The wing servo installation was pretty straight forward. We extended the wires by cutting and splicing rather the using the extensions called for in the instructions. The servo covers should be cut larger than the lines provided.

We chose to exit the rudder push rod through the rear or the fuselage rather than the side. The only problem was this increased the throw to more than the instructions called for. This was solved by limiting the throw in programming.

The elevator servo cannot be mounted per the instructions. In order to open enough space to get the control horn, servo, and wooden servo mount provided you would have to take most of the structure at the top of the vertical stab. We liked the idea of using screw to attach serve rather that glue so we glued a small wooden tab to the back of each servo ear. The servo was positioned on the outside of the fuselage and three holes were drilled in the stab. Once we finally got the servo assembly into the stab we used a very bright flashlight to shine through the opposite side of the vertical stab and line up holes we drilled with the servo ears and installed the screws. BTW, the kit came with a ball and socket mount for use here. We used a metal clevis instead.

The finishing touches were done. Battery/ESC/Receiver all installed and balance checked. We used a 2200 mAh battery. Lead had to be added to balance. Maybe a 3200 battery would be fine. We tried a 4000 and it was to heavy.
The instructions suggested added velcro on the wing tips to help prevent tip stalls (is this an indication there mioght be issues?). The velcro was added.
Control throws were checked. The rudder had to much throw and programming was used to decreas throw. All others were to instruction manual.
The Grob is finally ready.

After going over every thing Pan and Mickey decided it was ready to go.
I talked Mickey into flying it first , so after another check of all the controls and we ran up the motor to full throttle, it felt like it had plenty of power . I then did a straight in to the wind with a little nose up launch; it first veered to the right, he corrected with no problem, then it went into a steep climb. He used a little down elevator that worked great. After it got a couple of hundred feet out, he lost all control; it then it went into a tight spin all the down from about 50 to 75 feet up . To our surprise there was very little damage. I could tell that Mickey was a tad shaken by the crash . So I told him we just got the first ground pressure test out of the way. We will post later what we find whatever went wrong with the controls.
Ric

Hey Rick,

Any more info on the maiden ?? I just got a HL Grob and will be putting it together soon.

Keep posting the great pics and any video.

Joe

Hi Tabasco, Rick and others, I too have a Grob now ready to fly, and I read with interest your build log and other comments. As an older and usually solo flier I am concerned about the Grob's ability to fly away from a `hand launch', I have watched the Hobby Lobby video and it certainly seems to be OK, I just wonder whether any other fliers have had a problem hand launching the Grob, - it isn't really a light-weight.
Thanks. - - - - Deni

Good morn. Deni
you ask about hand launching; I've had no problem taking off: it has plenty of power-it will climb like a rocket , and as for flying, it's a lot faster than the old dihedreal kit built gliders we flew back in the 70s . I just got back in to r/c this past Feb after about 30 years and bought a Parkzone Radian Pro that i have put several hours on it with no problems . Now back to the Grob , I have a 6 channel with 2 mixes Spectrum TX using a 6 channel RX ,and we mixed a little rudder in with the allerons that seemed to clean up the turns nicely. The first thing we discovered was it has a good glide rate- we're thinking like around 40 to 1 ?? , the last time I flew it I climbed out around 500 to 600 feet, cut the motor, adjusted the trim the best I could and began flying a big left hand 360 turn hands off. It made several rounds without touching the controls and lost very little altitude. However, my landings leave something to be desired: so far have crashed it 3 times. First,RX problems which we correctly quickly by replacing it with a "better"RX. Second and third crashes were pilot error due to tip stalling from trying to land too slowly. We discovered that it is very durable and easily repairable due to minor damage. We're thinking the tension spring inside the wings structure helped keep the plane from being torn up worse. Thanks for reading our thread. Send email and we'll try to send pictures. Good luck with your Grob. Have a good day. Rick
rcromer @ carolina.rr.com

Originally Posted by Joespeeder

Hey Rick,

Any more info on the maiden ?? I just got a HL Grob and will be putting it together soon.

Keep posting the great pics and any video.

Joe

Hi Joe we will try and post more threads next wk
Good Day Ric
email me if you wish.

Hi there Rick, thanks for your response, it sounds like my concern is groundless so I will just go ahead and launch - when the weather is OK. Just a couple of things, I have fitted the `turbulators' as recommended, also I considered the joiner spring too strong, so have replaced it with a somewhat lighter spring, I am also using a split Batt for Rx/servos - mounted just aft of servo/Rx tray, i.e 2 cells L&R Cheers ......Deni

I would recommend to NOT to use silicone, use Goop instead. Silicone leave residue on the fusselage that requires thorough cleaning before any glue(other than silicone) will adhere to the contaminated area. THe goop cleans off very easy. Goop is stronger too.

AS for the mystery crash, was it running on BEC from the ESC? Is it possible that the ESC/BEC over heated and quit?

Brian, an EAJ

Thought I would update on my Grob: Hadn't flown Grob in about 3 weeks, last fliight the motor burned up in flight, we think it damaged the ESC also. . I have noticed that HobbyLobby is now offering spare parts for Grob. I ordered the $99.00 deal-ESC, motor & prop -hopefully i will it get going within next few weeks. Will keep you posted
Ric

Hi Rick,

There are a couple of threads going on the 103c...

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...highlight=grob

In the other thread it's mentioned that the stock prop is too much for the motor and ESC.

I'm going to try building mine next weekend and will use the best info I can gleam from this thread and the other one.

Thanks for all you insight and help.

Any reports on how the 103c flys now that you've had it a while. Have you done any thermling with it?

Joe

Some time has passed since I began this thread. I plan to edit the first page with these remarks.
WAIT A WHILE BEFORE SENDING MONEY TO HOBBY LOBBY FOR THIS PLANE.
I think Hobby Lobby released the Grob 103C prematurely. I have come to this conclusion based on design, quality of components and flight characteristics.
I was the first to crash this plane after the build and after replaying the event in my mind I believe the ESC/BEC caused a brownout/reboot. I had no control what so ever. A few flights later (3 or so) the motor burned up on launch.
There are no correct instructions on programming the ESC. Hobby Lobby has posted contradicting information on this issue.
Some has posted the prop/esc/motor combination draws too much current.
There are conflicting CG points.
Hobby Lobby needs to spend money on R&D rather than customers.
To quote another thread, "Why does no one show this plane landing?"

The plane has been repaired from the motor burnout incident and hopefully will fly again this week.
Hopefully Rick will have something positive to post then.

Rick flew the Grob last evening with the new engine/esc. After 2 climb the engine and battery were to hot to touch. He is using a 3C 220mah battery.

I will let Rick post flying comments.

This thread seems to have died. problems??????
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...7#post19268545

Started out with a bang then nothing.

Originally Posted by Tabasco

Rick flew the Grob last evening with the new engine/esc. After 2 climb the engine and battery were to hot to touch. He is using a 3C 220mah battery.

I will let Rick post flying comments.

This thread seems to have died. problems??????
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...7#post19268545

Started out with a bang then nothing.

Flew my Grob 103 again fri., we moved the cg forward and it helped significantly on the handling and landing , i am still having a heating problem with the motor , we"re going try and use a shorter prop and add some more weight to the nose and try and fly it next wk . we will try and keep you all posted . good day Ric

Hi Ric

Do you know what measurement set the CG to? I havent been able to fly mine yet, but I finished it today. All I need to do now is test the CG and check throws.

Thanks
Kevin