If it's not too windy on Wednesday (June 11), I'm taking the TBM Zeke out to the field to test the new carb Desert Aircraft sent me for the DA-85. Been wanting to test fly since last Nov, but just have not had it work out. Tomorrow might be the day. If the new carb does the trick, I will be plum crazy over flying the Zeke.

Wed, June 11.

I took the Zeke out today and started her up. As always ran fine on the ground. But, once airborne, started banging and popping like mad. She had plenty of power, but was either too rich or too lean. I will take her out again, and try turning the high-end needle valve in one blade width, fly, and if still banging, turn it in once more, etc, till she either starts running right or quits. Then, will go the other way with the needle valve, richer, until she runs right or dies. Really driving me crazy. Plane flies great other than that.

Have put several flights on my green zero so far this year. Last flight was taxing back quite slowly and the tail popped up and she flipped over. Cracked the canopy but no other damage. Used clear tape to fix that. I have noticed that on takeoff she really wants to tip over as I accelerate and I really need to manage the elevator.. Landings as well. Also when taxing the tail bounces quite a bit. Our field is grass and fairly smooth. Anyone else having this happen?

Thought I might be nose heavy and this might be part of the problem. CG is 1.5" forward of the front spar edge. That is measured were the inner section joins the outer panels. Last flight pulled the nose up to about thirty degrees and rolled inverted. With neutral elevator nose drops but not really fast. To fly inverted takes a decent amount of elevator. But seems in the normal range. I thought in an earlier post that someone has the CG back at the spar. Have to go back and check that out. So anyone with any thoughts or help would like to hear from you.

Thanks,

John

Mine balances exactly on the main spar at the wing joiner section. It still requires quite a bit of push to maintain level inverted flight. I think you can move your CG rearward if you want to. It also has a tendency to nose over during take off. It seems like when I advance the throttle the tail comes up quickly and wants to keep going up forcing the nose over, if that makes sense. What I did was put in some up trim for when the gear is down, but when the gear is retracted, the up trim is eliminated enough so the plane flies level during flight. My Zero also wanted to climb dramaticallly when the throttle was advanced. So what I did to combat that was to program a mix of down elevator with throttle which is working quite well, but again the mix is turned off when the gear is down because of the nose over problem on takeoff. Hope this helps.
Al

Hi Guys,

I just thought I'd post a pic and quick vid of my Zero, it was the white one out of the box but I fancied a kit bash. This thread has been a great read while building.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ8muhAlf_A&list=UUsDoF_qMThQyqQ9m5eE757g&feature=share&index=2 First flight saw some engine problems (too lean and a very hot day, now sorted). She's running sierras, XYZ53cc twin, 22x8 menz, standard tailwheel unit modded to electric, 5 piece gear doors as per fullsize, DB cockpit, 34lbs AUW. Flys well now :-)

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2004997http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2004998http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2004999

Cheers
Mat

I love your sound track! Is that some new-age band? ;^)

Lol yep, the digi chorus!

Mat :D

One of my fellow RC Club members is offering his TBM Zero on RCU. Here's the link. It's going to be a local sale and PU only, so keep that in mind. I don't think he's flown this one, but bought it from the guy who originally owned and assembled it. DA-84 for power.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemId=988414

Lane,
You should jump on that one. You need a green and a white one! How's yours been flying? Did you get the engine problem worked out? Mine is flying great!

Al. I just dropped over $4K on the ESM Corsair with the Saito FG-84 radial engine. So, guess I'll have to see it go bye-bye to a guy with deeper pockets!

No on the TBM Zero. She flies, but still bangs and pops once airborne. I have decided to fly her anyway as she's a joy to fly other than the engine problem. Either she will fly fine or she will die trying! haha.

Sounds like an awesome combo with the saito and the corsair. Best of luck with it. I saw the thread on the Corsair. Will be following to see how the maiden turns out. As you probably know, the corsair won't float like the Zero. Fellow member has one with DLE 55. Flies beautifully, but landing is a little more tricky than the Zero I think.

Yes, the Corsair will have a wing loading of 50 oz per sq ft. Yikes! That wing is only 1500+ square inches and she's 34 pounds. Not a floater. But, with full flaps should land well. Maiden flights are where that fun begins! I am waiting for a decent day to do that deed.

CG adjustment.
 

Wanted to double check on CG position. Have mine at 1.375" in front of front spar edge as shown. Have at least two pounds of lead up front and be nice to get rid of some of it. So everyone out there flying these Zeros please tell me where you have your CG?

I know now at least one person has it at the spar but wanted to check before moving it back.

