TomTreese

My Feedback: (1)

Gary,

I have a set here now. I contact you by email to set up payment.

Tom

garyferguson

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks, building mine now and will wait on these before it goes out for the first
time

Ken Cz

Hey guys!
Need some help on landing this bird- flaps or not I seem to get a big bounce with even the softest of touchdowns.
I have kept the AT-6 flying right down to the point where it's flying very slow, ready to stall, and it still bounces up - bending the wires of course!
Is a faster landing the answer or try to go for a 3 point landing instead of a wheel landing?
Any advice appreciated!
Thanks- Ken

c550

My Feedback: (16)

Ken,

I have the same issues. I am thinking of changing out the wheels for some low bounce ones. I would add robostruts but I don't know if they will fit.

TomTreese

My Feedback: (1)

Here is the retract reinforcing boxes I designed. They sell for $36.00 shipped.

TomTreese

My Feedback: (1)

I have been flying the AT-6 for a year now. After fixing the retract box problem with my aluminum reinforcement boxes. I was ready to learn how to land without bouncing.
I land with full flaps, elevator coupling is not needed, and about 15% throttle. You basically fly the plane to a 3-point landing. Once on the ground keep full up elevator and raise the flaps. If this plane get's too slow at touchdown it will bounce..

Ken Cz

Tom,
Thanks for the good landing tips and the info on the Reinforcement boxes. Great idea!
Too bad a premium ARF like this requires us to spend more $$.

I will certainly try your landing suggestions as I have had really bad luck trying to get this bird down and stay down.
I will also figure out what I want to do about the Reinforcement boxes. Guess I should probably get them before I damage the housings.

Gear wires really bend easy. I put second new set on for today's flying and they bent on the 3rd landing.
Has anyone tried the heating and tempering suggestion made in an earlier thread?
Must be some really cheap chinese steel they are using. Far too soft.

Thanks!
Ken

TomTreese

My Feedback: (1)

The $36. is a lot less than Robarts and it works perfectly. I was also having a wire bending issues so I warpped a double strand of 1/16" copper wire around the front of the loop in the gear. This helped a little. Although, if you land as I suggested you won't have a problem.

Sorry the picture downloaded so big. I've downlaoded a lot of pictures and that never happened before???[]

propshaft

Ken,

I have similar experiences as Tom in trying to eliminate bounces on landing. I think the key is that the aircraft should gently fly onto the ground, AND the tail must have ample airflow across it to keep it "flying". The far forward position of the wheels is partly to blame. If it stalls at touchdown and "plonks" down the tail moment is enough to overcome the horizontal stabilizer and the nose pitches up, causing it fly off the ground again or "bounce". Another factor that may contribute to the problem is the fact that the flaps go across the entire center section of the wing, possibly adding to turbulence around the horizontal stabilizer and reducing its effectiveness. There is a narrow margin between success and failure. It is hard to get right in windy conditions. I usually land with full flaps and enough throttle to control the descent rate, which also keeps up the airflow across the horizontal stabilizer. I reduce the throttle to idle after the roll out is established.

maddieone

My Feedback: (2)

I finally got tired of the BS I had with this plane, took all of the gear out of it and gave it to a kid at the field. Now that turkey is his problem. No more Top Flite anything’s for me.

maddieone

My Feedback: (2)

I finally got tired of the BS I had with this plane, took all of the gear out of it and gave it to a kid at the field. Now that turkey is his problem. No more Top Flite anything’s for me.

jet22b

Hi Guys;

For all the people who have the AT-6 Texan and having a hard time landing it, RealFlight G3.5 sim has a AT-6 Texan. I had the same problem landing this bird until I sit down one day last winter and flew the Texan for 4 hours a day until it set in. This bird likes a little power until the wheels touch the ground. Like people has post, this bird make you fly it all the way to touch down. I had talk to a pilot at my local airport who own and fly the real Texan and he told me the same thing. I now have over 50 flights and this bird and I love it!!
Now that the weather is getting better, she will see more flight time!!
Try the sim and I know it will help. It did me good!!!
Just my 2 cents!!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

propshaft

Maddieone makes a good point, you're gonna either love or hate this airplane. The AT6 takes some getting used to. It has its quirks. On the other hand, if you want something that has oodles of character and makes your heart beat a little faster on a windy day then this is it. There is something very satisfying about greasing it in on a landing (which is not going to be every time you bring her in). Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It may be a turkey, but I love it.

Ken Cz

Exactly right! I have the same landing issue (bounce) on the sim as I do with the real plane.
Unfortunately after about 6-8 attempts on the sim I am still bouncing it in.
Have not decided if I love it or hate - but looks awful good on climb out and in the air!
Guess I'll practice some more and see if I can't improve.
If it continues to be a issue by mid-summer I will pull my OS 91 and sell the airframe. Don't need the frustration. I have 20+ planes, big and small, electric, nitor and gas, and can grease them all in most every time - except this BIRD!

DGUY

My Feedback: (9)

Try this guys as soon as the mains touch make sure you release any up elevator. See if it helps with the bounce it did for me as I read it here on another at-6 thread.

Jor-el

Hey guys;
Thanks to Tom Treese for fixin' the gear case problem. Has anyone tried DGUY's idea of annealing the wire? If that fixes the bending problem...problem solved. I chose this a/c as my second plane; I'm really lookin' forward to the build and flying it. Because I want to move on, I hope not to have to spend a fortune keeping it in the air. Of course, all the mods some of you all have done are intreaging. I'm planing on using a Saito FA91S and a Futaba setup. Also, the Koleo exhaust looks cool too. Anyway, here's hoping the gear can be used as is to save some $$.

