Tower Hobbies Trainer 60 MKII
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The Tower Hobbies Tower Trainer 60 MKII is a brightly covered, purpose-designed Almost-Ready-to-Fly (ARF) trainer. It is not ready to fly out of the box, but it is almost ready to fly. There is some building and assembly still required before you can head for the flying field.
The Tower Trainer 60 is a big airplane that specifies a glow engine range of 0.45 to 0.61. It has a 69 inch wing span with a generous 880 square inches of wing area to provide plenty of lift for this size of trainer. To stay in theme with other 60-sized airplanes that have already been reviewed in Sport Aviator, a previously-used OS MAX .61 glow review engine was determined to be the best powerplant choice.
Photo 1
The Tower Trainer 60 MKII looks very sporty, with clean lines that would prove to have a “presence” of its own on the flight line. Larger trainers handle better in the air than their smaller, 40-sized counterparts. They also do well in windy conditions and are easier to see when flown far away or at what could be referred to as “trainer altitude.”
This is an airplane that is clearly designed to be a basic trainer. It is a well-proven basic trainer design that has stood the test of time. There was not going to be very much assembly work to do. Even so, a less experienced modeler would be well advised to seek assembly advice. This would be best obtained by joining a Radio Control Flying Club. These clubs are where you will find the more experienced modelers who are most willing to pass on their knowledge and past experiences.
To locate a club in your area, go to http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubmain.asp Each of the 2,800+ clubs sanctioned by the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) specialize in helping newer pilots get started in the sport.
Kit Contents
Photo 2
Tower Hobbies Tower Trainer 60 MKII comes in a white box with a picture and specifications on the lid. The parts are very well packaged and showed no signs of any shipping damage at all. And this kit was shipped twice via UPS. The box and box lid were used to hold the parts during construction so that none of the “pieces” could disappear”!
A fun practice is to cut the picture out from the box lid and pin it to your workshop wall or above your fireplace, (if you are not yet married!) (Ed Note: or if you don’t want to stay married for much longer!)
Photo 3 Photo 4
The construction manual is the first item that you should take out the box (photo 3). It details really good step-by-step instructions with photographs of everything that needs to be done. There is a very good center-section with an exploded diagram of all the parts (photo 4). Each part is tagged with a number that matches the list on the same page. This makes it very easy to identify parts during the actual assembly.
Photo 5 Photo 6
The fuselage comes with the holes for the wing dowels and the slots for the tail feathers already cut out. The cockpit window decals are already applied. They add a nice finished touch to the airplane.
Photo 7 Photo 8
A really nice touch was that the blind-nuts for the engine mount and the steerable nose leg support had already been fitted into the firewall. The engine bay area was already fuel-proofed and ready for the engine mount installation. It was already becoming apparent that a lot of factory prefabrication was done on this airplane. The main landing mounts were also factory installed (photo 8).
Photo 9 Photo 10
Inside the fuselage the blind-nuts had been factory covered with masking tape to prevent any fuel-proof sealer from clogging the threads. The pushrod guides for the elevator and the rudder were already installed. These two installations alone saved an hour or more of work.
Photo 11
The horizontal stabilizer and the vertical fin are pre-covered and factory trimmed. But they will still need to have the elevator and rudder attached with Mylar hinges.
Photo 12
A large, approximately 12-ounce, fuel tank kit complete with tubing and clunk weight to keep the fuel pick-up line in the fluid during flight attitudes, is also included. This will need to be assembled by the builder.
Photo 13
The wings and the ailerons, elevator and rudder are referred to as “built-up”. This means that they are not just solid planks of balsa wood or foam. They have been made as an open structure out of several pieces of wood and then covered with iron-on film just as if they were being built from a wood kit.
Photo 14 Photo 15
The wing-dowels have molded plastic end-caps (photo 14). These caps are held in place with screws. The ends of the dowels were pre-drilled to accommodate the screws and prevent splitting. The enclosed hardware set (photo 15) includes a complete set of hinges (photo 16), control horns, nose gear steering arm.
Photo 16
The spinner, here shown with the included Mylar hinges, uses a plastic backplate and two screws to hold the cone in place. This is the most common type of spinner used in almost all ARF kits.
Photo 17 Photo 18
The engine mount (photo 17) will fit most 60-sized two stroke engines available. The engine mount allows for engine movement fore and aft to aid in the setting of the center of gravity.
It is also the primary support for the nose-wheel leg. The main undercarriage is thicker in diameter than the wire used for the nose leg (photo 18). Included are the wheels and the wheel retaining collars.
