First thing to do is add extra plywood to the landing gear base on the model's main fuselage. I used one 3/4" cut-to-fit piece, 4 smaller corner joiners, 6 min epoxy, and larger diameter bite nuts and M4 1 1/2" length button head hex bolts. I also replaced the metal landing gear assembly with a slightly more springy carbon fiber version that was within a few mm in all directions. Works wonderful, nice spring with out bouncing on landings, the CF and it's spring rate perfectly absorb landings, and my custom LG mounting solution has held true. Been flying this plane since November of 2017, and I still love it. I run an Axi 4120/14 motor with a HobbyWIng Platinum Pro 100A Esc with BEC, a 4S or even 5S 4500mah LiPo, and four "standard-sized" LD-20MG metal digital servos. The 20Kg red color ones work great (2x for Ailerons, 1x for Elevator, 1x for Rudder both sit under the cockpit canopy, tones of room. Each Aileron servo has a wing seat. Nice and direct, zero play or movement. Having standard-size, high torque, semi-fast servos throughout is a major contributor for this airplane's non-stop excitement, a joy to fly (and even crash once, pretty hard), and to push hard with that Axi 4120/14 which is probably equivalent to a typical 5055 motor, maybe just tad less. I am about to go out and fly it right now, in a fully lit football field and track course across the street from my house. So... no.... not even close to bored with this aircraft yet, and I own quite a few now. (Posted on 4/27/2018)
I bought this model at Value Hobby because I wanted a everyday flyer that was capable of improving my skills on. I am not yet an intermediate pilot, Something I could ?grow into" and had a full set of replacement parts available too.
The overall quality of this ARF is not bad at all.I did not use the supplied clevises, but the only big negative I see on this plane after maybe a dozen flights is the landing gear mount. It is based on 1/16" ply.I removed the forward belly plywood, added 3 1/4"square hardwood dowels at the front and sides and epoxied in 1/8" ply belly and then another 1/8" ply just under the gear mount area and has been solid. I enlarged the cowling prop shaft hole and trimmed out an exit holeat the lower rear for some motor and ESC cooling.
This plane is equipped completely as recommended with the exceptionof of installing the 80A ESC because I did not want to install a BEC with the Value 60A ESC.I use the D32, 13 X 6.5 prop, and 4S 3300mah battery,
In the air it is big and easy to see. Orientation is good with the supplied covering scheme, It flys inverted well, will knife edge, and the rolls are surprisingly axial (I used some mechanical aileron differential and a Y harness,) (Posted on 5/23/2016)
The plane is very responsive, and has a wide speed range. The landing gear box needs to be beefed up. The gear just snapped off on my first landing, but at least it was nice and clean. Epoxy in some extra plywood and triangle stock for strength. Use 1/4-20 nylon bolts for the gear if you fly on grass - hopefully they will break before the frame!
The cowling was warped, and the front corners of the fuselage need to be rounded a bit. Value Hobby kindly sent me a replacement cowling, which fits like a dream! (Posted on 3/20/2015)
Plane fly's great looks great. I had to trim the front of the cowling to get it to fit, the landing gear is to lightly built and can't access to beef up easily. She will tip stall as expected. just have to make sure landings are spot on and don't mind the cowling to be perfect.
The plane fly's great and looks good even after I had to trim the tip off the cowling. I did loose power due to a weak battery and didn't make the field but is fixable. (Posted on 9/8/2014)
Just completed the build and maiden flight on this one. It was my first ARF. It is as advertised! Its an amazing amount of kit for the price. Be warned; there is some tricky drilling and slotting to do. Take your time during assembly. I used an Exceed 46 in mine and it fit in perfectly. This is a big plane! Be sure to beef up the engine mount with epoxy. Mine literal came apart while mounting the motor. The only other modes intend to make is larger wheels and drilling some holes for airflow.Big motor, big ESC, big battery (4s 4000mah), need air. (Posted on 7/20/2013)
This can be set up for glow engines or electric motors. The electric motor box was not sturdy enough, so I made some long standoffs and mounted them to the firewall.
The supplied hardware works fine, the kit is very complete.
Only thing I am going to change are the wing screws. They are too small and I will use some bigger nylon screws. This is not a big problem, just more convenient.
Flying is a blast, tracks straight and it has a huge speed range, it can be tamed to fly like a trainer or can be fast.
It is build strong, aerobatics are lots of fun. But it's also light, so crosswind landings need some attention.
All in all a very good plane. You get a lot of plane for the money (Posted on 6/28/2013)
Due to the weather, I have not flown it yet.
I have an electric motor in it. easy to install and it has a nice large hatch for fast battery changes.
It has a nice and sturdy landing gear, but the mounting block needs some reinforcement, some fiberglass and epoxy is strongly recommended here.
will build this plane soon and hope to have it in the air by this weekend, useing a 3548 motror and 60 amp esc, 3300mah bat and A 12X6 prop. (Posted on 10/20/2012)