The Build

The contents of the kit were contained within one large and colourful box, all the parts were bagged and well protected with cardboard spacers. On inspection everything was intact and the kit was very comprehensive, with all hardware required to complete the model. The model went together like a dream, following the step-by-step instruction you couldn’t go wrong. All the hinge locations were predrilled ready to accept the round pin hinges, which saves a lot of time
and prevents an unintentional warp in your control surface. I used Hinge Glue to secure the hinges, it is much more workable than epoxy and cleaner!
All the hardware such as horns, rods, clevis’ etc were Hanger 9 brand and are extremely high quality. As this model is quite large, the heavy-duty horns sets & ball links are used throughout, these are superb and I use them on my large 40% competition models with great results. The titanium prolinks are the best product on the market for their purpose, extremely strong but light, again I use this in my competition IMAC models. The model features plug in wings and stabs, this is great for transport, aluminum tubes are used for both wing and stab. I was highly impressed with the wing retention method, a threaded stud is built into the root of the wing, as it is offered up to the fuse, it is retained with a purpose made nylon nut with a threaded metal insert and then for a bit of extra security a split pin is inserted through the stud incase it comes loose. Great for a quick build up and take down, no screw or hex drivers required!

The build was flawless as mentioned and with about a total of 6 hours the model was ready to go. As you can see I installed a Spektrum 9000Rx, I ran the servos with a 3000Rx 7.4v Li-Po and an 8 amp regulator, which supplies the servos with any voltage from 4.8v to the full 7.4v, I set it to 6v and this made the Scanner RC servos very fast. I was very impressed with these servos, they centered well, were very smooth and had good holding power, what more could you ask for form a metal geared digital servo.

The Engine

The Evolution 45cc was well packed and looked like a very high quality engine. It uses a Walbro rear mounted carburetor with a magnesium crankcase to reduce weight. It felt light in the hand, it weighs 1454g and with the blue anodized standoff’s, prop driver & back plate it looks smart too. The engine puts out 5.2hp, I know that horsepower isn’t really the best value to judge an engines performance, but it is capable of turning a 22x8 prop at 7000rpm, which is very good. The engine also features an auto choke ignition unit, which prevents the engine from flooding when starting and enables it to idle very low. I mounted the engine to the plane using 50mm standoffs, attached the fuel tubing, throttle and choke servos in the pre-cut positions Hanger 9 intended. The ignition module itself was mounted just behind the firewall, as far away for the Rx and servos as I could. I chose a 22x8 wooden propeller for the cap and a 3-1/2 Flight line Aluminium spinner. With this ignition module it is necessary to program it. This process involves setting the limits of the choke servo and selecting which type of exhaust you intend to use. The reason for this is that the ignition module adjusts the timing of the engine to maximise the power depending on your exhaust, the two options are standard muffler or tuned canister, I set it to standard muffler.
Using the supplied run in oil and mixing it with unleaded at a mixture of 30:1, I filled the tank to give the engine a run up on the ground. As the engine was brand new, turned it over a few times with the ignition off, just to draw some fuel into the carburetor, after about 5 turns I could smell petrol. The ignition was turning on, 3 flicks later and the engine was running. I was very impressed with how smoothly it ran and the transition from idle to full power was very linear.

After the first flight I was very excited the model flew very very well and I would rate it as the best Cap I have flown, I base this on my experience with 2 full IMAC seasons on a slightly larger Cap232. I checked the model over, the engine was cool, everything was still intact and all was as you would expect after a test flight. Unfortunately the rain stopped play but I went home happy. The next day we flew again, 3 more flights and I really got into the model on these flights, rolling harriers, knife edge, snaps etc are all very impressive. The inverted harrier is as stable if not more so than the upright harrier and the more I prop hang and torque roll this model it really settles into the hover very well and I have had it down low and close in with no problems, the Evo45 gives me confidence that I have power when I need to fly out and it shows no signs of stopping in awkward positions. One other thing I have noticed about the engine, it is very easy on fuel, after a 10- minute flight it uses about a 6 oz out of the 24oz tank. The Spektrum system has as expected worked very well, improved latency a more reliable signal, what more can you ask for. The Scanner RC servos have impressed me as much as the engine, they are very smooth and center very well which shows up in the flying, this combined with the DX7’s servos sync function the Cap responds quickly. All in all the Cap is a tremendous plane, all aspects of the build and flying have been as good as I have come across and the equipment used in the plane is of high quality and has functioned perfectly.