Tower Hobby Apollo series
01-29-2015 | 07:59 PM
#1
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Tower Hobby Apollo series
Maybe old news??? I just ordered from Tower for the first time in 3 years. I see they have a "series" of Apollo airframes. A Mini, 50, 70 and 90 sizes. I don't know if I'm interested but maybe somebody else is. http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...ollo&search=Go The Mini is in the catalog but not online????
Ken
Ken
01-30-2015 | 06:32 AM
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From: Canyon Country, CA
I was initially interested until I downloaded the assembly manual from Tower and took a good look. The plane looks like a 15 year old design, at least from an assembly viewpoint. The engineering is definitely not modern. Unless Tower actually has an updated design and a new manual, the price is WAY too high for the kind of ARF you're getting. The Manual was a mix of Chinese and sloppy English. Gives you a good idea. I'm a little surprised that Tower is selling this kind of ARF.
I was looking at the 90 size, also, due to tank placement it's really only practical for YS engines, unless you have a pump setup.
I was looking at the 90 size, also, due to tank placement it's really only practical for YS engines, unless you have a pump setup.
Last edited by Jim Schwagle; 01-30-2015 at 06:40 AM.
01-30-2015 | 08:29 PM
#3
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You are correct. I never thought to look at the manual before I posted. If I interpreted the drawing it looks like a YS 91AC was the engine of choice. Another clue of the age. One thing I really hate, the aileron servos hanging out of the bottom of the wing. THAT just pisses me off to no end. On any plane.
Ken
Ken
03-01-2015 | 10:39 PM
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From: Folsom, CA
Very nice, Dan. Seems to be a version of Naruke's Asyuler 70, more or less. Should fly great, I'm looking forward to your flight report!
Last edited by pshark101; 03-01-2015 at 10:41 PM.
03-06-2015 | 11:56 PM
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From: Folsom, CA
Ok, I couldn't wait. Received mine today, the Apollo 70.
The backstory: I've been flying the FMS Olympus for awhile, and I really love it. It's made of EPO foam, which has been great, but I found myself wondering how well this same design would do as a stiffer airframe. Enter the Axiome 70 by Winner Models. The Olympus is a copy of the Axiome (in outline), and pretty much the same size as the 70 version. If anything, the Axiome 70 should fly better than the Olympus since it's not going to bend and twist in turbulent conditions like the Olympus surely does. Don't get me wrong, the Olympus does great, I would just think that the stiff construction of the Axiome 70 should make a noticeable difference in this regard. I was ready to pull the trigger on the Axiome, then saw the Apollo 70. Overall, it's almost identical in size to the Axiome, an inch longer wingspan and about 1.5 inches longer. It's a near copy of the Asyuler by Japan's Giichi Naruke. I've always loved the pattern designs out of Japan, and I really like the looks of the Asyuler and it's later rendition the Acuracy. Swayed by the fact that Tower Hobbies had a $70 coupon code and that I had a nice gift certificate sitting here from Christmas, I went with the Apollo 70.
In the Apollo series, the 50 and 70 are very similar in planform, and the 90 looks to be more "skinny" in the fuselage/nose. The 50 and 90 share the same style of construction... one piece wing (glued together with plywood wing joiner) with belly pan. The 50 has a non-airfoiled stabilizer, the 70 and 90 are airfoiled. The 70 is the one that follows typical modern pattern aircraft in that it has a two-piece plug in wing and a two-piece stabilizer that has two joiner tubes/spars. The stabilizer has anhedral like the original Asyuler, whereas the 50 does not. A nice feature to me is that the wing panels butt up to the side of the fuselage, there's no slight recess in the fuselage for the wing root. It'll be easy to add incidence adjusters later if there's a need to. The construction is fantastic, as well as the covering job...really nice. You may notice that Tower's description says that it's covered in a "High quality self adhesive film". I was initially worried about that, as I saw that part after I ordered the plane. I was afraid it was going to be that sticky back cheap film. No worries though, the covering is in fact a very nice iron-on film. Wrinkling was almost non-existant, only a couple of tiny spots on the fuselage. None on the wings or tail. The colors are nice too... the purple and blue portions are metallic, giving it a nicer look. Everything appears to be straight and true. The ailerons are built up and fully sheeted, as well as the stabilizer halves and elevators. The mid and fwd sections of the fuselage are sheeted too. I'm looking forward to the "build".
