 8's. Hovers all day i can back it down from any
height.Torque rolls great. No problems to the airframe at all( But i do fly very slow). Elevators , knife edge falls, slow walking knife edge
draging the counterbalance. Might have to rename this plane MOJO II.
Love it
Robert

jb86

My Feedback: (8)

i have .46 size, the cg set @ 5+", instructions say 5 1/4". very stable to fly, knife edge is good, but falls out of hover, and won't harrier. if i move the cg back incrementally to say 6, 6 1/4" would that make the aircraft much more difficult to fly. the 9 1/2" cg on the .70 sounds quite extreme. can you tell me what i might expect?
jon b

AFSalmon

My Feedback: (3)

Falls out of a hover!? Not the kat unless your engine is really weak. If you have a strong enough motor and typical 3d throws on all the control surfaces (45 degrees or so) then hover and harrier is cake walk.

RVator

My Feedback: (1)

I finaly got to fly my new 70 v2. It flew great. Other than my Mountain Models Tantrum it is the first 3d airplane I have flown. I started with the CG at 6 3/8 for the first flight and it was fine. I can't wait to burn some more fuel with it and I plan to move the CG back more.

raideron

My Feedback: (1)

Hi,

For newbies to the control horns that's supplied, They should be something added
to the man. to show adjustments etc... And another thing I found, or I could be doing
something wrong... The bulsa on both ails and rudder attachment for the horns are a
bit short, where as the end screw of the base of the horn does not quite fit on the wood.
But she does look good. Will maiden on Friday..

jb86

My Feedback: (8)

on one of my ailerons, the rear hole went to the edge of the balsa block, slipped thru the balsa, the drill tore out the coverng top and bottom, i had to recover the area. 1/16" more balsa would have saved that.
jon b

Plane_Reaction

I recieved my plane yesterday and was a little disapointed in the quality of my Kat 70. The box it came in was in perfect condition but when i took out the left wing half i noticed that the middle rib was broken and buldging out the covering. Im not one to call and complain so i lifted the covering and pieced back what i could and braced the rest, laid the monokote back and you could never tell i was ever in there. When I went to put the wings on the wing tube I noticed that one half of the wing was nice and snug on the tube and the other was loose on the tube. I turned the tube around and still the same. When inspecting the tail surface I discovered 3 CA hinges that had barely the edge slipped in the throw and glued. Needless to say i carefully dug out all CA hinges and replaced them. I dont personaly like the hinges coming pre glued in one side. So far I am dissapointed but as we all know its not how they build that matters its How They FLY. I will keep u posted on how the rest goes.

Jack211

01/16/06

Background: If Lake Superior forms a wolf's head on the map, I live in the mouth, Michigan's Keweenaw peninsula: 200 inches of snow/yr, windy, cold. We fly with skiis on all birds now. My favorite bird is the Hangar 9 Twist. I just ordered my 5th Twist (#4, still going strong, is really built out of parts from #s 1, 2, and 4), but they're out of production now, so I ordered the Katana V2 46, which I had seen fly last summer. Great bird. I flew 25 years ago when my girls were young and got back into the hobby a year and a half ago, flying every day the weather allowed--now into my 28th gallon of fuel. I built my own home, so I know construction, more so now with the building of U Can Dos (40 and 60), Twists, Big Stiks, Sturdy Birdys, Model Tech Magic and Extra, P-51D.....

Katana V2: First thing I noticed was the price, advertized on line at $149, it had gone UP by $10 bucks when I ordered it. I wasn't happy. My Twists have give EXCELLENT, yeoman service at 99 bucks per plane, pennies per minute in air. BUT the bird promised much, and I loved the design. Second thing, no manual in the kit. No problem: I had downloaded the manual when I was considering the bird. Somehow I either didn't get or misplaced an aileron control rod. Fortunatley I had a replacement on hand. ALL ELSE was in good shape.

The V2 went together faster than any plane I've built. Picking up all those small washers and nuts and soldering extensions for the rear servos slowed me down some. The v-stab was too thick for the fuse and the bottom hinge slot for the rudder was about 1/16 off center. I didn't notice it, so it'll fly like that. The feet of the aileron horns were too long for the balsa, barely hit the edge, shoddy, but I can't believe it will make a difference. We'll see.

