capman231

Dion:

Somebody in China must have packed foamie aluminum landing gear in my Katana 40 GS...All joking aside that has to be the
softest aluminum in landing gear that I have ever saw...I put eight or ten flights on the Katana today and never touched any
trims (I always wanted to say that) and the landings were good, but the gear wasn't up to it on a slightly rough grass field. The
gear bends at nothing, but at least it is easy to bend back. Will the Carbon gear that Williams RC sells work on this plane? I have
carbon gear on some of my large gassers and I like it.

This is my first profile and I was very happy with it's performance, even considering the 15 to 25 MPH winds we had today. It flew
great and handled the wind good.

Howard

dhooks

My Feedback: (24)

Hey Capman where do you fly at ? I just live about 45 minutes up the road from you in Marion. We should get together an compare those Accel Kats....Im on my second one!

capman231

Hi Hook

OK on getting together and comparing Kat's, let me know when and where.

I fly with the M.A.S.H group in Haywood County. Our field is just outside of Canton.

This is my first profile and so far I think I am going to like it. The only time I have got to
fly it was with 15 - 25MPH wind which made it a little hard to really tell what the plane was
doing but it appeared to do real well.

How is your landing gear? Mine is extremely soft and bends at nothing.

Capman

STLPilot

My Feedback: (21)

Well the Accel gear I actually like, some people don't. However we are not allowed to change the contents of the box.

We do sell the Tetherite gear for .40 planes, few guys have done that.

capman231

Dion:

How much does the Tetherite gear weigh? Just took the aluminum gear off and weighed it (2.1 Oz's)...

Howard

STLPilot

My Feedback: (21)

Not sure ... Mike will chime in soon.

bbmass

My Feedback: (2)

I have used both landing gear. The aluminum one bends the Tetherite breaks. Now this only happens on windy days when you get a sudden down draft. Normal landings have been no problem with either gear.

capman231

Hi BBMass

Well you could have something with ref to the wind, it was blowing between 15 & 25 MPH the day I flew the Kat the first time.
The wind was straight down the runway and I was having fun doing "no roll" landings. Considering the conditions, the landings
where not that rough, and actually the plane was almost standing still when it touched down. The plane was really getting tossed
around on the ground and the wind put it up on a wing tip a couple of times.

Some of our gang are going flying tomorrow and if the wind isn't to bad, I will try it again and see how the gear holds up in better
conditions.

Howard

dhooks

My Feedback: (24)

The gear are soft but it does allow you to bend them back easily if you have a hard landing.

You flying this Sat?

AFSalmon

My Feedback: (3)

Don't know off the top of my hear what the Tetherite gear weighs but it's not much and everyone uses them for the 40 size birds. They are OEM for all our 40 size kits. I actually like the aluminum gear on the Kat, works fine for me and seems to be better than other aluminum gear I've seen on other ARFs. If you do land really hard say like a botched harrier landing, D is right in that it's easily bent back. Of course after several iterations of that manuever, you may want to upgrade to the 40 size gear we sell online. This is improved Tetherite gear and you won't break it unless you pancake from 20 feet up on a cold day!

capman231

Hi Hooks:

We will definately fly Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting...I am on vacation this week and am
going to do a bunch of flying if the weather coorporates...

Capman231

MOJO65-9or10

Aluminum gear that bends real easy and is then bent back real easy is most likly been heat treated wrong or was made with the wrong heat treated stock to start with. I have lots of gear around and a few are MUCH stronger than others even though they are the same tickness and width. It all depends on what they used for stock aluminum. I always test new gear before I put them on a plane and I do understand you buy a plane and you get what you get, but if it is junk make sure you let them know. That way you feel better and maybe just maybe they might send you another set of gear.

Happy "soft" landings,
Dave

mdflyer

Hi Capman

I also fly the Katana on a grass field and the aluminum gear twists and bends easily; not from any hard landings but simply from the longitudinal impact forces on those very small wheels during takeoff. I put slightly larger foam wheels on mine and an extra 4-40 screw thru the lower front edge of the gear. Also noticed that the landing gear bolt pattern on the soon to be released Accel Hobby Katana 70 is reversed from the Katana 40, ie; one on the top, two on the bottom. I haven't been able to fully evaluate my modifications due to weather but I am certain they will help to some degree.

dhooks

My Feedback: (24)

Hey Howard how are you liking your Accel Katana by now since you ve had more time to fly it.?

capman231

Hi Dan:

Glad you got to come up the other day...I have a few more flights on the Kat and I like it better each time...
I am experimenting with some different set ups right now and am going to move the CG back just a little
more to try to flatten out the flat spins...I have had it hovering down low and I am getting comfortable with
it now, especially with the new "O-Mag-Tow" on the front...Did you find out anything on the 50 or was it just
the altitude up here???

Capman231

VanWidick

My Feedback: (22)

Hey, when you all are checking the CG on the Katana 40 Profile, Are you checking it with the plane inverted or right side up ?


With it calling for it at 100mm I had to add quiet allot of weight on the front.


Thanks.

Van
[link=http://www.tulsa3d.com]www.tulsa3d.com[/link]

150flyer

The CG on the Katana GS 40 should be at 135mm from the leading edge up against the fuse. The manual says 100mm but that is too far forward. I just built mine a few weeks ago and have used the 135mm as others on rcuniverse recommended and the flight characteristics are great.
Weight had to be added to the tail rather than the nose to achieve the 135mm with the use of a Saito 72.

VanWidick

My Feedback: (22)

Thanks for the information, I was wondering why I had to add so much nose weight.

I got a YS63 on it so it should do just fine.

I will have video on my website soon.

For tons of high end rc flying videos go to my site.

www.tulsa3d.com

Thanks for the advise

dhooks

My Feedback: (24)

The webra runs like a scalded dog down here. Had it dialed back in like 5 minutes.[:@]
Im balancing about 5.75 inches back an that seems to be very close there. I tell you it sucks to fly at a new field with an engine that wont run and a new plane too.[:'(]

VanWidick

My Feedback: (22)

Hey, nice pics.. Good hovering.

What engine you have on it ?


Do you mind telling me where you set your CG At ?

Im hearing 130mm and 1 guy said 135mm back.

Thanks.

Van

dhooks

My Feedback: (24)

Its about 5.75 inches back from the LE or for you mm guys about 145mm. Ive had it back about .5 inch or 10 mm back from that an it flew fine there too.

Engine is a webra .50 12x4 apc.

VanWidick

My Feedback: (22)

I noticed after a few flights the landing gear was like taffy.

Had to keep putting back in shape, the plane would lean a little.

My landings are smooth so I know there is no way it could be from just normal or soft landings.


I got video of this flying on my website.


[link=http://www.tulsa3d.com]www.tulsa3d.com [/link]

VanWidick

My Feedback: (22)

I think the gear is on the soft side but also on the other hand these planes should be landed soft anway not like a 747.

Quicker

I will agree with AFSalmon on this, though. You can't go wrong with Tetherite gear. I like to run Tetherite on everything.

Q

rcs36

My Feedback: (4)

Sounds like the Tetherite gear should be a stock item.