sugarfoot

Yesterday I was very disappointed when the first flight was to take place of my very first completed kit. It is a Great Planes "Slow Poke". I had much trouble with getting the plane to balance. It took much more weight and was rather heavy. I was so excited. However, since I had never flown a tail dragger before, I asked one of our club's most experienced pilots to check it out first and then fly it for me at least one time. Great Planes says this plane can use a two stroke .10 to .25 engine. I chose to put an O.S. 15 on it. The grass on the field was very short. The disappointment? The plane never got off the ground because the engine would not give enough power. We took weight out which made it slightly tail heavy again and even then, the engine would not give enough power. Club members said I needed to go to a larger engine. After spending much money and time on everything, I cannot fly it witout handing out another pile of money. A new O.S. 25 engine would cost in the area of another $60. Wondering if what has happened to my first plane would be worth telling the Great Planes people about this, so that they will amend their advertisement about the smaller engine and balance problem, saving others from wasting their hard earned money? This is already an expensive hobby and now to find out that I have done all this for nothing has really disappointed me. Would appreciate comments back concerning if I should tell Great Planes about this. I'm not looking for or asking for anything back from Great Planes. But if what happened to me would help someone else in deciding what size engine to use for this plane, then this is a good thing, right?

nascarjoe

I've flown several Slow Pokes and they all needed around 16-18 ounces in the nose. Most had 40s in them and even then, they didn't fly very well. Trouble was that all who had them thought they would make a good trainer. Oh well.

nascarjoe

Dazzler_BE

You don't mention exactly how much your plane weights. You say it is"rather heavy". Is is above the mfg given weight or not ?

Also, GP suggests a .10-.25 engine. Your .15 is in the lower part of this range. It is possible your SlowPoke will fly with this engine, given it is handstarted.

When taking of of grass, no matter how short it is, always produces extra drag (the small wheels have trouble rolling through the grass) which may not be overcome with a small engine.

Try handlaunching it (if the weight is like the mfg recommendation!) and see how well is flies.

A Friend of mine had the same problem with his .25 trainer plane. If handstarted, is would fly rather fine, with enough power to pulls loops and so, but there was no way he could get it off from the ground. Just to much drag on those wheels !!!

Woodsy

I agree sort of, most manaufacturers recomend an engine range and do not qualify it i.e. "recomended engines .10 -.25" now heres what they should add ".10 will NOT ROG and needs JATO, flies real mushy at all times" and for the top end " .25 flies perectly if weight is under 10oz, for all weights above 10oz use a .40 engine"
if they were honest the engine would go UP several sizes and they would scare away the guys on realy limited $$$ this is MOSTLY true for the smaller sized planes.

Balsa

Put some $15 Micro servos in it , man. Or, Buy a HOB Space walker .10 , 44" and will work better with your .15. OR, how about getting rid of all that dead weight and getting a biger RX pack and moving that bout, you said it was tail heavy? put the RX cad. up by the fuel tank. Ther, problem solved.

flianbrian

Get used to it!

DBCherry

My Feedback: (4)

sugarfoot,
You'll learn as time goes by. Was this a kit or ARF? ARF's are typically pretty heavy, but it's also easy for a new builder to build in a LOT of extra weight into a kit. (Too much glue, using heavy wood in the tail...)

I'm willing to bet your Poke would take off fine from a paved runway. GP probably tested this plane on paved runway, and that's where they got the lower engine size.

Virtually ALL small planes have trouble on grass due to small wheels. Unless they're very over powered it ain't gonna' happen. (Try putting those tires on your trainer and see how it does.) Conversely, you could buy large, (light weight) foam tires and try them on your Poke.

You should usually choose from the upper end of recommended engine sizes, especially flying off grass.
Dennis-

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Dennis is correct. On most models, you want to use the higher engine range. Basically, a MFG is saying "You COULD fly it with a .10, but you'll really like it with a .25"

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

As stated, When the engine range on a plane is stated, you want to at least the top engine stated, if not a little more depending on your flying style. Something like a cub is ok to stay with less power, but some planes just won't fly. I remember my first one stated 25 to 40. It was a long time ago when the engines don't have what they do today. I can't imagine a 25 flying it. The 40 was almost not enough. I think they are tested on cool days at sea level to get the engine sizes. Unfortunate and kind of miss-leading, but put the 15 in a drawer and save it for another plane. I have a couple of 15 size planes that are rockets. What a blast.

