Zippi

My Feedback: (10)

Anyone flying this plane? What engine and how is the quality of the kit, and flight performance? I'm looking for an aerobatic plane and not 3d. Are the control surfaces barn door type or regular?

aerobatixkid

Any pictures of this one?

Zippi

My Feedback: (10)

Here is a link to the plane.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXSE85&P=0

3dsky

My Feedback: (84)

This is no longer produced by Great Planes. I am putting one together now. I have had this ARF around for 2 years and put it aside after hearing some of the bad press about it. I have seen one fly with a Gas motor and it looked great. I am working mine over, setup the incidences of the wing, stab and engine at all 0 degrees. the stock kit I had was a mess. This is why I put it aside. This was alot of work to fix. I had installed a RCS 140 gas engine but I swithced to a ST 3000 glow for more power.
mine is comming out about 12.5 lb. This plane will fly ok on a 120 glow but since this is an older kit it is built heaver and is listed with a smaller motor than what 3D'ers are using. I also have removed the center section wing covering to glass the center of the wing. I will be working on parts of the body also. I would go with a H9 CAP (even the older ones), or a Chip Hyde CAP or any thing that has been designed and built in the last 2 years. HA the new ARF's are built and designed better. I got my G 202 for $199 and you really have to like to do alot of extra work to get this to stay together and fly ok. Good luck and I do like the way my GP G202 looks. Please check out the reviews on it.

LuvBipes

My Feedback: (4)

Flew one over 2 seasons. Not a 3D plane due to its "less than stellar' low speed manners. Reasonable IMAC/precision type plane, but watch out on final approach, because of its tip stalling tendencies. If you are an experienced aerobatic pilot, I say go for it, if this is to be your 1st 1/4 scale aerobat, you can find several other better/more forgiving platforms to play with.

FYI, I flew mine with both a Moki 1.35 (good) and an OS 1.60 2-stroke (better) AUW was 12.25lbs with the Moki.

Zippi

My Feedback: (10)

Thanks for the info guys.

Geistware

My Feedback: (16)

I have had two, one glow one gas.
Let me know the engine and I can supply more information.

First thing to do is to remove the covering from the wing saddle area and glass this on the top and bottom.
After 100 flights you will be very glad that you did this.

jsenicka

My Feedback: (79)

I have one and it is gorgeous.
Not build yet, but had it out to fondle.
Controls are not massive over size like modern day 3D. reasonable ailerons, mid size elevators and a huge rudder just like the real one.
I am planning a ST2300, 4x HS635 for aileron/elevator and 5645 digital on rudder in mine later this year.

jsenicka

My Feedback: (79)

Geistware,
canm you provide a bit more detail there?
How much to glass?
2" tape and epoxy?
Any saddle mods needed?

Geistware

My Feedback: (16)

There is a link someplace on here where I talked about it and added pictures.
I am one of the few people who flew this plane over 150 times on both gas and glow.
The key is not to have it nose heavy.
If so you will have fast landings and it will snap easily.
As far as how much to glass. I would say to do the following.
1) install the wing.
2) Mark where the wing and fuse meet.
3) Remove wing
4) remove covering to or slightly past this mark.
5) Glass the entire area top and bottom.
6) Sand saddle area so that the wing fits with the proper incidence
7) Reinstall covering if desired
8) install wing and go fly.

hankpajari

My Feedback: (1)

A couple of other things I did on mine along with glassing the center section of the wing.

Saito 150, had to add several ounces of lead to the tail.

Glass the fuse around the trailing edge of the wing. Many reports of the fuse breaking there. My fuse was cracked there out of the box. I just removed the monokote and glassed the area with 1/4 oz. cloth. Looks fine.

Put tri stock in all corners inside fuse where formers meet the fuse sides.

Put a piece of 1/8" ply tapered to 0" under the landing gear to move wheels forward. Helps ground handling.

Mine has no tip stall tendencies but you need to fly it in on landing. I have stalled it several times from about 5' and all I have had to do is pull the landing gear, put it in a vise and bend it back Does that tell you how hard it hit and still did no structural damage? Embarassing but what the heck.

