RE: Top Flite Giant Corsair ARF Disappeared.
The Corsair will need approximately a pound of nose weight to balance with the DLE 55. This is normal.
Posted on: 6/28/2012 6:07 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11134936

RE: kit cutting 101
Here is the method I have used for years for attaching and then seperating paper from the wood. Use 3M 77 spray on the back of the paper to adhere it to the wood. To remove the paper saturate it with lighter fluid. It does not matter how long the paper has been in place the fluid makes it easy to remove. The fluid evaporates quickly from the wood so the wood does not get heavy from the fluid. The fluid also can be used with a paper towel to clean excess glue from the surface of the wood should you need to. This also works well for cutting multiple parts. If you have a constant chord wing and have several ribs that are all the same glue multiple sheets of balsa together with 3M 77. Glue the paper pattern to the stack of balsa. Cut and sand all of the ribs. When you have completed the cutting and sanding apply lighter fluid to the end of the stack of ribs. The fluid will break down the glue and the ribs will easily seperate from each other.
Posted on: 3/31/2011 11:03 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "Kit Building"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10434782

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40??? 1/5 scale
Louies situation is an isolated incident. If you should have this problem you can contact Top Flite product support and we will work to correct the situation as I did with him. This is our standard procedure for any problem that occurs with any product.
Posted on: 2/17/2011 1:39 PM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10343514

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40??? 1/5 scale
.
Posted on: 2/17/2011 1:35 PM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10343177

RE: New Great Planes Escapade 61.
[quote]ORIGINAL: ckrochmal i guess i should be more worried. i'm going to build this thing with a 55. btw - got the plane. thing does look great. this is my first model from great planes.. im impressed so far. did notice that the control horns on the elevator aren't that symmetrical, but maybe thats on purpose? but yeah, i would bet im gonna take the record for mounting the least powerful engine... at least at first. does anyone enjoy/risk scale flight anymore? someone going to talk me out of the 55? plane looks great though! id take pictures if i had a decent camera. are you guys going to use standard servos on this? dual ball bearing at 60oz ? [/quote] As the designer for this project I can assure you that you will be disappointed with the performance with the .55 Jim
Posted on: 2/9/2011 12:15 PM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10323747

RE: Larger Revolver
Generally when we see this it is due to an air leak around the carb. Check to see if the carb is seated tight to the O-ring. Another source can be the head. Check the head bolts for tightness. [quote]ORIGINAL: Kaos 61 <font size=''4''>Hi Guys,                 Sorry to bust in but I need a little of your expert advice on stall out.  I have a OS .61FX 2 stroke in my large Revolver.  When I tilt the plane nose down in excess of 30 degrees the engine leans out and quits.  At full throttle it takes about 5 seconds and it takes up to 15 seconds at lowest throttle.  It doesn't matter how I set the mixtures.  The engine runs fine in all other attitudes. I've taken careful note of the clunk action in the tank and it isn't folding the pickup tubing and thus starving the engine.  I notice though, that the stock tank height dimension isn't awfully big compared to the tanks' length.  I suspect the clunk pickup is becoming uncovered. Thing is, this happens even when the tank is full!  I'm hooked to a Pitts muffler for pressure.  Anyone else experience this or can suggest a cure? I haven't flown this bird yet because of this and I'm just itch'n but I've lost planes in the past over stall-outs at the wrong moment.... [/quote]
Posted on: 1/26/2011 11:58 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10290369

RE: Larger Revolver
I thought I might jump in again and give you a manufacturer’s perspective on hinge choices. When CA hinges showed up on the market approximately 15 years ago they were an alternative to pinned hinges. They became an alternative that was slightly less expensive and much easier to install. I would argue that they became popular because of ease of installation. When we consider our hinge of choice for a model the cost of the hinge is not even a factor. We use the Robart type hinges in some models and CA hinges in others. We pre-install both types of hinges in our models. We make a hinge choice based on what we feel is needed for the model. Our large scale models generally use the Robart type hinge and when we use them we make sure they have a block behind them so that we get maximum hold from the hinge. If you really knew what procedures we go through before releasing a product you would be pleasantly surprised to find out that we fly prototypes very hard and purposely try to break our models as part of our test flying regimen. Our testing has proven that CA hinges for .40 and .60 size models is more than enough. The reality is that they would be acceptable for many large scale models. When I began working here twelve years ago I never used CA hinges. I did not trust that they were strong enough. I was wrong! In twelve years of testing and development for hundreds of models I don’t think I have ever seen a failure of a properly installed CA hinge. Notice I said, “Properly installed�. Any time you build an ARF you should check some basic things. You should pull on all of the control surfaces to make sure enough glue was applied to the hinges. It is rare but if they lack enough glue you can apply a few more drops and be good to go. The worst case scenario would be that you remove the CA hinges that are lacking glue and replace them with new ones and then apply the glue. If you choose to go through the trouble of removing the CA hinges and installing some other type, great! There is nothing wrong with that but for a plane such as the Revolver it is not necessary.
Posted on: 1/24/2011 10:47 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10284914

