Finally got my Typhoon together and up in the air, and I was wondering if I could get some input on how I might improve my setup.

I've noticed that it's very unstable when hovering, especially compared to most of the planes (including a model of this Typhoon) I've played with in RealFlight G4. Is this just a difference between the sim and reality, or can I adjust my balance to make it more stable?

I've also noticed coupling issues with the rudder when flying knife-edge. Tight loops, at low power or dead stick especially, also result in rolling. This however was something I noticed in G4 as well.

I'm running it on a DX6i, and don't have the sideforce generators attached. This is my 2nd plane and first 3d capable plane; I've been having a lot fun with it so far :P

I like my Typhoon too, and recently changed the wing servos to some Futaba S3102's I had around, and put on some sfg's - big improvements all round when it comes to silly maneuvers. I agree that a slow loop may easily turn into a corkscrew, and knife-edge is hard to hold - easiest to see what's happening when it's going away from you, put that quickly introduces the problem of disappearing.

I think that the basic airframe is pretty crude, so you are always going to find that its behavior is not completely predictable. I find that experimenting with flaperons (although unnecessary) is difficult. The right setting for flaps/elevators doesn't seem to exist - it either wants to climb into a loop, dive, or roll over. However, on another note, I programmed a mix that moves the ailerons down (up to 40%) as the elevator goes up (and vice versa) - VERY tight loops, and thankfully, so far nothing has snapped off.

TakeshiSkunk

The SFG's are a must for steady knife edge. Try flying the Typhoon towards you when learning to do a knife edge so you can easily determine when to adjust the rudder and the ailerons. After that, you can start flying accross the field, etc. SFG's make it really easy.

As to balancing, I added extra tail weight (a little at a time) until the Typhoon stops diving with throttle off and just floats into a landing. However, this is a preference issue others like to fly it a little hose heavy.

I use the attached guide to properly balance my planes. It is quite helpful

It's not a pettern plane or anything of sorts. It's a "squirley/twitchy" anything goes type plane. I've flown mine with the and without the SFG on it. I just removed them again because I find it easier to tranport with other planes without them on.

I like a LOT of rudder and have it set basically at the maximum amount it will go without hitting the stab. I can kife edge with it just fine without the SFG on it. I don't use any mixing on the DX7 I fly it with.

I've tried moving the CG back a bit but end up finding I like it best without any additional tail weight and just fly it with 1800-2200 zippy packs in the normal position and find it flys best all around like this.

This plane isn't really something you can hover easily on (compared to other models) so don't worry to much about it. It will however harrier quite well. I probably spend most of my time flying it under 10' mostly inverted.

Carlo

PS While I like to use full rudder I don't use a lot of elevator. Since the fuse is short I find using "medium/low" elevator with lots of wing and rudder suits my flying style. I toned down the elevator because I dind the plane looks like it's on a roller coaster track at times when pushing/pulling the right stick.