Hangar 9 Super Decathlon 100cc ARF HAN1070 Airplanes ARF Giant

I have wanted one of these since they came out years ago, finally pulled the trigger and bought one. Along with the Spektrum guidance and the DA 100L power, this plane is a blast to fly. Low and slow or full on aerobatics, it will fly any way you like it. Very simple and easy straight forward assembly, didn't take long at all. Most of my time was spent on getting the covering to look up to pare. I am pretty picky when it comes to covering so I wanted it as close to how I could cover it as possible. If you want a big plane that is fun in so many ways, this is the plane for you.

I purchased this bird right after the announcement that it was available. I'd been looking for a large Decathlon and was just about ready to buy the PilotRC Decathlon. I choose the Horizon Decathlon due to their robust customer service that I have used in the past and the fact that free shipping was provided. The plane was shipped in a giant double wall box via truck freight arriving at my door three days after I placed the order. The packing of the contents in the box was the best I've ever seen. Everything was padded with Styrofoam, bagged and taped such that none of the contents could move during shipping. The covering was flawless with no wrinkles or loose seams. All the hardware is H9 quality with pro-links, rudder cables and 4/40 connectors provided. No cheap China hardware in this kit, all of it was high quality and 100% usable. All fiberglass parts (cowl, wheel pants) were of top quality with all mounting hardware pre-installed. Simply bolt up the cowl and wheel pants thru the pre-drilled holes into the installed blind nuts and you are ready to go. Assembly of the plane was straight forward with every detail covered in the manual. The cockpit was prepainted with seats, dash and various plastic parts to finish the cockpit, all provided in the kit. I used a DLE111 for a power plant in my bird with a custom muffler from JTEC which is made for this aircraft. I installed the electronics on the cabin floor for easy access to the batteries. After final assembly the bird balanced slightly nose heavy at the recommended CG point with no additional weight added to the nose. I ran into two issues that caused me to rate the quality as 4 stars versus a 5. 1) The fiberglass tubes installed in the fuselage and wings were very rough on the inside which did not allow the wing tube to fit in the tubes. The fiberglass tubes required extensive sanding to allow enough access to slide the wing tube in. This was very time consuming and was a real low point for what was a excellent assembly up to this point. 2) The plastic cabin windows were opaque rather than clear. The windshield was clear but the doors and cabin windows were opaque/frosted. This looks very odd and I would have preferred clear plastic for all the door and cabin windows. All and all a fantastic ARF for the money and right at the top of my list as far as overall quality. Had I not had to spend all that time getting the wing tube to fit I'd have had no problem rating this bird a 5.