RE: Larger Revolver
No PM recieved
Posted on: 1/21/2011 12:20 PM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10278570

RE: Larger Revolver
As the designer of this airplane I have been following this thread off and on since it began. Generally we do not respond directly to comments on the threads but I think it would be beneficial to all involved if a few comments from us were made regarding ARF’s in general and the problems noted here specifically. Regardless of some of the opinions stated Great Planes and all of our associated divisions care very much about the quality of the products we release and the happiness of our customers. I think you would be surprised to see how much effort we put into putting out a high quality product. After we have completed the entire R&D process [i](which is quit extensive)[/i] and are ready to bring a kit to market we have our factory airmail a couple of kits from the production so that we can inspect them for quality, fit and correct hardware. If those samples are acceptable then we authorize full production. When the production arrives we once again pull a random sampling of the kits and check them to be sure that none of the problems that showed up during the development stage exist in production. The volume of kits that we sell makes it impossible to check every kit but we make a concerted effort to assure that you get a quality product. This inspection process is done every time we get in a new shipment. If a modeler finds a problem and it is reported to our customer service department we check it out. If through monitoring a thread such as this one a problem seems to exist we check it out as well. So let me tell you what has happened since some of you recently began reporting the problem with the fit of the canopy. Because of your postings we went through half of the kits we had on hand in our warehouse. None of the kits we checked had the canopy problem. We also checked for poor covering (like alex_scratch_built reported on the wingtip). None of the kits had the problem. Just because we checked the kits in our warehouse does not mean that your individual problems were not real. The problems identified may have been from a previous shipment that we are unable to check due to them already being sold. Though we could not find any kits in our inventory that are representative of your problems we have forwarded the problems along with your pictures to our factory in an effort to make them understand that there is no room for these kinds of issues. My only point is that we do try to get you the best product possible. We do take your concerns and complaints seriously and we do our best to make things right for our customers With ARF’s there are always going to be things we cannot control. Let’s start with covering. It would be wonderful if we could always give you a product free of wrinkles. This is not possible. Some of you have come to expect a certain amount of wrinkling that you will iron out. Some of you have expectations that can not be met. As a company the whole issue of wrinkling is frustrating. I can tell you from my own experience that I have received samples in from our factory that were near perfection. After un-boxing it and letting it sit for a few days wrinkles begin to appear that were not there before. The facts are these kits go through extremes in temperature and humidity and depending on the season the problems can be exasperating. Think about this. A kit is covered in a humidity controlled room and then is set aside in a holding area waiting for the remaining production to be completed, boxed and shipped. Potentially the first product covered might sit waiting to be boxed for 30 - 45 days. Then these kits are loaded into containers, put on a ship where they are subjected to different temperature and humidity shifts. Once they arrive in this country they are unloaded and the containers sit in a holding yard until they can be shipped by truck to our warehouse. Think about this process for a few minutes and imagine what the covering has been subjected to. Short of us opening every box and touching up the covering there is not much else we can do. These changes in temperature and humidity can also cause an aileron that started out straight to warp while in transit. It can also cause deformities in fiberglass parts such as cowls and wheel pants. There was a time that if you wanted to fly model airplanes you had to build them. Today you can have a nice model without ever having built an airplane model. The reality is that some issues such as wrinkled covering and warped control surfaces can be easily fixed with a little time and effort during the assembly process. Occasionally we hear of a problem that one person has but is not a problem that shows up in other kits. Isolated incidences like this may be from a mistake one of our factory employees made in assembly. Though this is regrettable, we all make a mistake occasionally. We wish we could always eliminate these types of problems but some things are out of our control. If you ever feel that you did not receive the product you had expected you should contact us, explain and document the problem calmly and with reason and I think you will be happy with the outcome. Jim
Posted on: 1/19/2011 11:19 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10274232

