Well my Dietrich is officially ready for the maiden. My graphics pack from BadBradGraphics.com finally came in and the last of the servo lag has been cleared up. I thought I was going to have to send her up the first time necked but Brad came through just as he said he would now she's all dressed up and ready to dance!

The graphics were a snap to deal with as I followed Brad's advice to the letter and the job came out flawless. I used a product called RapidTac II Application Fluid that Brad recommends and it worked great!

Here are the final "Dressed Up" pics...





















Maybe tomorrow???

Sunday was the official maiden day for my new Dietrich 50cc...The maiden went great and the plane flew good. The ailerons were a bit touchy to get dialed-in at first but Ken got a handle on that problem for me and the rest of the overall aspects of the plane were fine. We did find that the plane likes to sink just a little bit on the landings but all that is needed is to come in with a bit more throttle until she touches then your set. We put 5 good flights on the Dietrich with only one minor incident…I had one of the cockpit lid hold-down screws work loose and had to fix the aluminum tab on the lid by re-tapping the hole out 1 size larger and put in a new screw. Other than that…it was a great maiden day and I have to give special thanks to Ken, my instructor, for getting the plane dialed-in and flying good. The support from friends Mike, Craig and all was really appreciated…thanks guys! Now I do my shake-down and can’t wait till Sunday!!!

As I get ready for Sunday, I made a few minor changes to the plane as a result of the maiden day flights...

I changed the fuel tank from the 18/20 oz one in the kit to a 32 oz flat/square. Plenty of room, CG is still good, and my flights should go from 9 minutes to a good 20 anyways and will get better as the new DA breaks-in!

I changed the "kit" canopy screws from a loose fit 440 to a larger tight fit 6-32.

And I added some structural strength to the area surrounding the Hitec 5955TG rudder servo area. You will notice that the area around where the servo is mounted will flex up and down a bit when the servo is in use.

I will be going to a pair of Hitec 5985MG's in the elevators as soon as they arrive but other than these few changes...the pland fly's pretty sweet! As Mike said..."I do believe she's a keeper!"

Here are a couple of before and after shots of the tank change...

Before: "Kit" 18/20 once tank. (flying time:10min)


After: 32 ounce tank. (flying time: est.20-24min)




Gotta luv the ease of the install/change-over, CG still good and the flying time will better than double!