Stukje tekst van een amerikaanse PC 21 esm bouwer
Note: This overview is for anyone considering buying or already building this plane. It may come in useful or perhaps help determine whether or not to buy it.
Quality - Outstanding, great attention to detail, excellent construction, near perfect covering and details like panel lines, scale details, realistic decals and pre-drilled hinges.
Weight - Somewhat heavy @ 17.25 lbs but with almost full wing sheeting and a full fiberglass fuselage, it's to be expected.
Design - Outstanding, with the exception of the scale cockpit which leaves no option for an electric conversion. Even if you are OK dealing with removing the wing for battery swaps, there isn't room to mount flight packs there. The only option (short of cutting a hatch) is to remove the scale cockpit and design a removable one, mounting the canopy with screws or glue just isn't an option if you go electric. The one-piece canopy does look slick but thre are noticable flaws in the plastic, it's not optical grade. Motor mounting is easy but DON'T use the center line drawn on the firewall nor assume the pre-cut hole is drilled at center!
Appearance - What can you say, perfection! No ironing or shrinking of the covering necessary out of the box. Perfect seams, perfect cuts on the patterns, perfect paint and decals though you'll need to be very careful if you mask off do paint or touch up, even painters masking pulled some of the scale graphics (decals, not the paint) off, be gentle!
Hardware - KMP includes hardware, the first thing you'll want to do is throw it out! The mish-mash of hardware seems an after-thought and the air valve shouldn't be trusted (go Robart). Landing gear is well designed (the optional retracts were used) but make sure to check the wheel screws, they were loose and managed to come out during the first flight.
Build Tips:
1.) Careful when you set this one on the bench, the scale cockpit is fragile, in fact had I not removed it to build a removable canopy, I very likely would have damaged it on the bench it's so thin!
2.) The wing joiner may fit loose, since this is all that holds the 2 halves together, you might have to add a thin strip of balsa to make it a tight fit. Make sure you use a good epoxy like Aeropoxy to join the wings together but also make sure you route your sevo extensions and air line prior to joining.
3.) The stabs simply glue to the fuse, use epoxy and the trick I used by drilling a small hole from the inside into the stab and screwing a cap head screw into the stab from the inside to pull it tight while the epoxy hardens. This works well for the wing halves too!
4.) If you need to order stand-offs to mount your motor, you will want 6 3/8" (160mm) from firewall to thrust washer.
5.) ESC mounting, I mounted mine under the motor where there is more than ample air flow to keep it cool. It's a great spot for it, fits perfectly, gets massive cooling and allows the Jeti data cable to hang out the bottom for convenient data readings.
Negatives:
1.) The list is minor but a big one is price. $995 is a lot to pay for a plane where you throw out the hardware, KMP could have done a better job making sure the hardware matched the price.
2.) Some overlooked details and unclear instructions made the build a little frustrating but nothing an intermediate RC pilot can't handle.
3.) KMP drop ships and uses non-stanadard shippers (not UPS or FedEx like we all expect), this lead to shipping delays and being billed $100 to ship some 200 miles, they should have used UPS and called it a day, I would have had it the next day!
Overall Opinion: I love it, how can you not? It looks incredible and flys very well. It's a big plane and you should think about how you plan on bulding it (a table won't cut it, you'll want a stand or you'll be quite frustrated) as well as how you plan to transport it. My Lexus RX 300 needs the passenger seat all the way forward just to fit in in the back, it's 81.5 inches long! The wing loading is heavy but don't worry, landing is a breeze with flaps and it can be landed gently with a little practice...
. Het toestel is er absoluut niet op ontworpen en gebouwd om er lipo's in te bouwen.