• Wing Span: 58 in. (147 cm)
• Wing Area: 594 sq. in. (3832 cm²)
• Length: 52 in. (132 cm)
• Weight: 5.75 lbs. (2.6 kg)
• Engine: .40 - .46 2 - cycle
  (6.5 cc - 7.5 cc 2 - cycle)
  .52 - .70 4 - cycle
  (8.5 cc - 11.5 cc 4 - cycle)
• 4 Servos required

The Great Planes CAP 232 was the fifth kit building project and has been one of the most satisfying projects. A Sig Kadet LT-40 was recently "decomissioned" after one season of flying. The Kadet had served its purpose, but left a desire for an airplane with more performance potential and scale realism.

The Great Planes CAP 232 kit was found at a winter swap-meet sponsored by a local club. After reading the box and the promise of excellent performance on a .46 - sized engine, the kit was purchased. Construction began as soon as the kit was taken to the shop.

The previous building project was a Great Planes Giles G-202, which was similar in construction techniques. Both kits are designed by Mike Cross, a former IMAC freestyle champion. The kit builds with "new" built up construction with traditional built up wing and tail and an interlocking lite-ply fuselage. The tail feathers are built up with balsa sticks and the fin and stabilizer sheeted with balsa. The only modification made was to add gussets to increase the strength of the large rudder.

The wing builds up in two halves using the familiar D-tube method. Both wing halves are built flat on the board with the aid of "tabs" on the symmetrical ribs. The instructions were followed exactly, including the part involved inclining every wing rib using a template. This results in the wing ribs being perpendicular to the ground when the wings are joined with the recommended dihedral. This was a little too much work for little return. The ribs could have just as easily been built square to the building board.

The wing dihedral is supposed to be aligned using a couple of lite-ply dihedral jigs but the jigs are inaccurate. The center of the wing was clamped together with the recommended amount of dihedral set by the plywood dihedral braces. Epoxy was used on this joint. The wing is designed for a single aileron servo that drives the ailerons via torque rods. This is simple to do but may be contributing to some fluttering that has been experienced. Aliphatic resin is recommended for the joining of all balsa used for sheeting. CA is quicker but it is very difficult to sand. The front of the wings are sheeted, as is the center. This presented no problems, with accurate patterns given for the wing sheeting.

The fuselage is constructed using the familiar self-aligning lite-ply structure, upside-down, directly over the plan. Several small blocks of balsa must be carved to form the fin fairing. The instructions are very clear on the method for doing this. A Master Airscrew razor plane is a great tool to do this shaping. The turtle deck is composed of balsa sheeting wrapped over lite-ply formers and balsa stringers. The method for a perfect sheeted turtle deck is quite easy. CA the sheeting perpendicular to the lite-ply fuselage top only. Methanol is sprayed on the the wood to wet it. After soaking for awhile, the balsa sheeting becomes pliable. The sheeting is wrapped around the formers and secured with rubber bands or pins. When dry, this results in a perfectly formed turtle deck that can be glued to the formers easily.

The CAP will come out tail heavy with the rear mounted rudder servo and the OS .46 FX engine. With this in mind, the front of the fuselage was "beefed up". Most strengthening was done with epoxied balsa triangle stock in all corners of the firewall and around the landing gear mounts and bottom front of the fuselage.

The fuel tank is mounted on a lite-ply tray. In fact, the battery is mounted on the tray in front of the fuel tank. This was a pretty good idea but it requires a 6" battery extension to get the power back to the switch. A 1/8" plywood stiffener was added to the tank tray. A Sullivan 10 ounce tank was used instead of the recommended Great Planes model. To be able slide the fuel tank tray inside the fuselage, some plywood was removed from the fuselage former for clearance.

A beautiful fiberglass cowl was ordered from FiberGlass Specialties of Macomb, Michigan, to replace the ABS cowl that was supplied. To mount the cowl, four (4) 6-32 Dubro threaded brass inserts were imbedded into the fuselage. The cowl was then fastened to the fuselage using 6-32 nylon screws with thin vibration resistant washers made from fuel tubing. The cowl was fitted and the bottom cut-out such that it could be slipped off with the Slimline Pitts muffler in place. No cooling problem have been experienced with this size cut-out. A Great Planes Easy-Fueler was mounted to the top of the firewall for convenient fueling.

