No receive yet. Contacted manufacturer in Lithuania and was told” cut this week, ship next week.” Probably another month before receipt.
I ordered and received a Skylark S from Value Hobbies. Pretty nice little foam pattern ship.
Frank

Hi Ken,
I finally have an answer regarding the Japanese 1600 class pattern. The response is from the Japanese judge at the last F3A WC who just returned from judging F3P in Greece:
Many are flying 70 size pattern models in Japan. Because very handy to handle and cost is lower than full size.
Average age of over 50, 60 years old flying this type of airplane and almost non young is flying RC model any more.
They fly “we call sports man”
Here is the list of maneuvers flown:
1) take-off
2) square loop (U)
3) 1/2 reverse cuban 8 (T)
4) 3 rolls (D)
5) Stall turn (T)
6) 2 inside loops (U)
7) 1/2 square loop, 1/2 roll (T)
8) 2 outside loops (from top) (D)
9) split S (T)
10) cobra roll (U)
11) landing

No mention of any weight limits I take it. That would simplify things. Just put a plane in the air without worry of "details"!

One thing that bothers me, NOT just about the "70" class planes but all the smaller planes The are listed by different class. 30, 50, 70, 110/120, etc. Just what to those numbers reference to? Seems to me the "70" class planes at 62" need at least a 90 (YS) or 100/120 normal four stroke.

Ken

Hi Ken,
That is why YS continued to develop their small 4-stroke (53 to 63 to 70 to 80) and the 80 is now available in a DZ format. I have flown a '70' sized ARF with a YS 70, OS 110 Alpha and an OS Hanno Special. Performance was about the same, but probably ideal with the YS 70 (or better with a YS 80).
-Will

Originally Posted by kenh3497

Seems to me the "70" class planes at 62" need at least a 90 (YS) or 100/120 normal four stroke.

In the 62" AJ Acuity thread an all-up weight with E-power was given as 7lb 3oz in post #471. Since glow power is seldom heavier than electric it is reasonable to assume a similar weight for a glow powered model. A YS 90/110/115 would be huge power in a 7lb model and even a strong 2 stroke 60 would be lots for the lower classes.


Mark

Received word from RC Composites that my Europa has shipped. They sent a PDF copy of the manual. The Europa is, of course, a jigsaw puzzle to assemble. Fibreglass cowl and canopy with plywood and balsa construction. This is not a beginner's kit by no means. The construction is all laser cut with plug in wing and stab. Shipped, it was 233 euros. Stay tuned!

One month ,exactly, from the date of order, my kit arrived today. I am very impressed with the quality of this kit. As soon as I can, I will provide pictures.

i think this is a great idea, i think sportsman and advanced should be dedicated to these size models...
give you a graduation into full fize F3A, and you can do it for less than a grand. that's awesome!
might help get more people into it.

Hey Frank,
any progress on the Europa Pro mini kit?
-Will

The instructions are just some pictures. I don’t trust myself building this one . My good friend, Norm Whittle, who is a master builder could build it but he is in Utah and I am in MS.

The Europa is, of course, a jigsaw puzzle to assemble. Fibreglass cowl and canopy with plywood and balsa construction. This is not a beginner's kit by no means.

Has anyone here actually succeeded in building this thing? If so, I'd like to get in touch with them. I'm finding it impossible to figure out how it's supposed to go together and am about to throw the whole mess in the trash. ZERO help from the vendor.
Thanks!

Hi Harry,
I have not built one yet, but I have two kits (I bought Frank Hurd's when he was overwhelmed by the number of pieces and apparent complexity). I did print out the instructions which seem pretty good (I put them in a binder for ease of following and now, repeated use). I've built a few Japanese laser cut kits in the past few years which had much more limited instructions; basically a set of plans and some diagrams.
I am in the process of moving at the moment and my work shop is unstated and access to my R/C stuff is somewhat limited. I do know where my instruction binder is.
I would be happy to try to help.
My email address: wbartl8021@aol.com
regards,
Will

Thanks for the response and offer of help, Will. Can I get back to you at some later date, perhaps when you have a bit more time available? And when (or if) I decide to pick up this build again, having recently put it on hold (as I've done several times since I first started it last fall).

I'm no aeromodeling newbie, having been building and flying models since 1952, and know what I'm doing in this hobby. I've built literally hundreds of models, most of them my own designs or from plans, but also including many kits. I've never needed any building instructions and usually don't even use them when they're available. But this Europa Mini kit is nothing like I've ever seen. It's so over-complicated, intricate, fiddly, and unintuitive that trying to build it is about the most frustrating thing I've ever done in modeling. Parts are accurately cut from reasonably decent material, but the so-called "instruction manual" consists of a semi-random bunch of poor quality photographs without any captions, numbering, notes, comments, or any other useful information on them. The plan is nowhere near finished, is confusing, lacks essential details and designations, and is of very limited use.

At first glance, this documentation looks like it would have enough information to build the model. But as soon as actual building is started it quickly becomes clear that it's next to useless. And there are huge gaps in coverage - for example, no mention at all, anywhere, about things like the canopy and cowl structures and mounting, landing gear setup, equipment installation, canalizer, and several other areas. None of these are obvious or intuitive with this model.

I emailed the vendor asking for more information on some specific areas and help with a few of the problems I had run into. His response? In his exact words: "Instruction received. Plane you get. This is yours problem if you can't collect."

Wonderful. I may have yet another try at guessing how to put the puzzle pieces together but I can see the whole thing eventually ending up in the trash. What a disappointment this whole project has been.

Just a heads-up for anyone considering buying this sorry effort.

+1.....Can you spell JUNK?