From the Bench -- VQ Warbirds Beechcraft Bonanza Vtail 62" ARF Assembly Review

[@jcb6713]

A friend of mine owned a "55 model Bonanza 'V' tail. We flew everywhere during the '80's in that bird. Great flying plane. It now sits in a hanger at the University's Aerospace Building for student training. It's not air worthy at this time, but many memories. Great looking model !

[@Thercgeek]

That’s really cool! Hopefully they’ll get it flyable again.

[@razorboy08]

Chris I have just two words: YOU'RE AMAZING!!

[@Thercgeek]

Thank you, but you are too kind! Just doing what I love to do. 😊

[@NitroMedic]

Great review, as always, Chris! Your channel is my “fall in love with RC all over again” channel I go to on a regular basis. Really enjoy watching your tutorials. Keep ‘em comin’, brother.

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks man, I really appreciate that!

[@michaelbrinkley9323]

Awesome ! Looking forward to seeing her soar.

[@Thercgeek]

Me too! 😊. Plan is to maiden this weekend. Will be getting video.

[@SanDiegoUteFan]

Gorgeous result Chris! I’d like to see the maiden!

[@Thercgeek]

Planning to maiden this Saturday!

[@tonyfromdiego3394]

Anticipating the maiden, she turned out great!

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks! I’m looking forward to getting her in the air.

[@normleonard52]

Great job Chris. That's a pretty bird. As you love the Warbirds I also love these civilian planes. Can't wait to see the flight review on this one.

[@Thercgeek]

I’m really looking forward to flying it! 😊

[@victorrcjets7660]

It is a beautiful bird for sure! The detailing is great!

[@Thercgeek]

Agreed! 😊

[@rcmaniac4561]

I really enjoy your videos. Keep them coming.

[@Thercgeek]

Thank you!

[@stevecoggins2591]

Awesome job as always man. Cool looking plane wish i knew half of what you do about fixing one up and getting it ready.

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks man!

[@daleyoung87]

Beautiful plane and great build video!!

[@Thercgeek]

Thank you! 😊

[@jeffreywolff4961]

Another great video - looking forward to the flight video!

[@Thercgeek]

Thank you!

[@howardwilliams2587]

Nice looking airplane, thanks for sharing your build.

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks for following along! Maiden will hopefully be this Saturday.

[@TheGtp01]

Great video and fantastic plane. Fairly new to RC Aircraft and enjoying your videos. Cheers 👍👍

[@Thercgeek]

Thank you!

[@mikepetrillo3541]

Great job, beautiful plane. Can't wait to see it fly:-)

[@Thercgeek]

Thank you!

[@mrn1200]

Thanks a lot Chris for the amount of effort that you put in your videos, I learn a lot from them. For this kit, did you notice any problems with ESC heating up ? I am building mine now and I don't see any airflow inside the model. Did you have to cut open some of the covering at the belly to create some airflow ?

[@Thercgeek]

No esc heating issues at all. Lots of headroom on it in terms of ampdraw, so that helps.

[@mrn1200]

@@Thercgeek Thanks for the response, appreciate it.

[@DadsRCHangar]

Some great tips. Totally agree, great looking civilian bird. 👍🏻

[@jaysonfarmer157]

Hey Chris, I am late to the party. I just saw this plane and have absolutely fallen in love. My question is this. Do you have the full length video build of this that you can share? Please share, if you can remember, what the exact gear parts were that you used. Now that COVID has slowed, it looks like parts are back on the shelves. Hopefully, I can find what you have used here. Thanks, Jayson

[@Thercgeek]

Well, this is the build video. I did do a live stream talking through what I did on the gear doors and such as a part of that.

[@jaysonfarmer157]

@@Thercgeek I noticed you used a Hitec servo. Could you program (for reverse on your control surfaces) it from your spektrum radio or did you need to use a Hitec programmer?

[@Thercgeek]

It depends, but if two servos are ganged up on one channel and one of them needs to be reversed, then the programmer is necessary. Otherwise if it’s a single servo on a single channel, then they can be reversed in the radio.

