Just bought a 500 Class Cessna a coupla days ago. Its a pretty nice looking plane, one of the best looking scale models ive seen-on the ground that is, havent had it up yet. This is my second plane after SkyArtec Cessna 182.
Can already see some design flaws in it which is pretty frustrating:
1) The seats on the fuse and wing where the diagonal connector rods sit have already cracked and it hasnt even flown! They are also so well stuck into the fuse/wing that if they eventually need replacing I wont be able to get them out without doing major damage to the foam.
2) A shockey in the nose wheel would have been welcome, something that lesser models have, although that could explain 3)...
3) The large three blade prop is a very short distance from the ground when taxiing, thus any form of landing that isnt back wheels first could cause a breakage.
4) The plugs that connect to the fuse on each wing for the lights are very small and delicate, one wire has already come loose of the plug on mine. I can see these failing pretty damn quick.
5) The connection of the rudder to the fuse with glue is done such that removing it for a replacement is gonna do serious foam damage to the tail.

Probably not one I should have bought at my skill level but hey... Moaning aside, its a great looking plane and can't wait to have it up. Hope it beats my mates E-Flite Apprentice.

Appreciate any comments on this plane.

...

i bought one of these about a month ago. it flys great, and i've not had any problems with it. can you post a picture or two? i want to make sure we are talking about the same plane. since it's been a while since the build i can't visualize your concern about the strut braces. i am glad there is no shock on the nose strut. i had the older st cessna that was equipped with one of those and it was so delicate that it broke constantly. i wouldn't bother with the lights, i can not see them out in the daylight. also, i get some glitching when i first power up the plane...it goes away quickly but it seems to coincide with the blinking lights. i bought the arf version.

rob

Yep its the same model, ill stick a pic up soon. Mine has red decals. Come to think of it im probably better off without the shockie as you say - I was this close to getting the ST and thought that that would have come in handy. What else would you say about the ST? My other mate might get one.
What do you think about the CoG on the 500 Class, is it about right? I find that mine will lean back onto the tail at the slightest touch when on the ground. Might need some weight in the nose. Mines the RTF.
Last question: what do u think of the pushrod connection to the rudder? I find when turning right (pushrod pulls) no problem but when turning left (rod pushes) the rod bends and so some of the push from the servo is lost in the bending of the rod. Any thoughts to fix?

Love how this thing looks. Unsure if ill keep the antennas on or not. Sure hope it stays lookin this good for a while.

very nice, sir! the red version sure looks great. as far as the st cessna, there is no comparing the two! (my humble opinion, of course). first the scale looks, i think you are already sold on that. i had nothing but problems with the st offering. i can't blame to model for all of it, sure a lot of my problems were self inflicted. i pranged it in on the nose a few times. if you check through that thread, a bunch of the other fellows also did this. usually the result was a bent motor shaft. these were almost impossible to swap out, so i ended up buying at least two brand new motors. the nose gear was also a nightmare....despite buying a replacement or two i had great difficulty swapping those out. i also found that plane to be marginally powered. despite buying that plane, spending all kinds of money on parts, and $43 dollars to ship it to a friend, i was glad to see it go!

i found my cessna's c.g to be spot-on with a pack installed (zippy 2200mah). it really flys well. it does seem to come in for landing at a faster speed than i was expecting, maybe because the plane is a bit heavier than some of my other models. but, the flaps work great...slowing the model down nicely. no worries about the prop striking. i do want to try a two bladed prop. it seems like at full throttle the stock one is making more noise than providing power. not a big deal, as this is a scale flyer. but, this is on my list of things to do with this plane. my rudder functions just fine. is the pushrod suppport tube secure? i am a bit laid up right now (recent back surgery) so if i can get one of my kids to help i'll take my cessna down, remove that access hatch, and see how mine is set up. did you notice that the flaps are adjustable (both the deployment speed and degree that they go down)? i left mine as is, per the manual. i don't have a fancy radio, so no mixing elevator, etc. but, it's easy to control the plane while working the flaps if the plane's speed is kept low.

have you flown yours yet? i think you'll really be happy with it when you do!

rob

Originally Posted by Doogsay

Hope it beats my mates E-Flite Apprentice.
Appreciate any comments on this plane.

