G-Pete

Well, I took the step and bought a WH Ultimate. She is used and was a prototype from Wild Hare.
After a 10 min flight I had problems with the landing…way too fast. I could not throttle back enough to slow down or kill the engine. The result, bended landing gear and broken prop[&o]. May some of you think – run her out of gas, no option for me not on the first fight.
Tom had a new cowl in stock so I replace this one too.

Right now I change the color of the bird; it was an eagle (purple) setup – not quite my taste. Multi color, blue yellow and red.

Anyway this is my first gas engine and I love it already. I have 4 inch foam sheet in my truck and believed or not it fits in there. Just take the landing gear off and flip her upside down.

Pictures will be later on posted, I hope I get this baby this weekend up…

Happy landings[sm=thumbup.gif]
G-Pete

G-Pete

Oh..almost forgot, even I bought it used - Tom at Wild Hare answered me all my questions on the phone and helped me out. Pretty good customer service, I guess my next (new) giant one is from Wild Hare….!



Happy landings[sm=thumbup.gif]
G-Pete

Dirtnaper

My Feedback: (11)

I have an ultimate Ill make you a deal on if you want a second one. Just send me a PM. Since you live close.

I have a new lower wing set from Wildhare, the first one didnt work out and its partially assembled. The sweep on the upper wing is a little off from the first but shouldnt effect the flying properties. Just let me know. You could probably get WH to give you an upper too. Othere than that the fuse and tail are strait as an arrow. The new lowers will work out as well so its good.

bluemagic98

I was wondering what setup you had I have flown 2 of these setups a bit differant Im thinking of going to a 24-8 prop ive flown this with 2 differant motors a DA 50 with a 23-8 i liked that it slowed way down now I have a Evolution with a 24-10 Granted it pulls the plane like the space shuttle but it does tent to keep flying at lower throttle settings but my engine will idle down pretty low without stalling way lower than my DA does Im thinking thr DA has a shorter stroke. Also My Ultimate with the DA had a more rearward CG that also made for a better landing speed.

ben beyer

My Feedback: (23)

That's the one thing I loved about my Evolution 58 was the idle, but it had other problematic areas. My 3W is great though.

ben beyer

My Feedback: (23)

Let me say this about the Evolution engine, there are a lot of people running them. Dick Hanson has the little 26 that he's put in a Showtime and Funtana. A lot of people are happy with them. Mine was probably just the bad apple and even DA has those. I just got tired of it and decided to make a switch.

G-Pete

The motor is a Brison 3.2 (22x8 prop) and runs just fine. Two, three hits with choke - choke out and the engine start right away.
Flying is fine she does what I want her to do. Landings are my problem, as soon I get a little slower – come around final leg ¼ throttle try to decent steep so I loose airspeed, well she gets tipsy. I tried to move the CG a little back but she went tail heavy. So far I had three nose over and two broken props. That’s not good!!
I have to work on my landings. I’m used to fast landings (P51 Dual Ace) but with this plane it just looks not right. When I try a normal decent the bird is real fast – a steep decent brings the speed down but then the wingtips going unstable. I just don’t like the high speed and the possibility for a cart wheel.
It would be easy to blame the Plane, but it’s me. There are some videos on the web, like from downonthedeck.com which Wild Hare uses on their site – heck, this looks easy, yeah not everything is easy what looks easy.
It seems to me the unstable plane at the landing approach is “normal”….?
Feels like my first landings – nervous and soft knees, guess I have to do it. On top I hate crooked landings; a good flight includes a nice takeoff and landing…

Happy landings[sm=thumbup.gif]
G-Pete

G-Pete

PM sent...thanks

ben beyer

My Feedback: (23)

Try taking a long approach, just let it gently descend and use power to keep it from stalling. That's how I land my bunnies.

bluemagic98

I hear what your saying Ive had her flip over pretty hard and have repaired the plane after a day at the field when the grass was a little long. I havent lost a prop yet but a spare will be ordered next month. A couple of things helped me out . One was dialing in some expo on the alierons they are very touchy and at lower speeds can seem like the plane wants to just stall out on you. I have learned to watch for the one wing to drop and try to plan on having it do that just as it touches down then i know when i am down I can add some more elevator to keep it from nosing over. When i add elevator and it leaps back up into the air it can be a problem. Power is your friend I try and keep in mind how stable the plane is in a hover and under power so making a few passes with the nose high and a little power on it. This gets me warmed up to the idea that this plane will slow way down and maintain good control with a little rpm be hind it. I was verry surprised by this plane on its maiden voyage the pic im ataching was taken on the first flight i had attempted to land it when the wing drop caught me off gaurd I added a touch og throttle and the 58 just yanked the nose up and it harriered down the runway. I never harrier my planes this low but it sure made me smile as it went past me nose high looking all proud of itself. We have a fare share of wind at our field and it sure helps slowing the plane down. Keep doing the nose high under a little power passes till you feel safer with it it is rather stable and much more taim than it appears

rctom

All biplanes require that you carry some throttle until te plane is about to touch down. You will not be able to glide it in like a monoplane, there is too much drag.

TF

bluemagic98

Tom
on a low wind day with the 24-10 this thing will glide a lot more than you think at idle granted not a dead slow idle but i was very surprised at just how much of a glide it had over the DA-50 and the 22-8 prop. Im considering going to a 24-8 on the evolution 58 just for this reason. I was more than surprised at how well it handled the added weight of the EVO-58 over the DA-50

airborneSGT

My Feedback: (15)

What stand off length is required for the DA 50 on the Ultimate?

bluemagic98

I ussed the same ones Tom sold me with the DA for My Edge 3-1/4? I think I had to use 1/4 Nylon washer on the edge and i did the same with the Ultimate.

airborneSGT

My Feedback: (15)

Gotcha so 3" standoffs plus the quarter inch.

