Top Flite Cessna 182

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  RCU Review:  Top Flite Cessna 182 - Skyline ARF w/Flight Report     More On This Product Discussions on this Product  Show user ratings   Check for Retailers       Contributed by: Mike Buzzeo | Published: July 2009 | Views: 96771 | Mike Buzzeo (MinnFlyer) Email Me Introduction Specifications First Look Assembly Photo Shoot Flight Report Summary Contact Information Email this Article | PDF The Cessna 182 "Skylane" is one of the most popular private aircraft in the world. In fact, many people who have taken full-scale lessons may have done so in a 182. First built in 1956 as a tricycle version of the 180, this all-metal 4-seater has passed the 22,000 production mark. From 1978 to 1986, the Skylane was available with retractable landing gear and a turbo-charged engine. Over the years, Cessna has put the 182 through several variants and it has always stayed popular with private pilots and airplane clubs alike and along with the 172, it is used by the Civil Air Patrol as a platform for the Satellite Digital Imaging System and for search and rescue. Distributed through: Great Planes Model Distributors 2904 Research Road Champaign, IL 61826 www.top-flite.com For years, Top Flite has offered the Cessna 182 as one of their Gold-Edition kits. They have followed the success of the kit with their new ARF version. The ARF is all wood construction with fiberglass wingtips, cowl and wheel pants. It sports a built-in lighting system, ribbed control surfaces, hidden control linkages and a scale cockpit kit that is just too cool! Watch the  Cessna 182 in Action Sturdy, lightweight Construction  Built-in Brushless Electric Motor Option  Beautiful MonoKote Color Scheme  Landing, Nav lights and Mars Beacon  Heavy-Duty Fiberglass Cowl, Wingtips and Wheel Pants  Includes Fully-Detailed, Scale Cockpit Kit   None (No, really, NONE!)   I had the pleasure of seeing this ARF first-hand at their booth in Toledo last April and it was gorgeous. So when asked to review it for RCU, it was a no-brainer. Let's get a closer look. Name:Top Flite Cessna 182 Gold Edition ARF Price: $399.99 Wingspan: 81 in (2,060 mm) Wing Area: 898 in² (57.9 dm²) Weight: 11.5-12.5 lb (5.22-5.67 kg) Wing Loading: 30-32 oz/ft² (92-98 g/dm²) Length: 64 in (1,630 mm) Requires: .5+ channel radio w/7 servos and a 2-stroke .60-.91 (w/ Pitts Muffler) or 4-stroke .91-1.20 engine or an out-runner brushless motor, 60A ESC (min), 11.1V 3200mAh LiPo battery & 7.4V 3200mAh LiPo battery. Engine Used:O.S. 61FX Skill Level: Prop Used: Graupner 12x7 Radio Used: Futaba 6EX 2.4GHz Time Required to Build: Channels Used: 5 total - Elevator, Aileron, Rudder, Throttle, Flaps Flaps Frustration Level: Product Manual - Technical Data - Product Flier What do these ratings mean? Items Needed To Complete 5 or 6 Channel Radio (Minimum) w/ 7 Standard Servos Bisson Pitts Muffler (For 2-Stroke 61FX or 91FX) Two, 24in Extensions Six, 12in Extensions Two, Y-Cords 1000MAh Battery Pack 600MAh Battery Pack (For Lights) Thin CA Glue 30-min Epoxy Small Drill bits 8-32 Tap and drill Various Standard Shop Tools The Cessna 182 comes in a VERY large full-color box. Mine looked like the guys in the brown truck used it for a football. Fortunately, any dents or dings in the box didn't affect the contents largely due to the extra space inside. All of the parts were present and accounted for. A closer look showed the remarkable construction. All joints fit extremely well, and seemed to be solidly glue in place. Also worth noting is that complete accommodations are provided for a brushless power system. Battery changes are quick and do not require tools. A magnet hatch is built into the underside of the fuselage and only needs to be trimmed free from the MonoKote covering if you're going electric. Cooling holes are pre-cut in the hatch and there are two compartments designed into the electric. Cooling holes are pre-cut in the hatch and there are two compartments designed into the fuselage for LiPo batteries. Next came the smaller parts. A scale cockpit kit is included and it looks great! The 182 also includes a polished aluminum scale spinner, but the real kicker is the fiberglass parts. Unlike many ARFs on the market today, these are not made of flimsy fiberglass. The cowl, wheel pants and wing tips are sturdy, and the landing gear and struts are solid and amazingly strong. The included lights are pre-wired from the factory and except for gluing the landing lights into the cowl, only need to be connected to the included 5-way connector, included switch, and battery. The beacon light blinks to simulate the rotating light on the full-scale Cessna. The landing lights in the cowl are very bright and are visible even on sunny days. Manual Kudos on the manual! It is well written in easy-to-understand language with excellent pictures and illustrations to guide you step-by-step through the building process. WING Wing assembly begins with hinging the flaps. Pin-style hinges are used which get epoxied into the wing and flap from the underside to provide a slotted flap. It is critical that you get the alignment