nobbybasher

hi gonzalo, my issues with my kit are now resolved by my rep

Colin Gontier

All in hand and we will get there - Im looking forward to seeing it all finished and ready for maiden

kind regards

Colin

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

Drooooooooooollllll.... man... after I get some more turbine time under my belt I think this will be my first and likely only scale ship.

Been staring down the BVM PNP F-16 and Yak-130 and the Skymaster 104, but this kit seems amazing.

bluelevel

My Feedback: (39)

I'd say that the Tutor is one of the best flying (semi) scale jets out there and would also make an excellent jet trainer. It has has such a nice presence in the air and due to its size, it's also easy to see and judge its speed. Once you have found the right (quite large) amount of flap, it comes in at a crawl and is super easy to land. Despite it's whale like draggy shape, it's also a very aerobatic jet that draws nice lines and pretty clean rolls with not a lot of coupling.

For normal flying a 140 sized turbine is enough and a 160 probably the ideal size for basic aerobatics. I fly mine with a 180 and enjoy the acceleration even on uplines and the unlimited verticals for advanced aerobatics. Initially I wanted to have my Tutor build as fast as possible and therefore didn't add any scale details, what I am now regretting a bit. But I still cannot convince myself to drop another $1,500 on a scale cockpit and two pilots, but I just ordered a nice lighting kit and also weathered my jet a little bit to accent its scale lines.

The only downside so far are the original Carf struts, as previously mentioned these are a bit weak. But Behotec now also offers very nice trailing mains and nosewheel which are awesome. These fit with minimal modifications and are a real improvement. I built mine with the Behotec electric gear option and didn't regret my decision one time (unfortunately cannot say that about the Down-and-Locked conversion I had before).

Thomas

Gonzalo38

As Thomas said, the Tutor for me is one of the best flying jets out there.

Having said that, it is a complete different animal if compared to the F-16. The Tutor is flies more like a trainer and even that you can do some aerobatics, it won't compare to the F-16. I don't own an F-16 but when I compare it to what the guys in my club can do with it, there's a huge difference.

During windy days the Tutor really moves and it's also affected by turbulence while the F-16 cuts through the air like a knife. The F-16 can do spins and very radical manoeuvres while I would never dare to do those same manoeuvres in the Tutor. They are just two different airplanes and the Tutor fits more my style of non aggressive and more scale flying.

Don't have any experience with the Yak 130 but it does lok like a very nice plane and it is in my short list of future airplanes to buy. The F-104 ? There was one in our club but it is far from an aerobatic plane. It seems heavy too me. At some moment I was interested on buying one but soon I started reading about the plane and realised that it wasn't for me.

Even that the CARF Tutor is not up to scale, with some work you can end up with a really nice plane. It flies so nice that it is my favourite plane together with the CARF Marchetti. From the 8 jets I currently have, the Tutor is on the top for me.

bluelevel

My Feedback: (39)

Gonzalo,

I agree with you that due to its draggy shape and having a lot of side area, the Tutor is of course more affected by the wind than a sleek airframe like an F-16. But that's nothing that a gyro cannot fix.

And although it's not your typical "bank and yank" sport jet, it is capable of a lot more than just basic aerobatics. Just try some advanced aerobatic maneuvers and you'll see that the Tutor does them pretty well. My telemetry has also shown speeds of up to 185 miles, so although it's not moving like a Flash or Lightning, it still hauls the mail pretty fast. Carf planes are built like tanks, that does of course come with a little weight penalty, but also gives you the confidence that it won't break easily.

BTW, love your silver/red Tutor! Let me know if you ever think of parting with that one...

Thomas

Gonzalo38

Thomas:

The silver Tutor is by far my favourite plane...... but I just don't fly it too much in order to make sure I just don't abuse or brake it. hahahahahaha...... I know it's crazy but just love the plane and don't want to risk it.

It was painted by Ralf Schneider....... the master himself. When I bought the plane, the fuselage was great but I decided to upgrade everything inside of it. Never understood why such a nice fuselage was build terrible on the inside. The original servos didn't center correctly so I decided to take no risks. Now the plane is equipped with JR8711 servos, Powerbox Royal SRS with Igyro, GPS, etc....... in summary, all top notch equipment.

