sparky4lawndart

My Feedback: (10)

Remember when you told me to get rid of the Airtronics radio and use Futaba... Well, I didn't... I flew the plane about 3 months... lots o fun... invited my boss to the flightline to show off and on the third flight I lost radio as the BF110 was 50 feet up and heading along the dead line. I jumped up and down, turned my radio on and off hoping to reconnect... The plane climbed to about 400 feet rolled over and flew into the parking lot behind the flightline at over 100MPH and the shrapnel did $4000+ damage to three cars. Thank god no one was hurt and AMA insurance picked up the car repair claims.

one day I'm going to buy that plane again...I loved it.

cubarican323

Wow that's nuts yea Airtronics sucks there good for electrics that's about it. I have the top flight giant fw I put a DLE 85 in it and it purrrs in the sky.

Lifer

My Feedback: (1)

I've been using Airtronics exclusively since 1985. Zero issues.

captainron

Yo my Top Flite FW 190 brethren..............HELP..!

can anybody tell me why this is the worst landing airplane I have ever owned? I don't mean the approach or the flare..........I MEAN AFTER TOUCDOWN........this is the the most ground looping est sideways hopping wing tip scraping landing gear bending airplane I've ever landed. I have yet to have a nice straight roll out..........WHAT? come on, I have P-47's P51's, Corsair's.........ONce in a while, one will get away from ya, but not every dam time........I was at Warbirds over Denver a couple of weeks ago and a Fellow had one there and his did the exact same thing on every single landing.

Thoughts? CAPTAIN RON
NEED SOME THOUGHTS HERE.

CCFPILOT

Are you saying no airplane using Futaba has ever crashed? There are lots of causes besides the radio.

cubarican323

I never had a problem with Airtronics when they where 72 but I bought the sd10g and I lost both my corsairs to radio loss and it wasn't my battery's I run 2 life battery's with battery share. And then I seen several plane go down with the same radio.

cubarican323

I felt the same about the landings it the way the retracts sit in a angle but now that I have a lot of practice I land it perfect but I always use flaps. They don't land like my p51 or zero.

SWORDSN

My Feedback: (13)

Captainron, Most ground loopers land better with more speed.I was having the same problem with my p40 and a little more landing speed stoped the ground loops.

captainron

Thanks SWORDSN,
Yup...I tried hot landings and slow landings, with and without flaps. As long as I keep the tail up and I have rudder authority, I'm good. once the tail comes down...........Katie bar the doors...........thar she goes..!!!

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Yo Ron! Try setting Toe-out. I know it may seem weird, but one of the guys in my club did this and it really worked. It is worth a shot. Very easy mod. Hopefully it will work for you.
Not sure if you guys are going, but a couple of us will be in the Springs this weekend. Hope to see some of you guys there!

captainron

Cool Rich...........Yes sir.......the boys from Pueblo will be there. Not bringing the FW190 but I've heard that before....re the toe out. I'm gonna try it...........How much? a couple of degrees maybe? Warbirds over Pikes Peak is always a good time if the wind doesn't get out of hand. Nice runways (two) well taken care of. see ya there.

CAPTAIN RON

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

2-3 degrees I would say. I will be with another Love-air warbirder Dave. He plans to come down to Pueblo in Sept. Looking forward to seeing you guys. We're gonna camp. Hopefully get in some small night flying!

Chris Nicastro

My Feedback: (3)

Toe out AND carry a little power all the way through roll out as the tail drops gently. If your using flaps one tip is to retract them as soon as possible to increase tail authority as you transition to fast taxi speeds.

captainron

OK, got it Chris...........Love these forums.

steph69

hi guys I am a newbie to these gas 55cc GS warbirds, and I am a bit confused about this toe out. I need some advice on how to set it up maybe some pics would be great could somebody help me to set it up. I am partially built and at the point of fitting my robart main air retracts and I want to set it up correct, I say I am a newbie but I am more of a giant scale begineer I have several planes my biggest warbird is a hanger 9 60 sized p47 which is a wonderfull plane to fly I have had little problems with it. but this toe out on the fw-190 has me worried. I have several planes greatplanes extra 300 kit with dle 20cc, fms fw-190 electric, and several large scale foamys. so please guys need some help about toe out and hoe to set it up. I don't want to risk my £1500 pride and joy warbird so any info would be well appreciate guys any pics or instructions would be a god send thanks guys.

dasintex

My Feedback: (10)

Toe Out means rotating the wheels so they point slightly outward instead of pointing parallel to center; on Robarts, this is accomplished by a Allen Head Cap Screw on the bottom of the struts; when you loosen it, the shaft that holds the wheel axle can rotate, you merely rotate this so the wheels point outwards a few degrees, then tighten the screw back up.

captainron

steph69
dasintex couldn't have said it anymore perfectly. Simply put your pride and joy on the ground on it's it's wheels of course, Stand directly in front of it back about 10 feet. Look at the wheels. Toe out means they should be pointed slightly outward, and I MEAN just a couple of degrees. To make that happen, read dasintex's instructions again. There ya go my man..........gotta love these forums.

CAPTAIN RON

sparky4lawndart

My Feedback: (10)

I would like to clarify my earlier post...

I used to fly an Airtronics SD10G (I still have my RDS8000). I'm a big fan of Airtronics and there are many who sing its praises. I would assume that the Power Expander I was using, or the two LIfe6.6v batteries, or possibly a configuration issue caused the radio glitch that resulted in a very dangerous crash. I've since decided to fly my big stuff on my Futaba 14SG. Yes... I have crashed a plane with that radio but those have been my fault entirely. I know many who love the Airtronics SD10G but I'm very satisfied with my 14SG and will continue to use it on all my big planes. I'll continue to use the RDS8000 on my foamies, etc.

RE: Toe out -
I found that the plane with the tail wheel down presents a different toe in-out than when it's tail high. I've setup my FW with the toe out with the tail down which translates to miniscule toe out with tail high. Thus eliminating my ground loop issues.

happy flyin!

Mpizpilot

My Feedback: (45)

Ive only got one flight on my FW so far, but did 3 take offs and landings. I had absolutely no problem with the plane, so it got me wondering, am I that good or is it something else? lol. I did check and sure enough, I've got a hair of toe out on my gear so I guess that's the fix for those having issue.

aghost

My Feedback: (13)

steph69: Sometimes its easier to see the toe in/out if you lay a one meter ruler against the tire.

Mpizpilot

My Feedback: (45)

3 more flights today. I absolutely love this plane! I have zero issues with take off and landing, definitely has to be the slight toe out.

captainron

Flew mine twice this weekend at Warbirds over Pikes Peak............great event guys. Did the slight toe out thing and YES YES..........much better. easier to handle after touch down. That's I love these forums.

cheers, CAPTAIN RON

Lifer

My Feedback: (1)

Somebody needs to tell Top Flite. They could add a supplement to the instructions.

kwik

I love this plane too.Havent done any toe out, and it still performed well on a warbird meet just now;

No "Flieger-Denkmal" this time.

dasintex

My Feedback: (10)

Hey Kwik;

From your Pictures, it doesn't look like you use much Flaps for landing; is that the same for most of the TF FW190 Pilots flying this bird?

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, you are using the William Bros Wheels that we all talked about at length earlier in this Thread, how are those working out, do they bouce a lot or act as good shock absorbers, etc?

Thanks.