just right on this type of installation, so I used a very slow-setting epoxy for this step. I would recommend nothing faster than 30-minute epoxy, and even with that, only work one flap at a time to be sure you have enough time to make minor adjustments to the hinges. CA Hinges are supplied for the ailerons. I found that I needed to deepen the slots slightly, but my Great Planes Slot Machine made quick work of that. Next, the servo mounting blocks are epoxied to the hatch covers for both the ailerons and flaps. I scored both the blocks and the hatches for good adhesion. Also worth noting is that the hatch covers are clearly marked where the servo blocks are to be glued (Nice touch!). Of course, if you're using different servos (I am using the recommended Futaba S9001 servos) you will want to double check the servo alignment before gluing the blocks in place. Once the epoxy had cured, I pre-drilled the mounting holes while holding a folded matchbook cover between the servo and the hatch cover to provide space for vibration. Then the 24" extensions are added and pulled through the wing with the internal pull-string. After screwing down the hatch, the screws were removed and thin CA was added to each hole to strengthen the threads in the wood. With the servo in place, the control horn can now be attached to the aileron, and again, the screws are removed to add thin CA to the holes. Now the pushrod can be attached to the horn, measured, bent, cut and attached to the servo with a FASLINK. Also worth noting is the fact that this is the only exposed control horn on the entire airplane! The flaps have an unorthodox pushrod arrangement, but it was not nearly as difficult as I had originally thought it might be. The pushrod is measured, bent and cut, then it is attached to the flap horn. Prior to installation, the servo must be set up so that it has only 30° of movement from a 90° position (this is all explained very well in the manual). The servo is now attached to the other end of the pushrod and the hatch can be secured - again, adding thin CA to strengthen the mounting holes. With the control surfaces ready, the wingtips are installed by first pulling the lighting system wires through the wing (with the installed string), scratching the mating surfaces with sandpaper, and gluing in place with epoxy. Product Spotlight  Epo-Grip Adhesives I have been using a new epoxy lately called Epo-Grip from Newton Supply Company, Inc.. Epo-Grip is produced for the Taxidermy and Furniture Repair industries, but after some extensive tests I have found that it works great for many of our modeling applications. It comes in many varieties including a fast and slow-setting formula. The fast-set will give 6-10 minutes of working time, while the slow-set (Called "#30-Paste") has more of a two hour working time. Now this is a lot more working time than the 30-minute epoxy I'm used to, and to be honest, if it's a little cold in the room, it can take several hours to completely set up, but the one big advantage that I really like is that it is a paste, not a liquid. Once mixed, it has the consistency of Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline), so when you put it somewhere, it STAYS there and won't run all over the place. I have used it very successfully for gluing stabs/fins to fuselages and other typical joints that require epoxy, but two things I really like using it for are pinned hinges and for joining wing halves (Where you can smear the paste on the wing joiner and inside the slot and it doesn't all drip to the bottom). All in all, I'm very happy with Epo-Grip's adhesives and I'll continue to use them. WING JOINING The wings join to a center section, so two joiners are needed. Top Flite supplies two, 3-piece joiners that must be epoxied together first. The joiners are comprised of a piece of aluminum that gets sandwiched between two pieces of plywood. Once the epoxy has cured, the servo and light wires are routed into the center section and the joiners are epoxied in place. TAIL SECTION We start out by removing the covering from the stab slot and ironing the excess down. Next, the elevator joiner wire and stab are inserted, the alignment is checked, and the stab is epoxied in place. Now epoxy is inserted into the holes for the elevator joiner wire and the elevators are hinged. Once the elevators are in place, the rudder tiller is installed and the rudder is attached similar to the elevators. I want to point out that everything here fit perfectly. None of the holes needed to be enlarged, trimmed or realigned in any way. Everything fit perfectly! LANDING GEAR For the main gear, we start out by trimming the axels down to size and screwing them in place on the struts. I also want to point out how much I like these main struts. They feel very strong and they look great! Next, the wheels and pants are added and the gear bolt to the inside of the fuse. Likewise, the nose gear strut is assembled, the mounting and steering brackets are installed, and it is bolted to the firewall. RADIO INSTALLATION Two trays are screwed in place inside the fuse for the rudder and elevator