Thanks!

John

John, please tell me how far from the Leading Edge your mark is and tell me the Chord of the wing, and I'll give you my 25 cent opinion. Ha

My CG is located where the arrow points on your drawing. I checked it exactly at the point where the wings join together. I checked the CG with the plane rightside up, and the gear UP. I have zero dead weight anywhere on the plane. 26 lbs AUW. When flying level and inverted the plane's nose will drop requiring down elevator to maintain level flight. It floats in on landing and is not twitchy at all.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2018317

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2027168 Enjoying the Zero this season. I found by placing a 1/16" piece of ply under the rear gear rail, it pushed my wheels about a half inch forward when down and helps a lot for that nose over tendency on takeoff and landing. The wheels still lay in the wing just fine. A big improvement for me.

Today I finally had the chance to fire the engine in my Zero for the first time. I'm running a Evolution 58GX2. I have no doubt that I will have plenty of power for this plane. I have my CG set right at the front of the wing spar. And a bit of down elevator with the flaps.

What should I be expecting on my maiden flight?
Will it want to take off fast or do they use a lot of runway?
Are they nice to land, or should I be ready for a fight? I have never had a plane with Flap and Retacts. So this will be a learning experience!
Thanks
Trevor

Trevor, let her roll down the runway adding more power as you go until you get full throttle. No need to cob her from the first moment. Kick in whatever rudder inputs you need to keep straight. She should get light and begin to start to fly on her own with just a bit of up elevator. Don't pull her off, just let her fly off. The 58cc engine may not be as peppy as the DA-85, so be sure to let her have some runway vs yanking off. The DA-85 uses about half throttle to get airborne.

Landing requires you to keep power on until she touches down. Or, do not do this - Pull power while at 50 feet and try to glide in like a trainer - that's the last landing you'll see. She needs some throttle to keep steady, full flaps, and let her touch down, wheels landing style. If you are lucky, this will be a sweet landing and everyone will applaud your efforts. If she's not going to touch down on the first third of the runway, add power, leave gear and flaps DOWN, and go around for another try. And DO NOT WAIT till you are in serious trouble (low airspeed) to go around. Go around EARLY and OFTEN till you got the right mojo going. Generally speaking, the Zero is a very sweet and forgiving warbird.

However, with the last sentence above, I will tell you that since you have never flown a retract plane with flaps, you might consider letting someone who has some experience with warbirds take the first flight. Just my two cents worth.

+1

I have one of these NIB. It's the white Navy model. Can't decide to sell her or build her. Ha. Good luck with your maiden Trevor.

The only remarks I would add to Lane's assessment, is that if you are not confident with how the plane behaves with the flaps deployed, then land without them. I don't use them and the plane lands just fine if you stick to what Lane says about power management. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

On Friday, I took the Big Zero out to the field. I have been determined to either make the DA-85 run correctly or she will die in the process! ha. Well, without having done one thing to the engine since the last time out, she fired off after five flips with choke, then started after the next five flips! Wow, usually takes me 20 flips at least to get running. Ran up, sounded strong. I let Barry P. take her out to fly and see how she ran for the start of some engine needle valve adjustments. He cleared ground and the engine was still running perfectly, unlike every other time when she started banging and popping endlessly. Wow, he pulls the gear up and flogs the throttle. She's then making 90 to 100 mph passes! Yikes. For some reason, she has begun to respond to my threats! I stood there thinking the wings were going to just fold up and make her a kamikaze into the ground. But nope, she kept right on flying strong with only a pop or bang or two. We flew her once again and the same results, strong as an ox. That engine is simply amazing in the power it creates. Barry said that's the most powerful plane he's every flown. Pretty cool day at the field.

After a week or two, Barry decided he wanted to buy my Zero. Since he has helped me dozens of times with setting up new engines and many test flights, I sold it to him on a sweet deal. He's going to strip out all the internal equipment, return those parts to me, and repaint to a different scheme. So, this will be a real terror at the field and certainly the fastest warbird out there. Looking forward to seeing it fly in Barry's hands. I am needing to thin out the models for some cash as I am hopefully about to buy a new home where I can get out of this small apt. Need a bigger workshop for sure.

Hi guys, I've got the U.K. Y.T version of this, won't fly til next year now, but wondered if you guys dialled down elevater in with flaps? And if so how much %?

Thank you,
Dave.

Dave, try 6 points DOWN elevator with half flaps and 12 points DOWN with full flaps. Doesn't take much.

By by six points you mean 'clicks' on the trim? 12 on full?

Dave.