Product Review 2003/11

Tom Sullivan
P r o d u c t R e v i e w
[email protected]
Great Planes U-Can-Do
3D ARF
Pros:
• Well-illustrated instruction manual
covers steps in detail.
• Solid, complete hardware package
• High-quality prebuilding
• Prepainted fiberglass cowling and
wheel pants
• Extremely high-visibility color
scheme of white with red, cyan, and
dark-blue stripes on top, and white
with red checks on the bottom.
• Tremendously stable flying
characteristics with no bad qualities.
This model flies better than many
purpose-built trainers.
Cons:
• Color striping on the cowl did not
match the fuselage.
• Cowl’s design forces you to use a
small spinner.
• Several wrinkles in the covering
right out of the box. Although that’s
easy to fix with a heat gun or an
iron, there were far more wrinkles
than is typical.
IT DOESN’T TAKE a rocket scientist to
figure out what this model was designed
for: extreme 3-D flight. The U-Can-Do 3D
is marketed as an airplane that makes it
easy to learn all of today’s wild
maneuvers: hovering, Torque Rolls, etc.
I’m not a 3-Der at heart, but I’m going to
see what this model can do.
First Impressions: When I opened the
box, several things instantly caught my
eye, one of which was the high quality of
the finish. All parts were finished in
white, with an attractive red-and-blue
striping. The bottom of the wing, ailerons,
stabilizer, and elevator were covered with
a big red-and-white checkerboard pattern;
The model’s fuselage is longer than its wingspan. It also has a rather tall profile, which makes knife-edge flight easier.
The U-Can-Do 3D is capable of performing literally any maneuver you ask of it. Snaps,
spins, rolls, and knife-edge flight are easy and fun to do.
November 2003 53
there are no excuses if you can’t tell this
model’s top from the bottom!
With the exception of the cowling and
wheel pants, all other parts of the U-Can-
Do 3D were built up. The fuselage was
constructed mainly from balsa, and light
plywood was used in key sections for
strength. The wing, ailerons, and tail
surfaces were also built up from balsa. All
were resistant to flexing and had no
warps.
A complete hardware package was
supplied, and it included foam main
wheels, hinges, wheel collars, pushrods, a
fuel tank, screws, control horns, a tailwheel
assembly with a hard-rubber wheel,
a two-piece engine mount, and a bag of
balsa, plywood, and hardwood pieces used
during assembly.
Construction began with assembling the
wing. One of the reasons why the U-Can-
Do 3D box was so big was that the wing
came in one piece; there was no joining in
the middle! The ailerons were attached to
the wing using the supplied hinge
material. After cutting the covering away
from the servo mounts, each servo was
mounted into the underside of the wing
(one servo per aileron). Then the aileron
horns and pushrods were attached.
One thing I initially noticed about the
fuselage was its tall, thin shape. It should
be great for knife-edge flight! And on the
bottom of the fuselage, the area just
forward of the landing gear was tapered to
accommodate a muffler.
Another unique feature was the use of
a removable stabilizer, which was held in
with two hex screws. Although it’s not
huge, the model is on the large side; with
a fuselage length of 68 inches and the
generous tail surfaces, this removable
stabilizer could be the deciding factor in
whether or not the fuselage will fit in
some makes of cars.
Assembling the fuselage was
straightforward, with the stabilizer,
vertical fin, tail wheel, and movable
surfaces mounted first. Once mounted, the
pushrods, control horns, servos, and fuel
tank were installed rather quickly. The
rudder and dual elevator servos were
mounted back by the leading edge of the
There is a large checkerboard scheme on the bottom of the wings. It provides contrast
to the top to help you know what attitude the model is in during maneuvers.
The U-Can-Do 3D comes prebuilt, precovered, and prepainted. The aircraft goes from
this stage to ready to fly in approximately nine hours.
The author mentions that one of the few
“misses” in the kit was the trim match
between the cowl and the fuselage.
Photos by the author
O.S. .91 FX Engine
Great Planes donated an O.S. .91 FX to
use with the review U-Can-Do 3D. The .91
FX is one of O.S.’s newest designs, featuring
a lower crankcase profile which leaves room
for more head height and cooling fins. The
head is a semi-squared-off design, which
further enhances cooling capacity by
providing more surface area.
This engine incorporates a dual-bearing
crankshaft, a multiposition remote-mounted
needle valve with coarse threads, and an Oring
seal to minimize gradual setting creep
caused by vibration and air leaks. The
crankshaft is extra long to give more thread
length for better lock and propeller-nut
engagement.
The O.S. .91 FX has a practical rpm
range of 2,000-16,000, an output of 2.8 bhp
at 15,000 rpm, and weighs 19.3 ounces. It
includes the muffler, safety lock nut, and an
O.S. No. 8 glow plug. The review engine ran
at 10,100 with a Zinger 15 x 6 x 10 wood
propeller.
In some of the flying shots you might
notice that a different muffler was used;
Performance Specialties donated one of
its Ultrathrust mufflers to test in this
review. Its design is close to that of a
mini tuned pipe. Although it’s longer than
the stock muffler by a good 11⁄2 inches, it
did give an additional 1,200 rpm on the
top end. The Ultrathrust weighs roughly
the same as the stock muffler and retails
for $69.95. MA
—Tom Sullivan
The new O.S. .91 FX from Great Planes
was designed with good cooling
properties in mind.
54 MODEL AVIATION
stabilizer. You’ll need 18- or 24-inch
extensions for these three servos.
When it came time to mount the engine,
the O.S. .91 FX fit perfectly in the
cowling. Holes needed to be cut in the
cowling for the muffler, air intake, and
cooling, as well as for glow-plug and
fueling connections. The instructions
described an easy way to locate and drill
all of these holes. If you follow that
technique, your cowling will line up
flawlessly and all holes will be drilled in
the proper spots.
