James M Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 Just picked up a secondhand eflite cub in good condition. I'm not a scale puritain and was wondering if it will fly without the struts??. They look purely for looks, given the small screws and hinge type joins. Also wood larger wheels make landing easier - the current are 2.5 inches and was looking to go up to 3inches. Any thoughts from those that fly them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 I seem to recall some discussion about this on one of the RCG threads, James. Some were flying without and didn't have a problem whilst others took the purist view that it didn't look right without. If the wingloading gets high enough, then I feel the wings will clap hands with or without the struts - they'll just hold it all together for a bit longer! If you fly without, make sure you have some good-sized washers on the 8-32 wing bolts to spread the load a bit. I've improved the ground-handling of mine by increasing the wheels to 3", so that is worth doing. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Card Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 I would have thought you'll get away with it if you fly a nice sedate level flight, but get some speed up in a dive then pull back and it might be sycamore-leaf time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 If you didn't get a manual with the model, James, you can download one here. Realistically, I do not think you will have a problem flying without the struts, despite Chris's pessimism! Overall the build quality is very satisfactory, it's a very solid model and well up to E-Flite's reputation. The spars are webbed, the wings have a 1/4" ply joiner (2 x 1/8" sandwich) and they are probably equivalent in strength to most non-strutted ARTF's. Provided the wing was assembled properly, I don't see them as being any more vulnerable than any other similar spec model. There are no warnings in the manual about flying without struts - if they were structural, then I'd expect them to say so. Bearing in mind the U.S. love of litigation, I'm sure they'd cover their backs on that one. Furthermore, if they were structural, I'd expect the brackets to be rigid rather than of Mylar. Lastly, having read through a fair number of threads on various forums, I've yet to come across any mention of the wings folding. There's another couple of alternatives, though. One is to make a set which is pretty straightforward or you can order a set here. It flies just a tad fast for real scale appearance but I'd have to go up a size or two to improve on that. I'm very pleased with mine and it gets a regular airing, so go for it!Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James M Posted May 6, 2010 Author Share Posted May 6, 2010 Thanks for the advise guys. Will let you know how it goes. Have ordered bigger wheels to cope with the longer grass also. The best scale ones that would fit where the du-bro inflatables - someone in the RCU forums is using them - but at £30 a pair I have desided against it as the model only cost me £70 complete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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