Product Reviews

A Review of the Cessna Skylane 182 from CMPro.  One of the all time and favourite aircraft is the Cessna Skylane, the family saloon of the aircraft world.

Over the years there have been various versions, more powerful engines and even retractable undercarriage for the full size craft.

The model we will  be reviewing is the CMPro (China Model Productions) Cessna Skylane 182 (50 size) ARF.

The model came in not too large a box considering, about 4 feet, just long enough to accomodate the fuselage with it's integrated tail fin.  The components were reasonably packed.  Small items came in various plastic bags.  CMPro have jumped forward with this kit - supplied is an electric option.  A ply mounting box with down-thrust and right-thrust angles built in.  The box is marked which way to be installed following the option in the instructions.  As you will see later, the electric option would keep the scale model's lines perfect.

 

The first thing you notice after lifting out the fuselage is it grp with ply ribs and is beautifully finished with a glossy sheen and the decals are factory applied under the gel coat.  The main wings too are finished with covering and decals applied.  The main wing comes in three sections, the central joiner which is also the cabin roof, giving access to the servo area and electrics, and the port and starboard wings.  The tail stabiliser is two part and has scale wing contours.  Servo tray is pre-installed.  The engine cowling is grp and is glossy finished with decals applied.

This "ARF" is bordering on a kit as arf's go nowadays.  All parts are supplied except servos, engine, battery and receiver.  I say a "kit" because you have to fit the ailerons, flaps, rudder and elevator using the hinges supplied.  The stabiliser has to be glued on using the two brass rods and getting this item fitted correctly is critical.  The main wings have a servo for each control surface, two in each wing.  I am not a seasoned kit builder so I progressed slowly but for a novice I would recommend some assistance from a experienced modeller.

The instructions are mainly graphical rather than text which is probably better than the normal poor translation from Chinese to English.

You will mainly need epoxy for the build.  Some CA is needed at various points in the build.  This a review so I am not going into detail of the build.

What really stands out on this model and it's bigger brothers is the detail for the price.  The ribbed elevator, aileron and flaps just like the real thing gives this scale model the edge.  Once assembled from a little distance you couldn't tell the difference between the full size and the model which is the intention of scale modelling.

Servos for the main wings are installed into pre-built bays under the covering which has to cut away.  Servo covers are then installed over the bays to cover most of the short linkages.  In the servo tray are postions for left and right throttle servo, elevator and rudder/steering.  The supplied fuel tank fits up behind the firewall.  Battery pack underneath preferably because with scale models they tend to be tail heavy and this one really was!

The central joiner/cabin roof has to have a number of fittings glued in securely.  These are two aluminum guides to lock the wings against the joiner and two wooden dowels which locate at the top of the cabin above the windscreen.  Any failures here would be disasterous so epoxy here.  Accurate fitting here too is recommended to avoid problems with assembly, disassembly later.

The main wings are detachable for transit so thats a good thing.  They slide on to an alumium tube and are secured tight up to the joiner by socket allen screws.  As you close the wings up you have to remember to connect the servo extensions for flaps and ailerons, all four of them.

The hinges supplied are not the flat type which can be pinned too.  They are rounded ribbed plastic with a metal pin .  Some of the hinges are special in the fact that the control horn is integrated into the hinge -be aware!  The holes for the hinges are pre-drilled in the correct postions in the wings, flaps, elevator and rudder.  I had to drill a little more out of a few holes to get the depth right on a dry assemble.  Dry assembly is recommended then if all is well then the adhesive can be applied as per the instructions.

 

• Click to open image! Click to open image!
• Click to open image! Click to open image!
• Click to open image! Click to open image!
• Click to open image! Click to open image!
• Click to open image! Click to open image!
• Click to open image! Click to open image!
• Click to open image! Click to open image!
•  

Once the wing and elevator control surfaces are secure fitting the linkage is a little fiddly.  At this point of of the build I would recommend connecting the servos to a receiver to centralise them and then adjust the linkages for the control surfaces.  The rudder had me going for a while because you have to fit it at an angle to clear the tail of the fuselage.  Many builders report that they too had to cut a little away from the base of the rudder to allow clear swing from left to right without fouling the fuselage.