The kit came with a red plastic spinner
that the manual instructed not to use. I
turned to Dave Brown to see if one of his
21⁄4-inch-diameter Vortech spinners would
work. He was able to custom-cut one to fit
the Zinger 13 x 8 propeller, but I had to do
quite a bit of work to shorten the propeller
adapter and setscrews.
In reality, the cowl’s design makes you
use a spinner that is a bit too small for this
size of engine. I used a “standard” profile
spinner, but an “ultimate” style would
probably work with less fuss.
After setting the throws to those
recommended in the manual and checking
the CG (center of gravity), I learned that
the model balanced right on the money and
was ready to go fly.
Flying: It’s a good idea to range-check
any model before you fly it. After
assembling the U-Can-Do 3D, the range
check and preflight check showed that
everything worked fine, so I fueled up,
started the engine, and taxied out for the
maiden flight.
The landing gear provided plenty of
height to comfortably taxi in relatively tall
grass. That along with the high rudder
throw gave a great deal of maneuverability
for such a large airplane.
Lining up into the wind, I throttled up
and the U-Can-Do 3D took off like a
rocket. Taking it easy for the first few
passes, I trimmed in the model for handsoff,
level flight. It required right aileron
trim and some down-trim.
After trimming, it was easy to see that
this was a performance machine. A couple
of quick rolls showed it to be quick and
precise, staying exactly where I left it.
Minimal down-elevator was needed to
maintain level flight, and point rolls were
effortless.
Knowing that I was going to be
reviewing this kit for a while, I bought a
video from Airborne Media: Defying the
Limits, Volume 1. It features Jason
Shulman showing 3-D setups and walking
you through several 3-D maneuvers.
Applying what I learned from the tape, I
attempted to put the U-Can-Do 3D through
some of the same things.
Torque Rolls and hovering were fairly
easy—even if you try them for the first
time. The O.S. .91 FX provided more than
enough power to hover at half power. I
also tried some of the other maneuvers,
such as the Harrier and the Waterfall. The
model was more than capable, but the pilot
needed a bit more training!
The U-Can-Do 3D will knife-edge
forever. Loops, rolls, snaps, spins, and
more were quite easy to do. I recommend
this model to anyone who is looking for a
3-D trainer or a precision Pattern trainer.
Landings were easy, even for a taildragger.
The large movable surfaces gave
plenty of control, even just above stall
speed. The tall landing gear made asphalt
and grass landings smooth.
The U-Can-Do 3D does everything Great
Planes says it will do. It’s a quick build,
and in spite of some finish problems, it is a
great-flying design. It even makes sport
pilots such as myself look better. MA
Specifications:
Wingspan: 65 inches
Wing area: 1,024 square inches
Length: 68 inches
Weight: Recommended, 7-71⁄2 pounds;
review model (ready to fly), 7 pounds
Engine: Recommended, .61-.91 two-stroke
or 70-91 four-stroke; used, O.S. .91 FX
two-stroke
Radio: Recommended, four-channel with
six servos; used, Futaba 6XAS transmitter,
Futaba R127DF receiver, six Futaba S3004
servos
Manufacturer/distributor:
Great Planes Model Distributors
Box 9021
Champaign IL 61826
www.greatplanes.com/airplanes/
gpma1270.html
Street price: $190
Materials used:
Construction: balsa, plywood
Cowl and wheel pants: fiberglass
Products used/referred to:
Futaba 6XAS FM radio system:
Great Planes Model Distributors
Box 9021
Champaign IL 61826
www.futaba-rc.com
Big Power + Big Reliability = Big Value
Whether you fly control line or R/C, you need a reliable
powerplant to help you through the pattern at a
reasonable cost. Enter BigMig Engines by NORVEL.
Each BigMig engine features NORVEL’s exclusive AAO
Revlite™ aluminum cylinder/ceramic coated aluminum
piston technology for smoother running, longer life, and
better fuel economy than conventional ABC-style engines.
Don’t think that big power means big weight either.
BigMig engines weigh far less than you might expect.
It’s an unbeatable combination. From .049 to .40 cubic
inch, NORVEL’s BigMigs are big on selection too. See
them all at your local hobby retailer.
NORVEL engines are distributed exclusively by SIG Manufacturing Company, Montezuma, Iowa
BigMig .049 C/L
Item #NVLB4
BigMig .061 C/L
Item #NVLB6
BigMig .074 R/C
Item #NVLB7R
BigMig .15 R/C
Item #NVLB15R
BigMig Start’Up
with spring starter and fuel tank mount
Item #NVLBS4 (.049)
Item #NVLBS6 (.061)
BigMig .049 R/C
Item #NVLB4R
BigMig .061 R/C
Item #NVLB6R
BigMig .15 C/L
Item #NVLB15
BigMig .25 R/C
Item #NVLB25R
BigMig .40 R/C
Item #NVLB40R
Available in 2001
Visit our Web Site: www.norvel.com
P. O. Box 520 • Montezuma, Iowa 50171-0520 • 641-623-5154
O.S. .91 FX engine:
Great Planes Model Distributors
Box 9021
Champaign IL 61826
www.osengines.com
Zinger 15 x 6 x 10 propeller:
J.Z. Products Inc.
25029 S. Vermont Ave.
Harbor City CA 90710
www.zingerpropeller.com/
Vortech spinner:
Dave Brown Products
4560 Layhigh Rd.
Hamilton OH 45013
(513) 738-1576
www.dbproducts.com
Ultrathrust muffler:
Performance Specialties
Box 3146
Gardnerville NV 89410
(775) 265-7523
www.pspec.com