Highlander

surgarfoot

I agree with chooseing the larger of the engines that are suggested ,

especially if you live at altitude,IE 500 ft and above sea level, I for instance live at 4300 ft elevation, a plane that will fly on a 40 size engine at sea level will require a 61 or larger to fly here with the same performance, we fly 91's on the 60 size ultra sticks just as an example .this is from our field , if we fly from another that is 30 minutes from here and another 2000 ft high the 91 will fly them but they do not perform the same .

Highlander

LenLee

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Sugarfoot. I haven't used it for awhile, but I think Great Planes still has a comments/suggestion page on their website. I've sent them a few suggestions in the past and have gotten back some replies and answers. It sure won't hurt to let them know. Good Luck!

Len

MikeL

My Feedback: (3)

As has been suggested, try some larger wheels. Grass runways cause all sorts of problems for small planes with small wheels. If the problem was that the Slowpoke couldn't get up to flying speed, larger wheels are worth a try. They're much less expensive than a larger engine, and less time consuming to install.

The other thing to try is a different prop. A lower pitch and slightly greater diameter would help with the takeoffs.

lownslo

Hello Sugarfoot,
There have been many suggestions here, all worth while!! I would like to suggest using 15% nitro fuel if you are not already. Also, if possible, move the engine forward to get rid of added ballast. The larger, foam tires on grass will be your BEST help. Buy them as big as you can without the plane looking "goofy"
I have been in this 2.5 years now with 4 ARF's and 3 kits built. ALL were tail heavy to one degree or the other. I have used about all the suggestions above to stop from adding lead. Most I have still needed lead.
When I built my kits, I got a rough idea of balance BEFORE final positioning and gluing of servo tray, battery, RX, and engine position. I did this while the plane was in the bones just before covering. I think (?), that at this point, there will be more weight at the tail after covering .....so.. I make sure it is slightly nose heavy at this trial period. I also balance lateraly at this time as the weight can be added to wing tips without cutting covering etc.
As far as the manufacturers "suggested engine size"..... I learned the hard way after my first plane to go to the largest suggested engine, OR one step above that.
I wanted trainer back in my hanger... so this winter I built an LT-25 with my old .40 LA planned for the power. I called Sig to ask if it would "PHYSICALLY fit" in the nose before I bought the kit. The tech guy said, "yes....... but it will be WAY overpowered!!" The .40 LA is a very reliable engine, but weak on power. This old .40
LA is great in this .25 sized trainer. I have probably flown it just as much as my other 3 Saito powered lo-wings this spring. I built it with almost a flat wing and have been "learning" more aerobatic basic moves with it. I feel if it goes in while learning..... I won't feel as bad as if it was my Satio 150 on my 4*120...good luck...
lownslo...

frieshoo

My Feedback: (20)

I'm happy to report SugarFoots Slow Poke had a very successful first, second and third flight!!!! The first flight was a little exciting.... long.. long... takeoff run, but once it broke ground it flew very very well.... He had a 7X4 prop on the LA 15... we decided to
use a 8X4 for the next flight... and the model came alive!!!! easy takeoff, and Dave made a very nice deadstick landing (he needs to adjust the throttle travel)...

Good job DAVE!

Mike_Mc

I don't know this plane except for a little picture in Tower Hobbies catalog but is it too big to hand launch? I've hand launched a 40 sized trainer before. It can be done.

ballgunner

My Feedback: (1)

As a general rule most manufacturers recommend an engine typically as from "A"-"C" with A being small and C being larger. The Dynaflite Butterfly says .10 to .15 I believe. If you don't live near sea level that may be true especially if you build light. I fly at 5000' ASL and believe me the Butterfly won't get out of its own way let alone off the ground very well with a .15. I've built two already so I don't need to hear from all the people that say mine would lift five pounds with a .15. To qualify any such claims please tell us the altitude of your flying site. For the guy who believes the kit seller look around and be sure to ask the right questions. I did build a Slow Poke when they first came out because I thought it was cute. So much weight was needed to balance it that even an OS .20FP wouldn't make much of an airplane out of it. Changed to an OS.25FX and it was at least flyable.

iowanspctr

I have one of these I put a OS .20FP on. It flies OK, sort of. Took a lot of weight to balance, tail heavy. Twitchy with any speed, stalls hard if too slow. Looks cool buzzing around but not much fun to fly. I'm building a kit-bashed Seniorita, tail-dragger with ailerons, to put the engine in. I think it'll be more fun.