Yeah, welcome to the show.

Yeah you will be fine with the servos of choice. Well off to Toledo I go, talk to you guys next week.

I am using Futaba 3305's. They have almost the same torque and they do well. I have an 8611 on the rudder, though

Saw the Black and White version today in Toledo. Looks good, however I prefere the multi-colored one.

Me to.

Ive got a Menz S 22X8 prop for my ZDZ 50. Good prop for 3D?

Angus

I use a 22x8 menz on mine. I seen the new colors at the show, I like the new as well. I bought a DV from Chip, he told me about the improvements on the wing cabanes, simple hook up now, not 8 screws and nuts anymore, and the top wing has been moved aft an inch. My friend bought the 34% 300 from him, nice looking plane.

When did your friend get his 34% extra, I am still waiting for mine, do you know if the new shipment is here? Today I was flying my Vision with the CG at 4 1/2 inches from the tip of the leading edge and I liked it.

Well he ordered it at the show sametime I ordered my DV. Chip said that its going to be two weeks before the 300's get off the canoe and get to his shop. So, I think you have a few more weeks of waiting.

Flew my Vision for the first time today. This thing is a total BEAST! By far and away the best freestyle/3D model ive flown for years. Was hell of a windy but still got in some good torque rolls and all that 3D jazz + the power out the ZDZ 50 is just fantastic. All in all a great day

Angus

Congrats on your maiden Angus! I hope to get mine in this weekend myself. I need to run the motor in and do a range check Saturday, then if the weather permits, she'll take to the air Sunday... I'm nervous already! [X(]

How'd you end up on your balance/CG? Where'd you balance at and do you think it needs to go further forward or backward any?

Tom

Cheers Tom,

Not sure where the C of G was. I put all three servos at the tail and the batteries etc on the rudder tray so everything was quite rearward. Id say it could be done with moving back but im going to wait until calmer conditions to really see what its like. Also seemed to be lacking right thrust. Apart from that it was lovely to fly. Handled the wind really well + it snaps excellent with very little loss of heading.

Angus

Thanks Angus, mine balanced tailheavy due to some mods I did, but I added noseweight to bring it forward. Just hoping I added enough

Anyhow, you're not the first person I've heard say that it needs more right thrust. That's kind of a bummer, I imagine it probably pulls left in a hover or vertical acceleration? Pulls hard left on runout/takeoff?

Adding right thrust is not that big of a deal I suppose, it's just that once you have the cowl done, you're not going to get the prop shaft and spinner to line up after changing the thrust. []

Hopefully it's not so bad that it ruins the fun of flying the plane

Cya,

Tom

I joined the "Flew my Vison to today club" this week. Been waiting since Xmas 2004... Ditto to Angus's remarks below.

I did find the tail wheel wire to be to soft and the stab tube in the fuse needed some attention. The stab center section needed CA to hold it more firmly to the fuselage and the stab tubes needed thickening with medium CA to stop the stab-halves rattling. The tailwheel assembly was replaced with a spring-coil type.

The 8611 rudder servo was swapped out for a giant Futaba servo but still had trouble stopping without a bounce or two. I think the rudder is just too heavy for one servo and the weight exeeds the braking capabilities of a single servo.

The flying was very easy. I must admit I had to reprogram my pattern-brain to keep some throttle in! The Mezjlik 23 x 8 just "stops" the plane when you come off the gas. I flew P-05 FAI with it and then hit the mega-high-rates for the "silly stuff".

I had it in a couple of hovers where I could have put the radio down, wiped my tearing eyes, picked up the radio and still found it hanging there with only a slight climb. Very easy to fly slow KE's etc. On aileron high-rate I kept getting behind in the super fast roller stuff. I settled for going pure vertical with obscene roll speeds. You can high-alpha slow roll at really slow speeds all day with this plane.

Just keep a good "purr" going on the motor and chop to idle just before wheels touch down and you will land this plane in all winds :-)

Regards,

Eric.

Thanks for the flight report Eric, those are very helpful tips. I changed out my tailwheel assembly for a 3rd party CF tailwheel from the start. That was the same tailwheel they had on the DV and it just don't cut it.

I haven't notice the issues with the stab tubes, but then again, I haven't had the engine running yet. I'll have to note that issue and check for the problem.

I'm using the HS5995TG servo on the tail, which is strong as a horse and superfast... I'll have to see how it holds up to the big barn door rudder's needs.

Thanks again for the details on flight characteristics. It really helps to know what to expect and also to know if mine is behaving "normally" for a Vision. Sounds like it's going to be a good time... wish me luck!

Tom

Oh yeah, Eric... one other thing...

