FRED,

I do balance my planes laterally. My flying buddy (Jack 211) powers his UCD60 with a Saito 1.0 and we both agree its a dog! I hope you won't be disappointed. I spent a few extra bucks and equipped my UCD60 with a HD metal geared rudder servo, as well as using high-torque metal geared servos for the ailerons and elevator(s). I am pleased with them. I also slid some carbon fiber tubing over the metal pushrods to "beef" things up a bit......nice and stiff with zero play.

I'm on my fifth Twist since they were introduced. With the exception of the one I'm currently flying all of them are in various stages of repair. So one might say I've cut my teeth on that bird. (I have to admit that I consider the plane a consumable and consider the $99 well spent if I get more than three months out of one. This is because the first four were flown every day with an average of 3/4 gallon a day put through them....now that's what I call service.) Unfortunately my sabbatical is over and I can't devote every day towards flying! !@##@#$@$#@$ I have outfitted the most recent one with a OS .61 FX propped with a MAS 13X5. I can hover all day, even in winds exceeding 20mph. (Of course the plane is hovering, but also blowing away like a kite!) Did I mention that that combination gets 20+ minutes for each stock tank of fuel? (And most of that is hovering.) That's the piece de resistance! My ST .51 would be lucky to manage 16 minutes and it struggled to pull out of a hover, while the OS rockets out of it. Touching the tail to old mother earth is a confidence builder to be certain and when the wind calms I do it as much as I can/dare.

You're spot on, mentioning the Twist's weaknesses. I use carbon fiber rod (1/16" ) glued across all the weak spots and have been having great success so far. I just lay down the rod, pour baking soda as a fillet on both sides and saturate it with thin CA. Stand back and watch the chemical reaction! When the vapor clears....you have a solidly reinforced Twist....suitable for abuse!

My name is Downtrodden, and I'm a Twistaholic!



(Hoping I can get my UCD60 to do what the Twist does so readily!)