First add a throttle curve, second remove the detent from the throttle stick on the radio so it is smooth.

Hi,
that's what I was thinking. In this case I need to add expo to make the throttle more reactive. I have already loosened the throttle stick on my 12fg to the point just before a deadzone. The ratchet is also loose, just haven't removed it
ameyam

NO! you need to make is less touchy. You need to make it so there is less change in the first half of the stick movement to allow you to find the sweet spot. I set my throttle so it is slightly less that half rpm at half stick, then make the rest of the transition to and from this point smooth. Full stick is max rpm not a wide open carb. Hope this helps.

Steiny

ameyam
Iwish I could answer your question. I've watched the 3D guys fly and they all seem to pump the throttle. Some do it more than others but, they all do it. I assume it's difficult the find the exact throttle setting to hold it in place and/or they weather conditions play a part in it (?).
I'm not a 3D flyer and Ihope to be able to tame the beast down a bit and fly pattern aerobatics with it. I dialed in the factory recomended rates last night and the ailerons are barely moving ....which I expected. Ihad initially set them at 20% throw and I was very close. My knees will be knocking the first time I fly it.
Ihave a 50cc Edge 540T I've been flying IMACwiht for almost a year and she is very sweet, predictable, and precise. I'm hoping the Reactor will fly similar but, a bit hotter. I would like to "get a bit wild"once in a while.

RJ

I worry about the weight on your plane, the G20 is not light. Thant being said the reactor bipe is a blast to fly. I fly one with a DLE-20 and it is a riot. Vertical in insane, spins are fast and it flat spins almost as good as my profile. I am running an Ibec to eliminate the extra battery came in a 7 lbs 6 oz. It has skis on it now, it likes the snow too!

Ipancaked the tail on my GP Bipe on final a few weeks back. Had a brownout. The wings and gear survived. Anyone need a set of spare wings and landing gear? If so PM me, I will make you a good deal.
MK

Don't give up on her so easy. Tower Hobbies sells replacement parts. Check it out.

RJ

Ive moved on from that one. I'm not one for ARFs. Iprefer scratch builds. Isee you fly at Tbirds, Ifly Falcon field at Lake Dallas.

Also Isee you are SPA, Ihave 2 Piorun Meridian kits for sale if you know anyone that's looking for a good Classic Pattern plane

The weight difference between the engines is not that significant. However, the DLE develops close to 1/2 hp more than the G20 and that is significant. If I had to choose, I'd go with the less expensive, lighter, and more powerful DLE. Ihave a DLE 55 on a 30% Edge and they are great engines. Ialso have 2 Zenoahs, a G38 with CDI and a G20 w/CDI. Ihaven't flown either one yet but, I'm getting close. Both Zenoahs are attached to used planes that Ibought or traded for. The G20 is ready for engine start, tune and flight (soon I hope) and it's on a Reactor Bipe. The G38 is on a GP 81" Super Chipmunk that I've repaired. The G38 starts and runs well but, needs a carb overhaul because it won't idle reliably. It sat unused for a while and the diaphragm dried out. Now it's too stiff to hold idle at low RPM.

Good luck and happy flying to all.

RJ

Nice to meet a fellow DFW flyer. Have you been to our new field yet? Please pay us a visit if/when you get a chance.
If you'll put those kits on our forum on RCU you may be able to find a buyer. I'll spread the word but, the forum is your best bet.
I'm an ARF guy. I'm too old to wait for kit completion. Ilike building but, I'd much rather be flying.
Ihave been waiting on parts for 3 or 4 airplanes and they are now starting to come in. I've got 3 airplanes to re-maiden and one or two to fly because they've been ignored for too long. My wife thinks Ishould thin the herd but, Ilike everyone Ihave can't/won't decide which needs to go.

RJ

test

No I have not been out to the new field, Ihave heard it is a Fantastic place. Biggest problem with selling these online is the fuse is Fiberglass full length. Hard to ship or find a box for.

As far as the Reactor Bipe it was a great flying plane. Had an OS 91 Supass. Only problems Iencountered with it was the KE always tucked to the gear. Other than that a great flying airframe.

the only problem Ihad was theoriginal tank location put the C/L of the tank to high for the inverted 91. I moved the tank down by adding the battery tray and mounting the tank to it. which lowered the Tank C/L to the needle valve. All flooding problems went away.

MK

Our forum is for our club ...local stuff so, you wouldn't have to worry about shipping. Just list for local pick-up only.

RJ

Okay done on the forum for FTW Tbirds

Mike

steiny,
you are flying the bipe with the dle20. That engine needs a throttle curve. I built for dle but it will be too nose heavy with that, so I went with the 110 instead. That has a lot of traction but not as much as the 20 and the throttle is linear.

Its not the throttle pumping but the amount. He was going from 60% to 100% almost every second. Thats why I said the centrepoint of currve needs to be more reactive in my case.

It flies like a trainer at low rates.

ameyam

Yep, I saw that. Hope you come down to see us soon. We have events scheduled throughout the year so, bring yourself on down and see us.
BTW ....It is a beautiful field and the surrounding area is too. Our nosey neighbors (the deer)come out to see us near dusk and watch us "stupid humans" make a bunch of noise they would rather we not make. We get seranaded by a couple of packs of coyotes in the evenings, and we have a couple of bald eagles who treat us to a fly-by occassionally. There's rumors that we have a cougar that roams the park once in a while but, no one I know has ever seen it. We do see the occassional Bobcat though.