B cn u

Carl Stark

TomTreese

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks Jor-el.

The retract boxes have done a great job. I have over 80 landings and have over 30 sets in the field without any failures. These boxes also fit the Top-Flite P-51 and P-47...

I like the chalange of landing this plane. I have 12 flyable models and they all have their little quirks but the AT-6 is the most difficult to land smoothly. You definitely have to fly it onto to the ground. I use full flaps and enough throttle to keep it flying in a slight nose up position till it's about 6" of of the runway. Then just easy off of the throttle till it gently touches down. Then raise the flaps and redue the elevator.

When I do get a bounce it tend to bent the left gear wire foreward a little so that it binds in the wheel well. I fix this with two pairs of pliars. Hold the base with one and clamp the long wire beside the wheel with the other and just bend it back. A 10 second fix

A great flying Warbird.

jet22b

Hi Guys;

This past weekend, I flew my AT6-Texan and had a blast with, untill the last flight of the day. Flying around have fun doing low pass and everything else. Now come the fun part, landing this baby. The wind was out of the east, ( right down the runway ), went to drop the gear and saw that the gear was not down. Flip the gear switch again and still no gear down. I must tell you I have Robart Air Retract on my Texan. I kept flying to burn more fuel out of the tank and think what to do next. My timer on my Tx said I had 2 min of fuel left in the tank. Our club has a grass runway and tall grass at both end of the field. I want to land while I stil had fuel in the tank. So with all the member of my club at my side, I set up the landing. No flaps was use on the landing and the plane touch down just as she stall. It slid about 3 feet with no damage!!! I was shaking so bad, I could not walk out the get the airplane. My two friend walk back with the plane and I knew the bottom of the plane would be bad. They did not help things when they was saying you don't want to look!!
But when I did look, I was shock, no damage at all!! Some grass was around the head of the engine, but that was it. After going home I found the down line on the left gear had came loose and when I put the gear down, all the air in the tank was dump out. Now the next time she go to the field, I will try landing with no flaps and see what I get. Yes this plane is hard to land, but its a war bird!!!

Thanks Tom!! The gear box work like a dream when the gear are down!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

ArrowNaughtic

Sonny,
Glad to hear your experience was uneventful. Way to turn a bad situation into a win for the Warbird pilots!

I have had my AT-6 ready to fly for almost 6 months and yet have still not worked up the courage to put it in the air. Possibly will be maidening it in the next couple of weeks. I will have to go through everything again and see if I can't find someone to be my moral support for the maiden. Our club field is grass and has a number of elk prints (divots) scattered throughout the length of the runway. Only about 1/3 is really usable for smooth landings. That leaves little to no room for maiden errors so I have been hesitant to try flying it. I may have to go to another field with either asphalt or a packed dirt runway to feel more comfortable getting to know my plane. I have some .40 size planes I fly regularly at my field but have been able to utilize the smoothest part of the runway for landings. I think with this .60 sized bird I may need some "wiggle room" for fast taxi's and eventually a takeoff.
I converted mine to electric powered as all of my planes are electric and I love the instant power if needed when I get in tight situations. The down side is no extra fuel if I have to make more than 2 or 3 aborted attempts landing it. Wish i could find someone with a compatible radio to buddy box up with me, I am not too proud to accept some help getting mine in the air and be able to take it home in one piece.
Time will tell how things shape up, but i definately have the bug for flying it and at some point I guess I just have to accept it is just a model and make it happen.

Knees a knockin, sweat drippin, I am almost ready.........heh.


__________________________________________________ ___________________________________


Of all the things I ever lost....................................... I miss my mind the most!

TomTreese

My Feedback: (1)

It takes about 20 to 30 feet to get airborn without any flaps so I don't think take-offs off's are a problem. However, landing will take a couple hundred feet to ease her in. All of my landings are on grass but our 90 x 600 foot runway is like a golf fairway. Just do a lot of low fly-by's and touch and go's till you get the feel. Good luck

Here are some photos of what a good approach looks like.

Read more: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_81...#ixzz0mOmGEtrH

jet22b

Hey Guys;

I have a question?? Have anyone have the stock wheels on your Top Flite AT6 ARF go out of round?? Both of my wheels are so far out of round, they will not fit the wheel well, and if they do go into the well, they have a hard time coming out. Now when the plane is at home, the wings are in the wing rack with the gear up and when at the field the plane sit in a plane stand. Has anyone change their wheels and what wheel did you use??? The wheels roll free with no drag. Thanks for any answer and help!! This weekend here in the state of Washington will be great!! Temp in the low 70's, light wind, clear, blue, and 22!!! Guess what I will be doing!!!!
Have a great weekend, everyone!!!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

TomTreese

My Feedback: (1)

Jet22b,

My wheels were out of round and one of the hubs cracked so I replaced them with Dubro 3" lite wheels. http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXD780&P=7

They have worked well. No hubcaps but very functional wheels.

jet22b

Tom;

Thanks for the info. I will go by my local hobby shop today to see if they have them in-stock!!!

I can deal with no hub caps!!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

Manny G.

My Feedback: (1)

I got the gold edition tf at6 it's an owesome warbird. I'm using a YS 1.20 4 stroke and its so cool in the air ans in the ground. Easy to build. easy to store and transport. The only thing I would change is the landing gear from mechanical to air retracts. I most definately use the flaps to help slow her down. Good luck and happy flying.

propshaft

TomTreese,
Thanks for posting the pictures of your landing approach. You seem to use a lower flap rate than I do. How many degrees do you use? My flaps are on a 3-way switch. I use a 45 degree flap angle for landing, and a 20 degree angle for slow fly-by's.