The new Eflite 1.5m Beech 18

[xviper]

Just finished setting up my D18 and ready for maiden tomorrow. The fit and finish is quite remarkable and there was no apparent need to zero any of the control surfaces as they looked very flush on the table. My buddy with the other D-18 has the programming card to activate reverse but I'll fly it first and probably won't bother with it. My only apprehension is the bouncy, bouncy landings, which may or may not be cured with different tires. My old Dynam C-47 bounced like a kangaroo until I swapped the tires out for some rubbery ones I had in the parts box.
I happened to see some vintage photos of the real D-18 and some of them had 3-blade props. I do have some MAS 3-blades but they don't look the part. They look too modern.

[davegee]

Just finished setting up my D18 and ready for maiden tomorrow. The fit and finish is quite remarkable and there was no apparent need to zero any of the control surfaces as they looked very flush on the table. My buddy with the other D-18 has the programming card to activate reverse but I'll fly it first and probably won't bother with it. My only apprehension is the bouncy, bouncy landings, which may or may not be cured with different tires. My old Dynam C-47 bounced like a kangaroo until I swapped the tires out for some rubbery ones I had in the parts box.
I happened to see some vintage photos of the real D-18 and some of them had 3-blade props. I do have some MAS 3-blades but they don't look the part. They look too modern.

Good luck with your maiden tomorrow, XViper! Regarding landings, I found that the soft "spongey" tires that come with kit work quite well, and most of my landings didn't have any bounce at all. Like the full scale counterparts like the DC-3, the D18 likes to land in a Two-Point, with some power, just like we all land other warbirds like the Corsair, P-51, and P-47. Landing like that for me kept any bounce to a minimum, and most of them squeaked on. It is really a fun airplane to fly. Have a ball with it, and report back!👍👍

Cheers

davegee

[xviper]

Roger that! Looking forward to tomorrow.

[xviper]

Had a beautiful tandem flight this morning. I still need to get used to the ground handling. It's a bit squirrelly. Also, the landings require lots of practice to get right. Still a lot of bouncing around. I also noticed that the ELE compensation for flap as stated in the book is backwards. It shows a negative figure. When I changed it to a positive figure, the plane flew find when flaps deployed. Before correction, it would balloon like crazy. The book gives UP elevator when it should have given DOWN elevator.

[Gilatrout]

Had a beautiful tandem flight this morning. I still need to get used to the ground handling. It's a bit squirrelly. Also, the landings require lots of practice to get right. Still a lot of bouncing around. I also noticed that the ELE compensation for flap as stated in the book is backwards. It shows a negative figure. When I changed it to a positive figure, the plane flew find when flaps deployed. Before correction, it would balloon like crazy. The book gives UP elevator when it should have given DOWN elevator.

Interesting about elevator compensation. I've seen 3 at our field fly with stock setup per the manual and not one ballooned. Did you set your elevator up with the shim/spacer[HTML]originally?


Stupid form inserted those $#@@ smiles. I can't seem to delete them. Maybe that's a limit using phone. They are accidental and in no means are a commentary or have any meaning whatsoever.

[Twowingtj]

Congrats on the maiden. What battery did you go with?
I've got a few different capacity of 4S to choose from.

[xviper]

Yes, I used that little wooden shim and was calibrated as required. In the air, it still required a bit more down trim. Once fully trimmed, that's when the flaps at 1/2 and full showed the ballooning. A subsequent test flight with the new ELE compensation and the D18 was solid when flaps deployed.

I'm using Admiral 4000mah, 4s batteries. They weigh in at ~380g. I set my timers for 5 minutes and back at the bench, I've still got 45% remaining. I'll increase the time a couple of minutes next time out.
This plane can fly incredibly slow - almost scarily slow. During our tandem flight, my buddy did the fly by so slow, I had a hard time not overtaking him. This was with no flaps. I'm not used to flying so slow in any plane I own. The fly bys were so impressive that another friend is starting to feel the need to buy one himself.
During the tandem flight, we had to stop several times during the taxi for other club members to come over for a Kodak moment. Same thing happened when we landed and taxied back to the pits. A single plane didn't garner that kind of attention, but 2 operating in staggered formation both on the ground and in the air, caused quite a stir.

[Gilatrout]

Yes, I used that little wooden shim and was calibrated as required. In the air, it still required a bit more down trim. Once fully trimmed, that's when the flaps at 1/2 and full showed the ballooning. A subsequent test flight with the new ELE compensation and the D18 was solid when flaps deployed.

