The Pitts flies!

[Grossman56]

Greeting to all, I now can officially say that all my planes have been in the air.  We maidened the Pitts today and just had to share it with you guys.  After an aborted attempt a few weeks ago where I broke a prop, we decided to head for the Cowley field where there is an abundance of room.  Got her in the air a half dozen times, but she's a little difficult on take off, really pulls to the left, check out Matt Maryan's video to see what I mean.  Other than that she's a great flying bird!!
We also had the Apprentice and Pandora 1 with us.  Diane did great and got a few seconds of Pandora flight time as well.  I wanted her to just try it and see that there's not a great difference in flying the Apprentice on intermediate and the Pandora.  After a great morning of flying, just kicking back now.

Grossman56 and Mrs. Grossman

[Capt. Crunch]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Congrats on the maiden! That field does look like it has an abundance of room! Wish there was something like that around my area.

Jeff

[Grossman56]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Yes, she's big, but right to our backs is a small airport so I don't know what's up with that.  This is one of the fields they were talking about shutting down so maybe that's why, only a rumor I've heard so far.  You'd think in the least populated state in the Union (500,000) there'd be plenty of space.  The unfortunate thing is there is also a lot of barbed wire fencing with 'no trespassing' signs around as well.  Anyway, we are going to take advantage of it while we can.  Work next week then the whole week off, guess where I'm going??

Yeah Baby!!!

Grossman56

[Konrad]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Wheels pointing the right way?

I have to ask what size is the OEM 3 bladed prop. And what is the current draw on the motor. I don't see this data on the sales page. I would think a 2 bladed prop would be more efficient. Less current draw for any level of thrust at speed.

It looks like the ailerons might be a bit small. How does she hold a hover and can you stop the torque roll in a hover? Matt's video? Where is that?

The sale price of this model is sure tugging at my wallet. It also looks like she is not sporting the stock paint. How or what did you use to keep the paint on the EPO foam?

All the best,
Konrad

[Loneflier]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Greeting to all, I now can officially say that all my planes have been in the air.  We maidened the Pitts today and just had to share it with you guys.  After an aborted attempt a few weeks ago where I broke a prop, we decided to head for the Cowley field where there is an abundance of room.  Got her in the air a half dozen times, but she's a little difficult on take off, really pulls to the left, check out Matt Maryan's video to see what I mean.  Other than that she's a great flying bird!!
We also had the Apprentice and Pandora 1 with us.  Diane did great and got a few seconds of Pandora flight time as well.  I wanted her to just try it and see that there's not a great difference in flying the Apprentice on intermediate and the Pandora.  After a great morning of flying, just kicking back now.

Grossman56 and Mrs. Grossman

Very nice!! I totally understand the relief following a successful maiden flight, and congratulations to you! The pictures really look nice too. So, what is next on the horizon for Mr. and Mrs. G? Now that you have flown all your planes, you need a new challenge!! :rolleyes:

[doctormike]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Really nice scale job on that Pitts! If it were photographed just right, no one would know it's a model. Doc

[Ben]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Cool paint scheme!

[CT]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Greeting to all, I now can officially say that all my planes have been in the air.  We maidened the Pitts today and just had to share it with you guys.  After an aborted attempt a few weeks ago where I broke a prop, we decided to head for the Cowley field where there is an abundance of room.  Got her in the air a half dozen times, but she's a little difficult on take off, really pulls to the left, check out Matt Maryan's video to see what I mean.  Other than that she's a great flying bird!!
We also had the Apprentice and Pandora 1 with us.  Diane did great and got a few seconds of Pandora flight time as well.  I wanted her to just try it and see that there's not a great difference in flying the Apprentice on intermediate and the Pandora.  After a great morning of flying, just kicking back now.

