Ready Built Senior Telemaster, Red/White (OVERSIZE)

i just bought a new senior telemaster. while putting the plane together i found the first bulk head going toward the tail from the radio compartment broke, there were no magnets mounted in the fuel door panel or in the frame. there were NO magnets included in the kit. the bottom of the rudder was not covered just bare wood.
i called hobby lobby and spoke to a representative. she said she would check with her supervisor. she called back later and said sorry about the fact that no magnets were included and the bulk head was broke. she stated that the bottom of the rudder is not covered, and the bottom of the rudder is left exposed. she stated that her supervisor would call me today. NO CALL.
the instructions are very poorly written, and no support from hobby lobby. i would not buy from them again. i hope they read this.

I bought a Senior Telemaster used from a fellow club member. When I got it home, being an old military Flt Eng, I started to give it shake down.The plane was good and solid. There were some covering glitches, and I could not find a color to match the Red in any of my local hobby shops.(5) I called the support line and talked to a very nice man who gave me the info I needed. He sent me a roll of Orocover to match the Red I needed. When I received it, there was no instructions on how to apply it, and no where in the papers I had did it say. Also, I guess the man that sold me the plane made some modifactions to the control push-rods, and again the papers do not show the complete assembly of the plane. I have seen a lot of Telley's fly and can't wait to get mine up in the wild blue yonder. Please up-date your instructions and give us more info so that we can look at the info on line and not have to call Hobby-Lobby every time we hit a technical snag. The plane is a 5 star, but the manual is a three. If I was not a pretty good mechinic I would have a had time putting this plane together.

This is a great Trainer, super stable, flies like a Dream, very forgiving, I can only give this Model a very high recommendation

Although this airplane flys beautifully ,its covering is very poor quality. All members of our flight club has had the same problem from the very first flight. The covering comes off in all areas. We have tried everything to keep it on,but after every flight some part of the covering comes loose. Some members have had a whole side of the fuselage come off in flight.

My love affair with the Senior Telemaster began over two decades ago when I saw the first one I had ever seen fly at one of the first AMA Homecomings held in Dayton, OH. It absolutely stopped the show when it's pilot landed "stand-still" into a 15 mph breeze. While a lot of things got in the way of my building one in the last 20 years, I could still close my eyes and see that plane hovering in my mind.

This past year I received a surprise gift from my wife for my birthday in the form of the Senior Telemaster ARF done up in red and white. At last my mental image had become a reality! While I had built five ARFs from other companies during the last eight months preceding my gift, I had never had a chance to examine a Hobby Lobby product. When I opened the box, I was surprised by how big the plane was, and at the same time surprised at the quality of the components.

The multi-colored covering and decals were carefully and precisely applied, the control surfaces were already mounted with pinned hinges (unheard of with other companies' products), and all of the accessory parts were of the highest quality. I began the process of assembling the ship the same day I received it.

The first step for me is always thoroughly reading the accompanying instruction manual. Here, I must admit, I was a bit put off. The manual simply did not match the quality of the airplane, and appeared to have been written some time ago. As I read through it, it was evident that the manual had not kept up with some of the improvements that had been made in the kit (the already installed control surfaces being an example) and was in need of updating and photographic improvement. It was, however, complete enough for me to begin assembling the plane with only a minor amount of head scratching.

During this initial process, I discovered that there was an additional and extremely helpful resource in assembling the plane. Because directions for tightening the covering (almost always a necessity with ARF airplanes were not clear in the manual, I called the Hobby Lobby support line. I was rewarded with very accurate verbal help, an e-mail amplifying the telephone assistance, and even more surprisingly, a follow-up call to make sure all of my questions were answered. Outstanding! I commend Hobby Lobby's technical department for their exceptional customer service

The actual assembly of the plane went exceptionally well. All parts fit perfectly, even though they may not have been illustrated as much as most modelers might like in paper form. Anyone with any previous experience in assembling an ARF would have no trouble. Because I was still in a quandary about which 4-stroke engine to use, I assembled the entire airplane before making my engine selection. I actually tried to look for things that weren't right and didn't live up to my expectations during the assembly process, but there simply weren't any. In a matter of about five evenings, I had the plane ready to install the engine.

I was glad I had waited on the engine selection, because it allowed me to position my final choice, a Magnum .80 4-stroke, precisely where it needed to be on the motor mount plate to balance the plane perfectly, with no additional weight in either the nose or the tail. Due to the location of the engine's throttle lever, I did have to custom-bend the throttle push rod to snake around the fuel tank, but I was able to use the push rod included in the kit.

That was actually the last assembly item to deal with, so now it was simply a wait for decent weather to but the Telemaster in the air. Within about a week after finishing construction, I caught an afternoon where the wind was supposed to lay for a few hours before a new front came in. I packed up my new red and white beauty (it easily fits in a mid-size SUV with its two-piece wing) and headed for the flying field.

The first flight was uneventful. It tracked straight and as I eased the throttle forward, and it lifted off in a gentle climb with no additional elevator and only the smallest amount of right rudder. I flew it in lazy circles for a few minutes, checked the stall characteristics (which were straight ahead and no fall-off in either direction), and then put it in a loop. The loop was surprisingly tight for a plane that size and I backed off on the throttle at the bottom as I always to to avoid stressing the wing. After a couple of wonderfully slow touch-and-goes, I brought the plane in for its first landing. Wonderful!

The second flight was more of the same, except I did roll the plane in both directions to see how it responded. Suffice it to say the phrase "barrel roll" is more of an apt description than a snap-roll, but then again, I didn't get the plane for its aerobatic capabilities. During that flight, a most interesting thing happened. About five minutes into the flight the wind not only changed and picked up from the north. During the time it took me to circle the field a couple of times, it was blowing a pretty steady 15 mph with some gusts over that.

It was strong enough that I did not want to risk my new plane. With some degree of concern, I made my landing approach from the south end of the field and had to add some throttle to get the plane safely over the runway. At that point I began to throttle back, with no other control input. As the plane approached to the point that it was even with where I was standing on the edge of the runway, I continued to reduce the throttle. In a scene of deja vu that could have taken place 20 years ago in Dayton, my lovely red and white Telemaster simply landed directly across from me and stood still, it's motor still ticking over nicely waiting on the next command.