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40??? 1/5 scale
We used Robarts through all of the flight testing including very hard / bad landings that were done intentionally to stress the landing gear and the landing gear rails and mounting ribs. We never had a failure of the Robart gear, I consider Robarts to be very high quality and recomend you use them. There may be other brands but they were never installed or tested by Top Flight.
Posted on: 1/17/2011 10:57 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10269827

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40??? 1/5 scale
dasintex I was the design engineer and chief pilot on this project. The plane was flown with the DLE 55 and an APC 20x12 prop for most of our testing. Though we did not fly it on a 3 blade prop I do not believe you will have any issue with one. On the 2 blade prop we had very good speed and vertical performance. More than you would expect if you were looking for scale performance. The exception might be if you are flying at a higher altitude such as in the Denver area. Of course you will need a different spinner since we included a spinner for a 2 bladed prop. Go for it and give it a try!
Posted on: 1/6/2011 12:48 PM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10243912

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40???
There are no current plans for an ARC.
Posted on: 5/27/2010 12:12 PM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9762915

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40???
[quote]ORIGINAL: Capt G Jim - do you know what size the main wheels are? Thanks. [/quote] 5" [127mm]
Posted on: 5/18/2010 11:52 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9742124

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40???
[quote]ORIGINAL: serge760 how much nose weight did you ad with the dle 55 [/quote] None
Posted on: 5/18/2010 11:11 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9742044

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40???
[quote]ORIGINAL: kochj Is there enough room to install a Canister muffler with some minor work?>>>> Thanks.. [/quote] I do not believe there would be enough room.
Posted on: 5/18/2010 8:42 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9741751

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40???
[quote]ORIGINAL: Thunderbolt47 Hey Jim, Could you answer my question? What is the difference in the p-40 gear verses the corsair gear? Thanks, Kelly [/quote] The length of the strut on the P-40 is approximately 3/8" longer than the Corsair. Because the wheel well is already placed in the wing for the P-40 gear the Corsair gear will not fit unless you can devise a way to lengthen the strut.
Posted on: 5/17/2010 3:11 PM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9739947

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40???
I just reviewed some of the comments from over the weekend. Here are a few answers to some of the comments I've seen. I think this is funny. More than one comment has been made that the spinner is too small and that it needs to be a 5.5" diameter spinnner to be scale. Guess what.... we're close. The spinner is 5-3/8". A question anout the CG shift when the gear are retracted was posted. The CG does change 2%, not enough to make a huge difference. When you balance the plane you balance it with the gear retracted. Then when the gear are extended the shift is a very safe 2% forward CG shift. Dihedral - The dihedral designed into this model matches the three view we used for development. As I stated in an earlier post, there are many deviations and inaccuracies from one three view to the next. I will add as a aside note, the airplane performs very well with the dihedral we have built into the model. Some of our guys just returned from Joe Nall. The following was a partial comment from one of our guys who was there. "Just wanted to let you know how HUGE a hit the P-40 was at Nall. Jason flew it perfectly, he had it passing turbine aircraft. Every time he got done flying it people would follow it back to the booth like the pied piper. He flew it at every noon show. We talked about it all day long with modelers who came to our booth."
Posted on: 5/17/2010 1:39 PM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9739300