AKB

My Feedback: (6)

Hi Gonzalo and Thomas

In your experience having at least two of theTutors, have you ever had issues with the airframe wanting to pull from one side of the runway to the other on takeoff? I have owned two of them now and they both did the same. The first one was quit pronounced at this behaviour and did this enough times to do damage to plane and the last time to its eventual demise. In talking with other pilots it was thought that there was too much flap on takeoff over the manufacturers spec. Creating an effect of little nose wheel authority and the same with rudder. At that time there was a Futaba 190 gyro for the rudder.

So we went on to Tutor #2 being very careful adhering to all the manufacturers throw specs. A lot of the time not using take off flaps at all for takeoff . This was hit and miss, but mostly miss as we still had wondering take offs with gyros on nose wheel and rudder.
So some thought looking at the AOA that it may have looked a bit negative and it was suggested to cut approximately 6mm out of main spring retracts. It was measured with a meter and it was a couple of degrees negative. The last time that this aircraft flew it was off of grass which is never a problem with t/o's anyways, but unfortunately the aircraft was lost due to a totally unrelated problem, so we could never confirm if the shortening of the springs would have solved the wandering thing down the runway.

So I am a believer in this airframe and love its presence in the sky as so many others have said. And of course I am Canadian so I think it is only normal to like it with our country's history with it. So I will probably get another one sometime.

My questions out there is should a change be made to trailing links on this one. If my suspicions are right and there is an inherent negative AOA in it would trailing links help? Does it destroy its semi scale look? Can you still use gear doors(the ones that attach to the struts)? I did think that the regular struts were a bit stiff and the narrow wheels are very hard rubber. Maybe taking some coils out of the regular struts are the way to go.

I would really like to be successful on #3.

Thanks for for your help in advance.

Alan

Gonzalo38

Alan.

Too bad to hear that you've had some problems with your Tutors. In my case, I've been flying them for a couple of years now and I have never seen the problem you are describing.

I'm not the best pilot our there and that's why I tend to use a lot of exponential in my radio. Especially for nose wheel steering, if I don't have a lot of exponential I tend to go all over the runway. How much do you have in your radio ?

In both of my planes I have gone with factory settings and I've never had a problem.

By the way, obviously I'm not Canadian but I'm married to one. I travel a couple of time per year to Canada and after son may years I tend to fell lie one (if that's ever possible......). That's why I'm very proud that most of my planes are painted in a Canadian scheme. People make fun of me at the club that almost all my planes are in a similar Canadian scheme, but I couldn't care less beach I love the.

Hopefully next time you have better luck with your Tutor since it is a really nice plane. As I have said earlier on this post it does have a landing gear design problem (too small and soft for this size of plane), but if you are careful during the landing face you should be OK.

I do use iGyros in both of my Tutors but don't activate them during take off. Plane goes straight without it but I do activate it once I'm airborne. iGyro do make landings an easy thing even that this model doesn't need it.

AKB

My Feedback: (6)

Gonzalo
Yes it is a small world.

Dean Wichmann is a very accomplished pilot here in Western Canada and he has a Tutor as well. I know he hasn't had the issues I have had with T/O roll. He had a suggestion of adding throttle to1/2 to get the aircraft rolling straight while at the same time adding elevator back pressure ( then going to full throttle) to try and make the transition from the weight being on the nose and having it shifted to the mains similar to a tail dragger.

We have experimented with higher expos with some success. Maybe should be adding more. One of the fellows puts a slow servo speed into a Seabart Avanti and thinks that's the way to go to tame a wild nose down.

Your Tutors are very sharp looking. Especially the flight metal one. Where the Snowbirds are based in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan I there used to be a Squadron #2 called Big Sky that was all in the flight metal.

If you ever make it out to the west side of the country during flying season you will have to look us up in Calgary here or in one of our rallies in Edmonton or Princeton BC (East of Vancouver on the #3)which will be in 3 weeks.

Thanks for for your suggestions.

Alan

Gonzalo38

Alan:

In my Futaba radio I think I use around - 40 to -45 expo for the nose and that seems to work fine. Any less than that and I have a problem controlling the plane during takeoff.

I do apply throttle gently and as the plane start rolling, I start opening it slowly. The plane has a very short takeoff so I don't let it run all the way through the runway. As I said earlier, don't use the iGyro for the takeoff since I don't have any problems and don't add elevator since in my case is not necessary.

