Originally Posted by
BMatthews
You'll need to open up the wing to install the RC gear and to remove the bellcrank and leadouts. When you do you might consider clipping a rib bay or two off the wing to sharpen up the roll response. Control line stunt models tend to have LONG wings because they don't have any need to roll but want a lot of wing area for the pitching maneuvers.
The other thing about the balance point is that CL models of this sort tended to use 15 to 20% CG locations. But they use big engines. You may find that you need to shorten the nose to let you get the CG back to the roughly 30% point which would work better for RC. Or you need to select a lighter engine than the usual .35 glow engine that these models use.
Find a set of plans or instruction manual for the Twister. Odd are that the maple engine bearers extend back well behind the present engine location. If this is true then you'll find that you can cut off the present engine location altogether and then carve out a new crankcase well and drill for new mounting bolts and end up neatly shorter and trimmer without too much problem at all.
If it turns out there's no room for a clunk tank behind the engine then stick it on the other side like the old style fun fly models did. The cool thing then is you can do a low and slow and check the fuel level!
Back in the 90's I converted a standard Sterling Ringmaster to R/C with 3 channels used. Power was a old 4 bolt Fox 19R/C. The rudder was fixed and it was always hand launched. It was a very good flying model with one exception. No rudder no spins. It met its demise when a friend forgot that cavat and put it into a spin with no rudder no chance to recover. Lesson learned, always install a rudder if your going to let your friends fly your fun models.
I also did a Jetco/Mcfarland Shark 45 With a HP 40. You need less power as you do not have the drag of the lines.
As to your profile you can affect your CG by doing what is commonly done on modern RC models and move the elevator/rudder servos to the rear of the model. If you were doing electric it would be a simple matter to relocate the equipment and you would only need about a E-flite 25 for the model with exceptional performance.
I'm going to convert a Dare/Sterling Navion to R/C with a 10 E-flite electric and expect it to outperform the old glow version significantly. With a 43 inch W/S it will be less than 40 oz. Should be fun.
Dennis