PBY Catalina 1380mm (ARF)

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Customer Rated

Aug 02, 2013

My Catalina came yesterday. First look it's a nice built plane. second isn't that nice anymore. The whole plane is made of styrofoam, not EPO or something like that. The material is very thin. If you scratch over a stone your Catalina will sink. I will reinforce mine with 80g/sqm glassfiber. The wings are very bendy, much carbon is needed here. Made from EPO this will be a great plane. As it comes now, you have to work a lot before you can fly it securely. Be careful to use the right glue. It's styrofoam!

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Certified Buyer Rated

Aug 01, 2013

Will fiberglass the bottom per recommendations of other buyers. The foam in places is thin and very spongey.



The rubbery nose cones are pretty bad, I figure there's a nice replacement out on HK somewhere if I look.



Otherwise, it's a nice airframe for the price. Brittle EPS, be prepared to reinforce or fly very carefully. Tip floats, horizontal tail piece, and probably wings aught to have additional reinforcement, as well as aforementioned bottom glass.

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Customer Rated

Aug 05, 2012

In general its an awesome plane. Definately not a plug and fly, but its a perfect base for making a nice scale looking Catalina. You need to repaint the whole plane with some acrylic enamel paints, because the paint used by the producer is rough and not waterproof as well as the water sticked decals. My specification is: Turnigy L2210 210W engines, Hobbyking SS 25-30A ESCs, HXT900 servos, Turnigy 3S 2200 mAh 20C Li-pos and GWS 8040 3 blade props (they are pretty soft so probably the master airscrew would be better) and a 3mm colet type prop adapters. There is more than enough power, I'm doing verticals at 3/4 throttle, but thats not the point when flying this plane. Its very majestic and predictable in the air, takeoofs and landings are like a poem and makes a big WOW at the local lake. The flight time is about 15 minutes. The engine mounts makes a 5 degree up throttle but thats ok, you can easily trim it with the elevator. I'll add some photos at my profile. I love this plane and I'm sure that the price is a real bargain.

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Certified Buyer Rated

Jul 27, 2012

Die Catalina 1380mm habe ich mit D4023-850 Out Runner Motoren und 50 Amp-Reglern (H-KING Speed Controllern) ausgestattet. Damit verfgt der Flieger ber aussreichend Leistung ;-) und fliegt sich mit 3S-2200mAh ganz hervorragend. Die Kufenaufnahme wurde vorsorglich mit einer dnnen Glasfasermatte verstrkt.

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Customer Rated

Jun 29, 2012

i want to buy it; but the only thing between the plain an me is the over price of the shipping.. is too expensive, for sample with shipping price that i pay to mexico, i could buy 2 more. so, that's the only thing, i am looking a twin motor plane, but (again) is too expensive the shipping

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Customer Rated

Jun 18, 2012

What can you get for $35? - a lot of airplane!
The foam seems brittle and you might need to separate and re-glue some of the wooden parts in the wing, but for $35; it's well worth it.
It floats and steers well with a little thrust and can actually take some pretty hard landings on water.
I put a strip of fiber glass on the hull witch might lengthen it's life.
The only thing that i missed in the package is motor mounts. It comes with two wooden sticks, thats all. So you'll need to take some plywood in the calculations.

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Certified Buyer Rated

May 28, 2012

Gut verpackt und ohne Transportschaden in der Schweiz angekommen.

Motoren 2x 2818 1350 KV, 30 A Blue Series BEC, Prop 3-Blatt 8x6, Lipo Zippy Compact 2700 mAh. Handstart mit 50pcnt Schub. Vollgas geht sie im 70-Winkel bis an die Sichtgrenze. Mit 40 - 50pcnt Schub fliegt sie scale. Flugzeit mit dieser Konfiguration ca. 18 Minuten. Landung in Wiese. Wasserstart werde ich nach Einbau der aufklappbaren Schwimmer machen (siehe Youtube-Video von voodoo 1882, PBY-5A Canso (Catalina) R/C model). Eventuell mit Lipo 2200 mAh, damit sie nicht zu tief im Wasser liegt. Alles in allem ein super Flieger mit einem unschlagbaren Preis / Leistungsverhltnis. Klar sieht die Catalina von Dynam besser aus,aber an dieser von GuanLi kann man mit etwas Fantasie und Geschick noch einiges herusholen

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Customer Rated

Feb 27, 2012

1st impressions when opening the box...no damage normal air parcel to Aus. A Guanli plane meaning the instructions were clear & easy to follow C.G is also mentioned. My 1st time with a twin brushless system, I used 2 1550kv outrunner bells with Turnigy 30 AE AMP escs, works a treat, beautiful plane, even comes with a plastic cover for the bottom for belly ground landings and floats n rudder for water landings...I not landed on water yet as I not have nearby access to a nice big lake...but she flies fantastically, love the sound of the twin motors, Would def buy again for spares or replacement...5 starts, nice stable flyer doesn't need much power get her in the air, docile yet will do loops n simple aerobatics nicely...but i much prefer fly her scale as that is how real one goes...keep these great planes coming in Guanli n HK

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Certified Buyer Rated

Oct 21, 2011

Great and wonderfull airplane i am loking forward to fly it

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Customer Rated

Oct 07, 2011

Arrived quickly to the UK and very well packed. I carefully epoxy'd the fuselage seam just to make sure it was water tight. Everything fitted perfectly and construction was easy. Wing servos had to be secured with double sided tape, not screws. Motor wires had to be quite a length to connect through the wing mount down to the ESC's. I cut channels in the wing underside to put the wires in. I covered with a light, easy sand, D I Y filler. Wing struts were covered with drinking straws, to make them a bit more scale but keep the weight down. Bit of juggling needed to fit everything into the space under the canopy but no problem. I used thin stips of camera light seal foam to water proof. Botton cowls were glued and the top halfs secured with strips of (very good) doublesided tape. This will allow careful removal at a later time. There is a plastic clear cover to glue&#x2F tape on the bottom of the hull, this is perfect to protect the delicate foam and brilliant for grass take offs. I repainted mine with water based model acrylics and this does tend to toughen up the surface of the foam. The existing paint is an excellent base for a repaint. Care is needed when handling for assembly as the foam is a bit delicate. When complete, the plane is surprisingly strong for the material used. I rate it for the price and quality of the parts fit.