Grossman56 and Mrs. Grossman

Looks great Gman, take good care of her!!  You may have a cg issue causing the ground tracking problem, I had the same with mine. The lipo has to be pushed all the way forward where the straps no longer of use, in fact, I had to carve some of the bay in order to move it all the way forward resting at the firewall.
Chris

[Grossman56]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Hey Chris, I didn't cut anything out, but I did add a few oz of weight on the nose, I'll probably play around with it some more.  Interesting how they got the battery placement so terribly wrong, the straps are useless.  I've got my battery anchored down with industrial strength Velcro.  Its a real chore to get the battery to let loose, but hey, that's the way you want it!
Matts video shows what I ran across the first time, by the third take off, she was getting better, or I was I should say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq-q4Puxxnw
Mattt had the same maiden take off as I did, as you can see.
Pete from Banana Hobby just gets it moving then guns it.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9O2lebV0mc
And last but not least, is Eduardo Frittis
who does an awesome job flying
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKTbhMMRWaw
I did see a video somewhere where a guy was using a two blade prop. Konrad, I couldn't tell you as I'm new to this plane, I'd say check out Captain Mikes video at the bottom of the sales page on MtionR/C's website, and Pete's video (see above) for more info on 3D flight.
Okay, I found the one with the two bladed prop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxdMn4OrD2Q

Grossman56

[Konrad]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Thanks.
An 18x8,

Still wondering about pitch speed and current draw of the original set up. I for one don't like 3 bladed props. I would like it if the importer MotionRC would post more engineering data. Far too many of their flight video just show how good or bad the company pilot is. The old Rich at RC-Informer video were more informative, true they were often much longer. But we knew that the plane was being flown at close to the limits showing the true potential of the model.

True Captain Mike's video of the Pitts looks to have the Pitts rung out. But I'm not sure there isn't more to be had from the airframe and power plant.

[Geebob1957]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Love the paint on yours and glad to see the links to the other sites. I just maidened mine the other day and have three flights on it so far but I've got a horrible vibration in mine that I'm having a rough time running down. Its good to see the other videos and hear that its not supposed to sound the way mine does.

[Grossman56]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Let's see, I take it that everything is down tight and the prop is balanced.  Mine will make a 'wind in the wires' type of sound and I can hear the ESC whistling loud and clear, but that's about it.  Just make sure that your prop blades haven't loosened as well, had that on the P51B.

Good luck with yours, they are amazing planes!  I found that if I used low rates on take off, I could control the pull to the left better.  I try to feed in three clicks of throttle to get her rolling , correct if needed and feed in more until above half. Once she breaks ground, full throttle and gain altitude.  Mine's trimmed out so she flies level at half throttle.  Got the landings down pretty good, now I'm working on spot landings for accuracy.  I'll tell you in all honesty, she was intimidating in her size, but she's quickly becoming my favorite airplane to fly, I love her!

Grossman56

[Wisconsin John]

RE: The Pitts flies!

To all you pilots out there, I just talked with Motion RC and they do not expect any more FMS PITTS 1400mms biplanes. I also talked with the guys at Diamond Hobby (who is owned by FMS) and they told me that the Pitts was discontinued and will no longer be manufactured. They also told me they had a handful left in stock. Needless to say I ordered one. See link below for Diamond Hobby.

http://www.diamondhobby.com/airplanes/fms-1400mm-pitts-pnp

Wisconsin John

[Sky Wolf]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Greeting to all, I now can officially say that all my planes have been in the air.  We maidened the Pitts today and just had to share it with you guys.  After an aborted attempt a few weeks ago where I broke a prop, we decided to head for the Cowley field where there is an abundance of room.  Got her in the air a half dozen times, but she's a little difficult on take off, really pulls to the left, check out Matt Maryan's video to see what I mean.  Other than that she's a great flying bird!!
We also had the Apprentice and Pandora 1 with us.  Diane did great and got a few seconds of Pandora flight time as well.  I wanted her to just try it and see that there's not a great difference in flying the Apprentice on intermediate and the Pandora.  After a great morning of flying, just kicking back now.

Grossman56 and Mrs. Grossman

Grossman, a huge congrats on your maiden my friend! I've out and out 6 flights on mine now, and yep, it's an awesome thing to enjoy and to learn its characteristics. 