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40???
In past forums I have watched a very good plane get bashed by critical builders who believe they have a better eye for scale fidelity than the manufacturer. In some cases they might even be accurate in there conclusion. I see this post is taking a turn towards this so I thought I might share information that you may not be familiar with to help you better appreciate what we have tried to develop. First, let me say that for many years I participated in the highest level of scale competition including Top Gun. I know what it takes to make a truly 100% scale model. It is not as easy as some would lead you to believe. Design starts with a three view. Guess how many different three views there are of the P-40 and then ask me how many of them match each other? Then check the three views against an actual airframe and you will see more differences. To truly make a 100% scale airplane you need to make drawings from a three view and then verify every aspect of the three views to the full scale airplane. Even the full scale airplane may not be 100% accurate because the owner may choose to make modifications. With our Top Flite P-40 we made a reasonable effort to make a very scale model. Will you find discrepancies? Sure. Our goal is too make the best flying model we can and to make it as scale as we can but we will compromise scale for performance. One example of this is the wing airfoil. You may know that some models of the P-40 have a very bad tip stalling problem. Our research allowed us to find an airfoil that was close to scale but does not have the tip stalling problems. This deviation from scale is well justified in my mind. In spite of what you may think, it does cost a lot more to develop a 100% scale model. For the sake of argument, let’s say that a canopy is too wide or the cowl bulges too much. It is not a simple thing to change. When we develop ARF’s and we work with manufacturers outside of this country we have a lot of barriers to work through. Language is a big one, the number of samples created, the shipping of samples, the time we spend testing and changing samples. Every change requires a new sample. This adds time and cost to the development of the model. At some point we look at the overall product and if we hit 80% to 90% in accuracy and we have a great flying model, we are happy. Top Flite products don’t get thrown together and made available in a few weeks time. Generally we need 18 to 24 months to bring you a new product. In an effort to make some of our models accurate and acceptable for a release the development time has been more than 24 months. I don’t think that anyone outside of the industry can appreciate the man hours of development and the costs associated to bring you the quality products that we strive to release. Most of the scale purists I know make their final product by scratch building or finding a kit they can start with and then modifying the kit. There are some very good scale kits available but expect to pay a premium for them, and for good reason. Scale purists may need to stay with kits or scratch building if they wish to be totally satisfied. I think the vast majority of you will be very satisfied with the scale fidelity of this airplane and I am confident you will love the way it flies.
Posted on: 5/14/2010 4:14 PM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9733415

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40???
For those of you who wish to see the assembly process, the manual is now available. http://manuals.hobbico.com/top/topa0705-manual.pdf
Posted on: 5/14/2010 10:43 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9733223

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40???
Hey guys, It has been good to see the positive comments on this airplane. As I posted earlier, we are very excited about this one. I thought I would chime in to address some of the questions and comments that have been posted. Counter Balances on the elevator [color=#FF0000][u][i]will be[/i][/u][/color] on the production airplanes. The airplane used for photography and being flown at Joe Nall did not have them but that change was made before production began. Retracts - The order number for the Robart Retractable Landing Gear is ROBQ1665. http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXZMU3&P=7 This landing gear is not the same as the Robart Corsair landing gear. There are a few differences in the strut. If you are one of those guys who want to get your hands on this in August I strongly suggest you get your backorder placed. I don't want to overhype this but early indications are the demand is high for this airplane. It's hard to know what the availability will be when they arrive. Jim Hobbico R&D
Posted on: 5/13/2010 9:50 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9730901

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40???
Here are a few pics that have shown up from Joe Nall.
Posted on: 5/12/2010 11:04 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9728500

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40???
Here is more! http://www.top-flite.com/airplanes/topa0705.html
Posted on: 5/11/2010 2:04 PM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9726350