servos. Then the pushrods are installed and attached to the control surfaces with clevises. The servo ends are supposed to be connected with a bend and FASLINK, but I chose to use Du-Bro EZ-Connectors instead. Now the rear faring is screwed in place to cover all of the rear linkages. Finally, the nose wheel pushrod is attached and all hook-ups (except throttle) are complete. Top Flite supplies a nifty little tray that the receiver gets rubber-banded into. I actually used Velcro to attach the Rx and used the rubber band as a safety precaution. The battery packs (One for the radio and one for the lights) have mounting trays built right into the nose. I added a Du-Bro Kwik Switch & Charging Jack and the radio installation was complete. TANK AND ENGINE Once the tank is assembled, it slides neatly under the dash and a small block of wood glues in behind it to keep it from sliding back out. The "business end" of the tank protrudes through a hole in the firewall. OS 61FX Closer Look O.S. 61FX   The state-of-the-art in sport/competition engines! The tabs are trimmed from the engine mounts and the mounts are bolted to the firewall. All FX engines come with remote needle valve - the feature most asked for! A longer crankshaft provides more secure attachment for spinner, prop and nut Dual ball bearing construction adds durability and longevity Semi-square head shape creates more fin area to increase cooling capacity Each engine comes with a high-performance carburetor and muffler with adjustable exhaust direction and built-in pressure tap A small section of the battery tray needs to be removed to allow for the needle valve on the OS 61FX. 61FX and 91FX feature a remote needle valve that can be positioned two ways, to help you avoid cowl modification and preserve your plane's scale lines; 61 FX remote needle can be mounted three ways Bore: 0.945" Stroke: 0.866" Displacement: 0.607 cubic inch Power Output: 1.90 @ 16,000 rpm Practical RPM Range: 2,000-17,000 rpm Weight: 19.4 oz Sport Prop: 12x6, 12x7, 12x8, 13x6, 13x7 With the engine in place, I used my Great Planes Dead Center Tool to locate the holes, then I removed the mounts, drilled and tapped them. Download the manual in PDF format - Click here Now the engine bolts in with some 8-32 screws and the throttle pushrod hole is drilled into the firewall. You need to take care here to angle the hole to avoid hitting the tank! With the pitts muffler attached, the engine installation is complete. COWL I used cardboard cutouts to locate the holes for the glow plug, needle valve and muffler, transferred the locations to the cowl and used a Dremel Tool to make the cutouts. The cowl also gets a set of lights epoxied up front before final installation. Here's a neat little trick I do for cowl attachment: Once the holes are drilled, enlarge them to 1/8" and glue a piece of inner pushrod tubing into each hole. I use medium CA and tap them in with a hammer until they are flush, then spray with accelerator to harden the glue, and run a drill bit in the hole to clear out any glue that might have hardened inside the tube. Now you can use a servo screw in and out of that hole all day long without stripping the threads - It also can't vibrate loose! WINDOWS For the windows, you need to remove all but about 1/8 inch of covering, then iron the extra covering over the edge of the window frame. I used canopy glue to hold the windows in place. INTERIOR If you want to add a really nice scale appearance to the Cessna, Top Flite provides a full cockpit kit. This is without a doubt the most time-consuming part of the entire build. Fortunately, it's totally optional, but it looks great so give it a whirl! I found that the best way to cut out the vaccu-formed parts was to glue a #11 blade between two pieces of 3/32" balsa and, laying it on a flat surface, use this tool to scribe a line along the edges. Now you can snap the parts free along the scribed lines. My first instinct was to use Thin CA to glue the parts together, but after gluing them to my fingers, I decided Medium CA and accelerator was a much better choice! I literally spent an entire day assembling and installing the interior, but it sure looked good once it was finished! FINISHING To finish off the scale looks, I added the supplied decals. Top Flite also includes some cool little antennas that cover the wing bolts. Magnets hold them in place and they really add that little extra touch to the scale appearance. Finally, to keep the wing wires from dangling in the cockpit, I found these neat little "Wire Tamers" from Knox Hobbies to keep that scale-looking interior, uh... scale looking. When I arrived at the field, fellow club member Rick Kacher was already there. When I opened the back of my car and he saw the Cessna 182 he said, "I was hoping you?d get that!" Rick had once owned a 182 so he immediately started checking her out. I showed him the lights, the nice struts and landing gear and that gorgeous cockpit. I don?t know who was drooling more, Rick or his son Adam (Who is also a full-scale pilot). I had a perfect day for the maiden flight, sunny and calm with a temperature of about 70 degrees. The 