[Noin]

I am looking for info on these two planes. Has anyone had any experience with both and how they compare to each other? They are supposed to be the same wing loading even thought the Senior has a much larger wing. Do they both fly well? I am looking to get one of these for my father this Christmas and can't decide which is the better one.

Also why is the LT-40 the more popular Kadet at most fields? Are the flight characteristics for the LT-40 better than the Senior/Seniorita or even the MK-II? The LT-40 is about $40-$50 dollars more but I can't see why.

[Dave Holmes]

I have flown the LT-40 ARF (about 300 flights) and the Kadet Senior ARF (just over 100 flights). I am most comfortable with the LT-40, probably because it was my first plane. The Kadet Senior is great, never the less. But be aware the Senior Kit has no ailerons while the ARF does. The Senior Kit is 78" wingspan, the ARF is 80". The ARF has less dihedral than the kit. The ARF wing is also a two piece, I don't know about the kit.

My major like for the Senior is its HUGE wing that I can see at a distance, even more than the LT-40. Depending on your dad's age, eyesight etc. you may want to choose the larger one. The Seniorita is outside my experience, so I cannot comment, other than to say it is a Kadet, so it is bound to be a good plane.

Hope this is helpful.
Dave

[Noin]

Thanks Dave. Would it be possible to build the kit wing with less dihedral and put in strip ailerons? I would also like to make the kit wing a 2 piece wing. I figure that it shouldn't be too much trouble to do these modifications. I was actually thinking of building 2 wings at the same time, both 2 piece, one with ailerons and little dihedral and one like the plans show.

[Dave Holmes]

Sorry to take so long to respond, but I have been out of town (vacation) and out of touch (camping).

there is no reason the wing could not be built withless dihedral. Also the ARF has a two piece wing, it uses an aluminum wing joiner (removable, unless you epoxy it in) and a locating pin near the training edge to keep things lined up.

Strip ailerons would work, but the design of the wing lends itself to barn door ailerons.Just take everything from the rear spar back with the exception of the innermost 3 or 4 rib bays on each wing, and hinge it. that's how it is done on the ARF, and it works really well

The LT-40 comes with strip ailerons with a single servo, so there is no discussion there. It works very well too.

On the Senior, if you want to get fancy, you could add two more servos and make really big flaps out of the inner 3 or 4 wing bays. It would make the Senior land at walking speed.

Dave

[Noin]

Thanks Dave. I have an old Duraplane that I was letting my father try out on a buddy box system. He is quite good due to the fact that he has been flying park flyers all summer. He now wants to fly glow and thus the Duraplane try out. The problem he kept repeating was it was flying to fast for him and also got a little small at times. I found it a little funny that a park flyer pilot is complaining about a glow plane being small...lol. I think it has more to do with how far he let it get away, but that might have something to do with how fast a Duraplane flies. I think the Senior is the way I am going to go for him. I will definitely make the wing a 2 piece and put in ailerons. As for the flaps he only has a 4 channel radio at this point so no ability to use flaps but I might make them and just mount the push rod for them to a rigid mount point so when he gets a new radio he can then hook them up.

What is the difference between strip ailerons and barn door ailerons?


Thanks again,

Ted

[Cecil Marshall]

Noin:
Strip ailerons generally run the full lenght of the wing and are "hinged" to the trailing edge.
Barn door ailerons are usually shorter and wider and are inset into the wing near the "wing tip"making the "trailing edge" of the aileron in line with the "trailing edge of the wing.