Photo 19
The wing-spar comes as four individual plywood plates that need to be glued together with epoxy. This makes for a very strong spar. Other items shown in photo 19 are the wing servo-tray and the optional radio equipment tray.
ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT
To complete the Tower Trainer 60 MKII, some additional equipment needs to be gathered and/or purchased. The radio system you choose does not have to be very complicated or expensive. A simple four-channel radio will more than do the job. For this review, a Futaba 9CAP was used so that the airplane program could be copied over to several other club members’ radios for subsequent test flying. (The reviewer flies a Mode-1 radio meaning that the throttle control is on the right hand transmitter stick while the elevator control is on the left one. Most of the local club members fly Mode-2 where these transmitter controls are reversed).
Probably the most attractive difference between a Ready-To-Fly (RTF) basic trainer and an ARF one is that the pilot gets to choose the radio and powerplant. If desired, a more capable computer radio can be used with more advanced features that will accommodate the pilot’s future growth in the sport. Similarly, the pilot is free to select a more powerful engine that will provide performance advantages over those most commonly included with RTF basic trainers.
This is what was used to complete the model:
- Futaba 9CAP and FM receiver
- 4 standard S3003 Futaba servos
- JR switch with charging lead
- JR 1100 mAh NiMH receiver battery
- 30-minute epoxy resin
GENERAL
The manual begins with advice on heat-shrinking the covering to remove any wrinkles induced by storage temperature changes. This may well not be the easiest of tasks for a beginner. It is strongly advised that new “builders” seek the help of an experienced modeler for this task. One difference from the manual was that all of the decals had already been applied to the model. The heat iron could not be used on the actual decals. A heat-gun was gently, carefully used to tighten the material around the decals to avoid melting them.
One tip here might help. Before taking a modeling heat gun to those wrinkles, first use a modeling covering iron to seal all the edges of the covering area to be heated. This prevents the covering from pulling an edge loose during the wrinkle removal process.
STABILIZER ASSEMBLY
Photo 20 Photo 21
Fitting the stabilizer is probably the most critical part of the assembly of any airplane. This holds true for the Tower Trainer 60 MKII. The stabilizer fit well and lined up with no need to adjust the slotted opening. The fuselage has a square cross-section. This allows a flat surface to be used to set the height of each stabilizer tip on either side of the fuselage. Before installing the stabilizer, center it in the fuselage slot, mark where the fuselage sides contact the stabilizer, top and bottom. Then remove the covering only in the area 1/16th inch inside the marks.
Photo 22
The fuselage was weighted down with a handy bottle of soda and a square used to measure the height of each stabilizer tip. Thirty-minute epoxy resin glue was used to attach the stabilizer. The slow curing action of the glue gives you plenty of time to set the position correctly. Then allow it all to harden for at least two hours at a room temperature of at least 70F.
Photo 23 Photo 24
Builders-tip: A hot-knife cutting tool proved to be very useful in removing the covering from the center section of the stabilizer where glue needed to go. This knife, when hot, requires very little pressure to cut into the covering material and does not cut into the wood below. This prevents any weakening of the stab or any other surface where covering needs to be removed.
VERTICAL FIN
Photo 25 Photo 26
A 90-degree square, held in place with a small clamp, is a good device to help when lining up the fin. Using 30-minute epoxy resin gives you time to make this alignment before you pin the stab in place. The modeling pins secure the parts until the epoxy has cured.
Photo 27
WING ASSEMBLY
Photo 28 Photo 29
The four-part wing-spar assembly is glued with thirty-minute epoxy resin and sanded smooth after the glue has cured.When joining the wing, the covering that is wrapped over the root-rib edge needs to be removed. The hardwood spars provide good strength but the surface joint at the edge of the rib is also part of the wing-skin and adds additional strength. Trim the covering off with a sharp knife or razor as shown in photo 29A below (different aircraft being built but same idea).
Photo 29A
The wing tip is slanted and measurements for wing dihedral should be taken from the lower wing surface (Photo 30). Care needs to be taken to not get any glue in the aileron torque-rod bearing tube (photo 31).
Photo 30 Photo 31
To join the wings, it is best to use 30-minute epoxy resin. This gives you the time to align the two halves. It also allows you to wipe off any excess glue with denatured alcohol.
Photo 31A
Low-tack, blue masking tape was used to hold the join together and cover the seam. Low-tack masking tape is easy to remove afterwards and usually does not lift the covering from the wood underneath. The wing was glued together at the end of the evening so that it could be left to cure overnight.
