I've always liked the boxy lines of the PC-6 Porter. The Art Tech version of this Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) airplane looked like a winner and the price was right. This version was modeled after one called 'The Never Ending Story.' Unfortunately when proof read, the space was misplaced and it turned out 'the nevere nding story.' Oh well.
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This is a pretty big model with some nice features. One of my favorite ones is a servo actuated spring trap door in the tail that allows you to drop parachutists or candy. With some practice you'd be deadly in a bomb drop contest. It can also be equiped to tow a glider as it has a glider release if you want to add the servo and have a channel to spare on your radio.
The plane went together pretty easily with many of the parts bolting on. Servos and control rods came premounted on several controlsurfaces. I find the bottom loading for the battery snug with the battery fitting behind the opening in space in the fuselage to get the proper CG. It has plenty of power to practice STOL take offs.
The EPO foam is pretty light weight. It comes in noticeably lighter than the similarly sized Do-27 also reviewed here. I normally land with half flaps and find the plane is stable all the way down final and with its light weight, it lands surprisingly slow. It handles crosswinds pretty well. I tend to establish my desired ground track on final and just land in whatever crab I have set up.
Speaking of landing, I did make one small change in the landing gear. Instead of screwing the vertical gear support into the small cup or receiver near the wheel, I slid a piece of heat shrink over the strut and inserted it into the cup. I then slid the heat shrink over the joint and applied some heat to tighted the covering. This allows just a bit of flex upon touch down. So far, I haven't damaged the vertical support which on the actual PC-6 has some 'give' built in.
Here is a video build log for the Art Tech PC-6.
