Great Planes Christen Eagle ARF

[Ulf Rieder]

Boy do I love the Christen Eagles. Glad to see somebody is selling one again. The size is also cool. I think it is 1/3 scale ? If not pretty close (maybe 1/3.3) . Think the DA 50 gasser would be the perfect powerplant for it. Oh well, let's see how long I can hold out without having to order me one. Probably not long after I see it at my LHS or one at the field. LOL ;)
So anybody out there that has one on order or perhaps bought one already ? Let's hear what you think of it (quality, covering, ect.) as well as engine and servo selections for it. I am thinking DA 50 and a combo between JR 2721 (rudder and elevator) and 4131 servos (aileron). Maybe even digitals if I could come up with the $$.

Here is a link to the GP Eagle :

http://www.greatplanes.com/airplanes/gpma1217.html

What do you think ?

Ulf

[Aaron Modlin]

Don't tempt me Ulf!!! Might have to have one myself!!!

[therotund1]

My LHS had one and the buyer was inspecting it as I looked over his shoulder. The covering looked great! Straight lines, no wrinkles. I didn't get to see much as it was shortly whisked away due to the gathering crowd.... Huge cowl. Looked wide enough for a gas twin! That's about all I can reliably tell about it.

Dave,
too many planes, not enough money...

[Ulf Rieder]

well, just ordered one yesterday. Couldn't resist anymore :D. Power will be the DA 50, and that should be plenty for unlimited vertical.
Will post more impressions and pictures once I recieve it next week.

Ulf

[Pilot44]

Yepper, Ulf, that is a Nice ARF. Been looking at that one for some time now. I am just running out of room for all these planes.. I Had one of the original Byron Pitts Specials, way back in 1978. Long since deceased. I loved it so. There are quite a few Pitts and Christian Eagle Arf's about. Gonna have to wait till I thin the herd. My Biggies now. Hanger 9 Edge 540/Saito 180, Hanger 9 Cap 232/Saito 150. Good luck with yours. Let me know what ya think of the kit when ya have a chance..

Jim G

[Ulf Rieder]

well, I am putting it together right now, and the quality is very very nice. Covering is excellent without any wrinkles. Still waiting for the Motor, so I can continue and finish. Wings are joined, and ailerons, servos and pushrods are installed.
I'll post a final thought impressions test flight results and of course pictures once finished.
Anybody else building this beauty ?

Ulf

[Pilot44]

ULF, this is one of the earliest releases from Byron, It was basically all foam like the electrics we have today. I covered it with econocote. A very low heat covering. The trim is all monokote. Shame, the power system I used was recommended by the manufacturer and ultimately was the cause of this Pitts Special to re-kit..beyond repair. I used a .91 Webra on a belt drive setup. Trouble was. The exhaust, heavily laden with Castor oil would cause the belts to slip . Got me in trouble big time on a low downwind pass, when I really had to turn back into the wind, Tip stall, and thats all she wrote. Still breaks my heart. Got to get another Bipe soon. For ref. the Prop is 20"..Iron works, now handles Byron's line, or some of them at least.

Some pics of that Eagle in progress would be nice. :)

[ripperxcell]

It's about time that someone did the Eagle the way she was suposed to be done, in the proper colours I mean. Any way i was planing on putting in a MDS 2.18 in mine whan i get it, because i can't keep a gasser in the house so glow is the only way to go,hehe. just my 2 cents.

[Ulf Rieder]

well, I am flying the GP Pitts with a Brion 2.4 gasser, and even though it performs very nice it does not have unlimited vertical power. I think that the gassers in the 50cc class are definitely the way to go with these ARF's.

Still no major progress with the Eagle. DA has still not manufactured the 50's and is now saying that it will be at least another two weeks before shipping. :(
Guess I have to work then on some other projects (electric) first.
Oh well, I know it will be worth the wait ;). Those DA are awesome motors.

Ulf

[birdie_in_texas]

hey Ulf...call judd at minnesota r/c he has a da-50 in stock and also has the good muffler for it..

help the guy out..he is only in biz for 6months..he is totally cool...i even got a razor micro heli from him..!

www.minnesotarc.com

just FYI

[birdie_in_texas]

i know it does not show on his site..but i talked to him yesterday and he has one..he did have 7 or 8 at one time, but i know he has one left for sure..he already got rid of a DA-150...

[Ulf Rieder]

Thanks for the tip ! Just called him and bought his last one :D
I am a happy camper now ;). Let's continue the assembly process.

Thanks
Ulf

[birdie_in_texas]

am glad i helped you out brutha man...! i wish i had the $$ to get one...

[Pilot44]

This is good. Watching your progress mate. :)

Jim G

[EagleFlyer]

I've got one flying with an FPE 3.2 on it.Great flying airplane.Plenty of power.Be sure to check your incidences and engine thrusts.Mine were off.