Care needs to be taken when fitting ailerons to the wing. No glue can be allowed to touch the exposed torque rod support-bearing otherwise it will not rotate. Masking tape was used between the wing trailing edge and the aileron torque-rod to prevent excess glue from sticking the aileron to the wing. The Mylar hinges were secured later with a few drops of thin Cyanoacrylate (CAA) per hinge on both sides. It is easier to do this in two stages rather than rush and try to do it all at once. Tip: Keep some Acetone handy to wipe off any unintentional “runs” of CAA.
The instructions show the ailerons with equal throws up and down. This is not the best configuration for a flat-bottomed wing. It really helps the airplane to fly if it is built with “aileron differential”. Differential in this case is when the aileron control has more up movement than down. With a flat-bottomed wing, the down-going aileron has much more drag than the up-going aileron.
This causes the airplane to yaw a little when the aileron is applied, which tends to cause the nose to pitch up when entering a turn and to dip down when bringing the wings back to level. This is called adverse yaw. Making the down-going aileron move less than the up-going one tends to equalize the drag caused by aileron deflection and keeps the airplane’s fuselage parallel to the ground in the turns.
Aileron-induced, adverse-yaw is often addressed by the flying technique of coupling the aileron to the rudder. Unless you want to buy a computer radio and fit two aileron servos, there is a much easier way to achieve the desired result. You can mechanically achieve the desired aileron differential. To do this, you need a servo disk and two EZ-type connectors.
Photo 32
The idea is to get more up-aileron than down-aileron on both wing panels. You can get the ailerons to do this with one servo if you use the servo-disk instead of a straight servo arm. Mount the connectors forward of the center screw of the servo disk. It is not too critical how much differential you achieve because all, and any, is helpful with a flat-bottomed wing. By using a servo disk, instead of a straight arm, you can achieve as much as a 2:1 ratio of up-aileron to down-aileron throw. In our case it worked out as half an inch of up-aileron and a quarter of an of inch down-aileron per wing panel.
Photo 33 Photo 34
In the above photos, the aileron control stick was positioned at the center – Both ailerons were in the neutral position as was the control wheel
Photo 35 Photo 36
In photos 35 and 36, the aileron control was set to full right aileron. The left aileron moved downwards only 1/4 inch. Not seen is that the right aileron moved upwards 1/2 inch
Photo 37 Photo 38
In photo 37, the aileron control was set for full left aileron. The left aileron moved upwards 1/2 inch. Not shown is that the right aileron moved downwards 1/4 inch.
RUDDER AND ELEVATOR INSTALLATION
Photo 39
The servo tray was factory installed as was the rear control rod tubing. Before installing the control rods, it is a good idea to install the rear control surfaces and attach their respective control horns. The Tower Trainer 60 Mk II uses the now-standard Mylar hinges. For detailed installation instructions, see the Sport Aviator article, “Installing Mylar Hinges” in the Flight-Tech Section. To position the control horns, temporarily slide one of the metal control rods into the tubing and mark where it crosses the control surface. Place the control horn centered on this mark with its holes located directly over the hinge line.
Photo 40 Photo 41
The rudder horn lined up with an existing Mylar hinge. Builders tip: To give better support to the elevator horn an additional piece of Mylar hinge was slotted into the wood (photo 40). This hinge material was then used to wick the thin CAA deep into the balsa wood. This CAA really hardens the balsawood and provides a solid base for the control horn. The excess Mylar was then removed with a sharp knife. Holes were drilled through both the wood and the Mylar insert for the elevator horn.
Photo 42 Photo 43
After fitting the control horns, it is a good practice to cut off any extra bolt length and file the cut-off end flat (photo 43). This helps prevent snagging a bolt end with your finger or catching the cleaning cloth later on. At this stage it was discovered that one pushrod was missing. Tower Hobbies would replace the part immediately but it was much quicker to make a trip to the local hobby shop to buy a $2.00 replacement.
Photo 44
The elevator and rudder servo positions lined up perfectly for the one-piece wire pushrods and their guide-tubes.
Photo 45 Photo 46
The elevator and rudder clevises were connected to their horns first. Then the adjustable connectors tightened at the servo arms. This was a very quick and easy way to line up the control surfaces with servos. It was not clear exactly how to line up the elevator due to its having a triangular cross-section. To be on the safe side, the top of the control surface was set flat in relation to the stabilizer surface. (More on this in the flying notes).
