JWN

My Stella kit just got pushed back down the list. I got notice Mini Katana's are in the country and ready to ship. I just ordered a purple one with a set of the servo arm extenders. I cannot wait for it to show up!

John

Mike Parsons

You'll love it. Atlantahobby.com is importing them as well. I built a pre-release and it fly's like a champ. Very docile hands off.

-Mike

Doppelganger

I have this plane. I'm trying to decide whether to build it, or sell it. Good thing is I got it for $90.00. But I've heard of a few of the plane's shortcomings. It is beautiful. I've seen it fly and it is a very stable plane. Even in the wind. Oh well, back to building E-Starter #2.

Steve

JWN

Steve,
What kinds of shortcomings have you heard? Are they structural or aerodynamic? I can live with the latter as I'm not a 3D pilot and I can address the first while it's on the bench.

Doppelganger

Just structural. The landing gear had issues. This I noticed first hand. Also, some of the joints on the battery tray and firewalls were not glued well. The cowling doesn't quite fit "IF" you go with the included motor box. There may have been a few others.

These are small issues when compared to the beauty and flyability of the plane. The plane is an excellent flyer. If I built it, I'd probaby leave off the landing gear as I fly off grass. That was the biggest issue with the plane. I'm not a 3D pilot either, so I can't harrier it in.

I'm going to use my XXL learn to hover and harrier. EPP is much easier to repair. I've already broken it in half once.

Steve

JWN

I plan on using a Himax 2025-4200 on a stick mount, but will double check all of the glue joints in that area. I'll also give the gear mount area the once over. I don't have the luxery of tall grass to fly over, so the gear has to stay on unless I want to tear up the belly. Perhaps you have one of the earlier build models and the problems have been worked out? :o

I can hope, right?

I'll give a run down on the kit and post some pics as soon as it arrives. UPS says it should be here on Monday.

Doppelganger

So, did your plane arrive? Hopefully you got one of the new ones. I hear they made a few improvements.

Steve

JWN

Yes, my KM arrived. Unfortunately, UPS took the honors of rekitting it for me. The list of good parts is shorter than the broken ones. I have one good wing, one good wheel pant, the cowl, verticle fin and rudder and all of the hardware that has not been crushed, broken or cracked in some way or other. The fuse is the worst and is a total write off unless someone wanted to strip all of the covering away and do some major rebuilding. The pictures don't show all of the glue joints that have been ripped or popped. You can see the pile of pieces that fell out of it when I removed the hatch. The damage to the left wing is pretty minor, but still present. The aileron has been dorked on the end and there is a dent in the center sheeting on the top side of the wing. The horizontal tail pieces have cracks in several places. The canopy is crunched, but I got tired of dealing with a less than co-operative camera that didn't want to focus so I didn't include a picture of it.

I've already placed a call and email to the hobby shop I ordered it from and hopefully they will get back to me quickly.

JWN

I just received a called from Bob at Xtreme RC whom I bought the kit from. They are shipping me a replacement kit and will begin the process of filing a claim.

Now that's what I call customer service!

EpoweredRc

Ouch Sorry for UPS doing that,I dont get why they cant be more careful,Oh well at least there sending you a new one.

Doppelganger

I know Bob personally. He and his partners are tops. I fly with Jason from Xtreme RC. I had an Axi motor arrive defective from Hobby-Lobby that I purchased through Xtreme RC. Bob's wife came to my job and picked up the motor! And if that wasn't enough, she returned the new one at my job as well. I order darn near everything I can from them. Good people, great prices, and darn good cutomer service.

Steve

JWN

I sent Bob an email as well as called him (left a voice mail) when I first unpacked the kit. He called me instead of replying to the email. That impressed me a lot. His shop is on my "must order from them again" list.

I think UPS is jealous of all the cool toys they have to deliver but cannot play with. This is just their way of venting

Doppelganger

^^ Thats the funniest thing I've heard in a few weeks!

Steve

JWN

I received an email from Bob at Xtreme RC about an hour ago. My new KM is on it's way. He's sending it USPS this time so hopefully it will be in better shape than the first one. I'll let everyone know when it arrives.

Doppelganger

I hope this one gets to you in good shape. Got my fingers crossed for you! But it's really hard to type this way.

JWN

The new kit is sitting at the Post Office right now. I'll go down and pick it up tomorrow morning on the way to work.You should try typing with your toes crossed. It's much easier than with fingers crossed

Doppelganger

If you can cross your toes, you should take that show on the road.

Steve

3Deflight

JWN-

Did your MK come with an outer box as well?

All arfs should be double boxed. It makes me sick just looking at the shape of your new toy!

JWN

Steve,You can't cross your toes? You got webbed feet or something? Yes, the new KM arrived without any problems. This one was doubleboxed which was a good thing. But, UPS still went crazy on the first one. If they had treated the second one like the first, I have no doubt it too would have been damaged beyond repair. I have about 2 hours left to do on my Jumping Jack, then the KM will be next on the bench!

Doppelganger

They're not webbed, just different.:p
Glad you got the new one in great shape. Let me know how the build goes.

Steve

pl365322

Does anyone knows that kit of aerobatic park flyer.
I have built one but did not have the right wether to fly yet.
If any one have or knows infos of this plane, I'll be glad to hear...

Philippe.