A technique to use when taking off this bird is to hold full up elevator so that the rail stays down on the ground, while gradually increasing throttle. Hold it until just before the plane rotates, then "timely" release the full elevator so that lift-off is smooth. That timely release takes a little practice, but you'll have it in just a few short practice runs. 

The torque on this high-torque motor does a real good job of pulling, so this is necessary for sure on this one. 

The same technique can be used on landing as well. The Pitts also wants to ground loop a bit on touch down some times. When the mains touch gently pull back elevator to touch down the tail wheel and steer with the rudder to keep straight.

Works like a charm!

Hope this helps.

[StormyDog1962]

RE: The Pitts flies!

To all you pilots out there, I just talked with Motion RC and they do not expect any more FMS PITTS 1400mms biplanes. I also talked with the guys at Diamond Hobby (who is owned by FMS) and they told me that the Pitts was discontinued and will no longer be manufactured. They also told me they had a handful left in stock. Needless to say I ordered one. See link below for Diamond Hobby.

http://www.diamondhobby.com/airplanes/fms-1400mm-pitts-pnp

Wisconsin John

Well we had our weekly staff meeting and it appears FMS has done a 180 and decided to keep the Pitts in inventory due to increased sales, which we believe is due to the price decrease and we have asked them to keep it the same. So sorry for any confusion out there but in the world of RC, minds change all the time without notice. We have a boatload of them on order and hope for their arrival in the near future.

[OV10]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Hello Wayne,
That is some good news about the Pitt and also that FMS might be beginning to understand that the purse strings (in my case a chained wallet) do talk. Hopefully they do keep the price structure at the reduced level because they have in the last year gone a little crazy. On a thread I started about six months ago on the P-40B ( http://www.hobbysquawk.com/Thread-FMS-1400-P-40B ) at post#28 I had to express my displeasure(rant) about FMS's trend of overpricing and am patiently waiting for the hyped market on this one to wane and eventually grab it when it is priced correctly. I expressed this simple thought on another forum, How is the FMS P-40B any better(hinges, finish, gear) than the Freewing Iron Ass P-51(have it and also the FMS Marie) priced at $270??  Would like to be a fly on the MRC staff meeting room wall on that discussion.
Best regards, 

[doctormike]

RE: The Pitts flies!

I hope this isn't frowned upon, but, I have a Great Planes Super Skybolt ARF Bipe. It is the same weight and size of the FMS Pitts, so I am using the FMS motor and electronics (also, a Admiral battery) in it. I bought it for a .91 motor that my brother gave me, but I just can't go with stinky, troublesome glow! It should work well (I hope). Doc

[OV10]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Hello Doc,
That GP Skybolt is a good looker but by the time you stick the FMS power in it at $145 and the ARF price between $330 - $370(Tower and GP respectively) your on average almost $185 more than the Pitt. I have been reverting back to balsa/ply in the last 6 months due to the dramatic foam ARF price increases and have not found that TH or GP has been very friendly on pricing. Where I have found battery friendly ARF's with good pricing is with OEM's like Pheonix, Seagull and Maxford and can build these birds using FMS power for $50-75 less expensive than a comparable foam. Luv my foamies but not when they approach the stupid pricing market. In the case of the Pitts, I can justify acquiring it at the expected "NEW" lower price.
Best regards,

[Grossman56]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Hey Wayne, that's great news!!
This is such a great plane, it certainly doesn't deserve to be shelved.
Now, Motion was planning a new paint scheme for this plane with FMS, is that project still on?
What they need to do is address the battery placement issue with this plane and it would be perfect.  I've managed to get my 3300's pretty far forward, but the 4000 would require me to start carving.  It would be better if this was a factory mod.

To anyone who's thinking of this bird, go for it!  If you love biplanes this one is awesome whether your thinking of scale maneuvers or 3D.  I'd really love to pick up another just to come up with a new paint scheme.

I do have an A3L gyro in it, but that's just because I like the way they feel with the gyro, its not a necessity with this airplane.

Keep us all updated  please!


