;e only thing that sticks out of the cowl is the
high-speed needle when you run the recommended
4-stroke Saito; the sound of this engine alone makes
the choice a “no brainer.”
I WAS COMFORTABLE IMMEDIATELY WHEN THE EAGLE WENT UP BECAUSE IT FEELS VERY NEUTRAL AND SOLID AT HALF THROTTLE OR SO.
;e covering job is exactly what you would expect
form Hangar 9; detailed and gorgeous! ;e wing
servos are concealed and the hatches match
perfectly.
Unique features
The first thing you will notice when open-
ing up this bipe’s big box is the size of the
fuselage: it’s a bit short and quite stout.
The matching fiberglass cowl is perfectly
painted and well formed. It also lets you
know how big the nose of this Christen
Eagle is; even the 4-stroke engine and muf-
fler fit inside of it. No exposed rocker covers,
or exhaust sticking out add to the realism
factor. Pushrods are already routed inside
of tubes in the fuse and merely need to be
connected. These feature Z-bends on one
end and threads on the other that feed into
metal clevises and offer simple adjustabil-
ity. There is more than enough room inside
of the plane’s body for the battery, receiver
and switch, and there are precut openings
for the two empennage servos. I used Spe-
ktrum’s DS-821 servos all around; at 6 volts
they have ample torque and fit perfectly
in said openings. The unmistakable reso-
nance of a Saito 4-stroke adds another level
of realism that we all can appreciate. All
;e Christen Eagle is right at home at the
local AMA field; any large area with short
grass or similar will su;ce. ;e plane
moves well on the ground and was more stable than I had anticipated.
Application of throttle led to a very short roll out and quick hop up;
the trim-out was quick and I was immediately comfortable at the
controls. ;e Saito in the nose sounds awesome. When it fully breaks
in, it will have well more than a 1:1 thrust-to-weight ratio as it felt
eager to vertically lift o; out of my assistant’s hands during the first
test run. New engines and deadlines never do each other any favors,
so my first landing was forced by a dead-stick. I simply added a bit of
down-elevator and let o;; this allowed the plane to find a glide path
which was very forgiving and it pretty much floated back onto the
ground softly. A wheel pant su;ered a scrape and I received some
nice compliments. Truth be told, the plane stayed solid all the way to
touchdown; I merely let it do its thing.
IN THE AIR
GENERAL FLIGHT PERFORMANCE
o; across the horizon. One would think that as a short coupled bipe,
it would be squirrelly and require more thumb to manage. I found the
opposite to be true because the plane did very well once trimmed for
flight.
Aerobatics: Scale aerobatics are available with ease. ;e vertical
uplines can be extended allowing for more in the way of combinations
and I was impressed with the overall flight envelope.
Glide and stall performance: Typically, a biplane o;ers lift at the
expense of drag, etc. Fine-tuning model airplane designs are what
make our experience better in
the end. ;is biplane glides very
well and at a fairly shallow rate
so landings can be consistently
uneventful. GEAR USED Radio: JR 9303 DSM2 (jrradios. com), Spektrum AR8000 receiver, five DS821 servos (spektrumrc. com), JR 5-cell 2700mAh Rx pack Engine: Saito 125 (saitoengines. com) Prop: Evolution 16x6 ( evolutionengines.com), Hangar 9 2 3/4 in. aluminum spinner
PILOT DEBRIEFING
A scale subject, the Hangar
9 Christen Eagle is quick to
assemble, great looking and
flies honestly. Higher throws
will allow you to do some unreal
tumbles and those airshow
antics we all want to see. As tested, the power is perfect, the sound is
sweet, and I know you Eagle fans will love flying it.
