Termites Dream

My Feedback: (11)

I have the OS FL 70 4 strokes which were the recommended engine (no longer available). If you can get the saito 82 for $250, do it. The engines in mine are barely enough to get it in the air off a grass field. After I added the robart retracts, robart scale wheels and glow driver system, it weighs in at 20 pounds. It got off the ground a lot better when I had the stock fixed gear and stock foam wheels on it. Once in the air it has plenty of power, but the takeoffs can be hairy.

David

cobi.p

hello andywakem

this is my receiver/battery swithc set-up

i use 2 RCV .91 CD for power .

c550

My Feedback: (16)

Gutaaooo,

I and a few others have the Saito 82, the OS is good too. I don't think you can go wrong with either.

Cobi,

How are the repairs comming?

Regards,

Dave

cobi.p

hello dave

well actually the repairs are finished but still no part's from tower .

i am very disappointed from TF service , sorry .

Gutaaaooo

Hey guys, tks for the help!!!
I guess I have some time to decide yet, I have some codes for tower that I tought where about to expire, but are not, they really makes the engines cheaper:

From To Off Code
$100.00 - $149.99 $20.00 014VA
$150.00 - $199.99 $30.00 014VB
$200.00 - $249.99 $45.00 014VC
$250.00 - $299.99 $60.00 014VD
$300.00 - $399.99 $75.00 014VE
$400.00 - $499.99 $100.00 014VF
$500.00 - $599.99 $125.00 014VG
$600.00 - $699.99 $150.00 014VH
$700.00 - $799.99 $175.00 014VJ
$800.00 - $899.99 $200.00 014VK
$900.00 - $999.99 $225.00 014VL
$1000.00 or more $250.00 014VM

This way I could get the OS 81 for $265 ,and the Saito 82 is $225 after a $5 discount at espirtmodel.com
Or I could get the OS 81 PUMPED for $350 ...... since all are free shipping

I guess I'm really concerned for 2 things: The one that will not require to hack the cowl so much, and the
one that will leves less mess

c550

My Feedback: (16)

Gutaaaooo,

I would go with the Saito if it is cheaper. I don't think the amount of fuel/exhaust residue will be much different over time for any engine. However I am a bit biased as I am a Saito fan

Regards,

Dave

Speedracer2112

Hi folks.

Im looking for anybody near Florida who has one of these birds and flys it. I just completed my second model and she is ready to fly. I just want to visit with someone who has some real experience with this model before I go up again.

Anyone?

Some of you may remember my last flight!

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8884049

Thanks,

Speedracer

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Speedracer:

From your description of your crash, I'm betting your model was tail heavy. I've built and crashed many of them, and they all acted that way: very sensitive, sometimes impossible to control in pitch, and I was always unable to keep the wings level in a turn.

Top Flite says 5" back from the leading edge at the fuse, but it is not possible to do this precisely with the Great Planes CG machine, because there is some width to the pads that displaces the actual pivot points out from the sides of the fuse, 1/4" on each side. This would be OK with a leading edge 90 degrees to the fuse, but that's not the case with the Mitchell- it's swept back somewhat. So, if you balance right on 5" under those conditions, you'll end up with the CG aft of 5" by some amount.

I haven't flown mine yet, just finished it a couple weeks ago about the time the weather tanked, here. I set it up to balance on my CG machine between 5" and 4.5", the recommended forward limit from Top Flite. A little closer to 4.5". I watched the video by the guy who did the review on this bird, and his looked "pitchy", like it never was really stable. On landing, when he went to flare, it pitched way up and he nearly pancaked it. All of that says "tail heavy" to me.

The other thing that I think is important, especially if you haven't had a lot of success with WWII warbirds (which I haven't) is to use expo on your transmitter, so that the control surfaces won't move so much near the center of the stick travel. I always start with this on my Futaba- -25% Aileron; -50% elevator; -75% rudder. This reduces the sensitivity considerably.

Termites Dream

My Feedback: (11)

Speedracer,

I remember your crash. Good that you were able to salvage the parts. I have about 20 flights on mine, some with the fixed gear, some after I added the robart retracts. It now weighs 20 pounds with the sonic tronics glow driver. It is really sluggish on takeoff from grass with the OS 70s. I have the glow driver battery under the bombardier platform next to the receiver battery- it needed to be there to balance. You may need some lead there if you dont have a glow driver battery.
The plane flies really nicely but one time I got some altitude and stalled it to see what it would do and it scared the cr*p out of me. My biggest advice is to keep the speed up in the turns. When you drop the gear, add power. When you drop the flaps, add power. Dont bank too steeply. Keep some speed as you come in to land and gradually reduce power as you near the deck. It actually lands pretty smoothly. I use half flaps for takeoff, full for landing.
Hope this helps,
David

Speedracer2112

I agee there. If I remember correctly I had added about 2 ounces of lead and the Hydromax 4200 battery under the nose gunner platform. I will move it up.

I found this out already. Great point BTW. When I fly my jets I prefer about 75% expo. What do you run on the B-25? Do you use the recommended throws? The elevator seems to react almost violently throwing the tail down and stalling. Expo will help alot but what throws do you use?

Thanks

SR

Speedracer2112

I tried to use them. It was rejected. I received a message that the codes are by invitation only.

Thanks

SR

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

SR:

I set mine up for high rate travels only, and rely on the expo to keep it from being too twitchy. Seems to work- the maiden today was flawless. No excessive pitch up on landing, just a nice, nose up scale touchdown. Take off was a non issue, too. I used full flaps as the grass was a bit long. As I was turning around at the very end of the runway I started bringing the throttle up and by the time it was headed into the wind it was at full power. When it was about opposite me, I pulled a little bit of back stick and held it. She rotated real pretty and climbed out at a nice angle.