Grossman 56 
[hr]

Hello Wayne,
That is some good news about the Pitt and also that FMS might be beginning to understand that the purse strings (in my case a chained wallet) do talk. Hopefully they do keep the price structure at the reduced level because they have in the last year gone a little crazy. On a thread I started about six months ago on the P-40B ( http://www.hobbysquawk.com/Thread-FMS-1400-P-40B ) at post#28 I had to express my displeasure(rant) about FMS's trend of overpricing and am patiently waiting for the hyped market on this one to wane and eventually grab it when it is priced correctly. I expressed this simple thought on another forum, How is the FMS P-40B any better(hinges, finish, gear) than the Freewing Iron Ass P-51(have it and also the FMS Marie) priced at $270??  Would like to be a fly on the MRC staff meeting room wall on that discussion.
Best regards, 

Hey OV, I hear you there, just look at last Christmas's offering.  The Freewing P51D in Old Crow colors, major price drop there, and you're right, the P40, by next Christmas will be like last years most popular toy.  I will say this, having purchased one myself, that it is quite an improvement over the other 1400 scale FMS airplanes.  Not only in the ESC/motor combination, but the overall quality, such as the hinges and the ball links.  I upgraded Big Beautiful Doll with a better motor and ESC and upgraded all the servos to 17g type and it cost me more than the price of the P40.  The only thing that gives me pause for concern is that the trunions are still heavy duty plastic, like the stock Mustang ones  (which I replaced with the Small Parts CNP metal ones) and the oleos are plastic too HMMM!  I'm hoping that Small Parts can come up with something better than that.  The nice thing about the P40 is that you can run 4, 5 and 6 cell batteries with this ESC.
However, as we all know, we don't buy these things at the price they cost us to sit on the ground and look pretty.  I'm waiting for better weather, then up she goes.  I had a good talk with Ryan on flying this plane as well as a few other related things, and he's pretty impressed with it.  The only precaution he warned me about was that the c clip holding the wheels on could be loose and to put a drop of foam tack on the clips, which I did.  Had the same trouble with BBD on her first flight, one wheel went one way, the airplane another.  Pulled off my first one wheel landing and scraped a bit of paint off the axle, talk about a hairy maiden!
Anyway, if you're looking for a new bird with a reasonable price, the Pitts is a great deal!  I wanted one for sure and when it looked as if they were going to disappear, I grabbed one.  I've found very few problems with her and she is a dream to fly.  A little bouncy on landing, but I think the positioning of the battery had something to do with that, I've got it worked out now so the 3300s can go further forward.  As I said before, the battery is being held in place with industrial strength Velcro from Wally World, and man this stuff holds!!  So much so that I now have Velcro on the last 1/4 of the battery so I can slide it all the way in and then drop it down on the Velcro, this works really well.  Check the screws on the landing gear pants, I lost one on the upper rear and she sat a little lop sided until I figured out why.  I also bought an extra set, just in case.
As a warbird fan, I can honestly say that this is a pleasant change when you get tired of landing gear that doesn't retract or flaps that don't cooperate.  Just a fun four channel airplane. one of my best investments

Grossman56

[doctormike]

RE: The Pitts flies!

Hello Doc,
That GP Skybolt  is a good looker but by the time you stick the FMS power in it at $145 and the ARF price between $330 - $370(Tower and GP respectively) your on average almost $185 more than the Pitt. I have been reverting back to balsa/ply in the last 6 months due to the dramatic foam ARF price increases and have not found that TH or GP has been very friendly on pricing. Where I have found battery friendly ARF's with good pricing is with OEM's like Pheonix, Seagull and Maxford and can build these birds using FMS power for $50-75 less expensive than a comparable foam. Luv my foamies but not when they approach the stupid pricing market. In the case of the Pitts, I can justify acquiring it at the expected "NEW" lower price.
Best regards,

Yeah.. we're talking a $500 dollar airplane. I guess I got caught up in the moment of having a glow engine plane, then came to my senses. I really do like the balsa/ply planes, however. I'm really looking foreward to the challenge of converting this baby to electric! Doc