Photo 47
In the case of the rudder and the elevator pushrod, the pushrods did not meet the control surfaces at a square angle. The horns were installed where the pushrods passed over the hinge lines. This pushrod angle did not affect the smoothness or the geometry of the control surfaces. This set-up gave the least resistance in the guide-tubes and proved to have no adverse affects during flight operations. The angle, most clearly seen in the rudder horn picture 47, gave the smoothest action without adversely affecting control surface movement.
The horns and pushrods do not interfere with each other and provide a strong, solid link to the servos. A short section of the included fuel tubing was added to clevises to prevent them from popping off under load.
ENGINE MOUNT AND NOSE GEAR
Photo 48 Photo 49
The engine mount installation consisted of fitting four screws into the existing blind nuts. Once again, thread-locking compound is recommended. The steerable nose wheel leg slots into the rear of the engine mount and is further supported by a nylon bracket. This bracket also fastened into existing blind nuts (photo 48). The nose-wheel leg and steering arm were simply pushed into place and secured with wheel collars, the pushrod for the steering arm lined up with the hole that was already in the fire wall. The steering pushrod wire was connected on the opposite side of the rudder servo arm. This gives the correct direction to the wheel when the rudder is applied.
MAIN LANDING GEAR
Photo 50 Photo 51
The Tower Trainer 60 MKII comes with pre-bent main undercarriage wires. These wires fit into a pre-drilled slot in the bottom of the fuselage. To make sure the wheels stay on, grind or file a notch to match the wheel-collar screws. Even if the screws come partially loose, the notches will prevent wheel-collars from coming off in flight. It is tempting to simply tighten them up as much as possible but this will often strip the threads or snap the screws. It can also make the collars very hard to remove for future maintenance.
Photo 52
Each screw was treated with screw-locking compound to further help in wheel retention. The wheels were a good size for grass runways. The collars were positioned with the set-screws facing rearward to keep the dirt out of their sockets.
INSTALLING WING DOWELS
Photo 53 Photo 54
The fuselage is pre-drilled for the wooden dowels that will be used by the rubber bands that hold the wing in place (photo 53). Wooden dowels wear and bend over time. It is a good idea to make them “serviceable”.
Photo 55 Photo 56
Tower Hobbies addressed this need by using plastic end caps that are screwed on each end. One of the dowels in the review model had a flaw in the wood grain. This dowel snapped when all of the rubber bands were used. However, it was easily replaced with another piece of 1/4 inch dowel. Always test mount the wing in the shop, using all 12 rubber bands, to be sure the aileron servo clears the internal fuselage components and that the wings dowels are OK.
RADIO INSTALLATION
Photo 57 Photo 58
The pushrod to the throttle servo had to be bent a little to one side (photo 57). This kept the “run” near the side of the fuselage and was necessary to clear the receiver foam wrapping and the fuel tank installation.
Photo 60 Photo 61
The 1100 mAh battery was wrapped in foam and fitted behind the trailing edge of the wing (photo 61). There was an existing cut-out for the switch on either side of the fuselage. The switch was positioned on the opposite side to the exhaust of the engine (photo 60). This keeps unwanted oil out of the electrical parts.
Photo 63
The antenna and battery leads were supported with JTEC fasteners that are held in place with a small drop of thin CAA.
Radio installation tip: It is a very good idea to use an aileron extension lead coming out of the aileron socket in the receiver. This avoids plugging and unplugging of the aileron servo at the receiver socket. Using an extension lead will prevent any accidental loosening of other receiver connections.
ENGINE
Photo 64 Photo 65
With the engine mount already in place, the engine was fitted. This was done last because the mass of the engine was used to obtain the best center of gravity. As it turned out, the engine needed to be bolted as far back as it would go. The receiver battery had also been positioned as far back as it would go. The edges of the covering around the engine bay were sealed with thin CAA.
The muffler of the OS MAX .61 does not touch the side of the fuselage so no fuselage material had to be removed. An exhaust diverter was later fitted to keep exhaust residue away from the rubber bands and the wing seat. The high-speed needle valve also cleared the fuselage sides. The throttle arm on the carburetor was connected with the wire provided in the kit.
It is important to set the throttle so that it correctly uses the swing of the servo arm. In the low-throttle position, it still needs to have some remaining servo arm rotation. This will let you close carburetor and turn off the engine from the transmitter. This can be activated with a kill-switch or with the throttle-down trim lever from your radio.
