Andy Blackburn Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 About a year and a half ago I bought a Hangar 9 Showtime 50 as my first I/C model for about 20 years; it was a nice model with very good manners and reasonable performance with a an OS 55 AX, but it was quite heavy and could really have done with something like a Saito 82. However, the undercarriage wasn't well thought-out. The supplied wheels and spats were far too small and were thrown away in favour of a pair of 3 inch wheels. The undercarriage legs are very long but the undercarriage mounting plate is two layers of laminated, fairly soft lite ply and just isn't up to the job; I damaged mine after a slightly heavy landing which should have resulted in nothing more than some slightly bent undercarriage legs. Rather than repeat everything here, the full story is on a Showtime 50 Undercarriage thread at the Slough club website, but the damage was obvious when the covering was stripped away: I had to make a replacement undercarriage mounting plate and a doubler for the front former from 1/4" ply (to the accompaniment of much bad language) which were installed with 30 minute epoxy, and this did the trick. The only other real gripe I have is that the recommended engine size is "2-stroke .40-.52, 4-stroke.56-.82". This is just fanciful nonsense - a 6 1/4 pound model of that size is not going to have a "remarkable 3D performance" on a .40. I am vastly unimpressed by the design of many ARTFs - superficially they're nice and shiny and the instruction manuals are usually impeccable, but sometimes they're just not fit for purpose. Edited By Andy Blackburn on 10/07/2009 12:37:52 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham King Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I have a Showtime 50 too. Same undercarriage problem - very weak in this area. I use an OS 91 FS with a 14x7 prop - all the power you want. It really is the ideal engine for this model. I also have the Funtana x50 with a Saito 100. Same bad design undercarriage and hardly any glue visible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry Pollard Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 As far as I am concerned the best ARTF model is the Extra 260 from ALs , bought it as a package model motor esc and battery for £250 ish. First flight u/c colapsed. Found it was only on 1mm ply. Stripped it out and revamped the mounting and since then no trouble. Fly it at least twice a week and usually have 4 or 5 flights per session. This was bought 12 months ago and at first I hated it and wondered why I had bought it but now I love flying it in any sort of conditions. Must be well over 200 flights and no damage, why did I say that look out for tomorrows report, bet I write it off. Would I buy another YOU BET Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Blackburn Posted July 10, 2009 Author Share Posted July 10, 2009 The usual u/c fix seems to be 1. BEFORE ASSEMBLY, examine the undercarriage mount 2. If it isn't at least 6mm good-quality ply, take the covering off and replace it with 1/4 inch aircraft-quality ply. Of course, we shouldn't have to do this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Foreman Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 My Dualsky Extra 260 from Al's Hobbeys UC is attrocious, I've re-built it three times already, its awaiting fixing at the moment, think its time for a redesign! 6mm Ply all round it is then! Edited By Tom Foreman on 10/07/2009 22:45:22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry Pollard Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Hi Tom You do suprise me. Apart from beefing up the landind gear I have had no probs at all. Do you think you got a friday afternoon or monday morning model ? Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Foreman Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 No, its only strong enough for a perfect landing, on bowling green grass. Anything else and it needs beefing up. Having the U/C in two pieces and mounting it inside the model doesn't help, it it was one piece and bolted to a ply plate at the bottom of the model, you could hold it on with nylon screws so if you make a less than perfect landing, then it only costs the screws instead of ripping out the inside of the aircraft! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djay Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 I have just built one of these and found the following problems. The engine range is 4 stroke up to 82 size, I tried fitting the new Thunder Tiger 91, which is the same size as the 75, and the mount was much to narrow. The bulkhead holes are already predrilled and fitted with T nuts. When I tried to redrill the holes for a wider mount there was to much reinforcement and structure behind the bulkhead to allow me to fit the T nuts without altering the poaition of the engine. Luckily I had a brand new in box OS 55AX which fitted a treat, Only, the exhaust needed an extension to clear the fuselage.This was not mentioned in the instructions. Strangely enough fo a H9 model this was not very good to put together. The hinge slots on all the controls were one long slot the length of the L/E and T/E, which I had to rectify. Th U/C mount on mine is fine and the wheels/pants are good. The threaded portion in the wings that the retaining bolt screws into have bad threads in them, so it is a pain trying to tighten those long bolts up. The covering is terrible, not only is it all saggy and bubbled ( I was going to rename it the blue rinse, as it looked like someones granny it was so wrinkled) but the actual finish, seams and joints are very tatty. But it flies nice, goes vertical spinning for as long as you want, flies slow, and landings are a breeze So far no problems flying it Darryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin watson Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 i have just built one of the hangar 9 showtime 50 as i had a new os 70fs laying around general build seems ok had first test flight the other day engine running perfectly i normally over power most of my aircraft as i like to wring them out well i lined it up for takeoff opened the throttle after a long runway it eventually lifted off on full power. once airbourne i throttled back to test stall non existent but it just lacked power pulling into a loop on full power it nearly stalled the engine at the top. i got home after flying what promises to be a great flying model and have looked at replacing the under powered 70fs i firstly tried os55ax exhaust problems i looked at even fitting a mini pipe ( thanks to just engines for there help) in the end i still don't think this will give this unlimited vertical so i have fitted a os91fs pump by redrilling the mounts and using threaded inserts (modelfixings) as fitting t nuts wouldn't work i can understand people using saito 82's but on high nitro fuel. i feel hangar nine should rename this as the showtime 90 as a 50 size engine really is too small. now lets have some nice flying weather so i can try it again with the 91 colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djay Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Mine flies superb with the OS 55AX, loops at 1/3rd throttle, and goes unlimited vertical rolling upwards. I do fly at just above idle for most of my manouvers though as this plane does them so easily. Roll inverted about 2 metres above the ground with full confidence at idle, then pull up flip it over and land on the spot. Darryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham King Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I agree, Colin. This really should be named a Showtime 90. With the OS91FS this plane really comes into its own. I tried a 50 2st in it first - hopeless , then a 61 2st - better, but the 91FS really suits the model.( And sounds so much better too!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Pickford Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 I fly mine on an OS 55 AX and its fine. I had a dead stick last week and came in very fast and hard ill have a quick look at the U/C mounts!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin watson Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 flown my showtime today first day since upgraded engine to os91fs it really brought the airframe to life i used a 16/4 prop climbs unlimited i was also able to remove the church roof i was carrying at the front to balance it. as for under cart it lands on the spot every time even with the 15+ mph winds today i haven't noticed any weaknesses i managed about 15 flights today i have started moving the cg back anyone found any good cg settings colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin watson Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 engine mounting of os91fs running 16x4 prop as you can see dirty engine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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