RE: NEW Top Flight P-40???
Alright guys, enough information has leaked out that I can go ahead and address some of your comments and speculation. The early information was released for our dealers but you sleuths always seem to figure things out pretty fast! We have developed a Gold Edition Top Flite giant scale P-40 ARF and we are pretty excited about this one. This is the first new giant scale warbird that we have released in years. It has been designed from the ground up as an ARF. This is not a re-work of a previous kit since we have never had this plane in our kit line. The airplane is an all wood structure covered in Monokote. Here are the vitals: Specifications: Wingspan: 86 in (2185 mm) Wing Area: 1262 in² (81.4 dm²) Weight: 23-24 lb (10.4-10.8 kg) Wing Loading: 42-44 oz/in² (128-134 g/dm²) Length: 72 in (1830 mm) Requires: minimum 5-channel radio with fixed landing gear (9-channel or greater recommended) with 9 servos and 43-55 cc gasoline engine. Street:$579.99 It is always interesting to read the speculation and concerns before an airplane like this is released but let me assure you, this is one really good airplane. We found an airfoil that allows this plane to be very stable and not tip stall at slow speeds yet with the DLE55 it is one fast airplane. As a pilot who recently flew the prototype said after making a low pass, “this thing really hauls a**! We took the prototype to Joe Nall this week and it has gotten a lot of attention. We have tried to bring you a top notch kit and to do a few things with this kit that have not been done with many other kits. First, the detail is exceptional for an ARF. The covering and paint is a flat finish, not glossy. The cowl, landing gear fairings and other misc. components are fiberglass. This is a full cockpit that will accept a full length pilot. We have detailed the side walls and the floor with panels and rivets and pre-painted them. The instrument panel is fully assembled with instruments and bezels. We have not done a “Top Gun� interior but all of the basics are there and with a little extra work you will be able to have an impressive interior. The finish on the cowl is stunning! The marking decals on the fuselage replicate the full size plane very well but we have not pre-applied the decals. This was done intentionally to allow those of you who wish to do a slightly different trim scheme to be able to do it without removing the decals and lifting the covering. The provided color scheme is from a restored P-40 that was a replica of an actual plane used during the war. We have included a pre-painted metal 2-bladed spinner. We have learned a lot over the years and this is the best spinner we have ever provided in a kit. It is not a True-Turn but it is very high quality and has shown no issues in any of our testing. This spinner is comparable to spinners that you would expect to spend $100 for. The airplane includes scale pre-painted split flaps with the fully exposed rib structure for scale fidelity. The elevator, rudder and ailerons are built as an open structure giving the appearance of exposed ribs just like the full scale. Making a strong landing gear mount for the P-40 is difficult due to the landing gear being mounted so close to the leading edge of the wing. Typically the gear can rip out quite easily in a bad landing. We designed the landing gear mount to be mounted to aluminum and plywood ribs that tie into an aluminum leading edge that carries the load of the mount across four ribs in each wing. We have flown this plane, landed it hard and abused it on landing without a failure. The wing is also built very strong. Some might think it is over built but we know how you guys like to fly warbirds! The flight characteristics of this airplane are second to none. With the DLE 55 it is a power house with great speed and vertical performance. With the flaps deployed it is amazing how slow and stable this airplane is. The plane really flies and feels more like an 18 pound airplane. The ground handling of the airplane is very good in spite of the narrow tread of the P-40 and how high it sits off of the ground. Landings are easy if you are landing into the wind or even a quartering wind. A crosswind can be a bit tricky but I am told this is true of the full scale too. We are supplying a fixed landing gear in the kit but I cannot imagine owning this airplane without the Robart landing gear. The rotating landing gear for this airplane is the coolest landing gear you can get for a warbird. To compliment the gear we are including scale wheel covers for the wheels. The plane assembles quickly and is a very conventional build that any semi-experienced builder will be able to accomplish. There is not any plan to release this airplane in an uncovered version. I think we will have to wait and see how sales are before determining if it is a viable option. Speaking of sales, if you are interested in one of these I would not wait too long to get with your dealer to place an order / backorder. The initial shipments will be arriving in August and with the early interest being shown by dealers and here on the internet, I do not know how long thay will be in stock after they arrive. Dealers should have order information this week and I would imagine Tower will have the ability to place backorders this week too. I hope this answers many of your questions. I wish I could provide you with video and detail pictures but I can not and I am sure more information will be released soon from Top Flite. Jim Hobbico R&D
Posted on: 5/11/2010 12:13 PM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9726084

RE: Opinions on ESM P-47 or any ESM Warbird
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXZKD0&P=7 Here it is! _____________________________ The Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you. Read more: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9685029/mpage_3/key_/tm.htm#ixzz0nXJGPxQK Read more: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9685029/mpage_3/key_/tm.htm#ixzz0nXJGTzfq
Posted on: 5/10/2010 10:20 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "RC Warbirds and Warplanes"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9723510

RE: Great Planes 25% Pitts M-12s 3D
We flew this airplane on both the DA and the OS. Both flew it well. The downside of the OS is that it has a forward facing carb that makes mounting the dummy engine / cooling fins difficult. Additionally you will need to do some extra work to set up the throttle for the OS. Jim
Posted on: 4/2/2010 8:51 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - 3D & Aerobatic"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9631696

RE: Great Planes 25% Pitts M-12s 3D
80 oz will not be enough. Follow the recomendations with the kit.
Posted on: 3/4/2010 10:34 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - 3D & Aerobatic"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9553949

RE: Great Planes 25% Pitts M-12s 3D
Bliksem, I was unaware that the tower web site had the wrong information about the landing gear. I will see to it that it gets changed. Please don't feel as if you were lied to. You can only imagine the amount of information that is passed through the data input people at Tower. I am sure it was a mistake, not an intentional oversite. Jim
Posted on: 2/24/2010 8:48 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - 3D & Aerobatic"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9531335

