I think it's the first, can't wait to see some of the others. My only gripe, which is a small one is the plane REALLY floats on landing. It was a little tough sometimes to get it down on my small "runway".
Jsknockoff EVA Build Thread
- Thread starter jsknockoff
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I think it's the first, can't wait to see some of the others. My only gripe, which is a small one is the plane REALLY floats on landing. It was a little tough sometimes to get it down on my small "runway".
Turbojoe
Elite member
Good stuff. Congrats! Now do some inverted flight. If you have the CG just right for your build she'll require no elevator input during steady throttle inverted flight. NO airplane with this much dihedral should fly inverted without elevator input but both of my finished EVA's do, including the trike version. They're also quite neutral in control. Could have sworn I had a YouTube video of mine inverted but just checked and no. 
A remarkable kit. The more you fly and adjust it to you the more you'll love it.
Joe
A remarkable kit. The more you fly and adjust it to you the more you'll love it.
Joe
Turbojoe
Elite member
Yep. Learn to "crab" her if you are coming in hot or you'll overshoot every time. I usually make an extra circuit to bleed off airspeed before landing. Lots of wing area and little weight = floater.
Joe
Turbojoe
Elite member
I haven't tried "spoilerons" but flaperons are a disaster waiting to happen. Tried them on both of my EVA's. Tip stalls and poor aileron control. Virtually every airplane I've tried flaperons on I've hated. "Spoilerons" with a bunch of programmed in up elevator mix does sound interesting. Pretty, nose high edge of stall landings with only throttle control might be possible once the proper mix is figured out.
Joe
Took it out for some more flying time this evening, wind was a little stronger this time. Does not fly well in the wind way too light. I'm also going to have to dial up the rates on the ailerons. I tried a few rolls and the roll rate was super slow almost lost it on my last attempt. I'll try to get some better video on a calm day with a real camera.
Woot! Congrats on the flight!
Thanks, I'm really happy with how it turned out. Flying the EVA has me really motivated to finish the Four Star I'm working on. It performs just like the old glow Four Stars that I used to have, right down to the floaty landings.
Put some more time on the EVA. With the throws increased on all surfaces it handles much better and can perform all the aerobatics that I can think of. Like an idiot I threw away the instructions after it was completed, and I think the CG may be a little off. Can one of you guys help me out and let me know exactly where the directions call for the CG to be?
Instructions are all downloadable from the MM website. I don't have mine handy or I'd just answer the question.
Thanks, I was using the wing spar as the CG. No wonder it flew so funky!
I know there are a lot of EVA fans out there so I’ll tread lightly. Maybe I’m used to the durability of a plane designed for glow, but after about a year of flying (maybe 20 flights) I’m going to give a bad review of the EVA I built. The plane never flew quite right I’m my opinion. It seemed very twitchy in the air at speed and was very hard to get on the ground with power off. I found myself having to force it down quite often. Besides flight characteristics the plane is very fragile. I always felt like it was going to break just picking it up. I was to the point where it just hung on the wall because I never wanted to fly it.
I took it out tonight hoping to start from scratch and retrim it. I rebalanced it with a nice full battery, set the trims all back to zero, and taxied out and into the air. I had previously had some down trim in it to get it to fly level. It literally jumped into the air when I gave it some throttle, I gave it down elevator and cut the throttle and it tip stalled. I had enough time to recover from the stall and level it out. I continued to glide it in off power and when I set it down in some taller grass it folded the gear and bent the shaft on the motor. The gear folding up through the bottom wiped out a few of the formers in the fuse. The damage isn’t bad but I don’t plan on fixing it. I’m not sure what the issue is, I’m thinking that it needs down thrust at the motor but at this point I’m not investing any more time into it. Also I do remember someone saying to reinforce the fuse with plywood at the gear. I didn’t do that thinking that I wanted to build as designed and see how it turned out. Given how uneventful the landing was and how much damage resulted, I think that mod would have saved it from any damage at all.
I took it out tonight hoping to start from scratch and retrim it. I rebalanced it with a nice full battery, set the trims all back to zero, and taxied out and into the air. I had previously had some down trim in it to get it to fly level. It literally jumped into the air when I gave it some throttle, I gave it down elevator and cut the throttle and it tip stalled. I had enough time to recover from the stall and level it out. I continued to glide it in off power and when I set it down in some taller grass it folded the gear and bent the shaft on the motor. The gear folding up through the bottom wiped out a few of the formers in the fuse. The damage isn’t bad but I don’t plan on fixing it. I’m not sure what the issue is, I’m thinking that it needs down thrust at the motor but at this point I’m not investing any more time into it. Also I do remember someone saying to reinforce the fuse with plywood at the gear. I didn’t do that thinking that I wanted to build as designed and see how it turned out. Given how uneventful the landing was and how much damage resulted, I think that mod would have saved it from any damage at all.
