I have a FuntanaS 40 that flys incredible with a Saito 91 four stroke. I recently acquired a great-running OS 46fx two stroke. I would like to put it on a plane that will hover, do ascending flat spins, and generally be a good fun-fly/3D plane.

I can build, or an ARF is good too. Any suggestions appreciated. Please provide the name, the manufacturer, and the plane's approximate weight. Any flight experience with the plane would be helpful. I searched a lot before this post, but if there is already a thread here that covers this topic please feel free to redirect too!

Thanks in advance, Steve

Thunder Tiger Spirit 3D ... about 4.5 lbs only, will hover at 50% throttle and pull out of a hover with ease. Brilliant fun fly/3D candidate.

accelhobby.com katana gs 90% sure thats what my spare .46 is going into

The Accel Katana 40, available at $125 shipped from Ohio Model Planes or Accel direct, would be hard to beat. All my other planes are being neglected because I can't stop flying this 3D honey!

Modeltech Magic Extra

Morris Hobbies Sledge. It defies gravity and laughs at fundamental laws of aerodynamics.

[8D]Thanks guys. Some excellent choices out there! Keep the suggestions coming. I'm busy checking out the threads and sites on all of the above. Seems like to get down around 4 lbs you pretty well have to go with the profile fuse which would be something new for me to try. Did build a few profile control line planes in the past...

Steve

tIANci

Do you have an OS46fx on your TT Spirit3D? Did you do anything special to the ARF to keep it light? Do you use a 8oz fuel tank?
What altitude do you fly at. Sea level? Any special tuned pipe on the engine or high nitro fuel? What is the best prop for high torque and slow flight?

Steve

Modeltech Magic is what you want if you want to hover

There are several great profiles that will fly great with the OS 46. The Extreme Flight Edge, Morris Hobbies' Sledge, Accel's Katana 40, Paul Swanson's Mojo & Burrito, OMP' Edge, Katana P & Yak. I don't think you would be disappointed with any of these.

Eric

I take exception with the Magic, the plane isn't even in the same league as a good .40 sized profile. The OMP Edge is my personal choice, kit or ARF, both are great.

amen

Scott

Is the OMP Edge ARF available? OMP website says "details coming soon"...

Steve

I guess it's not available, yet. Sorry about thet, I have not looked at their site in a while and thought I read on here that it was available a while back.

I'm not sure if it's still available but Extreme Flight's Edge is very similar and is an ARF so that might be something worth exploring. My only complaint about the ARF profiles is that they are sorta tender and will snap in half right behind the wing in the event of a nose in. Th OMP Edge 540 profile kit has a peice of 1/4 x 1/4 spruce that runs the length of the fuse on the bottom that really stiffens the plane up and makes it very resistant to snapping in two. I have put mine in 3 times and the fuse has stayed intact, wings usually needed some work but that was pretty easy.

If your not opposed to building and have a few kits to your credit don't overlook the OMP kit. I think mine took about a week of evenings from the box arriving to having it in the air, really simple to build and a lot tougher than any ARF I have seen. If by some chance you do decide to try your hand at building one of these in the future do yourself a favor and trace the ribs on card stock so you have a pattern to make new one's with should you have to. There are six ribs per wing and those shapes are not on the plans.

And not one mention of a UCD .46 with a tower muffler, go figure. I wore my .46 FX out on my UCD's. It wore out one UCD and then nearly wore out the second one until the cylinder liner started wearing through and lost compression. Put a .50 SX in it, but really doesn't do much better than the old .46 FX with tower muffler. I may try one of the new AX's just to see if has the power OS brags about. My old .46FX with tower muffler flew the crap out of a Majic Extra. Only complaint about that airplane was knifedge and poor covering material, but now they are advertising monocote on them. So might just have to buy another one.

Profiles are fine, but most don't have removable wings, which can become a hassle if you are transporting several airplanes. They are also pretty ugly and don't really look much like the real thing.

So many good choices out there, it has to be confusing. Good luck.

I find that the fact profiles don't have removeable wings is one of their greatest attributes. Having the fuel tank on the outside is pretty handy too, all you have to do is fly by and you can see how much fuel you have left.

No they aren't pretty but once you fly one and realize just how practical they are the looks issue becomes a moot point.

The UCD .46 has balance and weight issue for many and anyone that followed the LONG post here on RCU about the plane learned that it's a great flier but many were putting .91's and 1.00's on them to get the performance they wanted and then they flew heavy. They also have some issues with certain maneuvers like harriers. A good profile will do anything on a .46 engine with and APC 11 x 4 prop and standard servos that a UCD can do and then some and IMO for less money.

Both are good airplanes but the profile gets my endorsement.

Scott-
Thanks for the advice. Not opposed to building; actually usually enjoy the challenge. I've been flying the heck out of the OMP profiles on AFPD (with speed set to 120%) and they are some of the best flying models on that sim. Also flying the "Aerosynth" funfly 3D on the sim---wish I could get my hands on a plane that actually flew like that!

Mike-
What is the "tower muffler"? Is it a tuned pipe for the OS46? How much does it improve performance? Will it let you spin a 12x4 APC?

