Official Black Horse Pilatus PC-9 1840mm ARF Discussion Thread

[Canada Goose]

Just started to unwrap this gorgeous model. I am totally impressed with the craftsmanship and the careful wrapping of all the parts....well done Black Horse!

[Canada Goose]

Can someone measure where the location of the servo wire exit holes are on the top of the wing close to the root rib please? I have looked and prodded and can't find where the round exit hole is in each panel as shown in the manual.

Thanks!

[HazeB]

I couldn't find them either. I drilled my own, right in the middle where the wings join, about 1/2 inch out from the former. It seemed to make sense. Also you might wanna test fit your wings to the fuse. I had to do a lot of trimming to make them fit properly. I had a friend fly her today while I shot these photos.

[Canada Goose]

Thanks! Great photo's. Did your rear pilot eject, lol. I'm just installing the retracts while the pilots are having their butts glued in the cockpit. So far I am very impressed with the kit, especially the covering job. I have not tested the fit of the wing yet, where did you have to trim?

[James]

Pilot Patrick Croasdale whose a member of my club converted his PC-9 to a T-6 Texan and it looks absolutely gorgeous. Check it out.

[T-CAT]

I've always loved the PC-9, so this is fantastic to see. Although T-6A Texan II derived from the PC-9 and there are many differences between one another, are there any plans to offer this PC-9 in the color scheme of the T-6A Texan II?

That would be the ultimate for me. It can always be recovered in that color scheme, but of course it would be better to have it already covered in the T-6A scheme from the factory to eliminate tearing off the beautiful covering job they did on the current color scheme.

I'll quote myself from May, but I still think this PC-9 should be offered as a Texan out of the box . Patrick's conversion shows why, the look is outstanding and I would hope it would sell well (maybe the current and only livery it already comes in has sold well too) in the US.

[Canada Goose]

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Pilot Patrick Croasdale whose a member of my club converted his PC-9 to a T-6 Texan and it looks absolutely gorgeous. Check it out.

Wow, that certainly looks spectacular, a very well done covering job indeed.

My PC-9 is coming along pretty good. I tried to find longer bolts and nylon standoffs blah blah blah but after a long search on Google I found "SteveT" on RCGroups who makes custom aluminum standoff's so I'd like to give a shout out to Steve and show off my mounts :)

Cheers

Mike

[Alpha]

Canada Goose Hi Mike, nice photo! Are "SteveT"'s mounts custom machined to a specific length and tapped with your specified thread? If so, I need to contact him...

[Canada Goose]

Yes, they are completely custom. I gave him the desired length and the thread size needed. He uses aluminum stock and turns it on his lathe. In my case the length was 83mm and the thread size 4mm. His product is excellent. Please tell him Mike from Canada referred you as it will put a smile on his face! His email is Draknkep@pacbell.net

A tip for anyone putting together the PC-9 is that there are some small vertical and horizontal marks on the firewall to help with aligning your motor mount. They are quite hard to find due to the black paint and they are quite short but if you have a good light source you will find them etched into the wood. Using a ruler and a pencil between the marks will greatly help.

[swill]

Any updates on when the PC-9 will be back in stock? I'm itching to get one in the air. I have the Phoenix LARGE PC-21 but it's too big for my car... therefore I'm looking for something similar but just slightly smaller. I think this fits the bill perfectly. Would love to bash it into a Texan II like others have done.

[Alpha]

swill Thanks for the opportunity to earn your business! The Black Horse PC-9 is likely going to be restocked in late January at the earliest. We don't have a clearer ETA at this time, but when we do, we'll post here, so please consider subscribing to this thread for updates. Balsa planes are difficult to keep in stock and our sales rates haven't normalized yet since they're relatively new on our website. The PC-9 was in stock for a while, then all of a sudden sold out within a week without warning. That's a good problem to have, from a certain point of view, but also problematic in terms of predicting the demand for a product ~6-8 months in the future. There is such a long gap between when we order a balsa plane and when it arrives. It's basically looking into a crystal ball, but in the case of the PC-9 I can assure you it will be worth the wait, if you choose to give it a try!

Also, I agree, the Texan II livery is solid!

[swill]

Thanks Alpha for the response. I appreciate it and always love hearing you on the podcasts. Thank you, thank you, thank you for making the AL37. It looks beautiful and as a pilot for a major Atlanta based airline, I always yearned for a model of this nature. I had it pre-ordered but didn't follow through because of what you mentioned above... it's balsa. I'm a balsa plane guy through and through. It's in my blood, it's what I know and to me... it's what lasts. That's why I'm searching for a good jet trainer type of plane such as the PC-9 or PC-21!! Would love to have more high performance jet like aircraft (retracts, flaps) but with a prop .. or turbo-prop!

But who knows... I may order the AL37 and put the Widget on it! It's kind of too big to easily transport in my cars but it sure looks beautiful! Good job!!

and keep the balsa coming!!

[Dogbait]

Any update on the PC-9 shipment? Hope I didn't miss it! Feel like I've learned as much as I can from an old Great Planes rapture .40 and looking to move up in size and speed. This seemed like next logical step before I began tackling warbirds and EDFs.

[James]

Any update on the PC-9 shipment? Hope I didn't miss it! Feel like I've learned as much as I can from an old Great Planes rapture .40 and looking to move up in size and speed. This seemed like next logical step before I began tackling warbirds and EDFs.

Hey Dogbait, Welcome to HobbySquawk by the way. Our PC-9 is back in stock too!

Had a chance to get mine out again along with Patrick Croasdale who reskinned his to a T-6 Texan II which is the aircraft he trained in (He flies C-130's now!) They really looked stunning together

[Piano0412]

As the original Blackhorse PC-9 didn't have flaps, it looks like a "V2" to me. Does anybody know if the wings are a direct fit to a V1 fuse or is it a redesign with modified interfaces?

[Kencz]

Any timing for the restock of PC-9 ? Hopefully early 2021?

[Dirk.S]

I've just ordered one, looking forward to getting started on it soon!

[Husafreak]

I'm wondering how well this model would hold up to an I.C. engine. I have been looking for a plane for my Saito 150 (24.5cc) glow engine. So the size looks perfect but some wood ARF's that are really intended for electric don't handle the vibration too well. How sturdy does it seem?

[Dirk.S]

Hi everyone. I got aot of work done on my PC9 yesterday but have a couple of minor issues I'd like to check with the brains trust.
The mains wheels rub on the strut (stock wheels and struts) did anyone else experience this?
My nose gear strut seems to be too long so the nose wheel hits the plastic wheel well (doesn't just rub - it won't fit in the space provided) I'm using the motion rc recommended and supplied electric retracts. Any tips from fellow owners would be appreciated

[Dirk.S]

Wow, very quiet in here, no responses in 4 months.
Anyway I worked out my issues and bought slightly smaller wheels.
She's all done and ready to maiden this weekend hopefully.