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Introduction Golden era aircraft have been a great love of mine, and my jaw nearly dropped to the ground when I saw an advertisement for this electric version in a recent e-flight magazine. I knew I had to have one! As luck would have it, David Lilly, the editor of the EZone, asked if I would be interested in reviewing this airplane. To say that I leapt at the offer is truly an understatement. (David Lilly can vouch for that.)
Therefore, what do you get with the Great Planes Ryan STA kit? Upon opening the box, I found various vacuum formed accessories including a cowl, wheel pants, clear plastic windshield, and headrest fairing. Also included are various die-cut sheets for the necessary parts and all the wood required to build this little beauty. The wood quality in this kit is outstanding. The instruction booklet is top notch, including clear and numerous pictures detailing the build process. Finally, the kit provides pre-bent landing gear wire, and an excellent hardware package. The modeler is left to provide the power system and radio gear. Because of the detail included in the instruction manual, my review will not be a step-by-step construction article, but I will hit the highlights and any issues that arise during the build. I only have one piece of advice at the outset of building this kit. Do not throw any off-cut materials away, as you will need them later for other areas of construction! I learned this the hard way. With that said, let us build a Ryan! Tail Feathers
The building sequence begins with the tail feathers, which are made up of multiple die-cut sections. There is nothing difficult or challenging here. Each section is pinned to the board and then glued together. The tail feathers incorporate a nifty "key" system to ensure that the cross members are all aligned properly. The elevator halves are drilled and joined with a pre-bent wire, and the rudder is faired into the fuselage by gluing two soft balsa blocks to either side, which are then sanded to shape. (This happens after you build the fuselage). Once built, the tail feathers are light and strong. As you can see from the picture, the segmented pieces did not fit together right out of the sheet.
Nearly all the tail's parts required trimming to fit properly, something I think could be rectified by the manufacturer. I trimmed the sections as much as possible, and then filled the gaps with balsa dust and thin CA, followed by a light sanding. Wing The wing construction is an involved process, but presents no real challenges. Here again, the instruction book provides all the steps and details required to build true and straight wings. The wing ribs are all lightened with holes die cut into them.
These holes came out without any problem, but the ribs themselves did not. The die cutting should have been cleaner considering that this is one of the first kits off the line. The ribs incorporate tabs that allow the wing to be built flat on the board and to align the 1/16th wing sheeting. The tabs are removed after the top wing sheeting is in place.
The only area that I would change on the wing build instructions is the section that shows how the wing mount block and sub block fit together. If built according to the instructions, alignment and proper attachment to the mounting block is difficult due to lack of space. I measured the location for the backing block, glued it to the landing gear mount block, and then glued the entire assembly into the rib notches. It is also a good idea to drill the 1/8th inch hole into the mounting blocks prior to attaching the assembly to the wing. Take care to follow the location of the blocks on the plan. The instruction book shows the block on the root side of the wing and not towards the tip as is the correct location.
The ailerons are built up out of a die-cut "core" and pieces of balsa plank that are shaped onto each side of the core. They are nice and light!
Sand the wing and ailerons to match, assemble the dihedral brace, epoxy the wings together with the prescribed dihedral, and install the wing leading edge dowel. The prescribed dihedral is measured at the outer wing rib number four, not the tip as it is usually done. The dihedral brace should set the proper dihedral for you, but measure just to be safe. After the wing is done, set it aside and move on to the fuselage. Fuselage
The fuselage construction is not difficult at all. The tab and notch construction helps to speed building right along. I was amazed at how quickly the fuselage went together. The fuselage is built upside down, and then removed from the board after applying the lower 1/16 sheet. Begin by gluing both fuselage base plates together, and then attaching the formers, ply wing saddle doublers, wing bolt plate, and battery tray. Join everything together with stringers, glue the 1/16 wing saddle sheeting in place, and sheet the fuselage. Remove the fuselage from the board, install the outer push rod tubes, and begin attaching the top formers and stringers. Next, sheet the top section, trim all the sheeting, and then rough sand the fuselage to shape. The next step is to build up the battery access hatch according to the instructions. I used lightweight spackle to achieve a smooth transition between the fuselage and the hatch. Finally, sand the fuselage tail fillets and rudder fairing blocks. Your choice of motor/gearbox will determine how you build up the motor mount box. I chose to use a Magnetic Mayhem mounted to an Olympus belt drive at a ratio of 2.33:1. I really like this choice of drive system because it is inexpensive, and provides a great deal of power when matched to the right airframe. I built up the motor mount box, and then trial fitted the motor/belt drive combo to see how it fit. I chose not to install the front motor mount plate for ease of access to the motor/belt drive. Using a Dremel tool, I removed some of the ply motor mount box, and then built rails to fit the flanges of the belt drive.
