basmntdweller

My Feedback: (9)

I was waiting to hear what you had to say about the BB servos. I bought one just to check it out before buying more. I compared it along with the other servos I was testing that I talked about in the 87" Yak thread. My opinion was that it was one of the worst centering servos I have ever used. It was also rather "dead" feeling. I could deflect it a good 15-20 degrees before it really started fighting me hard. I always pair up a servo against a Futaba 148 on a common stick so see how it tracks. This BB was worse than any Hitec I have compared and much slower than the 148 that is rated considerably slower.
I won't buy another one!
Matt

I keep wanting one of these Katana 70's but I really don't need another plane just yet. Do they have plenty in stock? If I can sell off a few at our swapmeet the fifth of March I'd love to get one then.

Gordo-ProBro

Small.....I have been waiting for someone to get an AUW. We'll see if yours is typical, but it's a bit heavier than the protos. and obviously it's all in the tail. Any idea what your OS .91 really weighs? 6 pounds won't be any problem for that engine or the wingloading, that's for sure. And that CG problem seems odd, I was thinking the opposite would be the problem.

BUT that's good news for those who are talking YS 1.10. At least in terms of CG.

grnd0

My Feedback: (4)

I got some BB servos about 2 months ago and the first one
I checked was real slow and made some funky sounds. I
put them all back in the box and sent em back. No way I'd
trust them. The little micros are fine but the "standards" be
carefull.

Larry

SMALLFLY-

My Feedback: (19)

I feel pretty confident you could get it under 6 pounds with a bit smaller battery and a little more rearward CG but Im pretty happy at 6 lbs. The covered balsa airframe (no hardware gear etc) was only 2.5 lbs. It just goes to show on most new lightweight arfs the airframe is not what makes them heavy. With lighter servos (ie non metal gear) a light battery and a wood prop you could easily get to 5.75 or below, But sometimes I think you can make a plane too light. Ever try to do an elevator into the wind with super light wing loading, It just aint gonna happen. I hope the weather clears so I can fly it tomorrow.

lenz rc

My Feedback: (228)

Smallfry What size tank is supplied looks small?. Will it big enough for the FX 91? I hope the weather clears up for you as well. After you fly it I will be wanting to know if a piped 61 OS SF would be big enough? Or I may go with a Saito 91 or OS 90 FSR with can muffler. Good luck with its Maiden.

Gordo-ProBro

Yep, I agree...thought it was just me! Some think a 1 pound Slege would be nice I don't know if I've said it in this thread yet, but I had this plane well over 6 pounds for a while, on both the Saito .91 and 1.00. The plane flew very well, not too much for the wing at all!

SMALLFLY-

My Feedback: (19)

Todays weather doesnt look too great, but on a charge /checkout this morning I turned on the plane and 1 of the aileron servos went nuts. So much for the bluebird servos, they are on there way to the trash can and I'll stick in some good used hitec 625's I have. Well at least maybe Ive save someone else some money

lenz rc

My Feedback: (228)

Sorry to heres about the servos. Cant you send them back and trade for something else? I will stay clear now that few post read say that they are junk. Thanks for the heads up. I will be getting the KAT 70 tomorrow From you threads it looks to be easy to go together. Smallfry would there be anything differently you would change If you were to build another one?

capthis

My Feedback: (67)

I got to fly smallfly's plane! All I can say is it flew very very well, Hovers, and Tr's are very stable. Harriers, upright or inverted are great, and the kife edge is pretty good too. The only thing I didn't try (still working on these) was a rolling harrier, but plane has the potential. The os 91 was greta power, and flew the plane very well. I am impressed with how this thing flies. I am not impressed with how you have to plug the wires in to get it together. A wing tube would have been a lot better design, IMO. All in ll a good plen for the money. If I didn't already have so may planes I would get one!

SMALLFLY-

My Feedback: (19)

Well capthis gave you the synopsis so I can give the detail. The plane is Very stable in a hover. I had it down a foot off the ground about 1 minute in to the first flight. It's flight envelope is very good in that it is kind of like a hybrid FF. It snaps much cleaner than a normal FF and will try to get unstable (snappy) at stall speeds but stal speeds are very slow. I like to compare it to my omp 65" yak. They are just as stable in hover, just as good inverted but the thinner wing on the KAT does get a little wobbly faster at slow speeds, hence the better (tighter) snap. I am just learning rolling harriers and Im usually doing pretty good to string 8-10 good ones in a row before screwing up but I think the Kat is far superior in this area. The rudder and elevator respond great and dont overcontrol the roll. Hers a few pics to start

SMALLFLY-

My Feedback: (19)

The Knife edge is pretty clean, there is a little bit of a pull to the belly on mine which is hardly noticable until you crank on the rudder, then it kicks in. The 91fx is GREAT power for this bird. Blows out of a hover in a hurry. Im running an APC 15-4W on it and it will still get fast in a hurry. Your never in the throttle very deep with this motor so the fuel lasts a long time. I flew it for 5-6 minutes, brian flew it for 5-6 minutes and I still had almost 1/2 a tank left. Seems to TR pretty stable too, not real speedy but faster than my Yak

SMALLFLY-

My Feedback: (19)