[EagleFlyer]

another

[EagleFlyer]

more

[EagleFlyer]

one more

[EagleFlyer]

Hitec 5745's all around for servos.Futaba pcm 9 ch rx.6 volt 1500mah nimh for rx.4.8 1500 mah nimh for ignition.30% lifelike pilot from model graphics.All stock hardware and control horns.

[EagleFlyer]

The first flights were uneventful.I trusted the manual which says the wings and motor will be set.Mine was balanced right in the middle of the c.g. range very slight nose low.Inverted required alot of down elevator,it climbe hard when power was added in level flight,and when the power was chopped to idle,it dove hard.I rebalanced by moving the battery pack to the secondary location,went to the website and found my wings were off,and my motor needed more down thurst along with right thrust .After these changes,the plane flys great.Very down to required inverted flight,tracks straight.Stalls are very slow,soft and straight ahead.Aerobatics are incredible,not a 3-D machine though(not designed to be).Try it,you'll like.

[Ulf Rieder]

Thanks for the great info and pictures ! Can't hardly wait to get mine in the air. I will definitely check my down and right thrust. I see that you opted not to install the flying wires. Any reason ? They look nice but on my Pitts they where popping almost every flight.

Ulf

[EagleFlyer]

All the brackets are there,I did have them on for the first flight,but a couple popped off.Silicone retainers would help.I'll only use them now for fly-in's and such,just too much of a hassle to install and remove.

[Ulf Rieder]

OK, finished my Christen Eagle finally last week. I just ran out of excuses and had to take it out for a test flight today. Weather was nice, and wind was around 10 mph right down the runway (at a full scale airport) so perfect conditions.
I had not started the engine (DA 50), but hoped that this wasn't going to be a problem, and as it turned out it was not. The DA fired after the 5th or 6th flip. It ran just right out of the box. A little on the rich side just as I was hoping. :D . The Eagle range checked OK with engine running and off. So no more excuses. Oh yeah, but first a couple of pictures of my new baby. Just in case ;). Take off went just fine. The tail comes up almost immediately. Just I was used too from my GP Pitts. Climbing was no problem and trimming out neither. 2 clicks of left aileron and 2 clicks of down elevator was all she needed. The engine performed well, and it had plenty of power. I didn't wanted to push it, and just snapped her negative a couple of times and did some Knife Edge flight. This is where I was really amazed. KE is so much nicer then with my Pitts. It flew in KE down over the runway by just holding the rudder and some very very minor aileron. No pitch coupling what so ever. Simply perfect. Flew it around a couple more turns and landed. Landing was also a piece of cake and went uneventful. Just keep the power up and you will be fine. As also used to from the Pitts some of the flying wires broke. I will just leave them off in the future. Saves me some headaches. :D
Unfortunately I couldn't perform a second flight because the filler fuel line touched the muffler and melted :o. Oh well, that was all that needs to be fixed. We will be ready for some more fun next weekend. ;)
It is balanced towards the aft recommended CG, and I think that it is just fine. No led necessary to balance. Ignition is mounted on firewall and battery next to the throttle and choke servo under canopy.

Here is my setup and a couple of pictures :

-Engine : DA 50 with Slimline smoke muffler and 2 3/4 red anodized standoffs from Aerografixs.
-Servos: 4x JR 4735's on ailerons, 3x JR 2721's on elevator and rudder, JR 4131 on throttle and JR 531 on choke.
-JR 649 PCM receiver. Radical RC 6V 2700 NIMH battery on radio and JR 4.8V 1100 mah Nicad on ignition.
- Pilot from litepilots.com
- Ohio Suerstar tailwheel
- All CF linkage from Cebtral Hobbies and Aluminum Servo arms from H9.

Ulf

[Ulf Rieder]

another shot:

[Ulf Rieder]

one more:

[Ulf Rieder]

OK, last one:

[EagleFlyer]

Boy,those biela props are pretty,that DA is tucked in there better then my FPE.I found the same with Knife edge,does it very nicely.

[therotund1]

Great job Ulf!

Dave,
plane envy

[Ulf Rieder]

Originally posted by EagleFlyer
Boy,those biela props are pretty,that DA is tucked in there better then my FPE.I found the same with Knife edge,does it very nicely.

Yeah, the Biela props are pretty nice. Unfortunately expensive too. Had to pay $45 for this one. Also bought a 27x10 for my DA 100 and that one was $85 :eek:
Yep, the DA fitted very nicely under the cowl. Very happy with my new plane. Next up will be to mount the engine on my Carden Cap 35% and then build a Goldberg Decathlon with OS 120 Surpass as my little everyday flier.

Here is the Carden ;) :

[Pilot44]

Yo, Ulf,

Nice job on the Christian Eagle. I need to have this plane. I just have no more room. Hey, Cristian Eagle, who's the babe flying er...;)

Good luck with that beauti..

Jim G

[cary c.]

man those planes look sooooooo good. i just traded my UCD for a GP pitts. i wish i could have traded for a GP eagle now! nice planes guys!

Cary C.