61FX cranked over on the first flip. It had previously been broken in and had its low end leaned out a bit, so she was ready to go. I taxied the Cessna out to the end of the runway and poured the coals to her. She moved down the runway in a very scale-like manner and one it achieved flying speed, she just lifted into the air like she belonged there. Trim was minimal and in no time, I was just enjoying flying it around. The Cessna 182 flies very scale at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle and at full-bore she will do some very "unscale-like" aerobatics! I have to admit that I was prepared for how the Cessna flew. About a week before the maiden flight I was at the Joe Nall Giant Scale Fly-In and saw several of the Team Futaba pilots flying it. Every one of them had the same comments. "It flies like a trainer", "It flies like a Cub", "It handles beautifully!", etc. And I have to agree. When it came time to land, I dropped the flaps which made it feel a little "Floaty", so on subsequent flights I mixed 4% down elevator to the flap channel and it immediately went away. If you don?t have mixing, you can just add a few clicks of down elevator trim when you deploy the flaps if you desire to keep the nose down. Landings are beautiful, she slows down nicely and just floats in like a trainer - better in fact, because it?s not as light as a trainer. Rick and Adam agree, they had one before I finished writing this! Check out the video to see her in action! Top Flite Cessna 182 ARF Or, Download the Video (11meg) CLICK HERE Frank Noll flys the Cessna at Joe Nall Or, Download the Video (11meg) CLICK HERE The Top Flite Cessna 182 ARF is probably the only plane I have ever reviewed that went smoothly throughout the entire assembly process. Everything fit (and fit well) I found no mistakes in the instructions and overall, it was a joy to assemble. I give this one an A+! The cockpit was the only part that proved to be a challenge, but it IS optional and even though it may be time-consuming, the end result looks great. Kudos to Top Flite for the most hassle-free build ever! Top-Flite Distributed through: Great Planes Model Distributors 2904 Research Road Champaign, IL 61826 Website: www.top-flite.com Futaba Radios Distributed through: Great Planes Model Distributors 2904 Research Road Champaign, IL 61826 Website: www.futaba-rc.com O.S. Engines Distributed through: Great Planes Model Distributors 2904 Research Road Champaign, IL 61826 Website: www.osengines.com Du-Bro Everything For The R/C Hobbyist Phone: 1-800-848-9411 Website: www.dubro.com Graupner Propellers Website: www.hobby-lobby.com Knox Hobbies Website: www.knoxhobbies.com Comments on RCU Review: Top Flite Cessna 182 - Skyline ARF w/Flight Report Posted by: Kmot on 06/01/2009 Profile  That is one gorgeous looking airplane, and a brilliant ARF package. Nice job on the review. The photos are outstanding. Posted by: cessna 150 on 06/04/2009 Profile  Posted by: cessna 150 on 06/04/2009 Profile  I just started mine 2 days ago. This arf is just plain sexy!!a true beauty of flying machine. The review is spot on...Thank you. The only big question now is 2 stroke or 4 stroke? Hope top-flite comes out with a nice set of floats for her..I give this pretty Cessna arf a 10...Alan Posted by: ply68 on 06/10/2009 Profile  My Cessna 182 had its maiden fight yesterday. The 182 flew nice and very true to a full size 182. The OS 91 four stroke installed was the perfect power plant for scale flying. Posted by: ChuckW on 07/06/2009 Gorgeous airplane. is it just me or does the 2-stroke just sound out of place? Profile  Posted by: ChuckW on 07/06/2009 Gorgeous airplane. is it just me or does the 2-stroke just sound out of place? Profile  Posted by: MinnFlyer on 07/06/2009 Profile  Yea, I would have preferred to use a 91 4-stroke, but Top Flight specifically asked me to use the 61FX. Still, it was plenty of power. plenty of power. Posted by: cessna 150 on 07/06/2009 Profile  Posted by: cessna 150 on 07/06/2009 Profile  I went with a magnum 91 4 stroke mounted on its side. I mounted it inverted first without the cowl for brake in but think it will run better mounted sideways because of the height of the fuel tank outlet. Advise from many different web sites lead me to this decision. The mags have been very dependable on other aircraft and look forward to soon be flying this beautiful scale cessna. Posted by: tailskid on 08/05/2009 Nice job MinnFlyer...good review and great pics to boot! Profile  Page: 1 2 3 >   The comments, observations and conclusions made in this review are solely with respect to the particular item the editor reviewed and may not apply generally to similar products by the manufacturer. We cannot be responsible for any manufacturer defects in workmanship or other deficiencies in products like the one featured in the review.  EMAIL THIS ARTICLE OR CHECK OUT THESE OTHER GREAT REVIEWS!   Photo Manufacturer Product MOTIV Trinity Summary Reviewed Ok, enough about Paul because this article is “M-Code” Brushless RC Moto about the MOTIV line of “M-Code” line of motors. 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