Unflown trainer for less than £60

[Baron Baz]

I recently took a gamble on ebay and bid for a "spares or repair" RC 'plane that looked in reasonable condition. I took the view that, if it was in a poor state, repairing it would give me some decent experience.  I also noted that the engine appeared to be unused.  Here's the link

It's a Kyosho Calmato 40 trainer, fitted with a Kyosho .46 engine and Sanwa servos. When it arrived it was packed in a HUGE box, stuffed with broken up polystyrene packing.  After finally getting the model out of the box I was pleased to see that the 'plane was in very decent condition, with a few minor dings caused by storage or transit.

The good points: The engine had certainly never run.  The 'plane had never flown.  There was no structural damage.

The not so good points: The previous owner obviously had no experience of or talent for finishing an ARTF model - there are smears of epoxy on the upper wing surface.  The Rx was 27MHz (mounted in a toilet roll core!) so that was the first to go but I had a spare 2.4GHz Rx anyway.  The battery was a well dead nicad so that went too.  The servos, while fully functional, had been mounted with a mix of household woodscrews and servo screws without grommets - I've changed them also.  I cut a new servo tray from some left-over ply I had & epoxy'd it in place over the original.  The tail section was badly aligned but it was an easy fix because he'd glued it in place without removing the covering, so it fell apart quite easily.  The elevator clevis was attached to the control horn with a panel pin and held on with blue-tak - that has been fixed with a 1.5mm diameter bolt & the nut held with threadlock.

Other than that I removed the undercarriage, engine and mount, then re-installed with threadlock (everything was loose).  I've upgraded the wingbolts from M4 to M5 plus I've added epoxied fillets around the wing mounting location, just for peace of mind.

The engine had it's first run at the weekend and is as sweet as could be wished for.  I did note that the mix screw binds on the fuselage, so I've unmounted the engine again & have have cut out a small recess which needs to be fuel-proofed before the next run, during which my new machine should take to the skies!  Overall I'm very happy with my ebay bargain.

Edited By Baron Baz on 26/04/2012 00:22:38

Edited By Baron Baz on 26/04/2012 00:23:04

Edited By David Ashby on 26/04/2012 06:54:17

[David Davis]

You've got a bargain there!

I've just bought a an old DB Mascot with radio and engine for £31on eBay! It must be 30 years old but it's only flown once!

Shame it's only the three channel version.

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Yes, sounds like a good buy. I must admit I didn't know Kyosho made engines though?

 

 

 

Edited By David Ashby on 26/04/2012 06:56:39

[Tony Bennett]

i like to buy unfinished projects from ebay, they are allways cheap and you get some interesting models.

[Baron Baz]

The engine is still available with Kyosho kits, although I've not been able to find a .46 selling seperately. You can buy a .40 size for about £60. Oddly enough, one of my mentors at the club knew better than Kyosho how to start the engine for the first time - only 2 turns out on the mix, rather than the 2.5 turns suggested by Kyosho.

By the way, thanks David for ammending my link. I'll have to go figure how to do that myself!

[Derek Stevenson]

I love Ebay!

I bought a Hurricane (84" wing span) which had the wings joined and the fuselage built but included a complete set of air retracts & wheels all for £31 - I gave it to a club member (pensioner) as I didn't have the time to build it. He has it ready for its maiden flight. At the same time I also purchased a CM pro Zero - 6ft wing span fibreglass fuselage for £43. When I met him to collect the models I add a OS90 £30 and a built but not covered aerobatic Bipe (Sky something) £30

From a different source I got a black horse 40 size spit artf complete & built but never flown (engine fitted cowl cut then removed, no servo's ever fitted) for £21. (Instead of £112 + postage) The undercarriage legs had been fitted the wrong direction.

Add to that a Hanger9 Funtana 100 (brand new kit for £102 which has sat in my office for about 4/5 years must get round to assembling it some day!

I've had over 200 purchases most to do with aero modelling and have had very few bum steers. The vast majority of my modelling purchases are done on Ebay - not my radio etc.

The wife tells me it's addictive - she has a point there.

[Stephen Grigg]

I also enjoy buying on E bay,that was certainly a bargain,remeber seeing it,the photo was poor I believe always promising,puts people off.Just collected a Harmon Rocket,mint,I paid £80 and the next one just made £142,so even more pleased

[Alan Cantwell]

what i would like to know is just how many links are there to r/c gear? i look every day, and have seen none of the above, and i have that zero in my search!!!!!!!!! my ebay buys are are about 80%good, in the early days, i got there, the gear was pants, but i paid anyway, cos i did not want bad feedback, now? i tell them i will get down to inspect it and pay if i am happy, worst thing i ever bought was a Dave Vaugn plan built mustang, with robarts, got there, the wing was foam, the paint was peeling, the retracts where aerokit, and it was £164, but, i paid, and have looked at it slung in the corner of the workshop ever since, best was a Kyosho TA152, LOVED that plane, and for £100 too,

so, come on, how many headings do you have to look under to find things?????

[Bob Cotsford]

my best buy was 'an unknown 80s sports model' which I got for £35 - it was actually a Geizendanner(sp?) 'Marabu' design which he won a coupe of world titles with in '69-71

It does seem a bit hit and miss finding a specific item though.