The fully-open throttle position should be set just a fraction before the travel-end-stop of the carburetor so that the servo does not “stall” when in that position. This will prevent any excessive current draw and lead to longer battery life and flying sessions.
For complete details about setting up the throttle, see the “Ready To Fly…Maybe” article in Sport Aviator’s Flight-Tech Section.
To get good clearance for the fuel tank in the fuselage, the opening to the front of the fuselage was cut away a little at the sides. This stopped the tank’s touching the fuselage sides. The gap prevents the fuel from being affected by engine vibration. Frothing can cause mysterious, transient lean engine runs in the air and can be very hard to diagnose. Prevention, in this case, is much better than the cure. Half an inch of foam padding was tacked inside of the tank bay area using 3M 77 spray adhesive.
Photo 66 Photo 67
The fuel lines were routed to the muffler’s pressure nipple and the carburetor fuel filter. To fill or drain the tank the lines are disconnected from both the filter and the muffler. It is important to disconnect the line to the muffler when filling the tank to prevent the fuel overflow from entering into the engine via the exhaust system. Excess raw fuel in the muffler will flood the engine and can lead to a whole host of starting problems.
Photo 68 Photo 69
The last thing to do was cut the openings in the plastic spinner for the propeller blades. The hot-knife was enlisted to do this job. With the spinner and 11 x 7 APC propeller in place, all that was left to do was put everything on overnight charge and tidy up the considerable mess and clutter that had somehow invaded the workshop?
TIME TO GO FLYING
Once the throttle was connected, there was not much left to do except put it all together with rubber bands and see what it weighed. Fully assembled, the Tower Trainer 60 MKII came out, without fuel, at exactly 7 pounds 9 ounces. This is about the perfect weight for a 60-size basic trainer. The amount of weight the wing must lift compared to its large area, the wing loading, is not heavy. Yet the wing loading is not so light that moderate winds can greatly affect the aircraft’s flight path.
Photo 70 Photo 71
Photo 72
The Tower Hobbies 60 Mk II makes a good appearance at the field. The colors are bright and easy to see. At least the top side is colorful. The bottom side is all-white and could use a wide blue stripe or two.
Photo 73 Photo 74
Photo 75 below is a close up of 12 rubber bands supplied with kit. (A personal preference would be to see more bands provided with beginner ARF aircraft as they do perish quite quickly in the sunlight. Never fly with any rubber bands that look a bit perished or show signs of losing their elasticity. Replacement No. 64 rubber bands like these can be purchased at any office or stationary supply store. Use new rubber bands for each flying session.
Photo 75
The tried, and therefore trusted, OS MAX .61 started immediately and after a couple of clicks to lean the engine, it was running very well. A good practice at this stage is to richen the needle (anti-clockwise) a couple of indents, often referred to as “clicks”. Then hold the airplane with its nose pointing at the sky. The engine, at full throttle, should still run well and not go lean. This is often referred to as a “rotate” and is used to see if the engine setting can handle a climb once in the air. Setting the needle slightly rich also allows for the change in fuel supply as the tank empties. The lower the fuel level, the harder it is for the engine to draw fuel. Setting the motor slightly rich compensates for this condition and gives a good engine run for the whole flight.
If you have a new engine, it is important to break it in to prevent overheating or quitting while you fly. Follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Please run your glow engine where you won’t annoy your neighbors or club members. Part of flying a model is being able to hear it. So it is good etiquette to be considerate to those people who are already flying. It is best to choose a spot way at the end of the pits so that you don’t annoy the other fliers. Even if you think that your engine is quiet, it never hurts to be courteous.
TEST FLIGHTS – March 2006
Photo 76 Photo 77
The airplane was given a taxi test to see if it tracked well and would in fact turn in the right directions. The steering was working just fine so the Tower Hobbies 60 MKII was lined up facing into the wind. The flight plan was to take-off and then turn away from the pits, as per the AMA safety code. It is highly recommended that you should always have a flight plan in mind when you take-off.
Photo 78
The OS MAX .61 accelerated the airplane and we were airborne in about thirty feet. The airplane initially climbed quite steeply during the turn. This climbing tendency was corrected with the application of down-trim from the transmitter.
The stabilizer is a flat surface and the elevator has a triangular cross-section. During set-up it was decided to set the elevator-trim with the top surface of the elevator level with the stabilizer. After flying, it was noted that the trailing edge of the elevator was now positioned on the center-line of the stabilizer.
