Looking to try an electric scale model? Robbe has really done a great job of providing the modeler with a very high quality plane that has good hardware, good looks, and good flying qualities.
During 1935, the Fieseler FI 156 "Storch" (Stork) was born in pre WWII Germany. This funky looking high wing monoplane with its unique spindly landing gear was created as an observation and utility aircraft for the Luftwaffe. It could leap into the air in 150 feet and land in a mere 50 feet!
Robbe has created a 41" span park flyer model. This model duplicates not only the full-size Storch's flying characteristics, but also its unique looks and features including fully articulated landing gear. The airframe is all foam that is pre-painted in a tan and pale blue that would be typical for the Storch aircraft that served in North Africa. The quality of the moldings and the finish were very good. The wing surface was not smooth as one would expect, but it has the ribs molded in. This is one of the many small details that add greatly to the looks of the finished model. The supplied high quality die cut parts, power plant, and other accessories where neatly packaged in separate bags. The entire model was well packed and protected, and there was no damage to any of the parts during shipping.
Parts as received
I will not go over the building process of the model, but just highlight the assembly process. The instruction booklet is of high quality, which is broken down into small steps. It is illustrated with very clear drawings of the applicable steps.
Construction
Body
The first thing that I noticed with the body was a slight misalignment (1/8") between the recessed areas on the outside of the body halves. As these are used to mark cutouts, I would recommend skipping the steps that cut slots (like the first one to cut out the slots for the wing struts) until they are needed. That way you can adjust the location as required.
Motor, gearbox, and speed controller ready to install
The mounting of the motor mount could use some improvement. The body section on my model was oval, not round like the supplied ply mount. I suspect that the body had slightly deformed after assembly and that the mount was correct. The body can easily be formed around the mount to the round section. The other hitch, due to the slight misalignment of the body mentioned above, is the alignment of the mount. I guess Robbe felt that the lip inside the body would be sufficient to align the motor mount. I was a bit leery that this would give me a correctly aligned mount. I chose to jump ahead and assemble the gearbox with the prop (ream to 21/64"), and mount this to the motor mount prior to gluing in place. This allowed me top use the 9" APC propeller to check the alignment visually.
When gluing the wing box assembly in, as shown in step eight, check the rotation of the assembly in the body. If this is just put into the body without checking, the alignment of the wing, tail, and landing gear will suffer later. Guess how I know this.
I chose to leave off the tail wheel as the full size one only had a skid.
Finish and Decals
After paint and decal application
As my main interest is scale models, I could not build this Storch in the supplied paint scheme. I had to add some detailing to the exterior. My long time favorite scheme on the Storch is the squiggly line camouflage. I used Testors water based model paint in my airbrush to paint the wings, body, and tail prior to any assembly.
I then used a fine line permanent marker to draw panel lines, access panels, and outline the control surfaces. Afterwards, I applied all of the water slide decals as shown on the box. One thing omitted was a drawing showing location of the decals. The sequence of the numbers on the body took a while to figure out, as the oddball (red) number has to go on the stripe. The correct number is 5F+YK. I also painted the wing box structure dark gray, as it is quite visible due to the "green house" canopy.
Equipment Installation
The motor and radio is quite straightforward and conventional.
When mounting the Hi-Tec HS-50 servos, I found out that there is no hole in the #6 former to route the servo leads through. I would recommend cutting a hole in the bulkhead before gluing in the wing box.
The GWS receiver is attached with Velcro to the front side of the front bulkhead. I just left the JES 50 speed controller loose in the front cowl area.
For most of you, this is old hat, but as this was my first electric model, I was not sure how to figure out which terminal on the motor was positive and which was negative. This was the only item that was not covered in the instructions. After consultation with my neighbor, Todd Long (of www.toddsmodels.com who supplied the electrics for the kit), he told me it would not hurt to hook it up backwards. With a 50% chance of getting it right, I did it wrong and had to re-solder the wires to the speed controller correctly.
Wing
The wing assembly is very simple and well shown in the instruction booklet.