Steve

If you like the way they fly on AFP then your gonna love the real thing. The sim gets close but I actually think the real plane is easier to fly as the sim planes feel twitchy to me.

The Tower muffler is the one that is sold with the Tower .46, which is actually a GMS .46 that is manufactured for Tower Hobbies. The Tower muffler has a large expansion chamber and a small outlet that seems to do a really good job of flattening the torque curve and boosting the top end RPM on the OS .46FX. I have one and used it with good results, it's well worth the $14 or so that they get for it.

If you really want to have fun, build the OMP Edge and fly it with the .46 for a while and then buy a Saito .72 and change over to the 4 stroker. The performance gain is amazing and the Saito weighs virtually the same as the .46 w/muffler so the balance stays the same. The mounts are similar but you'll need to drill new holes as the spcing is different.

I simply love mine.

Gee you guys are way missing the boat. I've flown most of the planes listed and The Mojo by Paul Swany is head and shoulders above the rest. It is BY FAR the best 3Der out there for a 46. I've had one for over a season and can not put it down. Outflys my sledge and knife. My friends Kanta can not play follow the leader with me and keep up, flying skills aside. The UCD 3D, while a nice plane will not do nearly as nice harriers or walls and again will not flat spin anywhere near as nicely as the MOJO. Do yourself a favor and go to Profile Brotherhood and check it out. You'll probably find a "Bro near you that has one that you can see and maybe even fly

MY $.02

The tower muffler can be purchased from Tower Hobbies for $14.99 mail order. RCU has a search engine directly to Tower. It resembles a Nelson pipe, but about 1/4th the price and about half the weight of the stock muffler. It is the standard muffler for the Tower Engine. It fits OS, Magnum, Thunder Tiger engines. Most engines will pick up between 900-1300 rpm's increase on the top end with this muffler over stock. You will need to re-needle after putting one on, because they have better flow than the stock mufflers. Throughout San Antonio, you hardly see anyone using stock mufflers on .46's and .50's anymore, due to the increased performance you gain from these things.

Good luck with your project.

I have to say that it will not save weigth, OS standard muffler is about 90gms and tower is 100gms, TT46`s is 105gms, BUT it transitions WAY better and I have not measure it but it seems that it revs more than stock... you can hear from 500 to 1000 more RPM`s, so, it will not make a magic upgrade but it is worth

Whatever 3D plane you decide on make sure it is NOT over 5 lbs assembled with everything. This is the weight I've found that you cannot go above with this engine. At 5 lbs You can hover at about 1/2 to 3/4 throttle depending on the wind conditions (more wind needs more power). So keep it under 5 lbs. And don't listen to what they advertise as weight, they are always over what they advertise with few exceptions. Go on these RCU forums and ask actual owners the real weight before you buy the kit. If you are over 5 lbs, you will not 3D very well with this engine. Keep in mind that you will need at least a half pound of fuel so that will make it 5 1/2 to 5 3/4 pounds wet. Also the APC 11.5x4, 12x4 or 12.25x3.75 are all good props.

That Katana 40 profile by Accel hobbies seems to be very light. Most are between 4.25 to 4.5 pounds. That looks like a great 3D ARF foe the 46FX. Good price too.


http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_24..._1/key_/tm.htm

What about a SPAD? Any opinions on that? Steve

SPAD's can be a lot of fun and I think the best combo by far is to build the smaller version and power them with a BB .46. Unfortunately they will not knife edge at all and have quite a few other quirks that make them anything but a true 3D airframe. Yes they will hover and IMO SPADS harrier better than anything else I have flown. While they can be a lot of fun they are not even in the same league as one of the .40 profiles.

Just weighed my new Accel Katana 40 at 4 lbs 8 oz with 46FX, Zinger 12x4 modified wood prop, Dubro spinnernut, Graphtech CF gear (heavier & stronger than stock aluminum struts), 4 cell NiMH pack, Tower muffler (10 g heavier than stock OS). This replaces one I flew last month, on which I crushed the fuselage while trying to bend back the aluminum struts after a deadstick landing. (I should learn to tune my engine better.) The new job has the CF gear located 1-1/2" forward of the stock location, as I kept nosing over on grass field with the original. I was OK as long as I held full up elevator while maneuvering on the ground, but everytime I would forget, the nose went over. Bigger wheels too, of course. Now I have 5/8" dia birch dowels for the landing gear bolts. These dowels are not going to crush. Had to strip the fuselage to do this, re-covered with monokote Insignia Blue, close to the Ultracote blue on the stock covering. I also put Dubro ball links on everything, since the supplied linkage hardware was a bit on the sloppy side.

Despite my minor complaints, the first Katana was an absolute blast to fly, and I expect even better results with my little modifications. I did move my CG forward a bit from the first version, now have it 138 mm back from wing LE at root. I had it about 1/2" further back before, which was good with a full tank but slightly tailheavy below 1/2 tank. Now I'll be slightly noseheavy at takeoff but nice flat glide if I have any more deadsticks. (Which I know I will, because I fly the tank dry lots of times.)

This gets my vote for the most fun you can have with a 46FX and $125.