Piper L4 from Lindinger
Name: Piper L4
Sold by: Lindinger / Hobbyking
Manufacturer: Planet Hobby / ?
Category: Scale models
Material: Wood
Wingspan: 1.8m
Length: 1.1m
Weight: 2,5kg
Price: ~99€
Link to the Shop: Piper PA18 from HK
Sold by: Lindinger / Hobbyking
Manufacturer: Planet Hobby / ?
Category: Scale models
Material: Wood
Wingspan: 1.8m
Length: 1.1m
Weight: 2,5kg
Price: ~99€
Link to the Shop: Piper PA18 from HK
The Piper is a high decker which is known for her slow flying speed and her short take off and landing ways. Also she is very easy to fly, that are the reasons why beginners really like that model.
I bought her to get an very cheap towing plane for sailplanes areound 1,5 to 2,5m wingspan, beside that we really needed an electric tow plane for noon where we are not allowed to fly with nitro planes.
I bought her to get an very cheap towing plane for sailplanes areound 1,5 to 2,5m wingspan, beside that we really needed an electric tow plane for noon where we are not allowed to fly with nitro planes.
Shipping:
The Piper will be shipped in a quite big box where everything is packed very well. There should be no damage trough shipping.
My setup:
Only in thrust we trust! This is the quote i took for choosing the engine components, becasue she should tow up many planes in a short time...
Engine: NTM Prop Drive 42-58 500kV
ESC: Turnigy Trust 70A SBEC
Servos: HK15138 (2x ailerons, 2x flaps, 1x rudder, 1x elevator, 1x tow coupling, 2x piggy back)
Akku: Turnigy 4000mAh 5S 30C
Propeller: APC 16x8
Empfänger: OrangeRx R910
Stabi: OrangeRx RX3S
Engine: NTM Prop Drive 42-58 500kV
ESC: Turnigy Trust 70A SBEC
Servos: HK15138 (2x ailerons, 2x flaps, 1x rudder, 1x elevator, 1x tow coupling, 2x piggy back)
Akku: Turnigy 4000mAh 5S 30C
Propeller: APC 16x8
Empfänger: OrangeRx R910
Stabi: OrangeRx RX3S
Build up:
There is nothing much to say about the build up, the containing instructions are well pictured and there is nothing unusual. The rudders needs to be glued in with fleece hinges, elevator and rudder needs to be glued in and the engine cover needs to be adapted. The model is designed for a 35 size engine, but the modification to use a 42 size engine is no problem. The length of about 58mm should be hold in, there is not much space to move the engine cover in front or back.
The battery is quite the biggest that fits and you need some magic fingers to change it without any problems.
Beside that, the delivered gears are only crap. The used steel is way to soft and tends easily. I built myself one of carbon which is now good enough.
Also I built in a towing coupling and also made a piggy back device.
The battery is quite the biggest that fits and you need some magic fingers to change it without any problems.
Beside that, the delivered gears are only crap. The used steel is way to soft and tends easily. I built myself one of carbon which is now good enough.
Also I built in a towing coupling and also made a piggy back device.
Flight characteristics:
The flight characteristics are really easy going. With 840 watts she needs only around 1,5m to take off and with flaps the landing speed feels like you could walk beside her. For towing it is a little bit bad that you can't break with the flaps, you only can get down the slowest possible speed. Really Piper untypical is, that you can fly curves without using the rudder. Landing is really uncritical, if you stall her, she just sags and don't tend to fall over one wing. If you aren't scared about the size or the wood, it is a perfect beginner model. If you are an advanced pilot, it is a perfect sunday evening model and a very cheap towing plane.
The Piper is built very good, but she won't get a real full scale model, for that there are some details missing.
The covering is done very good, but also very weak, I really recommend you some wing bags and to be very careful. According to her low weight to wingspann ratio she is not very comfortable with wind. A gyro will help here also as in towing mode. For towing, the power is more then enough, she can tow one 1,5m sailplane straight up in the air, that was the way I expected. For piggy back I needed to extend the rudder and over all she doesn't likes that too much.
Here you can see a video of the power with a 1,5m Fox on the tow:
The Piper is built very good, but she won't get a real full scale model, for that there are some details missing.
The covering is done very good, but also very weak, I really recommend you some wing bags and to be very careful. According to her low weight to wingspann ratio she is not very comfortable with wind. A gyro will help here also as in towing mode. For towing, the power is more then enough, she can tow one 1,5m sailplane straight up in the air, that was the way I expected. For piggy back I needed to extend the rudder and over all she doesn't likes that too much.
Here you can see a video of the power with a 1,5m Fox on the tow:
And here from the view of the Piper:
Conclusion:
Target group: Beginner
Finnishing: Middle
Flight characteristics: Good
Price / performance ratio: Acceptable
if you need a cheap towing plane or just an easy to fly beginner plane, then you can buy it, but be prepared that there are one or two things where you need to do some work.
Finnishing: Middle
Flight characteristics: Good
Price / performance ratio: Acceptable
if you need a cheap towing plane or just an easy to fly beginner plane, then you can buy it, but be prepared that there are one or two things where you need to do some work.