KatanaP

1399 Views 28 Replies 13 Participants Last post by SBR_RV, Mar 23, 2006

dhooks

Discussion Starter · Oct 23, 2004

My current favorite toy....KatanaP ARF 4lbs 4 oz with a Webra .50 swinging a 12.75x3.75 prop. It has about an oz of weight on the tail....balances about an inch behind the spar. 3004 servos all around except throttle, 4.8v 600 milliamp battery. It recently gained an oz or so from a small dumb thumb.

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cropdusterdave

· #2 · Oct 23, 2004

This one's probably been my favorite so far, too. Pretty low key for me in the equipment. TT .46 pro....HS 425 elcheapos. They've been OK...but I"d like something better for the rudder/elevator. I'll buy another one as soon as this one dies.

xjet

· #3 · Oct 23, 2004

My Katana P has a TT46 spinning a 12x4 APC.

HS5925s on the tail, HS5475s on the ailerons and an HS255 on the throttle (which is going in the bin real soon, having jammed up twice today).

Receiver is a Berg 5 DSP and I'm using a 1050mAH NiMH 4-cell pack.

All-up weight is 4lbs 5oz and the only mod from standard is the use of slightly larger wheels and a shortened tail-wheel wire.

CG is right on the spar so I'm going to have to move the battery back or add some weight to the tail

dhooks

Discussion Starter · #4 · Oct 23, 2004

xjet said:
My Katana P has a TT46 spinning a 12x4 APC.
CG is right on the spar so I'm going to have to move the battery back or add some weight to the tail

You ll be surprised how much more stable it is in hi-alpha if you move the CG back some. Do you have a spinner on it you could take off? Might help a little. It has a fairly long tail moment so it doesnt take much weight on the tail to move it back a good bit.

xjet

· #5 · Oct 23, 2004

I'm not using a spinner (yuck -- on a profile?? : -) but I'll try adding an ounce or so to the tail and see what happens. It is a bit wobbly at high-alpha right now and it does require more down than it should when inverted.

dhooks

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 24, 2004

From where you said it balances .....your going to need around 3 oz in the tail. You want it to balance right in front of the servos on the wing if not farther back. But thats a good place to start. That puts you about .75 inch behind the spar.

xjet

· #7 · Oct 25, 2004

I moved my battery back as far as it will go in the wing (it was right up against the spar) and now the CG is right on the front of the forward-most servo mounting lug with a full tank.

It still feels a bit nose heavy (needs more down than I'd expect when inverted) and won't spin very flat at all (even with 45 degrees of elevator/rudder/aileron movement) so I might try taking it back another half inch or so.

BRUTUS

· #8 · Oct 27, 2004

I've got a Webra .50 swinging a 12X4 APC, 3001's on every surface, s148 on throttle. 1250Nimh. I love this plane!

xjet

· #9 · Oct 28, 2004

Here's a picture of me and my Katana P in a "hand-held hover"

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dhooks

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jan 10, 2006

Man just digging around in some old posts. :lol:

Wish I had room for one of the new kats. :?

BRUTUS

· #11 · Jan 10, 2006

EEEEK! Did I really say that? :lol:

Salmon

· #12 · Jan 10, 2006

Ah Yes, the era of the kats...........phase two. I'll have to admit I'm kinda jeolous as these new kats fly damn near as good as my OMP designs. Actually the Kat 70 I think outflies the Yak 65 in some ways but I can't say that in public being the OMP designer.

uh, did I say that out loud? ......oh well :shock:

Torqued-Up

· #13 · Jan 10, 2006

Yup, in some ways I like my Kat 70 better than my 65" Yak... In other ways, the Yak blows the Kat out of the water... Love 'em both...

Too bad women aren't like airplanes... Have a bunch of them, use & abuse the shit out of them, dork one and then just buy another... :lol:

Rumple

· #14 · Jan 10, 2006

torqued-up said:
Have a bunch of them, use & abuse the shit out of them, dork one and then just buy another... :lol:

FYI: That's called a hooker, bro. :wink:

dhooks

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jan 10, 2006

Yea OMP or Carolina3D can hook you up with the new improved versions.
I miss my kat 40

Salmon

· #16 · Jan 11, 2006

Dan, so what happened to your kat 40?

dhooks

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jan 11, 2006

Salmon said:
Dan, so what happened to your kat 40?

Which one? Ive had 3!

Two of them died honorable deaths after much abuse, they went down without a wimper only to rise again but alas they still died in the end. The 3rd one I sold.

My airplane storage area is full an my eqpt is in short supply so I cant bring myself to buy anything else at the moment. ( who am I kidding the wife would probably have a heartattack if I had to many more show up ) :lol:

Funflyaddict

· #18 · Mar 4, 2006

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but i just bought a Katana P arf, and it seems like it might be from the ol days

. THat means it might not have the quality issues we have seen in the GS katanas recently.

Did you guys do any reinforcing with your P series ARF's? Were they goodquality and stand up to Probro abuse

?

My Wing tip got crushed during postage, so i had to rebuild the outer 2 wing bays. I rang the hobby shop i bought it from and they offered to replace it but they had none in stock and none in the warehouse...so i took their $20 off my next purchase instead.

Mine looks/feels pretty strong, just waiting to see if there is any mods you guys reccmoned before i begin assembly

.

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xjet

· #19 · Mar 4, 2006

I reinforced the piece of wood that joins the elevator halves -- I've seen two of them break at this point -- apart from that there's no worries.

Oh yes, I *did* lose half a tailplane but that was probably my own fault -- not enough downline braking on my parachutes

Believe it or not, my KatP is still flying (over 200hrs on it now) -- but it's now quite heavy from repairs and has become rather squirelly. I tend to use it more as a "let's see how bad the wind is" machine than as a first choice for 3D stuff.

Basement Troll

· #20 · Mar 4, 2006

I hollowed the area out of the fuse where the landing gear goes and replaced it with some dense balsa. It was very soft and crushed easily when I tightened the landing gear bolts. Other than that it was a fun plane. Mine had about 150 flights before I snapped the fuse. I moved on to a Bad Boy which has been a blast and very tough.
Don

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