That's too bad, but it happens. I've got a few planes I don't fly like that as well. The landing gear issue really should have been addressed by Mountain Models with some reinforcement to the bottom. When I'm building a kit I like to try and find some key changes that are "must-haves" and incorporate them into the build if possible, figuring those who have been there before me probably know best. Although my EVA hasn't flown, it did get the extra support at the landing gear - hopefully it's never fully tested!
And I'm with you on these planes feeling fragile. The lightweight covering over a lightweight airframe will certainly lack any feeling of strength, however I've flown my MM Switchback 117 times for almost 16 hours of flight time, and the only real damage was early on with it when I sent it nose-first into a large block of frozen snow, which heavily damaged the nose and did some minor wing damage. It was fairly easy to repair and has flown about 100 times since that accident. I've had a two or three instances where very brittle grass/weeds poked small holes in the covering, but I kind of expect that with the lightweight covering when I land on dry grass. 95% of the plane is still the original covering, and the white is starting to discolor slightly with age (it was built in March of 2013).
Keep the plane off to the side, maybe some day you'll want to patch it up and give it another chance!
And I'm with you on these planes feeling fragile. The lightweight covering over a lightweight airframe will certainly lack any feeling of strength, however I've flown my MM Switchback 117 times for almost 16 hours of flight time, and the only real damage was early on with it when I sent it nose-first into a large block of frozen snow, which heavily damaged the nose and did some minor wing damage. It was fairly easy to repair and has flown about 100 times since that accident. I've had a two or three instances where very brittle grass/weeds poked small holes in the covering, but I kind of expect that with the lightweight covering when I land on dry grass. 95% of the plane is still the original covering, and the white is starting to discolor slightly with age (it was built in March of 2013).
Keep the plane off to the side, maybe some day you'll want to patch it up and give it another chance!
Turbojoe
Elite member
OUCH!!! That's like a dagger into my heart to read a negative review of the EVA. I too have had planes that others raved about but I absolutely hated. Cubs come to mind. Aside from my MM Cub I hate them with a passion. (I have 6 total). The first thing that really jumps out at me is the tip stall. None of my EVA's will do a typical tip stall for me. They get to stall and just nod up and down going straight ahead as I hold full up elevator. Are you certain there is no twist in the wings? Sounds to me like maybe a little washIN was built into one or both wings. With a D-tube wing unfortunately it's quite easy to do that if the wing isn't firmly planted as the sheeting is glued on. The EVA requires zero wash in-out. Just a degree ort two each way can change the entire feel of the plane in all flight envelopes. Just my thoughts on that issue.....
Landing gear: Yes, adding the ply reinforcement is what I consider a MUST DO. Depending how hard you hit at worst you may have bent the gear but shouldn't have caused any fuse damage. Hit hard enough though and nothing's gonna help......
Don't get me wrong. I'm NOT trying to throw the blame at you. Just trying to offer possibilities for you not having the same experience as most others. Hate to see you give up on a great plane. Maybe put her in the back for a while then drag her back out in a year or so as a project. I can't count how many "projects" I'm waiting to get back to.
Joe
Landing gear: Yes, adding the ply reinforcement is what I consider a MUST DO. Depending how hard you hit at worst you may have bent the gear but shouldn't have caused any fuse damage. Hit hard enough though and nothing's gonna help......
Don't get me wrong. I'm NOT trying to throw the blame at you. Just trying to offer possibilities for you not having the same experience as most others. Hate to see you give up on a great plane. Maybe put her in the back for a while then drag her back out in a year or so as a project. I can't count how many "projects" I'm waiting to get back to.
Joe
It’s kind of funny how certain planes can just be a lemon. My first low wing plane was a 4 Star 40. One of the best flying planes Ive ever owed. The second one I built kind of reminds me of this EVA, it was just never right. Ended up giving it away. I’m pretty positive that the plane is built true. I do question the slop in the control surfaces from the Z bends at the control horns and I think the thrust angle for the motor isn’t right.
The plane is repairable so I’m going to put it away for a while. I’ll order a new motor shaft for it and maybe by the time it gets here the frustration will have passed. I think a little extra weight will do it good anyways, lol!
The plane is repairable so I’m going to put it away for a while. I’ll order a new motor shaft for it and maybe by the time it gets here the frustration will have passed. I think a little extra weight will do it good anyways, lol!
Turbojoe
Elite member
The motor thrust angle could definitely cause problems but I'm with you on the control rods/links. The extra weight is insignificant so on any plane I build with a greater than 24" wingspan I always use the tube left over from Gold-N-rods or throttle cable for pushrod guides and use .047 music wire rather than the .032 that comes in the kit. Sometimes I use Z-bends, other times I use solder on Dubro Kwik-Links. Zero slop/flex in my control linkage. Nothing inherently wrong with what is in the kit. I just like to over do it.
Joe
Joe