The threaded horn rods are terribly long for a 3D plane, though the broad feet are excellent. I had to turn the plastic connector to within 1/8th of an inch of bottom to get the suggested throws. No REAL problem. I'll simply cut them off after I fly the V2--but why make them so long? Thinking of making a trainer of the V2?

The on-line manual did NOT suggest the main gear contained two DIFFERENT-LENGTH wires. I missed that, so I initially put them on the wrong side. I read, re-read the on-line and edited manuals and STILL found no mention that the gear belonged on a particular side. Fix that, please--or site me the page of the manual that speaks of it. Ought to be in BOLD, because those wires WILL fit--and you get a lopsided bird.

My Twist servos, the rear, take castor very well, never had a failure, but I put silicone filets everywhere around the V2 servos, including the creases of the housings. I caulked the throttle servo hole using a rubber grommet AND silicone. You should think of including the right size rubber grommet in the hardware package. Split it, one side to insert the wire, and suggest silicone caulking. We ALL have the caulking.

About the throttle servo: I mounted the servo to the TOP sides of the wood mounts--to create a straighter line with the carb arm of the .45 SuperTigre I'm putting on the plane. That option ought to be mentioned in the manual. I have a ST .51 coming and since it has the same footprint of the .45, I can change it out if I'm underpowered.

The tail wheel: I thought about changing that springy thing, too, then considered how it would behave on harrier landings and gave up changing it. It needs the spring. With the rudder authority of the V2, I can't believe taxiing would be a problem--even on snowy roads. And who wants to keep a Kat on the ground anyway? [That's the question your designer asked--and answered: No one.]

I am NOT going to put skiis on the V2. With the length of the wing chord, it should take off in about 2 feet, like my Model Tech Magic. I have ALSO considered just sticking the tail in a snow bank and launching the V2 vertically. :-) For landings it should fly slow enough for me to be able to just... plop it down in the snow at almost no speed--no damage, tail first--on the spring.

Being used to the Hangar 9 clevises, I don't like your black ones: they look as if they will wear--and don't "click" into their housings with any authority. I am hoping that the V2 will get the kind of use my Twists do, which means I will have to change out a variety of elements (clevises, horns, hinges) in the V2 as I get beyond 6 or 7 HOURS in the air--with those servos working all the time.

Most of your clients won't fly the V2 as much as I do. If the bird is as good as it looks, I'll buy another, maybe a 70, too, if the cost per min in the air works out --and replace the CA hinges with GP pinned hinges. CA hinges, no matter how you put them in, do wear out with use. I'd like the advantage of making my OWN decision. To cut out the hinges already glued in would be a nasty job. And since one pilot already had one of your glued hinges come out, I wonder. Folks who fly their birds as much as I do have had their CA-hinged ailerons and rudders come apart in the air. I check mine during preflight and cleanup. SOMEBODY ought to tell pilots that if they plan to get 6 hours of flight time on their birds (before crashing them) they SHOULD consider going with pinned hinges. [Of course, those of us who DO fly that much know it. And CAed hinges are certainly all right, Hangar 9 testifies to that, for pilots who plant their balsa in the field and wait for... something to come up. Seldom does--and NEVER with CA hinges.]

Control rods: I'm gonna take your engineer's position on those. With the weight and size of the plane, I suspect they are okay, but only "okay." We'll see.

Now, the bird is ready, the battery charging, but we've had TWO terrible days of snow and high winds. I FLY in gusts up to 27 mph, commonly, with the Twist, but I can't SEE through the snow. So I stand in the shop and look at that beautiful Katana V2--waiting to be airborne. NOTHING is uglier than a plane in the hangar, feet on the ground.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOoo, why in heck can't you guys just put a couple fine days of calm, clean air in the box with the Katana? Work on that, will ya, Mike? I mean, gees, you seem to do just about everything else right.

Meanwhile I'll look at the beautiful bird in my hangar.

Keith

[email protected]