The CG range seemed about perfect to both brian and myself at 6.25" Inverted required nearly no down until it started getting slow. Now the part to watch is when transitioning from inverted flight to almost stalled inverted harrier it can get wobbly (once again because of the thinner wing IMO) But as long as you know it's coming you can be prepared. I never flew the thing at anything less than 100% throws on all surfaces (with a goodly amount of expo) and no control surface seemed overly sensitive at any time. It's definetly a good flying plane, BUT I have got to find a better way to put the thing together and take it apart. The threading through the wing while your trying to hold the wing close enough and into the right bay is a PITA. Also having to take the access panel off everytime (which by the way needed a little more glue on mine) is cumbersome. I think I will make a custom deans type connector that mounts where the wing slot hole is and then the leads coming from the servos would only have to be a few inches (which is all the can be if you intend on feeding it up back into the fuse) If I come up with something I'll post it up. All in All it flies good enough that putting it together is an afterthought even though it is somewhat of a pain. I'll give it a big thumbs up

lenz rc

My Feedback: (228)

Sweet glad you got a chance to fly it. I built a 1'' pvc rack for my PU high enough for the planes to clear the bed the Mo-Jo 60 will be my next plane. I will just leave the wing on and charge it on the wall in my garage. Like I do the 40 size profiles. Thanks for the build up post And glad to here it came home not trashed due to the servo problem you found.

Gordo-ProBro

SmallFly...I have your solution, I'll post a picture in a minute. Once I made a tool to hold the fuse inverted while I put on the wing, it became a super fast install!!

Edit: Here are a couple of pics, very simple I know, but harder to describe

With this, you can very easily hold the wing over the fuse, stick in the wires, pull them through the hatch, plug them in. It's pretty simple. Takes less than 5 minutes.

SMALLFLY-

My Feedback: (19)

I thought I would do a quick update to this thread on my servo lead conversion. First off I chose to use deans connectors because they generally have a tight fit and dont come loose and I had a few so.... I started by cutting off the male end of my servo extensions that run thru the plane at the point where there would only be about 2+ inches that hang down from the opening and soldering on deans connectors (male end). I then took the 3 deans females and soldered on male leads long enough to make it to the Rx.. I then glued the female deans to a pc of 1/16 balsa andthen filled the gaps with alittle balsa being very careful to not get glue in the deans connector. I lightly sanded the balsa till the unit tightly slipped down into the slot and used a bit of glue to secure it. I have put it together 2 times now checking operation (also added flaperons-spoilerons for the hell of it) and it works great. No more access panels, fishing wires etc. I can put it together in 1/4 the time it took me before. Hopefully a few picks will demonstrate.

PaulSwany

My Feedback: (45)

Nice work Tom.... Do you think the same could be done with the standard servo wire plugs?

SMALLFLY-

My Feedback: (19)

Yes I do, I just like the tighter fit of the deans and as we all have done its a lot easier to push the connector out of the sleeve with a standard, but a little glue around the sleeve base would take care of that

TailTwister

My Feedback: (1)

That is an awesome mod Tom. Good thinking.

PaulSwany

My Feedback: (45)

I just maidened mine today.... This is one cool bird!! My Supertigre 90 just got a new set of bearings and a new ring, so I had to break it in again.... It's still not quit right yet... but it probably just needs more fuel thru it.

The Kat 70 knife edges like a big dog!! Love that! Didn't try any KE loops yet and I didn't do too much high alpha KE yet.... Harriers were really clean, both upright and inverted.... The wings will rock of your not on top of the ailerons, but if you stay on it, it's not a problem. Hovering was super stable and the torque rolls were sooo easy!!

I need to get some more time on this plane... I love it soo far!

mstcitabria

Thank you Alex for standing by and supporting your product! I am very happy with the new Kat 70, sure is a nice looking plane!!!

mstcitabria

Gordo-ProBro

Swany and Gator both have 2 strokes, as does Smallfly. So far I hear good stuff. Someone on annother site was planning on that same engine. And there's one with a Irvine .70, but I can't remember who it was. I would think it will be fine...that should develope close to the power of my Saito .91. I know the AUW will be no problem.

TailTwister

My Feedback: (1)

Smallfly has an OS 91 two stroke as I recell. He loves it, acording to his posts...

Two strokes are abundant for the big Kat, just try to keep it in the 24ish range. If you get into the 30ish range, balance may become an issue... Translation: NO WEBRA 120s...

Paul, HAKE is as good as it gets. I didn't loop mine either, just add rudder and lower the power level, and it will HAKE right up to whatever angle you like. My Kat 40 needed a mix to help iron out pitch coupling, but my 70 is dead straight.

I actually prefer the 40, as I like the "100 miles per hour and hair on fire" kind of flying more often than not. The 70 doesn't fly like that. It's a much more "civilized" kind of 3D.

TailTwister

My Feedback: (1)

ST 75 will fly it fine. Maybe a Pro Zinger 14x6 prop. Maybe hit Paul up for the dimentions of his MCP for you to copy. That will save weight and run harder. Then you can try the 15x6 Pro Zinger.

Cykhoi1

My Feedback: (1)

Hi, can anyone give me info or a link for the new Accel Pitts. I keep hearing rumors but no hard data about any early flight reports (prototype review, etc.). Would appreciate any help.
If it ain't broke, you don't have enough accessories on it!
Jayman

TailTwister

My Feedback: (1)

There is a thread here about the Pitts, and the site is www.AccelHobby.com

If you want a Pitts, they have (sadly) been delayed, waiting for some replacement hardware. Expected shipping is in about two weeks. The planes are in Chicago, the hardware is supposed to be there soon. Also, the price was lowered. See that information in the Accel Hobby Pitts Profile thread in this forum.