G-Pete

OK Gents,

Thanks for all the input here.
My self confidence was kicked a bit, I asked my former instructor and club president to fly my Ultimate. The result was the same, at the last sequence of the landing the wings dropped left and right…and broke the prop. At least it’s not me.
It looks like only the former owner can land this plane. I decided to get a new air-frame and build my own setup. I bought the used plane for a very good price – so it not matters.[8D]

Jut keep in mind I got this plane used and it was my risk – I’m not mad or disappointed. I was prepared to buy a new frame. Compare to the props the airframe is cheap – relativity – It’s just not good for me to be under so much stress at the landing sequence. There is no fun when you know the landing will be a problem.

Well, last night I started on this plane. I will take pictures and may I can add something to the build thread from tomriddle.

Happy landings[sm=thumbup.gif]
G-Pete

tomriddle

My Feedback: (3)

G-Pete,

Please add whatever you can...as you can tell by the pace I have set so far, you may finish before me (and I will no doubt be able to learn something from you!!)

v/r

tom

bluemagic98

G-Pete I know how you feel about landing the ultimate. The ultimate im flying is my 2nd and it has the 58 evolution motor so this one is a bit heavy. When I first flew it it was very windy so it slowed it down alot on landings. After flying it on calmer days I had more troubles slowing it down and i nosed it over more than I felt it should. Ive made a few changes one is Ive removed the wheel pants and ive steped up to a 4" wheel This helped a bit but the big change was the CG I know the manual said 6-1/2 from the leading edge of the top wing Ive taken mine back to 6-3/4 I know 1/4 dont sound like much but it is and it has made the largest differance to me. now when I touch down it sticks and it dont nose over I can put the coles to her and take off again before I had to stop and take off again from a dead stop if i just gassed it it would nose over loosing 24" props was getting old fast. now if i touch down at to high a speed it bounces back up. before I had the spinner make a divit in out turf and it pollvaulted off the spinner and litteraly flew inverted backwards at about 2 feet off the ground before it came to a stop. Granted the lenth of the grass the angle of my wheel pants the pilots fingers all had a part in this but Ive become relaxed with this plane at the 6-3/4 CG and the landings are 3 pointers without a lot of trouble. and if it touches down before its time the bounces are managable.

G-Pete

The Memorial Day weekend gave me plenty time to work on the ultimate. I hope you guys had a nice and relaxing weekend too!

I added a servo for the choke – this gives me a little more safety in case the throttle servo fails or a linkage brakes. I’m thinking also to install a second receiver

Where the pilot is placed I cut a hatch, this makes things way easier. Pictures will follow soon.

Happy landings[sm=thumbup.gif]
G-Pete

G-Pete

Tom, here is my status so far...

rctom

Looks very good, when will be flying it?

TF

G-Pete

Looks like Saturday for the maiden flight. The CG is set at 6.5 inches, The horizontal stab is 0 degree, the lower wing 0 degree and the upper wing is -1 degree. The plane balanced not without moving the batteries in the back (see pictures). I had the pull-pull servo and the wires already – so it was my choice not to spent more money and be a little creative. Later on this gives me more freedom to move the CG around fairly easy.

The hatch under the pilot figure helped a lot during the build. Routing wires and feed them through. Also it gives you a surface to grab on by turning the plane around, especially when the motor is mounted.

Because of the location (Texas) I had to make some sunglasses for the pilot – hahaha – during serious working I need sometimes a good laugh.

I sealed the gaps on the control surfaces with clear covering (strips 1” wide). The leading edges on the wings are also protected with the same coat.

Tomorrow I get this baby on a electronic scale to see how “slim” she is.

Right now I debate if I put a second receiver in the plane. From what I understand a lot of giant rc aircraft pilots do this. With one receiver out thy plane is still flyable, one side elevator and ailerons. This plane will not fly very well and would be a handful – but nobody gets hurt because I saved a hundred bucks


Happy landings[sm=thumbup.gif]
G-Pete

G-Pete

Well the maiden flight was done Saturday around 11am. She went up and I had one click up elevator and two clicks left aileron to get the plane straight.

This airframe fly way (WAY!) better the other one. The total was three flights – first was 10 minutes followed by a nice landing. Half of fuel tank used (24oz). The second flight was a little longer and I checked all connections and wiring.

Now the third flight was unfortunately not as good as the two before. Around 5 minutes into the flight I lost the spinner cone in a straight level, half throttle pass. I saw something coming off so I made a closer pass to see what happened. I spotted the missing cone and turned around to get this plane down. In the turn to the crosswind leg the motor quit; - I got her in a dive to maintain speed and control. My decision was to set her down next to the paved runway in the grass.

Make a long story short – a bended landing gear and broken prop. After inspection of the plane= the bold of the spinner cone lost the head and while get ripped of the connecting rod bended sideways and unbalanced the engine. As soon I throttled back to idle in the turn the engine stopped.

Without any engine input the Ultimate loses altitude very fast. I’m very glad I did not lost my cool and panicked – these parts are easy to replace and most important nobody got hurt.

To make this experience right in the third flight is pretty early. But now I know how she handles with the engine out.


Happy landings[sm=thumbup.gif]
G-Pete

rctom

Pete:

Contact me by phone to get a new gear.

TF

G-Pete

Done, thanks Tom – you hit the nail when you said “You must be a happy Camper” ----- yes Sir, I’M!


Happy landings[sm=thumbup.gif]
G-Pete