Simple question
 

Hi all.

I don't know if I'm posting this the right place, but here we go:

I'm thinking of buying a kyosho trainer 40 calmato, and my question is: Can it take off from grass? Or is the wheels too small?

I have no asphalt runways in my area, so...

Hope to get answers!;)

RE: Simple question
 

I don't know the plane you have. I however learned on a PT-20 from Great Planes. It had a Brat .28 for power. I never had trouble on grass. If you do just get a bigger tire made of foam. The weight would not increase and you would get the rolling ease you need.

David

RE: Simple question
 

I fly off of a grass runway and have found that by going up in size in tires helps a lot. Have also found that the planes that come with wheel pants generally have too small of tires for where I fly too. As Dave mentioned, get some foam tires in a larger size and that will help a lot. It will give you more clearance for larger props too. :D

RE: Simple question
 

Just a note from a former Calmato flyer. I don't think there is necessarily a problem with that plane, but my wing fell off in a turn...the fuselage failed and both wing bolts and a piece of the front former came with it. Just try to reinforce the areas where the wing attaches to the fuse and check it before you fly, every time. It was a great flying trainer and could be quite aerobatic. It has a semi symmetrical wing, not a flat bottom, so it can be a bit squirrelly for a trainer.

Have Fun!!

RE: Simple question
 

Ironmonkey,

I have a Calmato Sports Trainer (low wing).

I fly off a dirt strip and the tyres were too small and were starting to damage after only a few flights. Therefore I replaced them with 3.25 inch hard foam tyres. They work great.
I needed to replace the gear though as the original were too short to fit the wheels.

Its a great intermediate plane to fly but caution on the quality. After only 20 flights the top tail covering peeled off in flight. After repairing that, the very next flight the fin covering peeled off in flight.

I have since fixed strong tape to the leading edges of all wings and the fin to prevent this in future. My model is blue, as I couldnt get the red. The tape I fitted is red so I can see the wing easier when landing as the blue blends in the dark sky behind. Get a bright color for a trainer red, yellow. pink --(AAGGHH only joking)

I assume your talking about the high wing trainer, so fitting bigger wheels wont be a problem with that gear.
Also consider tapeing the leading edges.

Im not sure what quality other ARF kits are, but thought this was very poor. The finish looked great out of the box though.
I think theyre assembled in China (as with most things now) so quality assurance is not guaranteed.

Cheers

RE: Simple question
 

I've never flown off of anything but a grass field. The grass is fairly smooth and cut regularly but it's nothing like a golf course either.

Anyway, I prefer a tire of no less diameter than 3". Anything smaller and it tends to get caught in the grass, causing a nose-over or worse.

As for the trainer, you can do much better than Kyosho. In fact, nearly any .40 trainer ARF is better than Kyosho. You might want to look at Horizon Hobby or Tower Hobby before making a decision.


Mike

RE: Simple question
 

Okay, thanks for answers, everyone. It has helped me a lot. I'm gonna take a look at some other planes now.

RE: Simple question
 

Just a note about PINK; I covered a P51 mustang with pink. I put a little old granny in it and called it the "Pink Lady" after a lady's drink. That plane turned GREY in the sky. It is a bad color choice. If you fly it close in, there isn't much trouble. I haven't done another plane in pink since I re-kitted it.

RE: Simple question
 

For my two cents worth.... Been flying for a few years but wanted a basic trainer to combat "dumb thumbs" do to long winters without flying practice. I purchased a Hobbico Nextstar trainer (sans engine and Radio as I already had these). Was super easy to set up and Trimmed very easily. Guys, this plane is a really sweet flyer with great handling characteristics. It also has several options to change/modify as flying skills progress. I let several of the flight instructors from our club fly this plane as well as a few others and all came to the consensus that we wished we had learned flying this one. Seems to be built well, looks good and flys teriffic. What more could one want in a trainer!!!

RE: Simple question
 

I feel the same way about my AVISTAR.