Hey im almost done building the Twist .40 and put in just a small LA .40 from OS. Has anyone else put in a .40 in theirs? How do you think the performance will be?? Thanks.

I think you may have trouble getting it to balance. I built one with a Magnum 52 two stroke , mounted the battery right behind the fuel tank and it still came out slightly tail heavy.As far as that 40 being enough, it should fly fine, just don't expect to do any hovering. I really enjoyed mine, and i don't think I've seen a better airplane yet for 100 bucks.

Brian

yeah i just have to put the engine on and then balance it. I hate doing that, and i hope, unlike you, that part goes smoothly.

I have a Megatech .46 BB in mine, and it will hover, but real slow to pull out if it. I'm hoping to put a FA .72 four-stroke in it over the winter. your LA .40 should fly it, but don't expect to much "3D" performance.Oh, and it lands like a dream.

alright i put this engine in right. Its supposed to balance at 4 inches back (where i marked it at) and its Crazily tailheavy!! I have the battery all the way up, and it balances at (im estimating) 8 inches back from the leading edge. How do you guys balance youres (with minimal added weight) with the smaller engine ranges?? Thanks so much for any more help!

Varad if you don't go with a bigger engine for balance you'll have to put some weight in the nose. One thing you should do is shoot for around 5 inches for c.g. as apposed to 4. I fly mine at 51/2" and it doesn't act real tail heavy at all and I still need to give quite a bit of down elevator when I'm inverted. I am going to pull the Magnum .61 4 stroke out of mine and stick a TT pro .61 in it for a little more snort. My twist weighs in at 51/4 pounds and I know it will handle the bigger engine just fine. I don't think you will be real happy with a 40 in it, like the other guys said it will fly it but no way will it 3-d very well with the 40. Mine with the 4 stroke .61 will hover but it JUST pulls out of one with no room for error so I'm going bigger it can use the weight in the nose anyway. With the magnum I have in it I still need an ounce and a quarter weight in the nose with the battery up under the tank to get it to balance at 51/2", besides when a plane needs that much weight to balance you should always throw as big a motor in it as you can fit to do the job.

Wait so youre sure i should balance mine at 5 inches back?? Coz i finally got it down to about 5 inches by putting the battery a little in the fuel tank compartment. I guess i got it balanced now right? Ill check what it balances at. Its between 5-5 1/2 inches though.

I had one and flew it with both an OS .46AX and an Evo .46. Both needed a brass, heavy hub to balance correctly. Both of these engines are heavier than the OS .40LA so you may have a problem. Adding weight to balance, especially nose weight, will further lower your performance. One thing you can consider, although it is a little trouble, is to move the rudder servo up to the radio compartment under the wing and use pull-pull cables. This would take a good bit of weight off the tail and may let you balance. I was doing a kit review and had to use the stock positions, and the more powerful ball bearing .46s handled the extra weight OK.

You really want to keep a fun fly/3D plane as light as possible for best performance.
1. My usual method for building these type ARFs is to build the plane without the radio, installing the engine, muffler and throttle servo.
2.Then I put the battery in a convenient forward location before balancing. This is so I can move it rearward for better flight performance later.
3. I then rubberband the elevator and rudder specified servos in their locations and check the balance.
4. If I am out of balance, I move 1 or the other, or both, to the rear or forward, depending on where the plan location was.

For the Twist, moving the rudder servo into the radio compartment would be fairly easy. You save the weight of the servo in the tail, plus the pushrod.

Another choice would be to use a lighter servo and check. Hitech 225MG servos come to mind. I like the Hitech 5245 mini-digitals. Both of these servos weigh 1 oz. compared to 1.7-2 oz for standard servos. Two ounces off the tail might do it.

lands like a dream as long as it isnt dead stick, then it falls out of the sky like a rock.....was lined up on the runway to make my approach this afternoon, engine went dead.....then the plane fell just like someone was holding it up in the air and let it go.....it fell flat all the way to the ground. Broke the fuse completly off behind the wing just as if you had taken a saw and cut it off

that's exactly where mine broke when I tried to hand launch mine with the spoilers deployed. (opps)

Thats where mine broke too!! No other damage. I hit a pine tree flying at an area I shouldn't have. Plenty of room for take off, not enough for landing. Anyhow it was a REALLY easy fix. Flies just like new now. I had to take the purple stripes off though.

yo i got mine balanced perfectly at 4 inches now.

First, i took the fuel tank out. I then cut the cross member on the plywood below where the fuel tank sits. I then put the battery there and then the fuel tank with extra foam rubber to protect from vibration. That way works awesome and it doesnt take that much work.

When i was taxiing it in my yard, the thing seemed really quick with just the .40, i think itll be fine.

I finally flew it with the 40 and it flys awesome. But i never flew anything like this, and i flew it sooo bad. Like i set up the pushrod on the second hole of the control horn (without a computer radio) and it had crazy amounts of throw. So i almost crashed it the first flight and someone else landed it for me. I think the 40 is fine though for doing aerobatics but maybe not hovering.

Varad,
Congrats! have fun and get used to it, then you'll want the power!

yeha youre right. Ill end up with a bigger engine later. Thanks for your help guys.

you definatly wont have unlimited vertical with any .40, let alone the weak la engines...

My Twist is 5 pounds on the nose with tank empty....i put the EVO 46T on it and it will go verticle untill you stop it !