The world of 3D fun-fly aircraft is right now one of the hottest and fastest growing segments within the radio control airplane industry. Designed by TMPro, the Katana V2 46 is an aircraft that is a

great 3D trainer, and also a great plane for more advanced pilots.

The Katana V2 has an extremely lightweight, all wood airframe with huge control surfaces giving

the plane an impressive control authority at virtually any speed. It’s covered with high quality covering

and has a very nice scheme with real katana look.

The maximum recommended engine size for this model by the manufacturer is a 40-53 2 stroke and 50-70 4 stroke engine. I decided to use my trusty OS 70 Surpass II 4 Stroke with a 13x5 prop. 

Model Name Katana V2 40

Type: Profile/Fun Fly

Manufacturer: TMPro

Wingspan: 48 in.

Length: 49.5 in.

Wing Area: 718 sq. in.

Weight: 4.0-4.5 lb. (RTF)

Engine used: OS 70 Surpass II 4 Stroke

Propeller used: Master Airscrew 13x5 prop

Fuel tank used: stock tank

Flight time: 15-20 minutes with stock tank

Radio used: Futaba 9CAP

Servos used: 5 Futaba S3004 on all control surfaces

Battery used: NIMH 1200 MAH 6.0V

Wing and Tail Surfaces:

The wing on the Katana comes as a two-piece wing that uses an aluminum wing tube. The stab has a very tight fit in the fuse, because of this I decided to glue it with thin CA. With the stab in place, I measured from the wingtips to the stab tips to make sure both measurements were equal and the stab was centered. I traced the outline of the fuselage along the top and bottom of the stab to show where the covering needs to be removed.

After removing the covering, I used thin CA to attach the stab to the fuse.

Next, I test fit the vertical fin into its slot on the fuselage. The fit was perfect and I traced the outline of the fuse onto the fin and removed the covering. I also continued the outline of the left and right edge of the fin slot towards the rear of the plane with a ruler and marker, and I removed the covering on the top of the fuse. Again because of the tight fit I decided to use thin CA. 
 

Next step is to attach the wing fairing, its pretty easy, again test fit it, measure the distance so its in the center, trace the outline and remove the covering. Also I attached it with thin CA and it worked wonderful.

The next step is to install the ailerons with the supplied CA hinges. They already come pre-glued in the aileron side, so its only a matter of gluing it on the wing side.

The CA hinge installation is simple. I apply several drops of thin CA on each side of the hinges. As the CA cures, I flex the ailerons to their full deflection several times to work the hinges in. The whole process is complete in a matter of minutes.

Next, I attached the elevator halves to the stab with CA hinges. Again, I apply several drops of thin CA on each side of the hinges, and as the CA cures, I flex the elevator to their full deflection several times to work the hinges in.
 

Next, I attached the rudder again using CA hinges.

Engine Installation

Installing the OS 70 was a very easy process. All I had to do was to sand the firewall a little bit to accommodate the engine, then I put the engine as farther back as I could to get the right CG, because the OS 70 is a little bit heavier than most other engines out there. After that I marked the holes, drilled them, and installed the engine, all this was done very quickly as it’s a very fast process in profile planes.

The throttle hookup was the very easy, I just installed the servo ply rails on the fuse, then I installed the servo, and used the provided z bend push rod, and easy connector on the servo arm.

Fuel tank installation was pretty easy too, the fuse already has the tie wraps holes to hold the tank pre-drilled, so all needed to do was to install the provided foam, assemble the tank, and put it in the plane with the provided tie-wraps.

The landing gear is easy to mount. There are four screws that attach into the fuse and are hold on the other side with nuts. I didn’t like the provided Phillips screws, and I strongly recommend if you can, to change them to Allen bolts. I liked the provided wheels that came in the kit they as they are very light. Also this new landing gear design feels stronger! Its really good for harrier landings!.
On the tail wheel, its was pretty easy to install too, just screw it in. On other note I found out the tail wheel is just too flexible, and my recommendation would be to replace it with a normal tail wheel. But the stock tail wheel works fine if you don’t mind the flex.

Radio Installation

I chose to use all standard Hitec HS422 servos. The servos installed without any problems.

The provided control horns for the surfaces are very easy to install, and they are really good! Also the planes come with already pre-bend z pushrods! It makes all the process a lot faster.

There is a rope inside the servo wire tunnel so its very easy to just slide the servo wires into the tunnel.

The nice thing in that airplane is that although it is profile fuse the servos are well protected,

and no wires exposed out, it all going inside a special tunnel to the main wing, Awesome!!

Ailerons servo's on wing, with making sure 90 degree between aileron and pushrod.

Balancing model:

I found out that to get the inside the recommended CG Range I had to move my battery a little farther aft in the wing. First I installed it next to the wing tube, and it came a bit nose heavy, it flew great at that point, but when I moved the cg further back the plane just came alive in 3D. With a lighter motor than the OS, I think the plane would balance perfectly with the battery around the wing tube.

To go back with CG it is possible to locate battery and receiver in the back of the wing,

than switch was nicely attached in front of bottom left wing to prevent from having burned fuel on it.

Takeoff:

With the OS 70 and 15% fuel, the Katana will take off of a very short distance.

On roll out, you will need a touch of right rudder to keep it straight..

Landing:

Landing is one of the easiest part of flying the Katana, all you need to do is point it straight to the runway, cut throttle and glide it. It lands very SLOW!

Aerobatics:

This is the part where the Katana really shines, this plane is designed to be a 3D Monster. It’s the best plane I have tried in this size in harriers and hovers, its just so stable, it would be an awesome 3D trainer for anyone.

3D Flying:

Harriers have no wing rock at all, and require almost no rudder to maintain straight.
Hovers are super easy and need very little correction.
Elevators are easy! Just leave full elevator, idle, and the plane will stand descending very fast and stable. Waterfalls are totally out of this world, they are super tight, and very stable, they almost require no correction.
Knife edge flying is just too easy, the plane does the most high alpha knife edge I’ve seen also really tight knife edge loops, and here you can notice how much rudder authority this plane has, you can even enter a hover from knife edge!

Rolling harriers are very easy too, the aileron authority can be noticed a lot here! The aileron authority this plane has is so strong you can even do rolling harrier elevators!
Walls are super easy with no tendency to tip stall, just apply full elevator and watch the plane stop instantly

Precision:

This plane isn’t designed for precision flying, but after a lot of flights into it, I found out it can actually fly precision pretty good!, it can do a very good one roll rolling circle, slow rolls, 4 point rolls, 8 point rolls, rolling loops.

Freestyle:

This is one of the parts of flying that makes me have the most fun, I found out this plane  is very easy to fly at the rhythm of the music because the plane is very agile, you can do most 3d, slow, and fast maneuvers combinations with no problem!.

To conclude:

I think this plane is the perfect for anyone wanting to learn 3D, or even for experts that want to have a profile plane to have some serious fun, I think this profile is one of the best produced to date in terms of quality, construction, and flying! It can also handle 10-12 knots wind with no problem, and you’ll see that in the videos below, most of the flying was done with 10-12 knots wind.

Also the 2 piece wing is a really nice touch for those that don’t have a car big enough to transport a plane with a one piece wing glued.

ENJOY...

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