Since you skipped cutting the slots in the first step, you can do this now. Center the slots on the bulkhead for the wing struts. When gluing the struts use caution not to preload the wings and bow them. The wings are quite flexible until the struts are installed.
Landing Gear
The spindly landing gear on the Storch really sets this plane apart from others. I was glad to see that is has been well duplicated on this model and even has functional shock struts!
To achieve this, Robbe has effectively used plastic tubes, wire, and plywood. Follow the instructions carefully, but I have one piece of advice. I would not recommend gluing anything in place until the gear has been test fitted. I waited and loose assembled everything. This will allow me to align everything prior to gluing. Other than needing four hands to hold everything, it seemed to work better this way. The gear is the most complex part of this model, but time spent here is well worth the effort, so take your time. After it was all put together, I bent the wires as required to allow the struts to move smoothly without binding.
The supplied wheels are hollow plastic and are quite light. I did have one break at the hub after one flying session. If you have a set of small Trexler wheels, you may want to use them in lieu of the supplied plastic wheels.
Canopy
I painted the framework on the inside of the canopy sections before cutting them out. There are a lot of frames on the canopy sections, so it takes a while to complete! Rather that having to remove the top gear strut to take off the canopy, I just cut a slot where the gear mount is. The canopy fit is very good to the wing box and the body. I cut several small pieces of clear tape to hold the halves together and to the body. This works well and allows for easy removal to access the radio.
The top window slides off to the back to allow the battery to be dropped into the battery box. No tape is required; just install the blocks so there is some friction to hold it in place.
Flying
The first flight was attempted using an eight-cell 720-mah NiMH pack, and the take off was effortless. The tail picked up quickly, and the plane tracked dead straight until lift off speed was attained. It climbed at a reasonable rate and cruised fine at about 2/3 throttle. The presence of a lot of drag was apparent when a steep climb or a loop was attempted. The plane slows quickly when the nose is raised; to loop, a slight dive is required to build up speed. The best fun flying this plane is had when just flying it slow and doing lazy eights close to the ground. When power is removed and the plane slows down, watch out for a quick loss of altitude. The first time, this caught me off guard, and the Storch had a very hard landing that knocked the motor loose. Carry a little power on final and through the flare, and you will have no problems.
The results of the first flight seemed to indicate that the plane was very nose heavy. It balanced at the forward CG limit (40mm) given in the instructions, but I wanted to try a more aft CG. Moving the receiver aft would have not done much, as it is so light. I did not want to add any more weight, as the plane is about an ounce heavier that the box says it should be. The only "movable/ heavy" item is the battery pack. Unfortunately, it is locked in one place, the battery box. Since I had to come up with a way to move the CG without adding weight, I built a shelf over the servos to mount the battery. This allowed me to move the CG back to 60mm from the LE. This is 10mm aft of the CG that is recommended. (I would slowly move the CG to suit your skills and preference.) I felt this aft CG would be ok, as most models with under-cambered airfoils usually have aft CG's and large tail volumes like this model, and boy was I right. It flew much better at this CG location. The elevator had much more authority and it seemed to fly better all around. The approach to landing was still a bit tricky. Just carry a bit of power and time the flare right, and it will plop down on all three points.
I also flew the Storch with a seven-cell 720 mAh NiMH pack. The take off and climb were not near as quick as with the eight-cell pack, but they were sufficient. Since more power was needed to sustain level flight, the flight duration dropped from about 15 min to 5 min. I would definitely recommend the eight-cell pack.
Conclusion
My son Ian and the Storch
I would highly recommend this Robbe Storch to a modeler who has a few hours flight time under his belt, and who is looking to try an electric scale model. Robbe has really done a great job of providing the modeler with a very high quality kit, with good hardware, looks, and flying qualities.
At first, I thought the foam would be too fragile, but after a fair amount of flying, it looks as good as when it was new. The landing gear is brilliant! I have dropped the Storch in from a foot or two, and the gear just sucks it up without a bounce.
If you have always wanted a Storch, this is the one to get.
Jeremy Fursman - 2001 Scale Masters Grand Champion
Jun 04, 2002, 01:00 AM
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