I fly mine for 6 minutes on a 2200 and put back between 1500 and 1700 after a flight. This allows me time for a go around or two if I need to.

The only problem I have had with mine, and it seems a common one, is the nose gear is a bit weak. I replaced mine with a Dubro piece and have flown happily ever since. I also removed the wheel skirts, but just because the plane I modeled doesn't have them. It handles our grass runway just fine.

In fact, I had it up around 1000 feet yesterday. It is a really good flying plane.
Jim

Thanks for the info. I have couple FMS warbirds so I know this will definitely fly well based of the others that I have flown.

I will change the front gear and add some super bright leds inplace of the stock ones

Originally Posted by MrMention

I will change the front gear

I would not bother at first. My experience with my Sky Trainer 55 inch is a very robust Nose Wheel Strut even though it "is" not spring loaded to absorb hard landings. If you can tighten the set screw that keeps the strut from turning on its own then, it will be okay, IMO.

I have posted numerous postings of my Ugly Landing on tall grass and at a high rate of speed that the nose gear (Strut) caught and resulted with the model to completely flip upside down.

The Strut was bent very badly and I almost changed it out with the Dubro type that has been recommended here, however, I had some time one lazy evening and disassembled the entire Nose Wheel Assembly and took the Nose Wheel Strut in my hands and carefully bent it back in shape in order to slide back in the plastic parts (tight Tolerance).

It is your choice but, IMO, there is no need for changing out things right off the gate.

Originally Posted by PittSpecial

I would not bother at first. My experience with my Sky Trainer 55 inch is a very robust Nose Wheel Strut even though it "is" not spring loaded to absorb hard landings. If you can tighten the set screw that keeps the strut from turning on its own then, it will be okay, IMO.

I have posted numerous postings of my Ugly Landing on tall grass and at a high rate of speed that the nose gear (Strut) caught and resulted with the model to completely flip upside down.

The Strut was bent very badly and I almost changed it out with the Dubro type that has been recommended here, however, I had some time one lazy evening and disassembled the entire Nose Wheel Assembly and took the Nose Wheel Strut in my hands and carefully bent it back in shape in order to slide back in the plastic parts (tight Tolerance).

It is your choice but, IMO, there is no need for changing out things right off the gate.

Thanks. I already have a couple spring loaded struts that I used on my Dynam SR22. If the wire can fit then I will definitely change it. BTW I'll be flying off asphalt

I got one of these at a swap meet, looked pretty cool. However have no manual and wondering where the COG. I cannot find the center of gravity or manual online. can anyone with a manual tell me where it is located. I was looking under FMS Sky Trainer & couldn't find anything & somebody turned me on the this site.
Thanks

Originally Posted by ledpole

I got one of these at a swap meet, looked pretty cool. However have no manual and wondering where the COG. I cannot find the center of gravity or manual online. can anyone with a manual tell me where it is located. I was looking under FMS Sky Trainer & couldn't find anything & somebody turned me on the this site.
Thanks

Its 60mm from the leading edge

great, thanks
Leon

Originally Posted by ledpole

I got one of these at a swap meet, looked pretty cool. However have no manual and wondering where the COG. I cannot find the center of gravity or manual online. can anyone with a manual tell me where it is located. I was looking under FMS Sky Trainer & couldn't find anything & somebody turned me on the this site.
Thanks

NJ!! Are you flyn off the water in the streets!? I know linemen and mechanics that are out there tryn to get the power back on for you guys.

I'm good, if if there was an eye of the hurricane we got it . 50 miles west of AC. if it had come up Delaware bay would have been different story. I lucked out. Thanks.

Good to hear. It's a mess out there!

Originally Posted by MrMention

I just ordered one of these plane from BH and I'm really excited. Its the N9258 blue version. I've got 2 Turnigy Nanotech 2650 25C battery that I plan on using. What amount of flight time should I be expecting with these batteries.

Also is there anything that needs to fix or improve before I fly this bird?

Thanks

I get about ~9mins on my 2650 BUT I fly very slow at about 45% throttle on calm days, once my low battery buzzer goes off (at 11.5V) I will usually do a quick full throttle climb then land it. When I fly aggressively (rare) on the 2650 I get about 5 mins on it.

Originally Posted by PittSpecial

I would not bother at first. My experience with my Sky Trainer 55 inch is a very robust Nose Wheel Strut even though it "is" not spring loaded to absorb hard landings. If you can tighten the set screw that keeps the strut from turning on its own then, it will be okay, IMO.

I have posted numerous postings of my Ugly Landing on tall grass and at a high rate of speed that the nose gear (Strut) caught and resulted with the model to completely flip upside down.

The Strut was bent very badly and I almost changed it out with the Dubro type that has been recommended here, however, I had some time one lazy evening and disassembled the entire Nose Wheel Assembly and took the Nose Wheel Strut in my hands and carefully bent it back in shape in order to slide back in the plastic parts (tight Tolerance).

It is your choice but, IMO, there is no need for changing out things right off the gate.

I disagree with this statement. The front gear is a known weakness in this plane. I think it is the first thing that needs to be changed. The fix is quick, simple, and cheap. Switch it out and save yourself the aggravation of having a day of flying ruined because of bent gear. Another reason to change the front gear to the spring loaded dubro is that the spring will absorb some of the impact, lessening the stress on the firewall.

Originally Posted by Scooch

I disagree with this statement. The front gear is a known weakness in this plane. I think it is the first thing that needs to be changed. The fix is quick, simple, and cheap. Switch it out and save yourself the aggravation of having a day of flying ruined because of bent gear. Another reason to change the front gear to the spring loaded dubro is that the spring will absorb some of the impact, lessening the stress on the firewall.

Well, I guess we agree to disagree because I did buy two Dubro's and I will have a spare for my Sky Trainer in the future and another one for another project.

The FACT that I was able to bend it back with just two (2) pliers says to me that they were expecting people land rough or catch something on landing and again my model landed pretty hard and completely flipped upside down with nothing more than a bent front nose wheel strut. This stock strut exhibited easy fix by bending it back and was able to align it correctly to allow the end pin to slide through the plastic parts again without the need for any machine shop assistance or precision tools.

You can be dissatisfied with this end of the model, okay, but, it is my opinion that the stock Frontal Nose Wheel Strut is pretty good for what it is and there is no need to go off and replace it initially right out of the box.

Pitt

FWIW, I've bent my nose strut back to original as well... by hand, in the field.

I actually looked at the DuBro set-up at my LHS, and thought it looked awful heavy...

It;s not that heavy, if anything the cessna could use a little nose weight. It flies a little tail heavy in the stock config. The Dubro is a proven mod that beefs up the front end considerably. If you land on asphalt of a nice grass runway and actually land the plane instead of chop the throttle and hope for a smooth and perfect glide in I'm sure the stock setup will last for awhile. Eventually it will break with repeated bending back. I've seen Dubro modded front gear break due to having to bend it back into position a number of times.

The great thing is we can all choose what we want to run on our own planes.