abrown24

Hey, gang. I'm gunning to fly a large scale twin engine plane (B-25 Mitchell), in fact I've already purchased it (88" Top Flight with very few flights; 15cc RCGF engines, etc. Its a beauty) but know that I'm probably not ready to fly it - I only soloed on Father's Day. I'm happy to sit on it for 6 - 8 months til I'm fairly sure I'm ready to make the leap (I'm in a club with some really experienced pilots, none with much twin engine experience however, and will trust their judgement in terms of my readiness to step up and fly the big boy). I think I'm a fairly solid advanced-beginner, but a beginner nonetheless. I'm in love with the B-25 and wanted one in my collection so that when I'm confident, I'll have it and the enjoyment of flying the war- bird I've always dreamed of flying.

Question.......is there a twin gas recommended as first twin ("trainer") as I work my way up to large scale? Nothing against electrics, but I'm interested in training in the manner that I want to ultimately fly. I've come across the gas Twinstar in my research - not sure there are many of those around any longer, though. Thoughts on it or any others as good starters in the twin space would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys and gals.

AB

Rotten40851

My Feedback: (2)

I have been flying twins for a long time. Welcome to the dark side.( Just Kidding.) Twins are fantastic, there is nothing like hearing the sound of twin engines purring past you. ( I do not fly electric) A few things you need to know and you will be ready to fly your Twin successfully. First off, remember twin engine aircraft are not floaters, they need power throughout the landing process ( as do most warbirds, but twins especially) Power to the ground. Second, don't be too obsessed with getting your engines perfectly synced. a lot of pilots are under the suspicion that your engines need to be real close in RPM to fly right. Not the case, 600-1000 rpm is fine. start by starting one engine and get it to run reliably. peak it out and then open the HS Needle 1/4 -1/2 a turn richer. Shut down that engine and do the same to the other. Tach them and see the difference. if they are within 1000 rpm and don't sound way way off, leave them alone. If you do have to adjust one of them, always tune the engine that has the higher RPM down to the one that has the lower RPM. Do not try to tune up as the engine will be working too hard. you would rather have the engine running richer than leaner. With twins you want reliability not an engine struggling to keep up with the other one. Remember this with twin engine aircraft, you have a 50% more chance of an engine quitting on you. Lastly, your B=25 should have plenty of power with a15cc gasser to get it safely back on the ground with one engine in case you do have an engine quit on you, Don't panic if this happens, just line yourself up for an approach as soon as you can, don't try to climb out or fly around on one engine. you should have plenty of power to line yourself up for a landing,. some people elect to kill the remaining engine and coast in, I don't recommend that. The Twinstar is an excellent plane to get you familiar with flying a twin engine airplane. Unfortunatly they don't make them anymore but maybe you can pick one up on RCU, Ebay or RC Groups. I have two ,one is converted to a float plane with a High wing. They both have OS FP 40 nitro engines on them. I do recommend attempting to get a Twinstar before flying your B-25 The TwinStar will fly on one FP 40. I know this from experience. Where are you located? I am in South Florida. I hope this helps you out and feel free to PM me or ask on the thread if you have any more questions, Check out the thread above titled Top Flite Cessna 310 and check out the TF 310 I put DLE 20 cc gassers in, it flies great. Good Luck, John

thailazer

If you can find a Hangar 9 Twin Otter, you would have your ultimate trainer. It's well behaved, not heavy, and fixed gear. There are many twins out there but few are what I would consider in the trainer category. Welcome, by the way, to the addictive world of twins!

ps2727

AB,
My brother took his old PT 60 trainer and replaced the single engine with two smaller .25 glow engines in lite ply nacelles. It made a nice multi
trainer and he got proficient in two engine as well as engine out flying. He could shut down one engine and do touch and goes!
This gave him the confidence to move on to other twin models.
It's one way to twins without having lots of time or money invested.
Best of luck on your B-25!
Paul