Beats him at what? They are similar planes and will have similar flying caracteristics. Who is that plane from, it looks very nice?

it's made by art-tech, you can see it on their website. as of now, only banana hobby offers it (i emailed art-tech directly and asked), although i did see a few on ebay over in england. banana has re-boxed it under their blitz rc label.

Very glad to hear that I made the right choice (500 vs ST). I was in no mood to make a bad selection after the SkyArtec debarcle. Anyhow yep after looking at it more closely the CG would be about right I suppose since the true CG according to the manual would be just in front of the back wheels. Very keen to get this up in the clouds! Should be Sat morning Id say, only wish we had some good bitumen for takeoffs/landings where we go. Im not sure how this wheels will perform on grass. Far as beating the E-Flite goes, not real sure what I meant either. Just that his has tons of power and a undercarriage setup I really like. Mine sure wins on looks and cosmetics, I hope it flys as fast. Very interested to hear what other peoples thoughts on switching to a 2 blade prop are. I dont have the knowledge unfortunately to argue one way or another. I wicked video of this model is on the Art-Tech site itself, check it out. Yep Ive found the flap controller, love the way you can tweak it and love how it looks coming down and up. Hope I can still control it adequately on approach, practice will fix that. Not sure what u meant by only Banana hobby offering it? My only theoretical complaint with this at the moment given the way it was assembled is how hard its going to be to repair certain parts if/when it crashes. I do hope that day never comes .

Hi!

Where did you bought your cessna plane?

It looks great and I love that it has flaps.

Thanks

From a hobby shop in perth Australia, but you can get em on the net. look up ebay

when i bought mine, according to art-tech, banana hobby was the only online retailer that was stocking it. but, it looks like it's available at other places now, too.

as far as the three bladed prop, they are mostly for looks, or in this case used maybe due to the reduced ground clearance. two bladed props are a bit more efficient. from about 2/3 throttle to full, there is an increase in the noise from the prop but not much of a power gain. if i can find a nice spinner i do plan on changing out the prop. this is by no means necesary, it flys just great stock.

Rob how do you find the nose wheel strut strength? Ive come in a little bit steap on landing and bent the metal strut back that holds the landing wheel. It looked very strong originaly but not so. Has led to the two mounting screws having stripped out of the plastic frame. I thought I would fill the holes with super glue, let it set and then try and put some longer screws back in (the ones that hold the servo hatch) to make it stronger. Also find that I cant get the flaps to deploy exactly even, like one comes down a little more than the other so Im affraid it will cause uneven airflow in flight. Have you found this? Im not so worried about this second issue and think it should be fixable with a little time and effort.

i'm on the same page as far as the nose wheel strut, it looks a lot stronger than it is! most of my landings have been "reasonable," but my strut has also bent a few times. so far, i have been able to just carefully bend it back. i have not had the problem with the flaps that you mentioned. i just looked at mine, it looks like if you remove the fairing that covers the flap servo you can easilly adjust the flap travel via the pushrod and clevis. a few turns one way or the other should even your flaps up. hope this helps!

rob

Yeah have looked at the flap travel... thing is if I lengthen the arms by winding the clevis in order to make the flaps deploy to the same length, when they are switched off and retracted they are not even. And visa versa! Ive had a look at everything: the servos both seem to be the same model and turning the same amount during deployment; the holes I have the pushrods connected to on both servo horns are the same; I know its staring me in the face but I just can't see it!! Atm I have the flaps level on the wing but not level when deployed, I guess that is the lesser of two evils. Should get her out today and clock up some more hours (rather, minutes).
Onto my other issue, which is far greater than those in my first email: when I busted the nose wheel strut by coming in too steep I have stripped the screws out of the wholes which hold the strut to the firewall/nose. So now I have filled them with glue, allowed to dry and then screwed the two longer screws from the servo hatch in there instead. It seems to hold but IF that ever strips out Ill be screwed. Then what, I have replace the whole nose section????? Shits my to tears the way that an otherwise good plane is let down by such simple design flaws.
Lastly: do you feel your 500 class is underpowered at all? Mine flys fine but when you compare it to the video on the Art-tech website, that one is wayyyy more powerful. Startin to think they put another motor in there for the promo. What you think?