David Martin 2 Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Hi Dead-stick,Thanks for the advice regarding the Sunduster, I'll have a lot more time on my hands next year and I think I'll get the plans back out and have another go. I have a cox 049 with a spring start which is silenced and an Enya that isn't, but as you say, a little brushless and lipo for multiple climbouts is probably the way to go 25 years on..!I think if I had another go with tissue and dope I'd probably be a lot more clued up these days (hopefully..!) but something like Lite Span would be a bit more household friendly.I really like my QB20H and can always rely on it. I suppose with it's modest 52" span though and reletively high wing loading compared to a modern trainer, it's probably a bit behind times and a little quicker than modern alternatives, but I'm still a firm believer in that a beginner is better off knowing what's under the solarfilm and has a full scale plan to fall back on if necessary. I needed to rebuild the front half of my trainer and parts of the wing twice during the early years, I've heard reports that some of the ARTF trainers today when taken a knock have reveilled some surprising 'wood' ingredients and they were scrap.Jim,I thought the Spatman looked a nice little plane, never owned one though. I have a Bowman Mini Skyman that just used to hover into a slight breeze on the 049 it was meant to run on, really needed a 10 in it. Very simple 36" trainer type looking model that cost under a tenner and would probably run ok on an electric set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo565 Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Dave,I built this model 100 yrs. ago so i think it could have been my fault,maybe I didn't fit the c/g at all.(hehehe0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo565 Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 <a href="http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc214/tiggermoth/?action=view¤t=jim.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc214/tiggermoth/jim.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>maybe this time Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Tomlin Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 deadstick / david martin 2 I believe the thread was started with the question "what was the worst that you ever built/flew/bought"The pilot qb20hII was the worst plane I ever built/flew - fact. It was total crap, hurtled around the sky, tip stallled on landing and had a penchant for cartwheeling - the super sixty which i replaced it with was a far more confidence inspiring plane. Like I say I learnt more in an afternoon with the super 60 than i did in a couple of months with the qb20.It was so bad that rather than pass it on to some poor unfortunate, I burnt it!.Its good to know that you had better experiences with yours though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Martin 2 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Looks like it should fly ok Jim..!Yes, I except the reprimand Howard, sorry, I did diversify from the thread for a moment but now we're back on track...I wish I could have had your crap model, I'm sure with a few modifications it would have saved me maybe building another some day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Leadbeater Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 haven't flown it yet i have only started to assemble it E-flite cessna 182 build quality is really bad and the plane is extremly fragile. has made me start to really think about buying any ARTF's plan built or chuck glider conversion is the way to go now i think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Moore Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 Strange how different models come out of this forum on this thread. My Waterhouse ans Ely Superfly was a great follow on from my old DB Mascot Trainer. Yes it did need the OS 40 FSR to get it going but what a delight in the air. So what if it did land fast, sharpened the reflexes and lasted for five years till I got over confident and did a gigantic Loo ----. (b*gg*r).Worse plane I had was a Dave Smith Saphir 60. That did introduce me to tip stalling and I never did learn how to turn it from downwind into wind for landing so it would land out of sight mostly after a brilliant flight of some 15 minutes on a Mutunuc 60 and pipe (remember those). Beautiful in the air and so smooth but - - - - . Follow that with a Flair CAP 230 and again couldnt land the damn thing except from 4 feet up and flop down!!! I fly from the top of a hill on the South Downs and the wind is really more suited for Slope Soaring due to the lift when coming in to land.Oh, yes, and a Thunder Tiger Extra profile thing that the covering would explode on with the slightest of brushes with fingers, tranny aerials and thistles.Oh how fun eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flanker . Posted February 3, 2008 Author Share Posted February 3, 2008 The Site above Worthing Paul? A good tip with slippery pattern ships is flapperons, makes all the difference! As to the rest of you. 5000 members! There must be plenty more horrors out there, where are you all??! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hindle Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 A multiplex big lift mark 1. The kit didn't scrimp on the balsa, everything was sheeted with 1/8th, the basic problem was the design, the body wasn't long enough for the wingspan, no matter what you did it came in heavy.... no wonder they soon released mark II ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Van Buuren Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Alpha 180 ARF electric glider. 6 cells nicad, 540 brushed motor, plastic fuse, full size radio gear. Weighed just on a ton, and tip-stalled at anything under mach 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 My two worst have to be a Flyboy and a Bi-fly both from the pesident stable. The Bi-fly kit was so awfull it never made it of the drawing board...no two ribs were the same! The Flyboy instructions were so clear that it ended up with twice the dihedral that it should have had...that made for some interesting flights but boy could that thing spin!!!Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Ah yes, the W & E Superfly! I didn'trealise it was so bad - I thought it was just my flying abilityIt must have been about 1980-81 when I was flying mine (OS 40 powered) from RAF Odiham one Sunday. Just after takeoff, the battery lead unhooked itself. We were all then just spectators watching it describe a gentle left hand climbing turn (prop torque) for about ten minutes until the fuel ran out. By then it was just a speck (and my initial panic had subsided into resigned expectation of loss or rebuilding) - probably at 1500ft+ - after which it started an equally graceful series of right hand descending turns, finally landing, perfectly well, just inside the boundary fence on the northern edge of the field. Behaved just like a free-flight model - which I suppose it was!I have to admit it flew far better without my clumsy mitts on the controls......... Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Brooks Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 Black Horse Super Air Fiddly to get the rc into it. Made of kiln dried "special splinter" glue retardent wood. However not as bad as the flying. Its ability to flick roll from anything but level flight without pilot input was cause for concern. Take offs straight into wind with an Irvine 53 at full chat and a long roll out would see it flick, inverted and head towards the pits. Hated it with a passion. If you shut the lid on your wheelie bin hard enough you will find you can get quite a clean break through the wings.In hindsight i think it was a manufacturing fault - the leading edge was pretty flat on one side causing it to stall with full on bicycle clip results. As a new "a" flyer at the time i didnt really know how to deal with a wing stalling at 2/3rd full speed when doing a simple immelman turn. The Irvine is still going though, i've ploughed with it, sent it swimming and used it to cut the grass on numerous occasions (the pheasant incident is a different story). Now sits in the front of a SIG Somethin' Extra, into its 6th season and one i will never sell or wheelie bin. Oh and i thought my Precedent T180 was a bit crap as well, though probably down to pilot incompetence at the time - sorry to the club member whose van i parked it in the back off- would have been perfect if the doors had closed as the plane settled in the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Channon Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 Precedent Bi-Fly, the .40 version, orrid !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Rolls Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Alpha 180 ARF electric glider. 6 cells nicad, 540 brushed motor, plastic fuse, full size radio gear. Weighed just on a ton, and tip-stalled at anything under mach 2.<<Mine never tip-stalled, but it was hopeless on 6 cells. A Graupner 8x4.5 folder and 7 cells improved it, and when the original motor finally died a Speed 600 8.4V was a further improvement,. Best flight with it was 54 minutes (my back ached or it could have kept going) anf I had many flights over 30 minutes from it.Finally crashed it when I got dazzled in the sun and it went off F/F - that was all right until I started waggling the sticks hoping to catch sight of it somewhere, not realising it was behind me! It was good enough for me to buy the bigger version - the Omega whihc really was hopeless - ailerons and a lot of dihedral! However, the Omega wings, the Alpah fus, a 600 size brushless and a 3S 3400 Li-po - very tasty!Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Rolls Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 That sounds like a panto line - "It's behind you!" EricIt was quite a panto! There I was, facing south, into a strong sun with puffy clouds not much higher than th eAlpha had been only minutes before. I lost a bit of height to keep it within a reasonable distance, and in so doing managed to fly right across the sun's disc and totally dazzled myself. By th etime my vision cleared -ten seconds, perhaps? - the model had totally disappeared. I searched the sky for perhaps a minute - seemed an hour - and then decided that if I waggled the sticks around there was a chance the sun would flash on the covering. So that is what I did.After about 20 seconds waggling there was a loud CRUNCH! behind me. 30 yards or so away there was the poor little Alpha tent-pegged into the ground. The tailplane, fin and servos survived.....Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Rolls Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 yup!!!!Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Isn't old, very sloppy, peat, very smelly! I wouldn't know...I don't know anybody called Pete thats very old, let alone sloppy...I'll have to take your word for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Tee Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Top thread, made me laugh lots. Worst model long time ago, Snipe can't remember the makers name, billed as 72" span slope trainer. Totally unsuitable for learning, tip stalled badly needless to say did not last long. Second worst last year, Super Rieti by Aviomodelli (alias Mantua) poor design, joke mechanics, laser cut parts but, one suspects, not for this model as none fitted without major modification (cut the parts out of the laser cut parts). Billed as competition thermal glider lol. The barn door air brakes worked well but the barn door ailerons (yes really) were terrible. The control system set up as per instructions gave an amazing 1/2 inch of slop and 1 1/2 inches of travel each way eek. Modding got rid of most of the slop and reduced the movement to a reasonable level (no control deflections in the instructions) but large ailerons proved to be very inefficient and prone to flutter at high speed. Flew like a bus, any use of elevator in a turn resulted in violent tip stall. Very disappointed with the control mechanics, thought the Italians were supposed to be good at this sort of thing. Might win a thermal comp if your against a concrete parachute and a lead balloon but i wouldn't put money on it. Sold on Ebay for less than half the cost of the kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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