RE: Great Planes 25% Pitts M-12s 3D
[quote]ORIGINAL: drbyrnes Yes, those non-aluminum landing gear are a pain. That's right where some of mine have cracked or delaminated; at the angle between horizontal and long limb of the gear. Maybe Great planes should consider including aluminum gear. What do you think, Jim? Otherwise, glad to hear your maiden went well. [/quote] Well, you ask what I think? I think there is not a simple answer so maybe I will try to give you some insight to the decision process we go through to bring you what we feel is a great product. When this thread started all the speculation was around weight issues. When designing an airplane weight is in the forefront of our designs along with structural strength. In the case of this airplane we originally had an aluminum gear. It was very strong but very heavy. As we worked towards the final version of this airplane we needed to find some weight reductions. Part of the solution was to switch to the landing gear that is currently provided with this airplane. It was much lighter than the aluminum landing gear. Of course it needed to be strong as well. We flew the airplane and performed multiple landings. Not all of the landings were good; many were purposely hard landings so we could be sure that the gear would hold up. We experienced no problems with the landing gear so it was the gear we settled on. As you all are aware, each of you has your own opinions about airplanes. Some of you are concerned about weight, for others it strength. Some of you want all of the newest high tech stuff. The one thing we know is that all of you want whatever is important to you at the lowest cost possible (i.e. …cheap!). This is where our dilemma begins. We have to try to come up with one solution that will make everyone happy. That is not ever going to be possible, not for Great Planes or any other manufacturer. We all face the same dilemma. Some small companies have stepped in with after market solutions to give you exactly what you want. Of course this costs you more to get what you feel is best for you. One solution that we could have implemented would have been to given you a carbon fiber landing gear. It would have given you the strength of aluminum without the additional weight but it would have increased the cost of the kit in the range of $50 - $75 per kit. That would have made the airplane less competitive and many of you would not have felt that we delivered a great value. We had a similar dilemma with the spinner. This airplane required that we provide a spinner that was turned from bar stock from so we went ahead and designed a proper CNC machined bar stock spinner painted to match the airplane. The spinner would have raised the kit price up too much in our opinion....so like the majority of airplanes sold in this category....we did not include a spinner with this kit. Of course some have expressed disappointment that we did not provide a spinner. Does it really benefit you if we provide a spinner, build the cost into the kit and then you feel it is not good enough and you have to spend more money on an aftermarket spinner? I hope this helps you understand some of the compromises that we need to consider in the development of an airplane. Please know that we strive to put out the best product possible for the best possible price to provide you with a good value for your modeling dollars. The landing gear that is included with the Pitts is strong. We had no landing gear failures in testing. Some of you may notice a few stress cracks occur from what might be a hard impact on landing. But the landing gear is strong enough for the weight and the rigors of this airplane and will provide you with many happy landings.
Posted on: 2/23/2010 11:07 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - 3D & Aerobatic"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9528652

RE: Great Planes 25% Pitts M-12s 3D
The ailerons are pre-hinged but the elevators and rudder must be hinged by the modeler.
Posted on: 2/12/2010 12:32 PM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - 3D & Aerobatic"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9498229

RE: Great Planes 25% Pitts M-12s 3D
I am glad your plane managed to survive delivery. I guess you now know what it means when UPS asked, "What can Brown do to you!". [i](or something like that!)[/i] I thought I would just throw in a thought since you mentioned the landing gear. We have had some composite gear develop cracks in the past. The manufacturer has made some changes and they are better than the earlier versions. The gear for the Pitts was really tested hard by us and it held up very well. You will find that the Pitts crawls in when you land so you will either have to make very bad landings or be trying to land the plane hard before I think you would see a problem develop with the gear. Spend your money as you wish but I would suggest you give the gear a try before parting with more of your hard earned dollars. [quote]ORIGINAL: blikseme300 Got mine today. Here are some pics: <a target=''_blank'' href=''http://bliksemseplek.com/m12.html''>bliksemseplek.com/m12.html It started raining as I unpacked it so could not take more pics. When I got home I opened up the fuselage and cowl. The covering is very good with hardly any imperfections. The cowl is done very nicely as well. The only negative so far is the composite landing gear. It looks like it is made from polyester and glass, like the GP Ultimate. Bummer. The Tower website information page is wrong. It lists the UC as bent aluminum. I will be in contact with TNT to make me a set of aluminum gear. Bliksem [/quote]
Posted on: 2/12/2010 9:15 AM by Author "jimkim" in the forum "Giant Scale Aircraft - 3D & Aerobatic"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9497792