I'm using Admiral 4000mah, 4s batteries. They weigh in at ~380g. I set my timers for 5 minutes and back at the bench, I've still got 45% remaining. I'll increase the time a couple of minutes next time out.
This plane can fly incredibly slow - almost scarily slow. During our tandem flight, my buddy did the fly by so slow, I had a hard time not overtaking him. This was with no flaps. I'm not used to flying so slow in any plane I own. The fly bys were so impressive that another friend is starting to feel the need to buy one himself.
During the tandem flight, we had to stop several times during the taxi for other club members to come over for a Kodak moment. Same thing happened when we landed and taxied back to the pits. A single plane didn't garner that kind of attention, but 2 operating in staggered formation both on the ground and in the air, caused quite a stir.

I'm pretty sure everyone I saw was flying the spectrum 4s 5000 which would certainly be heavier which would explain the difference. Did you check the stall yet? We can't get it to drop a wing. It's pretty wild.

[xviper]

I'm pretty sure everyone I saw was flying the spectrum 4s 5000 which would certainly be heavier which would explain the difference. Did you check the stall yet? We can't get it to drop a wing. It's pretty wild.

It tends to stall very flat and benign. Could not get it to drop a wing. My friend did the same yesterday. It just sank and sank perfectly flat.

[tab28682]

I put four more flights on mine at a fly in last weekend in AR. The Twin Beech continues to be a delightful experience. It was a crowd pleaser.

The event (Fall SMALL) was held on a new grass field with an excellent grass runway. Was great on this grass, but it was like a putting green, so not a completely valid test.

Had my first minor mechanical issue. Both of the plastic plates with the wing snap together joiners and the servo connections started pulling loose from the outer wing panels. Had to use a pocketknife to slip into the wing joint and pop them apart. A little CA carefully applied to the plates put things right.

[Twowingtj]

Ready for maiden. Hopefully Sunday. Assembly was a breeze.

[Elbee]

She's a beauty. Best, LB

[Wild Man]

I have been flying mine now for the last 2 weeks. I love the differential throttle setup. I also used the ESC Spektrum programmer to program in the reverse thrust option. For those who are wondering about the two servo connectors varily visible behind the Dual receiver those are the programming leads for the the motors used to set up the throttle reversing. I am flying it with my IX 20 which I love, after down loading the file for this plane I was surprised to hear voice commands for flaps, throttle cut , dual rate positions Beautiful plane. I have always loved the looks of a beech-18. The supplied gauge for initial Elevator centering works, and gets it close but may need adjusted up or down after the first flight, To make Elevator adjustment easier before installing the tail assembly on the two my brother and I have we removed and installed the linkage with the clevis forward and the Z bend in the back so it can be adjusted with out removing the tail assembly. Adjusting the Elevator centering can be done now by removing the canopy hatch remove the clevis adjust as needed hook it back up to the servo arm install hatch and go fly to check. Photo's and a video coming soon .Our weather turned bad here in the Black Hills and is Cold as H LOL!!! I have also started to do a little painting on it between the flights I have already made. Painted the nose and the Antenna's Black

[Wild Man]

[QUOTE=xviper;n359259]Had a beautiful tandem flight this morning. I still need to get used to the ground handling. It's a bit squirrelly. Also, the landings require lots of practice to get right. Still a lot of bouncing around. I also noticed that the ELE compensation for flap as stated in the book is backwards. It shows a negative figure. When I changed it to a positive figure, the plane flew find when flaps deployed. Before correction, it would balloon like crazy. The book gives UP elevator when it should have given DOWN elevator.

The Manual is not wrong flap to elevator mix shows Elevator mix down -4 and a -7 I did have to add more down to the elevator, I ended up with these settings with takeoff flaps -7 on the elevator and with landing flaps a -11 which stop any ballooning of the plane. so with the only channel reversed is the GEAR, and the elevator set as normal, a - number for the elevator to flap mix the elevator goes down and when setting up thrust reverse Aux 2 is normal and Aux 3 is reversed, I find that the tires on this plane are just fine. Flying off grass is very forgiven I fly off pavement, hard surfaces which is not as forgiving as far as bouncing the plane on landing I have bounced the D18 but that was due to getting it to slow on landing landing with some power elimanted any bounce. I love the OTF function, I used one of the extra digital trims to adjust the elevator setting in the flap mix to adjust up or down while flying
what a great feature. The file I used also has all the Voice commands already loaded in to the programming for this plane. such as low and high rates. throttle cut on, throttle cut off, Flaps normal, take off flaps, landing flaps. Flap position is also displayed on the screen just above the picture I took of the D-18