[@jaysonfarmer157]

@@Thercgeek I think I got it. Thank you for replying. Jayson

[@Thercgeek]

Honestly, I don’t remember how I had setup the servos specifically in this related to the radio hookup. I do have the Hitec programmer and do use it as needed to reverse servos in general. It makes things simpler in the radio setup usually that way.

[@kmarshall100]

Nice work Chris!! I’m building this plane now, finally. Had it for 2 yrs sitting in the closet. All I have is a eflite power 60. In your opinion will that be too heavy for this plane? Not looking to fly full throttle but I’m aware it may make for some hot landings…just don’t want to spend the $ on a power 52 if I can get away with it. Thanks and happy new year

[@Thercgeek]

It’s all about matching the prop to the kv. So, I’d imagine the power 60 would work fine with the right prop. I don’t know what that would be offhand, but do keep in mind that prop clearance will be the limiting factor.

[@scotabot7826]

Nice looking Sport Stand-off scale Bonanza. Be interested to find out if it has the common V-tail wag in cruise like the full scale Bonanza's! Thanks for the video Chris.

[@Thercgeek]

I’ll hopefully find out this weekend! 😊

[@heliking707]

Beautiful job on the V-Tail. I want to build this airplane myself but ran into a problem finding the proper retracts. Apparently the Robard retracts that VQ recommend for the plane are no longer available anywhere. Can you tell me the exact retracts product number that you used if you bought them directly from Robard? I don't want to build this airplane and not use the upgraded landing gear. I think that other Robard products will work but I am not sure what product number to order. Thanks for your help!

[@Thercgeek]

I will have to do some digging. The retracts came from VQ Warbirds. The issue is that due to the covid-19 situation, Robart manufacturing has been severely impacted. I would guess that if VQ doesn’t have them right now, than neither does Robart. I would expect that to change once we’re on the backside of this pandemic.

[@DrCho1978]

Beautiful plane & Great job. Which size prop did you use?

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks! If I remember right, it was a 12x8 prop.

[@tomp7989]

Can you tell me the specific part numbers for the retracts? Are they Robart?

[@bearnicholas3830]

at one time the Bonanza was a very affordable aircraft for civilian aviation, a very iconic aircraft

[@Thercgeek]

Yeah, it’s such a classic and timeless design

[@stevehersh8331]

Chris, I bought this kit, and do you remember the flying weight of yours? Mine will have the Nexa Retracts, but I have not chosen the Electric power combo yet

[@Thercgeek]

Honestly, I don’t remember. It flew pretty sweet though, I really liked it.

[@EDF_FANatic]

I have a spare motor from the eflite p51 1.5m mustang. Would that work well in something like this ?

[@indepviewpt]

Good review. Thank you.

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks so much!

[@jhrober357]

Hey Chris... Very Nice Banana... How easily do the wings come off for transport?

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks! The wings come off quite easily. There are two bolts that hold them in place which are accessed through the large fuselage hatch.

[@dannyhelton6363]

Nice job!

[@Karlo_Del_Pontiac]

Nice job, RC Geek. I converting my Beechcraft Bonanza G36 ( not V tail, but it is almoust the same) from 4S to 6S, and have preety big problem with CG. I must put 6S buttery much more close the tail in comparing with where you place your battery ( I have only that one battery in plane). Can you tell me how much is AUW of your Bonanza and where you putting 6S battery in the and, after all flight you had? Seems I will must move servos for elevator and rudder about 10cm closer to tail and make new place for battery with center line above screws for wings, aproximitly. Do you have any idea how to make it on simpler way?

[@Thercgeek]

I show my final battery placement as well as CG location in my flight review here: thercgeek.com/2020/06/flight-review-vq-warbirds-beechcraft-bonanza-vtail-62-wingspan-arf/ I found the recommended CG position to be quite far aft for my liking, so I'd recommend setting the CG where I have recommended in my article and video. I don't recall the final weight, but I simply glued a wood plate in there that extended the shelf for the battery to rest on.