Did you use the "suggested" control throws from the manual (for both high and low rates), or otherwise?

Thx,

Tom

Tom,

Unless you moved the C of G way back you probably wont need the nose weight. Probably best just to keep it in till you find your feet with it though.

Yes, it pulled left during prop hang and vertical climb so I will increase the right thrust a bit after ive flown it this weekend.

Eric,

You obviously like the Mejzlic 23X8. Have you compared it to a Menz S 22X8 (what im running). The Menz seems like a good prop but I dont like the way the prop hub compresses as you tighten it up.

Looking back at this afternoons flying the thing that sticks out is just how easy it was to fly. I only had two flights but I can envisage being able to do some pretty aggressive and hence more impressive freestyle routines than other 3D models ive flown. I wont be wanting to go back to the F3A at this rate!

Angus

Angus,

I'm leaving the nose weight in (13oz), and I can remove it in increments of just a couple ounces at a time. It's balanced just behind the back edge of the CG "range" in the manual. It may be as far back as I can go, but if it feels OK after a few flights I will start droping an ounce or two at a time until she says "uncle."

How much do you think you can change that right thrust without the spinner getting way out of wack to the cowl? Oddly, from Eric's post, it didn't sound like he had an issue with right thrust? If a hover was nearly "hands off" as he said, then I wouldn't think he was getting the pull to the left?

Tom

Tom,
It does not carry any rudder trim either.

A neat radio trick that I use on pattern planes is to use less physical right-thrust. Then program in some right rudder incrementally above 5/8-3/4 throttle to keep it straight on the big up-lines etc,

My VISION does not need this "help". I hope you can figure out what is causing yours to do this?

Thank Eric, I've thought of trying that in the past. I've had this problem on other planes before, but never really tried the mix.

Well, so far I don't know mine will... I still haven't flown my Vision yet. I was referring to Angus's post above where he mentioned it on his Vision... and that I had heard that it needed right thrust from one or two others on RCU before.

Hopefully, I won't find it to be a problem on mine.

Cheers,

Tom

Its not a big deal the right thrust. Even if the spinner doesnt line up with the cowl its how it flies eh.

Ive heard of Chip do that throttle to rudder mix. Ive not tried it myself but ive always trimed planes by adjusting the engine angle for right thrust, not using a computer radio. Im hopefully going to fly it again today if I can sober up enough. The right thrust wont be that much that it makes the spinner line up way off with the cowl so I really wouldn't worry about it. I'll keep you posted.

Angus

I stayed in Glasgow a few times playing rugby against St Mungos and Kiel.

So just for you here is a picture of my cowl and spinner alignment.

"See yuu Jimmy!"

Eric...the exile...

"See you Jimmy" Haha! Hope you bought the "See you Jimmy" hat Eric Small world eh.

Did all your colours fall off? Ive already had a bit of silver come off and and that was even with clearcoating round the corners. Some nice shades of pink going on there. I approve

Angus

Eric, I like what you did with the covering scheme... I think that the stock graphics coming off is a plus, not a minus ... I didn't like them at all. I went ahead and stripped mine and recovered. Time to run the engine in today and do a range check.

Tom

Nice colour scheme you've got there Tom.

Took mine out again today. Only got one flight in and then it started raining. Took ages to get the engine going unfortunately. I also had my suspicions that I had stripped one of the gears on my 8511 rudder servo. Seemed a bit rough when you moved it but checked it out when I got home and it seems fine. Had to go anyway as I bent my rudder push-rod. Will change it for a carbon one.

Angus

Angus Every day a piece of color came off. I had originally stripped most of it off and added new colours to the wings and stabs. [It's not pink BTW, my digital camera is just a wee bit that way :-) ]

I finally pulled all of the the fuselage trim off. It lifts on its own and then it just pull easily away, even after it had been ironed down. Also the white will go clear if you heat it a fraction too long. I hate these "fake" mono-ultra-cote covering materials.

Looks like a great flying day today... Need more gas... You better be quick or you'll miss the Scotish summer ,,... 30-15...

Eric.

Just ran in my engine and did my range check. She started very easily and seemed to run great. This is my first DA, so I'm not sure what to expect.

I'm getting ab out 7150 rpm's on the top end, which I think is great for the first tank.

My idle is set at about 1900-2000, and I have an "idle-down" set on a switch for landing... which brings it down to about 1500-1600 rpms. It runs pretty rough right now at the idle-down, which is to be expected. I wouldn't want to leave it at that rpm for very long... just for final approach and landing.

Do those rpms sound about right to you guys? I'm at about 700ft above sea level.

Thx,

Tom