so i finally got a couple hrs to unbox and start on the checkmate today. All the parts were packed well and in great shape.. one of the first things i like to do on a build is install the landing gear on the plane. it does two things 1 it gets the plane up off the floor/bench and 2 while your working on it there is structure for you or someone helping you to hold onto the plane. here are some pictures of the gear. i used lock washers supplied and red lock tight on all threads.
I can see minor kit bashing coming up but most will be because of my preferences . the first one and one of my biggest pet peeves is the foam wheels. i understand they're trying to save weight/money but for what these kits cost you would think they would put better wheels. i removed the foam wheels in the kit and used some low bounce dubro wheels on the main gear and a treaded dubro 1.25 on the back.
here are some picks...

had some time to work on the checkmate this evening and for me the next thing in line was to get all the glued/epoxied surfaces taken care of and first up is the vertical and horizontal stabs. Everything lined up really nice and fit extremely well.
The one thing i suggest is that if someone builds this kit to do the vertical stab soon after the horizontal one. the vertical sits on top of the horizontal on the inside of the fuse and while the epoxy is still wet on the horizontal one you can set the vertical one in and epoxy them together inside the fuse as well as the walls of the fuse.
here are a few picks with them set.
And your probably asking ??why the picture of the epoxy on the cardboard... i like to leave it on the table and check it the next day to see if it set up. you can peel the paper back and put your fingernail in it to see if the epoxy and mixture had a issue.

I have been waiting for one of these to hit the build threads. Looks nice! Best of luck.

Stalking Karl!

Karl, what prop and motor did you use?

I have also been waiting for someone to do a assembly and flying thread on this aircraft.

wait..what??

Ok I love AW planes. I've owned three and wish I had never sold off a 35% Extra 300.
I find that the AW team are really good people and I have respect for them.

That being said..what year is this? Maybe I'm just not familiar with Bipes, but is it normal to have to glue on the stabs in a modern GS Bi-Plane? I am somewhat shocked that the horiz and vert stabs are glued on.

I just doublechecked on the AW site. The other 50cc class AW cropduster, the 50cc Ultimate, has plug in stabs and an integrated vert stab.

Just curious if this is required to try to faithfully represent the full scale ship, versus the convenience of plug in horiz stabs, etc

I think it was to keep the scale look. This plane overall was intended to stay as a scale model from what they said when it was announced.

Originally Posted by Cryhavoc38

wait..what??

Ok I love AW planes. I've owned three and wish I had never sold off a 35% Extra 300.
I find that the AW team are really good people and I have respect for them.

That being said..what year is this? Maybe I'm just not familiar with Bipes, but is it normal to have to glue on the stabs in a modern GS Bi-Plane? I am somewhat shocked that the horiz and vert stabs are glued on.

I just doublechecked on the AW site. The other 50cc class AW cropduster, the 50cc Ultimate, has plug in stabs and an integrated vert stab.

Just curious if this is required to try to faithfully represent the full scale ship, versus the convenience of plug in horiz stabs, etc

The full scale Checkmate has flat tail surfaces, on a 50cc airplane it is very difficult to make a flat stab strong enough while being removable so we elected to have it glued in place. You also have to remember that this airplane has flying wires from the vertical stab to the horizontal stab and then from the horizontal stab to the fuse. These wires would make the stab nearly impossible to remove and setup at the field.

Our 50cc Pitts Python was done the exact same way and it has worked out very well!

rallard67,

Thanks for doing this build thread, while we have already sold many of these airplanes very few have gone to Flying Giants members.

Mark

I was just going to go back to my post and edit it Mark
I assumed later, that its due to the non airfoiled thin surfaces and they had to be glued on because of this.

sorry bout that.

Originally Posted by Cryhavoc38

I was just going to go back to my post and edit it Mark
I assumed later, that its due to the non airfoiled thin surfaces and they had to be glued on because of this.

sorry bout that.

No worries, I just wanted to clarify and to help point out how close to scale the 50cc Checkmate really is.

Mark

Even Hangar 9's 35% Beast has glue-on vert & horiz stabs.

I was looking at this plane but just could not justify the $799 price plus shipping in my head. But I was wondering how this plane would stack up to the GP Pitts M12 at a greatly reduced price, any comments?

I look at it this way... I could spend money on a trip to Vegas or somewhere else where I won't have anything to show for it.I have had other hobbies that costed allot more ..car racing,motorcycle racing, huge saltwater aquariums 250 gal + and it all comes down to how much do you enjoy it and staying within your means...

Originally Posted by JPal101

I was looking at this plane but just could not justify the $799 price plus shipping in my head. But I was wondering how this plane would stack up to the GP Pitts M12 at a greatly reduced price, any comments?

might it be scheme licencing issues? because yeah, for a 50cc its quite small fuselage with BIG wings...


on the other hand im REALLY waiting for a 30cc bipe!