[Wild Man]

Cold and snowing here the Back Hills temps in the teens, right now 22 degrees. So I decided to start rolling on some rivets I had already painted the antennas and the Nose Black. Later I am going to do some weathering. here are a few pictures

[Wild Man]

One item I did change to make elevator adjustment easier, after going over the assembly instructions. I decided to reverse the elevator wire in the tube. This puts the Z bend in the horn on the elevator, and the clevis hooked to the servo arm making it easy to bring the trim back to zero after the first few flights

[Gilatrout]

Maidened mine yesterday. Flew like a dream. All the markings are water slide decals I made. There were some high thin clouds and the plane was surprisingly hard to see at times, but when she came down for a low pass… oh my did she look good.

[Elbee]

Maidened mine yesterday. Flew like a dream. All the markings are water slide decals I made. There were some high thin clouds and the plane was surprisingly hard to see at times, but when she came down for a low pass… oh my did she look good.

GT, very nicely done. She is a beauty. Best, LB

[Wild Man]

GT, nice looking D-18 livery on the plane. I am still searching for one I like. To cold and windy here only 8 degree's here this morning . So I am going to finish ro;;ing in the rivets and might do a little weathering today on mine. How did you find the landings ? did you use full flap(landing flaps) and take off flaps on any of your landings ? I have made many, many landings with mine. I have found with full, (landings flaps you will want to use some throttle to make the landing and not bounce the D-18. Once you get this one to slow on approach near the stall speed it will bounce. The tires are just fine and do not cause this plane to bounce it is called practice. On a test flight I always come in fast to keep any plane from bouncing trim the plane for level flight adjust the elevator mix OTF so it stays level in flight then the next few flights are nothing but touch and go, touch and gotouch and go an , no flaps on landing. Take off flaps on landing and full, (landings flaps) each one take a different amount of throttle with each configuration used when landing I have made over 40 landings with mine in the last 3 weeks,Syre I have bounced the plane while getting this all figures out. I can tell you changing tires does not correct bouncing on landing. I fly off hard surfaced runways 90% of the time and making landings on a grass field is a no Brainer much easier then flying off asphalt or concrete. I did take it out to one of the clubs in this area and flew it off grass the guys were very impressed when I backed out to the center of the runway and took off. They also loved how easy it will turn around while taxiing. The differential thrust ( throttle rpm changes mixed with rudder) Give it left rudder the left engine rpm decreases , and the right engine increases. and just the opposite in a right turn. be careful when using rudder on your landings the mix of throttle and rudder will make throttle changes to so try nay to use much rudder when landing. Now back to installing rivets and a little weathering.

[airotroy]

XV, acknowledged and agreed with respect to size. Frankly, that is the only reason I have not pressed the "Buy Now" button, though I will consider it still. Wind is an issue here in 'yellow brick road' country and I cannot choose my flying days very often, so bigger is definitely better for me. It is a beautiful looking airframe. Best, Steve

Born raised in the yellow brick road city and like you havn't pushed the button yet - but ..... just a matter of time. Mostly solid reviews and lots of mods make this an interesting purchase. Now located in North Carolina where the Lake Afton winds aren't quite as severe. Hope you got yours by now and can relay some info.
Best - Russ

[Elbee]

Born raised in the yellow brick road city and like you havn't pushed the button yet - but ..... just a matter of time. Mostly solid reviews and lots of mods make this an interesting purchase. Now located in North Carolina where the Lake Afton winds aren't quite as severe. Hope you got yours by now and can relay some info.
Best - Russ

Russ, I'm a Eastsider and as a kid worked at Rawden Field located East of Webb on Central which was the Beechcraft Service Center and had it's own runway and tarmac separated by Central from the large runway that stretched to Kellogg. Anyway, I was a flight line boy at Rawden and had the privilege of washing down, compound polishing, and waxing Walter Beach's Corporate Model 18 when it was put up for sale in '70/'71? Though not fun at the time, I have fond memories of my aviation experiences there and have had that story to tell for decades. I'd own the model now if it were just a bit larger; but we'll see. Glad to have you here at the Squawk, Russ. Best to you and yours, Steve