Good Cheap ARF's

[slosshycoho]

Hey Guys, just thought i may be good to start a chat about chinese arf's that are well built, fly well and are CHEEP CHEEP!

for a start, i have had huge sucess with my sky raider Mk 1, these things fly great with a 46-55 size 2 smoke, great for hovering practice, knife edge, pylon racing and COMBAT!
the sky raider Mk 2 is a rocket, great for pylon, or just racing round your paddock.

has anyone had experience with either of these two planes

the CAP232-60 from ZNXS (trademe) or the CAP232 EP from the same bloke.
I have seen the 60 fly and it looked great. quite well built too.

I am keen to hear just which cheap ARF you guys have had fun with??

[Edge 540]

Very nice schemes. I'll give em that.

[slosshycoho]

Oh, a few things i forgot, the little EP CAP232 is now $120, i think i will give one a crack.

also the skyraider MK-1 can also be quite aerobatic: you can get an odd looking negitive (or inverted) snap out of it with a bit of practice, also with a good stall and then a bit of power, you can get quite a good spin out of it. both of these take a bit of practice and have a bit of height the first time you try them! as the skyraider is built quite lightly and they dont bounce all that good!

[NZ Scythe]

Haha, The Skyraider MKII's are awesome! Mine went great with a TT46 and fun fly prop... It even managed to do positive snaps untill the wing ripped out and left the bolts inside the fuselage! I'd get another one for sure - and at $109 from Top RC you can't beat the price!

[SargeNZ]

World models (responsible for the skyraiders I and II) are indeed very good kit makers.

[Tilo]

Got one that looks like one of these (x toprc)
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Toys-models...-124452973.htm
Cap 60 goes great, but as usual manual is useless
Regards T

[coaster]

Had lots of fun with Yak-54 from "ZXNZ" until I forgot which plane I was flying and got a bit carried away with the elevator down low and dug a hole with it. Also had good experiences with couple of cheap arf trainers (AT-40)Heard of guys putting piped 61's on AT-40's and putting them round the pylons with great success. Think I am going to get one of those CAP's and put a GMS76 in it (or a 75AX if I can slip the price tag past the wife) . Your new plane looks good by the way.

Pete.

[Edge 540]

Is the wing on that trainer upside down?

[coaster]

Here is a goodie...

Not exactly a giant but they fly pretty good, hoping to sneak out to the field for it's first flight one night this week .

And no the wing is not upside down on the trainer.

[NZ Scythe]

Best of luck with the new bird! They do actually fly pretty good too, I quite enjoyed my flight with your last one.

[Patrick H]

I picked up this NIB Extra260 on ebay for $66AU + $35 shipping. It has 49" span and weighs 41oz RTF and is the best ARF I have assembled. Next to mini inspire which cost $120AU for reference. I wish I had bought more while they were available. It flys excellent too!

[SargeNZ]

That 260 looks pretty damn sweet. Was there any branding on the box or something to suggest who makes it?

[Patrick H]

It had absolutely no indication of who made it or anything, anywhere. The construction looks similar to the 3DHobbyshops line of planes that I have seen in build threads. A flying buddy got one even cheaper, $55 or so.

[mikel7099]

The Mach 1 and 2's are sleepers and cheap !! They are great flying little planes. I had the battery disconnect on me in my first Mach 1 in flight(it was funny) flew in a circle for about a half an hour till it ran out of fuel then hovered for about ten minutes(a little windy that day). Finally Plaster93 found it about a mile away. The only thing that happened to the plane it popped the firewall out as it landed in the middle of a bunch of trees. We still don't know it didn't hit a tree .

[jwlane]

Chinese made Giants are at www.goldwingrc.com They can be purchased here in Dubai, U.A.E. for around $600 USD or less, these are 35% 100cc Yak 54, 55, Extra 260, Extra 330L (one I have) and the Edge 540 just to name a few. Kits include carbon fiber Main wing tube, carbon fiber stabilizer tube, carbon fiber landing gear and push rods. All in they great for the price and are well made. I make a habit of reinforcing the firewalls, landing gear structure and interior forward fuse with epoxy and fiberglass just to make sure, I have had no failures and the planes fly extremely well in any flight mode including 3D. On the smaller side I have a chinese made Nemesis 60 size that I run a Thunder Tiger 61 Pro in and it is a treat to fly and is extremely fast, on the first flight we posted 163 Kph on a hand held radar gun, yet it lands at nearly walking speed-Wow was I impressed-it only cost AED 450.00 which is $123.97 in USD and it is an ARF that is completely covered. I spent about 20 hours on the engine, tank, and radio gear. I have been building my own since 1968 and my last was a Giant Telemaster with the FF320 from OS Engines, it flies great but I spent most of my spare time from April to September building it.

All in these chinese made ARF's are a great buy, just expect to do a little extra work when you set them up to get it all just right, Remember this "If it ain't right on the ground, it won't get better in the air"