REVIEW: Guan Li Catalina RTF

[gzsfrk]

UPDATE: I had my first flight! Flight Review is below the Build Review in this post.



Plane Model: Catalina RTF
...

Click here to read the entire review

[Aviator24]

Let me know if the thread changes.
I have one of these babys in my fleet and love flying it.
Gonna do the water flying as soon as summer gets here...

[Catalina]

Anyone still on this thread?
Nearly finished building mine (also my first plane)!
Been doing some hours on the sim and I reckon Im as ready as Ill ever be.
Can I get spare parts for this plane? Nobody has mentioned that.
Cheers

[DaveESPI]

yep this thread is alive and well.

InFACT..... I will have my plane out this weekend too

[shv2sail]

Glad this thread is still kicking around...I just bit the bullet and picked up one of these today. We have a small pond a block from the house that we sail RC boats in that would fit this Cat nicely!

As for spare parts...Nitroplanes does sell the 'arf' version (no motors/electronice) for $44 which would work for spares...

[Catalina]

Originally Posted by shv2sail

Glad this thread is still kicking around...I just bit the bullet and picked up one of these today. We have a small pond a block from the house that we sail RC boats in that would fit this Cat nicely!

As for spare parts...Nitroplanes does sell the 'arf' version (no motors/electronice) for $44 which would work for spares...

May need that spare plane!
I finished the build today and thought it would be a good idea to test throw the plane just to see if it glides OK. Bad idea. Plane dropped badly and broke both wings off. The two timber struts inside wings snapped and all a bit of a mess really. Foam around 4 screws all snapped away. Not sure how I will fix it.
Thinking of putting something a bigger/stronger inside the wings and glue it all together. Plus adding some extra strength (square of plastic) to go under 4 screws. Any other ideas?
So much for my first ever fly!!

[DaveESPI]

Cat, sorry to hear for your loss........... you really didnt read any of the parts of the reviews where we said GLIDE WITH POWER OFF IS NON EXISTANT.....

lol.

aka: ITS A BRICK WITH WINGS WHEN DEAD STICKING IT !

you can fix it with some carbon spars and cutting out the busted wooden ones and then replace them with slightly bigger wood replacement stringers. As to teh screws, you will need to make an epoxy patch and re tap it with some expanding foam filler or a drill and epoxy block with threaded nuts placed in them.

good luck.

[Catalina]

Have to get to 15 posts to post links so here goes. Sorry but the links will be helpful in this thread.

[Catalina]

Originally Posted by Catalina

Have to get to 15 posts to post links so here goes. Sorry but the links will be helpful in this thread.

Another

[Catalina]

Originally Posted by Catalina

Another

More

[Catalina]

Originally Posted by Catalina

More

Should be last one

[Catalina]

Originally Posted by DaveESPI

Cat, sorry to hear for your loss........... you really didnt read any of the parts of the reviews where we said GLIDE WITH POWER OFF IS NON EXISTANT.....

lol.

aka: ITS A BRICK WITH WINGS WHEN DEAD STICKING IT !

you can fix it with some carbon spars and cutting out the busted wooden ones and then replace them with slightly bigger wood replacement stringers. As to teh screws, you will need to make an epoxy patch and re tap it with some expanding foam filler or a drill and epoxy block with threaded nuts placed in them.

good luck.

Sorry about that.
Well all repaired now. Found inspiration when stirring my coffee at work with those wooden stirrers (ice cream sticks). Used these in lamination form (glued together) and made up 3 new cross members across the wing. They are super light and strong. Wing is much stronger now than original. Used 5 minute epoxy and all strong.

First fly was very dissapointing. Hand launched plane at full power and it would not climb! Only slowly fell back to grass with about 10 meters of actual flying. Not enough power on stock motors etc.
So have ordered the following which shall be arriving soon:

Motor : http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=2046

mount : http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=5135

Props : http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=5249 (counter rotating)

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=5247 (normal rotating)

speed controllers of ebay :

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/30A-Brushless-Motor-Speed-Controller-RC-ESC-Parts-Y_W0QQitemZ260446244279QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Toys_ Hobbies_Radio_Controlled_Vehicles?hash=item3ca3ce4 db7&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A1%7C66%3A2 %7C39%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

Apparently with this set up you can get unlimited vertical climb etc.
Also with the counter rotating props you dont get that torque turning problem with both motors spinning the same direction.

Once all put together and flown I will update you on how it all went.

[Catalina]

Oh yeah, getting a 3S lipo battery as well.

[DaveESPI]

yeah, I like how it sounds stock. has a growl with the loud gearboxes. the slow lumbering flight is very scale. I like it that way

the HYBRID-AIR (COOTA) seaplane from Parkfliers however... is a blast to rip around with if you want a different seaplane to try

[Catalina]

Dave, I would be happy with a slow lumbering flight. Mine would not gain height with stock setup. I dont know why mine doesnt and other peoples does. Should I be doing something different? I have just read in another forum that you should charge/discharge the stock batteries several times to get maximum power. Should I do this? Did you do this or was yours OK from the word go?
Cheers.

[DaveESPI]

I flew mine for its maiden right off the water, and It just needed a tiny bit of elevator to take off. Also, put some clear packing tape on the belly, it will be less drag in the water with a tiny bit of dish soap rubbbed on its belly to slide thru the water (or non toxic silicone lubricant, or KY jelly lol).

check the thrust angle of your props and engine alignment, you might have too much down. Also, yeah, the stck battery I ran once with my motors and "broke in the brushes" at half throttle and seated them on the comutator before installing them. Its critical step in these "junky motors" that come stock. If you fly it full throttle under load right off the start, you risk scorching the com and varnishing the brushes.

