jjvb

Anyone have comments on this plane? I am thinking of getting one. Thanks.

John VB

morris lee

I built one from Fred Reese's MAN plans, and it's a great flying plane. The
only disadvantages I've heard on the ARF is that the plastic parts are a
little flimsy and that it tends to be a bit tail heavy with a .40 glow
engine. Mine balanced perfectly with a Saito 50. Also, I'm not that happy
with the all-white bottom so you might want to decorate the underside with a
dark color. If the ARF is anything like mine, it flies like it's on rails,
and snap rolls are a blast!

Morris Lee

a.t.

Had .40 with TT .46 pro. Flew on rails with a reasonably wide speed range,
the light loading allows for large lazy loops and slow aerobatics. Member of
another club did mention he experiences a little aileron flutter with his
model when exiting the bottom of loops or split S using a .46 at full
throttle.
No such light wing loading, high aspect ratio model is intended to be used
as a throttle to the wall from go to whoa through every stage of aerobatics.
A thin layer of fibre glass or carbon cloth inside cowl is recommended.
Designed for either 4 str or 2 str, use of a two stroke will require a
little lead or extra battery to compensate for the weight difference.
Recently upgraded to the .60 size, now almost complete with retracts and a
TT .91FS, the much larger sized .60 as owned by another club member is
impressive.
regards
Alan T.
Alan's Hobby, Model & RC Links
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~atong/
.................................................. ............

mike

Me too on the built from MAN plans, and Saito .50 power.
It's a fun model. one of my favorites for a long time now.

Not sure about the ARF, but if possible, keep as lite as you can. That is
difficult with an ARF, but really try to not add any balancing weight. move
stuff (battery pack, servos, etc) around for balance.

Mike

jjvb

Thanks for the replies. I plan on using a Magnum 52 4-stroke. Sounds like
it will be just what I am looking for. I will post back about the quality
of the ARF when I get it.

John VB

robbie and laura reynolds

If anybody is looking for the plans, that's actually an RC Modeler
plan.

mike

John,

That should be a good match. I've seen a couple Magnum .52s around our club
and they run fine.
Albeit with no apparent compression.

Please post back on your flying experiences with the ARF, as I get plenty of
questions about the 'Dancer and maybe the ARF is a viable alternative to
scratch building.

Happy Flying
Mike

mike

You might be correct on the plans coming from R/C M.
Been a mighty long time since I've built the Cloud Dancer.

If you're not aware, I believe Ace R/C used to kit the 40 and 60 size Cloud
Dancers.
They were the original design with no plastic parts.

Mike

robbie and laura reynolds

That's right. The original design has light ply sides in front with
doublers, balsa on top and bottom, and sticks in the aft fuselage
section. I have the plans for the 40, 120 and the original 60 size from
RCM, but I've built only the 60 size. It's one of the best flying
planes ever, and the reason why is because of light wing loading. I
would be amazed if an ARF were made available that did not weigh more
than it should. I know several people around here who have had Cloud
Dancers built from Ace kits. They were good, but not as good as a
plans-built airplane. Mine flew like a low wing Telemaster. I would
not get very excited about a Cloud Dancer ARF, simply because Cloud
Dancer = light weight, and ARF = heavy.

However, the ARF manufacturers could prove me wrong some day. ARFs have
been getting better and better over the years. Most of them are no
longer covered with ARF-o-kote any more. I saw a guy at the flying
field with an Ulta Stick Lite the other day. he said that they shaved
three pounds from it. I can't imagine why the original was made three
pounds too heavy in the first place, but I'm glad that the Lite version
is lighter anyway.

I would expect a Cloud Dancer ARF to be better than the average ARF.
But maybe some of you non-builders can try building a plane some day.
You end up with a great airplane, and it's FUN.

jjvb

From what I have read, the Cloud Dancer ARF is built well and light. The
big knock on it is the plastic cowl and wheel pants. If that is the only
problem, I will be happy with it. As soon as I get it, I will post back a
weight and my opinion of the quality. Regarding the Mag 52 4-strokes,
several in our club use them and are happy with them.

John VB