Bought this plane on EBAY, from a very good seller. He is worth buying from, very good communication, and he delivers quickly.
The plane is a large Cessna 182 trainer made by FMS, in China.
It is a beautiful looking plane when assembled, and I have not as yet flown or taxied the aircraft as yet, as the glue is still drying and there are a couple more parts to add as yet.
I comes ready to fly, meaning ready to fly after assembly.
A few problems were encountered while putting this model together.
To begin with, the nose wheel does not fit in the fitting on the aircraft, as the shaft is too long. I had to grind about 3mm off the shaft to get it to fit, so that the keyway and the grub screw would mate. Once done, no further problem.
The tools provided do not fit the screws or hexkey grubscrews, so you will need to raid the toolbox, or purchase the correct size phillips head and a set of allen keys.
I encountered a problem with the motor mounting, in that it was not true to centreline. It was about 5mm horizontally off centre from the centre line of the aircraft. I temporarily fixed that by bending the motor mount. It is slightly off centre still, but we shall see how it goes on start up.
The spinner provided to cover the retention nut for the propeller doesn't fit well, and I suspect will probably come off at some point in the future. I will know more when taxiing the aircraft.
The wiring can only be described as being a complete schamozzle, in that the wiring from the wing doesn't adequately reach the receiver, and thus you have to push the wiring from the reciever up through the cable tunnel to the cockpit, where the wing joins the fuselage, forming the roof of the cockpit. Half the cables are unmarked, but I used a paint pen to mark the plugs with the appropriate connection number on the reciever. I also wrote the corresponding plug numbers and functions on the bottom of the plane, for future reference.
The manual is typical of the broken english, and inadequate instruction style of the Chinese. I would suggest that FMS begin employing native english speakers to write the manuals of all their products in the future. Thus you will have to nut out the assembly without too much referring to the manual.
The sticker finish, and the stickers covering the cable runs in the wings are inadequate and poorly done. I think quality control at FMS is letting the side down on that score. But with the aircraft in the air, you wouldnt notice it.
This plane has been rejigged from the original design, as there are several improvements with regard to the landing gear, which seem at this stage to be very solid. Wing struts are plastic, and the mountings for the struts are glued in, and the struts bolted onto the mountings. They seem to be perfectly adequate for task.
I notice, that the legless and armless pilot in the model, looks not dissimilar to Marilyn Manson, which I found quite funny. It must be how the Chinese see us westerners.
Well later tonight I will fit the struts, and hopefully the LiPo battery will be charged, and I should be able to test motor function, lights, ailerons, elevators and rudder/nose wheel steering.
As I say, the assembled model looks very very good, seems very sturdy, and overall is quite pleasing to build, despite the problems mentioned. If you buy one, then just be aware, that it is typical Chinese manufacture, and you will have to correct their production mistakes.
Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps.
NoGod4Me.
Find the plane at the following link.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/400248452474?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