Try a different battery, and see if it helps.

[Catalina]

Well I wont have to worry soon hopefully, as my new motors etc should be arriving soon. Should be more than enough power to get her up.
Will let you know how it goes after mods.
Thanks for your help Dave.

[Paolo66]

Good day all and thanks for the reviews and the many hints, which I really need since a Guanli Catalina just "landed" in my house (the day before I had received the Art Tech Coota, both RC model a/c are still not assembled).
On topic, I have a light grey EPP model with a 35 MHz TX, water rudder and a few little differences from the models shown in your interesting reviews.
Upon dry fitting of the wings and the engine mounts I discovered a grave assembly error of the wing halves wooden struts:
1. the wings won't come close enough upon fitting;
2. the engine mounts (the "two square wood", as per instructions manual, in my "RTF" model these are not pre-assembled) are of two different lenghts., resp. 130 and 140 mm; when fitted in place, the factory assembly fault cited at point 1. makes so that the right engine (as seen from the back of the plane) points at right (this would be almost good if it wasn't circa 10 degrees to the right, partially balancing the torque effect) and the left engine points at left (ouch!).

Apart from the difficulties in putting the four screws in place on the wing mount plate, the potential weakness of the joint due to imperfect adherence of the two wing halves roots, inefficient power application and undesirable torque effects, this makes look the two engine eccentric when the "engine covers" are in place, thus making it look very ugly.

Besides, when dry fitted, the right wing proves to be lighter than the left wing (the imbalance is about 10g), which I also repute strongly undesirable for (future, hypothetical ) flight performance

Would anyone please give me a suggestion on how to solve this problem(s).
TYA and season greetings,
Paolo

[Paolo66]

Just thought to add two pictures evidenciating my problems 1. and 2. explained above:

1.

The gap is larger at leading edge, creating some kind of very few swept back wing (one wonders what the aerodynamic performances would be);

2.

The engine mount on the left wing (which is about 1/2 inch shorter) -- not shown -- would yield an opposite side thrust, to the left.

TYA again!
Cheers,
Paolo

(P.S. : as you can maybe notice, I did some kind of paint job of the cockpit canopy "windows"... I am not so fond of stickers )

[Paolo66]

P.P.S.: the problem related to water tighten the connection between canopy and nose hatch apparently sussists in further generation models, as well as the relatively ample gaps in the glueing of the two fuselage halves on their inferior side.
However, perhaps thanks to your review, the problem of the velcro attachment has been addressed: on my model there is a magnet on the backside and a "protuberance" () forward on the amovable canopy that slides into a predisposed space in the fuselage inner surface.

I already found my solution (albeit radical) to previously exposed problems 1. and 2.;
this notwithstanding, please feel free to intervene... certainly helpful contributions are to come, before I glue the pieces together!

[Paolo66]

The mistery of the heavier (more than 15 grams!!!) left wing is still haunting me (it's bloody killing me! ).

If you peruse U-tube you might notice that most Guanli Catalina crashes happen as a result of a too steep left roll.

Today, as I am feeling a little better after the surgery, I lightened the left wing with my dremel friend;
but, even without the engine mount -- as I told you the one I destined for the left wing is the shorter one, thus, obviously lighter -- there is still a weight imbalance of more than 15 grammes!
Think I have to interview an expert on these foamies regarding this matter (I am recently flying with a scratch built P 51 Mustang, full balsa construction with a second hand two strokes glow motor), as I am totally befuddled by this (persisting) discrepancy.

Could there be a hidden, massive epoxy reparation within the left wing? (I did try to look at it in translucency against strong light, but could not notice any pattern discrepancies)

I sure ain't gonna take off with the left wing much heavier than the right one ( "non sia mai!").

I bought this expanded "plastic toy" on eBay.de (German eBay); I e-mailed seller with questions, since he appears to have checked the product from that bloody sticker of his across the keel, spelling his pseudonym, but he still has to answer (probably they're for holidays).

Golly gee, speaking of RTF, in my box they are missing both aileron servo arms and one of the mini-screws. My spares are way too large to fit!

Happy winter flying to all!

[cyclops2]

Left wing is always heavier. Who cares why ? You are not going to change production at this late date.

Mine does glide very well with bigger brushless motors & A123s. Had to pour a LOAD of Titebond II into the bottom seam of the hull to seal the open seam in some places. Will put another piece of clear shipping tape on the bottom again. The tape is the landing gear on grass.

[CrashBandi]

Originally Posted by bradistanbulls86

Ive just bought the brushless version of the 4ch rc catalina and was wondering if anybody has any tips for mods or things I should prepare myself for. thanks guys

me too - there is a good deal at bidprodulct.com @US$159 delivered worldwide. Haven't started my build yet, so I'll stay tuned here for tips.
cheers, Bruce.

[mybad]

I just picked up one of these at a swap meet. $30. It was the older brushed version with the FM radio and NiMH battery pack. It also came with the original owners manual which states it has a 40 amp ESC.

The seller said it flies, but I'm not sure if I should chance using the stock setup or changing the receiver to Spectrum and using my Dx6i. I also have several NiMH batteries but am thinking of using a low C rating 3S lipo. Hopefully, the low C rating will lessen the chance of burning out the motors (too soon).

Anyone still flying this?

[Richard Szanti]

I still have mine, haven't flown since last spring. Didn't fly very well with the original brushed setup - Hard to get off water and sluggish in the air. I installed two brushed motors with individual speed controls and it suddenly takes off and flys very well.

Richard