Would love to go to Calgary and visit you guys, but most of the time I go to Ottawa and Vancouver.... but you never know.

bluelevel

My Feedback: (39)

Alan,

I do not think that the tracking issue is a problem with the plane(s) itself, I am pretty sure it is a setup thing. To me it sounds as if you are using either too much or too less steering. With not enough deflection (or too much rudder expo) you move the rudder stick more and more having the feeling the plane's heading is not changing at all. Then you will bang the stick in the corner to turn it at the last second, that will make everything even worse as the plane becomes unstable. With too much steering (or too less rudder expo) the opposite will happen. At the slightest movement of the plane you automatically overcorrect, which makes the plane pull from one side to the other.

Another factor could be too less toe-in of the mains, planes setup like this will never roll straight and become unstable as you only touch the rudder. Use of excessive take off flap can also make steering harder.

My set up is about 15 degrees of take-off flap and I also use two different mixes for nose-wheel steering depending on the throttle position. For taxiing (throttle <50%) I use a 60% rudder to steering mix giving me a lot of throw. Once I accelerate to take off (throttle >50%), the mix is reduced to 40% giving me less but still sufficient throw.

Thomas

bluelevel

My Feedback: (39)

Alan,

the angle of attack ("camber") is not the problem, since the mains sit fairly even and flat on the asphalt. If you cut the springs, you will most likely hurt the gear's ability to filter bumps or a just-near-to-perfect landing. This is not required at all! The only adjustment that you need to get right is sufficient toe-in. The mains have to point slightly inwards to improve tracking and stability.

As to the question on the trailing gear, I only use them on the nose so I cannot comment if the main gear doors would still fit. But I believe that someone posted pictures of his setup here in this thread and he had the doors fitted.

Thomas

AKB

My Feedback: (6)

Hi Thomas
You bring up some things that are definitely worth thinking about as far as the two types of mixes. Also the toe in. Do you overdue the toe in a little bit more then recommended as far as lining up the wheels with root wing chord? You would think with a little more toe in that would help hold it a bit more down the center line.

Thanks for your comments.
Alan

bluelevel

My Feedback: (39)

Every jet needs to have the mains angled slightly inwards, these just being aligned parallel with the wing root gives you terrible steering and no stability at all. I just checked the Tutor manual and unfortunately this is a bit misleading, because it recommends to have the "wheels parallel with the wing root or 1 degree of toe-in". I'd say that 1 degree is the minimum, using more will increase the tire wear slightly but improve the tracking significantly. As shown in the manual, you can easily check the alignment by laying a sheet of paper on the wing parallel with the root wing chord.

Thomas

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

Ha... I know the pilot painted on the side of your plane. Good dude

Dave Wilshere

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3K6yV0cfNg

I never had a problem with the instruction manual airframe, even in cross winds. No gyro. Its important to lubricate the steering pin with grease and the top of the leg where it rubs on the yoke. The vertical leg is very direct and any sticky linkage or pivot will show up.
All models benefit from toe in on the main wheels.
I use around 35% expo on the rudder/nose steering

AKB

My Feedback: (6)

Hi Dave
Thats an avenue to look down as well for the lubrication of those areas. Do you still have your Tutor, I see that video is now about 5 years old. Looks like it tracked very well on the runway.

Thanks Alan

bluelevel

My Feedback: (39)

Alan,

between the lines I read that you had set your mains parallel with the wing root chord, I am 100% positive that this caused the bad tracking and inconsistent steering. I bet Carf has sold a few hundred Tutors over the past 5 years, none had the problems like yours, otherwise it would be mentioned on the forums. Should you still have another jet regardless of type and brand, just try what we recommended and you will see a big difference right away.

Thomas

Dave Wilshere

Only the wings and tails! The fuselage was damaged beyond repair at a jet meeting a couple of years ago, It had the original rock hard intairco wheels and the elevators took a pounding with vibration on the ground, just before landing one elevator decided to scroll full down to full up continuously! I fought it for 80% of a circuit but had to dump it on the grass, in maximum drag mode it was a slow "arrival" but nose down. I keep meaning to order a new fuse, I have the gear, radio and tank in a box waiting for some time.

Dave

roydefiant

Wish we could get hydraulic oleo struts for these jets

roydefiant

AKB

My Feedback: (6)

So sorry to hear that Dave. I guess you got to maybe limit how many grass fields you fly at with this airframe.

AKB

My Feedback: (6)

Hey Roydefiant that was the squadron I was talking to Gonzalo. Hey the color of those taxiways and runway look familiar. They look like what my buddy Dave Dennison was flying his A-10 off one time, I saw on a video. Do you Dave, great fellow, I bought his A-10.

AKB

My Feedback: (6)

Thanks for all the great replies fellows, you definitely have given me some areas to pay attention to on the next one.

Alan