The pushrod needs to connect at the top side of the nose wheel horn, otherwise it will rub against the foam below it and the wire can't make a straight shot.

Check an independently-owned hardware store for a selection of compression springs. I used a stiff spring made for mounting electric guitar pickups. Most of them are soft like pen springs, but I found one that was so stiff I could barely compress it between my fingers. The strut can still compress, but it won't bottom out as easily now if I drop it hard onto the nose gear, possibly reducing the risk of damage later on.

By the way, my stock motor is blue.

ah i see, i think mine might be upside down, gotta double check.

Sounds good, ill keep an eye out. Thanks for the tip!

Mines red, I wonder if they are the same motors?

dbc was saying a few pages back that his plane with the red motor does NOT haul butt like the plane in the video, which likely has the blue motor.

Red motor is a wimp. Only draws about 185 watts and the plane feels underpowered. The blue motor will draw about 245 watts and makes it a far nicer flyer. The one in the Nitro assembly video is a red motor also.

Let us know how your red motor Cessna performs.

This being my first plane, i don't exactly know what to compare it to. But it flies nice and takes off after only a few feet. Although i have noticed that it likes to stall. Luckily the simulator taught me how to easily recover from those I do get fairly long flight times though. In the 15-20min range.

What ESC did yours come with?
Where can i get the blue motor?
Or is it just an exceed rc outrunner?

I added the missing Dubro quick connects on the flap servos and hooked them up. All ready to go now. Just need some good weather...

Im uploading a video of it to youtube right now, dont be to hard on me, this was my second flight. haha

although i had much better landings then the one in the video. Of course the only one on film is the crappy one.

let me know if thats what you guys are talking about. its at full throttle at about 2:16. Ill post a link when i can.

edit: LINKY

please note that those take offs were at about half - 3/4 throttle. If i punch it while its on the ground it pretty much jumps into the air.

I think yours is the first YouTube video of the newer (clear windowed) Dynam 182, besides the Tony video. Thanks for sharing.

mq:
Your plane seems to perform much better on the red motor than mine did. Maybe I just got a bad motor.

This is a very nicely detailed Cessna and really looks good in the air. Thanks for posting the video.

haha awesome!

No problem. What modifications do you have to do to get that motor that was posted earlier to work with the plane? Will it be to fast for the airframe? It sounds like it might solve the only issue im having with it not wanting to climb very well.

Here is the blue Dynam motor. It's a drop in fit and will provide about 25% more power than the red one - assuming that your red one is like mine:

http://www.graysonhobby.com/catalog/...or-p-1200.html

The motor I referenced earlier is not quite as strong as the blue Dynam and requires modifications to the spinner and prop to make it fit. I'd just go with the blue Dynam.

thanks! I think ill pick one of those up and just have it laying around until i need it

I just got in one of those Blue Lipo's to test. Havent used it yet as the weather has been kinda crappy

Heres some initial photos.

Its smaller than the stock battery, so i added some one sided foam tape to the side so it fits snugly in the front of the plane. Without it it slides around quite a bit.

Cant wait to test it! haha

I have that same pack for mine and also noticed the slop. I'll be sure to add a soft shim in the same manner.

Stripped the nose gear servo Should i just get metal gear ones?

I've got a question about COG: The documentation recommends COG at 55-60 mm from the root leading edge. SO, if I'm balancing the loaded airframe on two pencil erasers at this point, HOW do I determine that the plane is "leveled?"

What parts of the airframe should be parallel to the ground when it's balanced?
An imaginary line running from prop to fuselage tail? Wing chord line? Wheels level?


If I slide the pack fully backward, it looks like it's barely in the ballpark balance-wise, but again, I'm not sure what I'm looking for here.