Photo 79 Photo 80
This trainer flew very well using an 11 x 7 APC propeller at around half-throttle position. When the controls were released, the airplane flew straight and level until it was deemed prudent to bring it back towards the field. Further tests were tried with the model in non-level attitudes, including inverted. The airplane would slowly roll level except during the inverted position test. Some aileron input was required to help the airplane get partially upright before it would successfully recover.
Photo 81
The next thing to test was the aileron control responses. The differential in each aileron proved to just about right. The airplane would perform the quarter-roll into a turning maneuver without pointing its nose up or down. Full-rolls were performed with some down elevator during the inverted portion. The airplane flew through these tests very well and had a feel much like a low-wing sport model.
Even though this is a trainer, the flight tests included several aerobatic maneuvers. This was to look for its aerobatic limits. Most pilots, once they can fly solo, like to do a certain amount of aerobatics. The Tower Hobbies 60 MKII does have some aerobatic capabilities. It will do a very nice, and straight, inside loop. It did not want to do an outside loop. No surprise there! The lifting effect of a flat-bottomed wing section just fights the outside loop too much. It will fly inverted and you can get it to climb from that position. Inverted flight usually needed a lot of power to be applied.
A pretty respectable stall turn can be done if you wait until the last moment to apply the rudder. Otherwise, the rudder causes the airplane to roll first. The rudder on this model works very well. You can fly the airplane for a whole flight just using rudder and elevator (and throttle of course). The rudder response is a bit slower than that of the ailerons. It is however very positive and rolls the airplane smoothly and accurately. Some trainer rudders tend to pitch the nose up or down. This one has the correct rudder hinge-line angle set on the fin. Anyone watching would not know whether you were flying with rudder or ailerons to initiate a rolling action. A full-roll with rudder is a very large barrel roll and needs a lot of sky/height if you want to try one. Hint – Always keep your ailerons ready as a back-up if you get too low.
Snap-rolls and spins were simply not possible. Perhaps they would have been possible with much bigger control throws. This limitation is really a feature. Spins and snap-rolls are not really a requirement of a basic trainer airplane. If you are ready to do snaps and spins you have most likely outgrown your trainer.
Trimming tip: Because this airplane will roll on rudder as well as ailerons, you need to check which control needs to be trimmed to correct a rolling tendency. To see if it is aileron or rudder that is causing any rolling, you need to fly the airplane away from yourself directly into the wind. If the fuselage changes its heading into the wind, the rudder is out of trim. You need to straighten the rudder and then add some aileron trim to get the wings to fly level again.
Photo 82 Photo 83
The landings were very easy. You just line up on the runway at about quarter throttle and cut back to idle. The airplane sinks very slowly so start this maneuver with plenty of distance to the runway. You can always add speed with engine power but you can’t lose speed easily. There are no brakes on a model airplane! Even if your landing approach is a bit too fast the tricycle-gear does its job. You may get a slight bounce but it says close to the ground. Most of the time the airplane sticks to the grass and you are back on terra firma with a big smile!
Photo 84 Photo 85
After a hard day’s testing, the Tower Hobbies 60 MKII rests before a video session!
Photo 86
SUMMARY
The first flight was really great. No problems steering on take-off or landing. The airplane was very solid in the wind. All subsequent flights were just as good. This is a big airplane that left a big impression. You get the benefit of its size during flight. It is easier to see than its smaller counterparts. The bigger the airplane the better it handles the breeze and turbulence.
All in all, this is also a very pleasant aircraft to fly. It went together relatively easily due to some very accurate pre-drilling and assembly of the major components. It was particularly pleasing to find that the blind nuts had been pre-fitted for the engine mount and the steerable nose-leg. The hardware and accessory parts were very comprehensive. No substitutions were made other than a new wing dowel and replacement for the missing pushrod.
The engine mount allows you to fit different motors in only a few minutes. The thicker main landing gear did not bend throughout the deliberately rough test landings. If you want a model airplane that is easier to see, flies well and takes very little time to put together, then Tower Hobbies has a 60 MKII waiting just for you.
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AIRCRAFT SPECIFICATIONS Manufacturer: Tower Hobbies Cost: $ Length: 56.5 in. Special Airframe Features: Semi-Symmetrical Wing, Very Accurate Parts, Quick Assembly. Easy To Fly |
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Notable Positives Notable Negatives |
Short URL: http://masportaviator.com/?p=572
Posted by Robert McEanruig
on Mar 22 2006 Filed under Basic Trainers.
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