For those who are interested, I gathered some weight data from Ryan Smith's build thread of the Axiome 70 and weighed the same components of the Apollo 70. Axiome listed first, followed by Apollo:
Fuselage: 614g 475g
Canalyzer: 32g n/a
Canopy: 80g 76g
Cowling: 66g 68g
Left Wing: 172g 156g
Left Ail: 30g 26g
Right Wing: 166g 159g
Right Ail: 32g 25g
Stab: 78g 101g (Apollo weighed with the two stab joiner tubes and both elevators)
Elevators: 26g ----
Rudder: 32g 19g
Wing tube: 46g 72g
Landing gear: 60g 125g
Wheelpants
(both): 32g 30g
Total: 1466g 1332g
The backstory: I've been flying the FMS Olympus for awhile, and I really love it. It's made of EPO foam, which has been great, but I found myself wondering how well this same design would do as a stiffer airframe. Enter the Axiome 70 by Winner Models. The Olympus is a copy of the Axiome (in outline), and pretty much the same size as the 70 version. If anything, the Axiome 70 should fly better than the Olympus since it's not going to bend and twist in turbulent conditions like the Olympus surely does. Don't get me wrong, the Olympus does great, I would just think that the stiff construction of the Axiome 70 should make a noticeable difference in this regard. I was ready to pull the trigger on the Axiome, then saw the Apollo 70. Overall, it's almost identical in size to the Axiome, an inch longer wingspan and about 1.5 inches longer. It's a near copy of the Asyuler by Japan's Giichi Naruke. I've always loved the pattern designs out of Japan, and I really like the looks of the Asyuler and it's later rendition the Acuracy. Swayed by the fact that Tower Hobbies had a $70 coupon code and that I had a nice gift certificate sitting here from Christmas, I went with the Apollo 70.
In the Apollo series, the 50 and 70 are very similar in planform, and the 90 looks to be more "skinny" in the fuselage/nose. The 50 and 90 share the same style of construction... one piece wing (glued together with plywood wing joiner) with belly pan. The 50 has a non-airfoiled stabilizer, the 70 and 90 are airfoiled. The 70 is the one that follows typical modern pattern aircraft in that it has a two-piece plug in wing and a two-piece stabilizer that has two joiner tubes/spars. The stabilizer has anhedral like the original Asyuler, whereas the 50 does not. A nice feature to me is that the wing panels butt up to the side of the fuselage, there's no slight recess in the fuselage for the wing root. It'll be easy to add incidence adjusters later if there's a need to. The construction is fantastic, as well as the covering job...really nice. You may notice that Tower's description says that it's covered in a "High quality self adhesive film". I was initially worried about that, as I saw that part after I ordered the plane. I was afraid it was going to be that sticky back cheap film. No worries though, the covering is in fact a very nice iron-on film. Wrinkling was almost non-existant, only a couple of tiny spots on the fuselage. None on the wings or tail. The colors are nice too... the purple and blue portions are metallic, giving it a nicer look. Everything appears to be straight and true. The ailerons are built up and fully sheeted, as well as the stabilizer halves and elevators. The mid and fwd sections of the fuselage are sheeted too. I'm looking forward to the "build".
For those who are interested, I gathered some weight data from Ryan Smith's build thread of the Axiome 70 and weighed the same components of the Apollo 70. Axiome listed first, followed by Apollo:
Fuselage: 614g 475g
Canalyzer: 32g n/a
Canopy: 80g 76g
Cowling: 66g 68g
Left Wing: 172g 156g
Left Ail: 30g 26g
Right Wing: 166g 159g
Right Ail: 32g 25g
Stab: 78g 101g (Apollo weighed with the two stab joiner tubes and both elevators)
Elevators: 26g ----
Rudder: 32g 19g
Wing tube: 46g 72g
Landing gear: 60g 125g
Wheelpants
(both): 32g 30g
Total: 1466g 1332g
Last edited by pshark101; 03-15-2015 at 08:29 AM.