Garry

Hey ! I got the little 20cc Zenoah to start up today and it runs great. It has plenty of pull with a 16x8 prop but, couldn't get a reliable tach reading due to dim lighting (and a cheap tach). It idles fine, transition is good, and top end appears to be peaked well. I intend to fly it the way it's adjusted now. Itweaked the low end a bit to get the 4 stroking out of it but, the top end didn't need a thing.
This little engine is very fuel efficient. It took a looong time to run the tank down to about 1/8 full. I got tired of waiting for it to run out and decided to shut it down and leave it that way.

I have a question about the expo and throws on this airplane. Ihave the rates set as recommended in the manual but, I'm not sure where Ineed the expo to be. Ihave it set very high right now but, I'm thinking I could lower it around 30 to 40% (on a DX7s). Ifly my 50cc bird with 30 to 40 % expo and it works fine. What would you guys recommend?

Thanks,
RJ

If you like that percentage on your 50cc bird, you might want just a tad more on this bipe, especially on the ailerons. It's blazing fast in roll on high rates

Thanks for the info Cowboy. I don't plan on running high rates anytime soon and I'm a bit afraid of the roll rate on this bird anyway. I'll turn the expo down to around 40% and try it that way on low rates. I'll set high rates expo a bit higher in case I accidently hit the switch. I once lost a plane by accidently hitting the high rate aileron switch without having set the high rates at all. They were at 100% with no expo. Some things Ihave to learn the hard way.

By the way, I can relate to your signature block. Been there done that ....and still doing it.

RJ

Yeah, I no longer have my Reactor bipe due to a crash, though it wasn't necessarily dumb thumbs, just poor decision making...I had about 150 flights on the plane, but wrecked it twice due to hitting LVC at a bad time. First time was in a hover; batteries said "no more" in a hover about 5 minutes in, and it hit on the left wingtips. Broke the lower wing, which I repaired. Put about another 50 flights on it, and hit LVC on a windy day. Tried to stretch the power/glide into a 270 degree turn to make it back around into the wind on the runwaypoor decision. Hit boulders at edge of field

Ugh ! That's an ugly way to loose a plane. On second thought, it's ugly any time you loose a plane. I turned a nice flying 25% Edge 540 into a kit a couple of months ago. I was distracted by a lost wheel and was thinking too much about how to touch down than flying the plane. Istalled it on the turn to final and recovered but, did the same thing again and couldn't recover the 2nd time (too low). It cartwheeled across the north end of the runway and broke the fuselage in a million pieces. Surprisingly the wings would have been repairable.
I still have the 52cc engine and have been keeping an eye out for a suitable replacement airframe. I really have more planes than Ican afford to support so I guess I should be happy with what Ihave but, it bugs me having an engine with no plane to put it on.

Ithink the Reactor is going to be a fun airplane once I get the feel for it. I have two WW1 Bipes and they are fun but, not aerobatic at all. Iinstalled a larger gas tank in this bipe so, I should be able to fly until Iget tired.

RJ

Wow !!! I just flew this bipe for the first time today and Wow is the best way to describe it. The little 20cc Zenoah makes a rocket ship out of this bird. It really does have unlimited vertical and it gets small in a hurry. The 48" wing span is pretty small compared to what I've been flying but, the trim scheme and colors make it easy to follow.
I'm very glad I had everything set to low throws and relatively high expo (around 40%) because this bird has LARGE control surfaces ...especially the ailerons. I may increase the throw on the the ailerons for a bit faster roll rate but, I had to tune the elevator down a bit as it was too sensitive on the first flight. The rudder doesn't take much movement to get a lot of response.
Inverted flight is so smooth and the plane so well balanced that no control input is needed once established in level flight.
The wind was just right for the first flight and the plane handled it very well. I shot a couple of landings and they were uneventful and very predictable. I wouldn't call it docile but, not unmanageable for an experienced pilot. However, I did run out of gas on the first flight but, recovered back to the runway with no damage ...just a couple of bounces.
I should have quit after the first flight because the wind came up hard and was gusting up to at least 20mph. Being hard headed and feeling my oats after the first flight, I cranked her up and took off. Upwind (to the north) was much slower than before, obviously, but, downwind she picked up the tailwind and it was a very short trip. Unfortunately, I ran out of gas on this flight too but, was unable to make either runway due to the headwind. I plopped her down in a short tree out in the south end thicket and punched some holes in the monokote on the bottom wing. There were a couple of fellow pilots there to help me retrieve this little girl and we found no damage other than the monokote. So, I have some patches to make before I can fly her again.
I'm not going to drag my feet on repairing this one because she's just too much FUN!.
Oh, I also need to check the plumbing on my gas tank as I think I'm not getting it full. The tank is about 12 to 14 oz and should last a lot longer than 5 min.

Garry

Cool to hear you like it. I fly 20 min on 12 oz and a dle-20, and land with some still in the tank. Wait till you crank her up on high rates and do a roll with all the aileron she has! l giggle it rolls so fast.
This is a great plane for in the wind too, I have flown mine in 25+ mph winds on several occasions. Check your tank, (is the clunk in the front?) and go fly

I just finished the covering repairs and replumbled the fuel tank. The fuel tubing appears to have stretched (Icouldn't have cut them too long) and the clunk was sticking on the aft end of the tank. So, Ishortened them a bit and reinstalled. The appear to be fine now. Also, the vent tube turned during installation and was allowing fuel to run out before the tank was full. So, I thought Ihad a full tank but, didn't and I my feed line clunk wasn't sitting in the fuel so it couldn't pull it out. Don't know why Ihave so much trouble with fuel tanks but, it seems that every other one I plumb goes wrong. 50/50 is not a very good average.
I think she's OKnow though and ready to fly again.
Ithink it will be a while before Istart messing around with anything but, low rates on this bird. Ithink I'll increase the throw on the ailerons a couple of points as Iwould like a snappier roll rate but, everything else is working just fine.

RJ

What is the AUW weight with the 20cc?

Ameyam