Like has been said elsewhere, tho, it's important to keep the speed up. I only go back to idle on final approach while she's in a nose low glide to the end of the runway. When she's near the end, I level off and bring the power back up some to get her settled down at about 3-4 feet altitude. Then I start gradually reducing to idle and pulling back stick to get the nose up.

Never ran my two 55AXs together until today. Adjusted each separately for a good max rpm "pinch" test. Under those conditions, they both tached between 96 and 9800 RPM with the 12x7s. Idle speeds were considerably different, but at all other points on the throttle curve they were together, as I could just discern a slight harmonic. They did both have a very nice transition from idle to wide open, though, which is characteristic of the 55AX. What the hey, I don't fly at idle, so away I went.

I ended up with the following elevator trims (bear in mind the 4and 5/8 CG and fixed landing gear):

Flaps up: 1/4" down, measured at the widest point
Flaps down: 3/8" down, same technique.

This resulted in hands off level flight at a little over 50% throttle. With flaps down, she pitches down just a touch, and that's fine with me as I prefer not to have to hold down stick to maintain a glide.

This is a superbly designed and very easy to fly airplane. Top Flite and the entire design team are to be commended.

CCFPILOT

I've been flying myTF B25J with about 3/4" throw on the elevator, since January 2009, which is just about right for me.

The manual says 1 1/4" for high, and 1" for low.

Speedracer2112

So you are holding (Centered stick) 1/4" down elevator?



I'm still waiting/hopeing to see this!

Thanks

SR

Speedracer2112

With or without expo?

SR

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

SR:

I used the trim to set the elevator at 1/4" down, stick centered. Expo on the elevator channel is -50%.

I've seen references to the required down trim on all threads and reviews of on this airplane. Seems to be characteristic of the design.
Fixed gear probably requires less than with retracts "up", and it might be necessary to use a mix to change the elevator trim when retracts are up or down. All the retractable birds I ever had pitched down when the gear was lowered.

Gutaaaooo

Sorry to hear that, I just bought some stuff with those codes, got them at my e-mail....
Real nice to buy the 2x 81 pumped, landing gear, 16 servos (I'll sequence the doors like rcdon did) v-regulators, lipos, props, etc etc...
getting 25% off all that was GREEEAAATT! Tks Tower hobbies!

By the way, I just started sorting by all the parts, and I fell like i did when i first opened the box to a 5000 pices puzzle, I never have seen this many nuts, screws, etc in an ARF... good thing my Gf is understaing, this will take a LOOONG time, and she is always so suporting.

CCFPILOT

Speedracer2112, No Expo.

skubacb

Gutaaaooo
Hi, I have been getting codes only up to $300 and $60 off. So I have made only a few purchases over $300. I am wondering what kind of spending gets them to send something better like you are getting. Jealous!

B-25 is still going slowly. I do not want to cut the cowl for the muffler. So I have ordered and tried all types of extensions. I am down to using a steel tube extension for the FL-70 and then a custom muffler to take off pressure for the tank.
Cheers,
Craig

Speedracer2112

Thats all Get also. I checked it out online. The codes are real and show a $150 discount at $600 but then kicks out at checkout. So I called Tower and asked the exact same question. I was told it was done by the marketing dept. by a totally clueless person. I was going to call them back today but forgot too. I want on that list also! I did see the poster is from Brazil which would most likely be the reason.

The guy who started this thread knows which parts you need. He has done it. I cut them. They still look great.

SR

Speedracer2112

Are you talking about from the ridge on the fiberglass tailgunner cap that runs down the elevator?

SR

Gutaaaooo

Hey guys, about the discount, I checked it out: it's for international customers, but don't feel bad... shipping for the b-25 to Brasil (here Brazil, is written Brasil) is $400,
plus %60 customs..... and yes, i had to spend a lot to get those kinds of codes..... (good thing I go evey other month to the US, and the codes work if I ship it over to my hotel too :P )

Progress was slow today on the build, since i still do not have all the servos and engines I decided to hing everything, and work on cleaning out the screws a little.
O the back end I did not want to use the self tappers on the back of the rear hatch, so what I ended up doing was to put a small dowel at an angle, so I just slide the rear hath forward, just like the horizontal stab is mounted.

The canopy I will try to make like Mike has done on page, but I'm still a little afraid if the wind will not blow it out? Guess when I put the magnets in I'll know how much pull
it will take before letting go.

The part that has more possibilities going though my head is the front gunner, I know I'll want to remove it for transportation, and being I hate those screws popping out of the plane, some magnets will have to be used in there too. I'll try to tackle that tomorrow. I'll also port pics of the mod I did so far, but my camera is aaallll the way upstairs in the shop, and I'm already in my pajamas... so I'll post the pics tomorrow.

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

SR:

Start with the elevator as neutral as you can get it, then trim it down 1/4" from that point. (Clamp a ruler in a stand next to it if you need to) You take your measurement at the widest point of the elevator, not that tapered part near the center.

This is all basic stuff. I don't wish to insult, but how many airplanes have you flown before this one?

Speedracer2112

No problem, I have 24 planes. Mostly jets and warbirds. I'm just being very specific so that I dont have a repeat of my first flight. I'm just making sure we are on the same page. For all I know you could be using any part of the plane as a reference point! I remember the trim was off quite a bit in one direction. Just couldnt remember which way.

Thanks

SR

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

OK

You had me concerned there, for a bit.