The model was covered in yellow Top Flite Monokote. The "Breitling" graphics were cut out of Monokote and ironed on, as were the missile red trim diamonds. The cowl was prepped and painted using LustreCoat. The paint match was perfect. A Williams Brothers Sport pilot was modified with a little David Clark headset, painted, and epoxied to the cockpit that had been sheeted. The canopy was then attached using a combination of Pacer RC-56 and four small buttonhead screws.

There is ample room for radio installation. The antenna was originally routed internally. After a marginal range check, it was re-routed out the bottom of the fuselage. Since the CAP was to flown off grass, it was equipped with 3" Dubro Lite Treaded tires, on Great Planes 5/32" axles on the mains and a Sullivan tailwheel and bracket on the tail.

The plane was balanced inverted as called out on the plan. The Great Planes website gives the correct CG location. This kit had a red correction stapled to it. The correct location is 3.75" back from the leading edge. As expected, the airplane was slightly tail heavy due to the light engine and rear-mounted servo. Three (3) ounces of lead were to the firewall to balance the plane.

Since "dual-rates" were not used, control throws were set half-way between the high and low rates as suggested by the manual. This proved to be an excellent starting setup. An APC 11x6 propeller was mounted to the .46 FX. This has proved to be an excellent combination for the CAP.

The day of the test flight was sunny and calm. A few pictures were taken of the CAP prior to the maiden flight. A lot of confidence had been gained for the test flight because the plane had a light wing loading, and a very reliable engine. There was some concern originally about the performance of the OS .46 FX with the aftermarket muffler. After starting and tuning the engine, this disappeared. The engine performed flawlessly in all positions, and had an excellent idle.

After the taxi test, the nose was pointed into the wind and the throttle advanced firmly. The tail lifted quickly and the plane tracked well with no strong left turn tendency. The CAP accelerated briskly but stayed on the ground until modest up elevator was applied. The CAP rotated and climbed out steadily. The trim corrections were minor and within a few laps of the field, it was flying straight and true. It felt solid in the air. It grooved much better than the Model-Tech Sukhoi that weighs about 1 1/4 pounds more. The .46 FX pulled the CAP with authority, giving excellent but limited vertical.

After about eight minutes, it was time to shoot a landing. The CAP had no surprises. It was flown in a normal pattern and the throttle was cut at the end of the downwind leg. The CAP settled into a shallow glide with modest back-pressure on the elevator. As it neared the ground, back-stick was applied until it three-pointed the landing and rolled out. Efforts are made for a three point landings each time because a wheel landing would be too hot. The CAP shows no signs of tip stalling during landing flare.

Further flight testing has confirmed that this is one sweet airplane and engine package. Verticals are excellent and straight. In fact, this was the first airplane that could do a vertical snap and still have a little momentum left over. Inverted flight needs just a hint of down elevator and is very stable. Snaps can be mild or wild depending on how much the sticks are moved. It is very easy to finish snaps with the wings level. Tumbles are great and very controllable due to their mild speed. Knife edge flight is easily maintained, but this plane had about 30% negative pitch coupling and 3-5% positive roll coupling off the rudder. All coupling was easily mixed out with a computer radio. The engine needed more right thrust so a thin washer was added between the engine and mount. This has straightened the verticals and relieved some rudder trim.

There is one flight characteristic that could be potentially serious. When speed is built up on some maneuvers, there was the distinctive sound of flutter. The throttle was immediately reduced and the plane landed. The plane showed no ill effects. This has happened a few times since but additional efforts are made in the area of throttle management. It is most likely the ailerons fluttering due to being driven at the root by torque rods. The hinge gaps will be sealed in the future.

This is one of the most satisfying modeling efforts to date. The plane flies great, builds fast, and was an inexpensive project. When the wind is calm or when a big plane is too much trouble, The little GP CAP can be put in the back of the Saturn and taken to the field knowing that it is going to be a great flying experience. This kit is highly recommended!