The rods for the elevator and rudder are made up from some carbon tubes and adjustable linkages that are glued in to secure.  The model doesn't use the snake type cables and making these as linkages as light as possible is a good thing especially as they are unsupported.  Both the elevator and rudder can operated from either of the fuselage exit holes.  This gives the option of pull pull but probably unnecessary for this type of model.

The servo holes in the tray had to be opened up by about a millimetre all round to accommodate my Futaba servos.  I used S3003's all round.

I decided on an OS 55 glow engine which is a little larger than required but even if using a 46 engine kiss goodbye to scale lines.  One thing I will give credit to CMPro for was the built in recess in the front right of the fuselage to allowe for an exhaust.  This in evitably meant that the glow motor had to installed horizontally.  Also then would be needed an 18mm extension to get the powerbox exhaust away from the engine and sit in the recess which it did nicely.

However the exhaust sitting comfortably in it's location did not retract from the fact that a large square hole had to be carefully cut in the cowling to allow the cyclinder head to protrude out about 20mm from the grp cowling and access to the glowplug.  Plus the usual hole for the mixture screw!

When going for the glow engine build be aware that there is no side or downthrust allowed for at the firewall.  In my case I had to give a little right thrust by using two washers under the left hand side engine mount bolts.

Earlier in my build I inserted some very light twin flex through the main wings.  This would allow me to fit navigation lights (LED's) in the wing tip recesses.  These are covered by a clear plastic cover held with two tiny screws each.

The main gear landing legs are carbon fibre but some kits had layered ply.  Again these are prepainted in glossy finsh.  GRP wheel pants are supplied too but should be left off if using long grass fields.  The front steerable nose-leg is pretty much normal - bends too easily even on good landings.  Defintely leave off the wheel pants here.

The main wing supports are made of some metallic stuff, I think very thin aluminium.  They sit on spigots that are glued to the fuselage and spigot screwed to the underside of the wings.  They are only secued at the bottom end.  This allows for eay wing removal.  I originally thought that they were structural but since discovered they are there for purely scale lines.

In flight

I requested the assistance of Jon Tappin, one of our revered pilots to maiden it for me.  So, on a warm May day with a light wind the Cessna Skylane 182 took off for her first flight.  What a wonderful sight as she climbed up to a safe altitude for a first circuit and then given left and right commands.  A liitle trim required here and the 55 OS pulled her easily.  She would cruise happily at just under half throttle.  Still appeared a bit tail heavy ballast would be required.  Even with the little winglets at the wing tips at low speeds she does have atendency to tip stall.

After landing some changes were made to the linkages and 100gms of ballast was stuck on to the firewall.  Another flight proved this to be correct.  Full throttle saw her fly quite fast and Jon then put her into hammerheads and rolls and the aircraft behaved well.

Watching her coming into land was just like watching the full size too.  Jon didn't use the flaps but she came in gracefully albiet with a little throttle till touch down.

Resolution

For the price of £129.00 (Jan 2008)  very good value.  Allowing for an engine (£85.00), 7 servos (Futaba S3003 or equiv) £70.00, 11x7 prop and ally spinner (£16.00)  Power pack AA flat four 1800mah (£15.00)
a charge.power switch (£12.00),  2 x 300mm servo extensions (£8.00)

Total Value £485

Would I buy another one?  Yes!  Probably it's bigger brother, the 140 size.

Builder Skill Level - Not for beginners

Pilot Skill Level - Intermediate

Stars Awards 1 - 5

Build quality - 4
Value for money - 4
Ease of assembly - 3
Factory Finish - 4

And Finally

CMPro don't make loads of models unlike many other makers from the East.  However, the ones they do make are of good quality and finish especially required in scale models.  Using grp (glass fibre reinforced plastic) does make for strong and light models but less expensive than carbon fibre.  Gives also a nice glossy smooth finish.