This turned out to be nearly a drop in replacement for the recommended power system, since constructing the motor mount with the provided parts created the required thrust angles. We're nearly done! The final area of construction involves attaching the tail wheel to the rudder. Personally, I don't even mess with the ABS parts until after I have covered the airframe, nor do I glue any parts to the airframe until after each part is covered. Make sure you install your servo extensions prior to covering the wing. The wing servos can be installed afterwards. Now it is time to cover the airframe in whatever fashion you prefer.
I covered my Ryan with UltraCote, as I find it is easier to work with than other film covering. The ABS cowl was primed and painted using LustreKote paint. I hinged all the control surfaces with CA hinge material provided in the kit. I chose to use Hobby Lobby control horns for the surfaces and Hobby Lobby clevises, as they are easier to install and adjust. Connect all the surfaces and install the landing gear into the blocks with the provided screws, and then your done! Balance according to the plans, set all your throws, charge up your pack, and head to the field.
Flying
I used an 8x2400CP pack for the first flight, because it is what I had available at the time. I checked the throws, and ran the motor up to make sure I felt like I was comfortable with the thrust for the first flight. I should also note that I opted to leave the wheel pants off for now, as I generally fly on medium length grass fields. Before the first flight, I taxied the plane around my street a bit to check ground handling and to ensure a straight ROG. The next morning on the way to work, I stopped at the local soccer field for a taxi test on the grass. The Ryan was tracking so well on the grass that I applied full power and she was in the air! There's nothing like an unexpected take-off to start your morning. The climb out was strong and steady at full power. I let the plane climb to about 100 feet and then made the first turn. The Ryan required about three clicks of right aileron and one click of down elevator. Stalls are straight ahead and very gentle, and the glide path without power is flat and somewhat long, so plan your landings. The Ryan is no speed demon on the reviewed power setup, but it does appear to be well matched to the airframe and flies quite scale. I estimate the speed to be roughly 55 to 65 MPH with full throttle, and a bit more during gentle dives. The rolls on the recommended throws are pretty slow, requiring some elevator input. However, on high rates, the rolls are nice and axial. I recommend setting up the throws on a dual rate switch.
Taking off from pavement happens in about fifteen feet with little to no headwind, and from grass, it requires about twice as much length in the run. On the second and third flights, I was comfortable enough to try some wring-out aerobatics. I found that the Ryan is easily capable of outside loops with less than the suggested elevator throw and extended inverted flight requires nearly no down elevator, and all this with a seven-minute flight! I need to move the CG back a bit more than that recommended on the plans, but doing so requires that (if you use a 8x2400CP pack) you make the pack into a stacked pack and relieve some of the radio gear hatch area. Otherwise, the pack will hit the servos and limit your battery movement. I opted to leave off the hatch retaining pin setup, but as you can see from the pictures, the hatch lifts in flight. I plan to install two magnets to hold the hatch securely in place.
Landing the Ryan is a pleasure. The Ryan lands like a park flyer or a large glider thanks to that thick airfoil and generous wing area. Just keep the wings level and flare at touchdown for a nice three point landing. When landing, I made the base leg turn, cut power, and just let the Ryan settle into a slightly nose-down attitude glide path. I left the field exceptionally pleased with the flight characteristics of my new Ryan! Final Thoughts Great Planes outdid themselves with the Ryan STA EP. This is not a glow plane converted for electric power. From the outset, it is clear that Great Planes did their homework, and made a solid effort to design a great flying and well designed electric semi-scale airplane kit. While this is no ARF, the Ryan STA EP builds quickly and logically into a great looking ship with generous wing area. It also has wide landing gear for good ground handling, and a great deal of quality hardware. The instruction book is outstanding, providing a modeler with three kits under their belt to proceed easily through construction. I am very satisfied with my Ryan STA, and strongly suggest that those looking for a semi-scale golden era airplane go to the store right now and get one. Now Great Planes needs to design and market other golden age era racers so that fliers can recreate air races at their local fields. |
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Jul 11, 2007, 10:17 PM
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#2 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Birmingham
Posts: 124
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What skill level would you say the ryan sta kit is for? Beginner/First kit, Intermediate, or advanced.
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Jul 11, 2007, 10:19 PM
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#3 | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Birmingham
Posts: 124
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Quote:
And if I build this plane I would want to use Lipos for batteries, What size lipo would be best for this plane? |
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Jun 20, 2008, 11:06 PM
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#4 |
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We create difference!
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: China
Posts: 64
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It would be not a good choice for the beginner
I don't recommend the beginne to try this mini airplane. for the power solution i think the li-po 3S1P 1800-2200mAh 20C is ok, also you can check the same article on the following link, this may help you:
Last edited by henry.liu; Jul 01, 2008 at 03:23 AM. |
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