[@Karlo_Del_Pontiac]

@@Thercgeek Tnx

[@mrn1200]

Hello Chris, I know you used a 12x8 2-bladed propeller. I would like to use a 3-bladed propeller. Should I get a 12×8 or 12x6 ? Thanks.

[@Thercgeek]

Typically when adding blades, you keep the pitch the same and drop down in diameter. So, I’d say an 11x7 or 11x8 3blade.

[@mrn1200]

Thank you !

[@marcelmetzinger7390]

Hi which manufacturer is the retracts Andrea struts?

[@Thercgeek]

They are from Robart. I thought I had a link in the description, but apparently not. These are it: www.legendhobby.com/product/vq-baron-t-42-bonanza-t-34-t-34c-electric-landing-gear-combo-by-robart/r/thercgeek

[@marcelmetzinger7390]

@@Thercgeek thank you yes i Looked in the description But yes you forgot it But now i can Look for them Thanks

[@txkflier]

Chris, you can build my airplanes anytime. Another fantastic job, as usual. I'm thinking 11,000 rpm and 84 mph. Let me know how close I got.. ;-)

[@Thercgeek]

Sounds about right for this one. Hopefully you’ll get to see in video! 😊

[@rkelley8475]

Where can I get gear for this plane . I bought one because of the video but no one has any landing gear. And when I contacted robart they said they don't make the gear that vq does witch is bs

[@Thercgeek]

From the sound of it, Thomas from Legend Hobby may have a couple sets in stock (I asked him when I saw your comment). Here’s the link to the page: bit.ly/3zTuzyL I would recommend reaching out to him as they’re not reflected on his website.

[@MarkRenn]

That is a nice looking airplane. I've never been a fan of V-tails, though. The only thing that bothers me about this model is those servos sticking out under the wing. That really does look bad.

[@Thercgeek]

I’m with you there, I’m not a fan of the surface mount like that. But, I didn’t want to spend the time and rework it at all.

[@bdrew247]

What size prop are you using?

[@Thercgeek]

I'm using a master airscrew 12x8 prop.

[@bdrew247]

Thanks a lot for the information. Great job.

[@Kairasp1]

Which kit is this ?

[@Thercgeek]

This is the VQ Warbirds ARF

[@oferdimant8956]

Where can I find this model, if any? PNP model and ship to Israel?

[@Thercgeek]

This is available from VQWarbirds.com

[@rcthailandbasic9734]

🤟🤟👍👍🙏

[@khalid-7653]

The pushrods you made wrong in your way to cut and them locked.. you should bends all the wing pushrods.. and then locked by plastic locke .. this is unprofessional tip

[@scotabot7826]

Do you mind rewording this????????

[@Thercgeek]

I appreciate your sentiment, but there is nothing wrong with what was done here. I’ll be the first to tell you that these type of connectors are not my favorite, but I have used them in the past on glow aircraft under lots of vibration and they are included in the kit. Yes, there is a better solution but for this airplane it will work well enough and frankly, I’ve seen z-bends fail too. Keep in mind this is not going to be a super high performance airplane and if I have a failure due to the connectors, I will be the first to accept full responsibility for it.

[@Thercgeek]

@scotabot I think he was referencing using z-bends vs the easy type connectors that I used from the kit.

[@txkflier]

I think maybe he was referring to 90 degree bends and plastic swing locks like they use on some Freewing jets. If the wire is soft enough for the set screws to bite into, they’ll be fine with a drop of Loctite. I wouldn’t use EZ-Crashes with music wire pushrods.. ;-)

[@Thercgeek]

You could be right. I’m even less of a fan of those personally, haha! Clevis’ are usually my go to above all else. The set screws really do bite the wire quite well on this and it’s not going to be a super high performance airplane. Just a fun sport scale flyer.

[@williewideback]

youtube is forcing us to watch Commercials

[@Thercgeek]

It happens