Hempel 50% Cub or Pilot Decathlon

[giantscalejim]

After owning one of the first batch of Cub's I can say that I will go with the Decathlon this time around. The initial Cub quality was not great and my plane made it 4 flights before a failure ended it's life. Bill and I disagree on the cause, he says I don't know how to fly, I say otherwise. If interested see last year's posts on the subject.

I'm told the Decathlon will come from the Pilot factory and based on the quality of their other ARF's, I see no reason that the quality of this plane would be nothing short of great.

I have the Decathlon on order and can offer comments on the quality compared to the Cub when it arrives. It would be interesting to hear from others who will have both planes.

Had a Hempel 50% Edge and felt that that the quality was better than that of the Cub. (and no Bill it did not crash. It is still flying). Maybe I really do know how to fly.

Can't wait to get the Decathlon.

[sinergy]

reyn: It's a tough choice... but to loose a plane on the 3rd flight of flying the Intermediate sequence you would think it should be able to handle a downline snap at idle. Like I said, I didn't expect a new plane, but they could have worked a deal on a replacement instead of giving me the:24:

[reyn3545]

I hear you , man. and I certainly understand how frustrating it is when something like that happens so early into a plane's life. Snaps put a huge load on the wings, but they should be made to take all that and more. And you don't have the ability to rip the covering off and inspect the glue joints before you fly. On the other hand, TBM doesn't know if you're the one person who was actually flying a sequence, or one of the other 100 people who full-throttle walled the plane, then told TBM that it was a simple downline snap at idle.

Anyway, back to the Decath vs. Cub delima...

[smokin]

i sure hope that my vote for the cubby due to our happiness with ours and the great service we have received from BH in no way was taken to mean that i don't believe that TBM would service anyone poorly. i am just one that only likes to comment on actual experiences that I have had....not ones that i have heard of.

i am quite certain that TBM will do a fine job of rep'ing this airplane and those that get one will have something to be proud of..... i just like the cubby!

matt

[sinergy]

	Quote: Originally Posted by reyn3545
	I hear you , man. and I certainly understand how frustrating it is when something like that happens so early into a plane's life. Snaps put a huge load on the wings, but they should be made to take all that and more. And you don't have the ability to rip the covering off and inspect the glue joints before you fly. On the other hand, TBM doesn't know if you're the one person who was actually flying a sequence, or one of the other 100 people who full-throttle walled the plane, then told TBM that it was a simple downline snap at idle. Anyway, back to the Decath vs. Cub delima...

No it was the CF tube, wings were fine.. I just recovered the entire plane! I hear what you are saying, too bad I had 15 IMAC pilots watching in awe

Sorry, back to the Cub talk! I promise

[2walla]

I was toying with buying the Decathalon. The old 25% Pilot kit from years ago flew awesome and would fly circles around a flat bottomed wing cub. At the 40-50% size though the wing loading is so low on any of them that they should fly great! What I would like to see is 35% Swick Taylorcraft-- Size it so that DA100 afits in the cowl and build the rest to that size and keep the airframe light- somewhere in the 25lb range.. That would be awesome....

[pepatrick]

Actually I would like to see Bill Hempel do a 50% Decathlon. That would certainly anti up the competition. Now..Im not sure whos cub it was that went in last year. I remeber seeing the threads on one of the BH Cub crashes and it looked to me like the geometry on the elevator servos was way off potentially cause seriou flutter. It may not be the same one, but proper setup is half the battle.

[Bushman]

The VIdeo of Ohad torque rolling the SD is an Exclusive modellbau kit and I am sure can not be compared to the TBM arf.
I would stick with the BH cub as you know what you get.
I have learned expensive lessons buying first batches of arf kits from a few manufacturers.

Good luck
Alex

[smokin]

	Quote: Originally Posted by 2walla
	I was toying with buying the Decathalon. The old 25% Pilot kit from years ago flew awesome and would fly circles around a flat bottomed wing cub. At the 40-50% size though the wing loading is so low on any of them that they should fly great! What I would like to see is 35% Swick Taylorcraft-- Size it so that DA100 afits in the cowl and build the rest to that size and keep the airframe light- somewhere in the 25lb range.. That would be awesome....

hempel's 40cent cub is designed around the 100cc engine. ours weighs in at about 43lbs and our AERA 102 yanks it around like a redneck mom pulling her youngin' thru the grocery store!

when i realized the weight of the BH 40%'er i was VERY concerned about powering her with a 100cc.... Man was i worried about nothing! this is a tremendous combination and i would venture to say that it is every bit as good, if not better, in the power to weight ratio than the 50 and 60 centers.

[N726AC]

I have flown both the 50% Hempel Cub and the prototype SuperD,, really liked both of them.
I have a SuperD on the way that looks like this!

[toc pilot]

	Quote: Originally Posted by giantscalejim
	After owning one of the first batch of Cub's I can say that I will go with the Decathlon this time around. The initial Cub quality was not great and my plane made it 4 flights before a failure ended it's life. Bill and I disagree on the cause, he says I don't know how to fly, I say otherwise. If interested see last year's posts on the subject. I'm told the Decathlon will come from the Pilot factory and based on the quality of their other ARF's, I see no reason that the quality of this plane would be nothing short of great. I have the Decathlon on order and can offer comments on the quality compared to the Cub when it arrives. It would be interesting to hear from others who will have both planes. Had a Hempel 50% Edge and felt that that the quality was better than that of the Cub. (and no Bill it did not crash. It is still flying). Maybe I really do know how to fly. Can't wait to get the Decathlon.

Wow Jim, you are still bitter........

The Cub failure you experienced with the elevator hard points are still the same 'ol ones in all the new kits without any new design or modifications. There have now been over 125 50% Cub planes sold and ONLY yours had that failure..... what are the odds? Maybe you just dumb-thumb it? Man-up! Low inverted with a Cub you only had 3 prior flights with.........hmmmm.

Good luck with the Decathlon, you will be getting an airplane that has never been flown or tested EVER. The prototype plane you have seen was built by the company in China that builds the Cubs. Now TBM has PilotRC building them and I am sure they are very similar is design if not a direct copy but they still have never flown. So, good luck to you. TBM: have fun with Giant Scale Jim, he is a great customer with crazy skills!

I am sure the Decathlon will be a fantastic plane, I know the one TBM is flying flew very nicley.

BH

[N726AC]

These threads usually go awry.
Absolutely nothing against Bill Hempel who is one of the nicest people in the business ! His aircraft and service are legendary.
I have my reasons for the Decathlon,,,,to replicate my full scale Citabria is the biggest.
Pilot-RC is a reputable company and have tested their Decathlon.
Video here, http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XODg4MjkyODA=.html

[sinergy]

I would bet one of those reasons include the big graphic in your sig

[reyn3545]

OK.. I think everyone's gotten their jabs in... can we call a truce and get back to the question?

[toc pilot]

	Quote: Originally Posted by N726AC
	I have flown both the 50% Hempel Cub and the prototype SuperD,, really liked both of them. I have a SuperD on the way that looks like this!

Question: The picture above is a beautiful airplane!! The question is that it does not have a fully semetrical airfoil, what model is this? Does "super" mean fully semetrical? I don't know too much about the real differences between Decathlon and super decathlon.......

BH