Zippi

My Feedback: (10)

I was thinking of running the Super Tigre G2300 on this plane and that is what was tested on the plane per the info on Tower Hobbies site. Just how old is this kit? I hate to buy a kit that has been setting on the shelf for 4 or 5 years. Is the wing incidences a problem on all the kits? The price of the kit at Tower Hobbies is less than $200.00 with there discounts and the ST G2300 is less than $150.00. Real attractive price for such a plane and engine. I've been flying 90/120 size planes so I don't think this will be any different for me. Just wanting to move up a little in size. Anyone have any pics to see the size of the plane?

mbort

My Feedback: (14)

Flew one with the new (Chinese) Super Tigre ST2300. A very good combination and the plane is a steal at $219 from either Tower or Omni. I'm not sure why someone posted that this plane is no longer in production but Great Planes still lists this on their website.
If your looking for a great flying combination at a super price I'd go for it. Nothing but praise for both the engine and plane. Like most airplanes of this type you cannot float it in on a landing. This is not a trainer.

mimoore67

My Feedback: (51)

I've got one that I'm willing to part with. I've fiberglassed the center section, belly pan and have mounted the tail feathers. TNT one piece landing Gear. PM me if your interested!

scottfl78

Hey guys.. Tower/great Planes always use ST's or OS's to test their planes.. The reviews are a little inflated too.. I fell for it a year ago and put an ST 2300 on it.. What a pig.. It is a very heavy plane the wings especially.. I would really steer clear of this plane.. Unfortunately it is an early GP Design and is nothing like the ARFs of today.. I stalled mine twice and refused to rebuild it the second time..

If you are looking to get into a 72" or so Aerobat take a look at the 73" Edge 540 at www.wildharerc.com .. Nice plane and Light just like their 28%'s My $.02

Planeclothes

My Feedback: (1)

I flew this plane with both the ST 2300 (Italian) and OS 1.60 FX. I liked the way this plane responded in the air, I could knife edge all day long and perform all non 3D maneuvers like a pro. Only trouble I had was landing. Actually, IMO, it flew better with the ST 2300 (lighter), but 2 out of 3 times flights would end in deadsticks due to engine flameouts which cost me a lot of landing gear repairs, fuselage cracks, etc. By the time I switched to the OS, the plane was so heavy from all the extra epoxy, wood reinforcements, etc., I had to land really fast to avoid tip stalling. That's when I decided to sell the plane and move on. I must add that my G-202 didn't have incidence issues.

Volfy

My Feedback: (23)

The GP 1/4 Giles 202 is one of those oldies but goodies. It isn't for beginners, but neither are most 1/4 aerobats. I fly mine with a ST2300, which behaves perfectly with a Perry VP30 pump and onboard glow driver. My OBG uses a single sub-C cell and weighs barely a few Oz. Power with the ST2300 is not crazy overpowered. I don't do 3D, so it works just fine for me.

Mine actually came out noseheavy with the ST2300, so I may eventually swap in a Mark (Moki) 1.35. But I hate to rip up a setup that works well as is.

Don't know if they still have the rebate on ST2300 or not, but for a while there you can pick one up for just about $100. This means the combo with GP 1/4 Giles 202 is less than $300 - perfect for somebody who doesn't much care for 3D crap and just wants a basic 1.20 class aerobatic airplane. Sure there are better 1/4 scale ships out there, even GP has a few more recent designs, but few are less than $200.

srecker

I loved this plane from the time my girlfriend gave me the kit about 4 years ago. After moving three times, etc, I finally finished it a few months ago. I'm a meticulous builder - lateral balance perfect, COG right on the money, controls and surfaces perfect. Flew well, knife edge GREAT, etc.

BUT THIS THING SNAPS LIKE CRAZY WITH EVEN MODERATE ELEVATOR INPUT.

I just smashed it into a million pieces after it snapped three times in a row, heading straight down. Yeah, I know, I must have pulled up too hard. No, I didn't. I stopped the spin, straightened it out, gave it plenty of power and a bit of up, and WHAM, another snap. Three times in a row, and right into the soybeans.

I'm not even crying too much, because now I can put my favorite engine in a plane that will fly right. Except that I may have damaged the engine, so, yes, I am crying.

FIND ANOTHER PLANE!
[8D]

hankpajari

My Feedback: (1)

You are right about elevator sensitivity. It needs to be set up per the instructions. (I am NOT implying you set yours up wrong). I set mine up so I can pull full up into a loop at full throttle and no snap.

I can't remember the throws but they sure are small