Review of the Twist PNP, Evolution .46NT package:

I received the PNP yesterday at two pm. It was in the air by 1:30 pm today (might have been earlier except for charging the 700mAh bat that comes with it). The first thing I noticed was the short arms on the servos and knew I wouldn't like them. Worse, I have no JR-type long servo arms so had to use what they gave me.

The plane was fine, except for some dimpling of the Ultracote, fixed with a hot iron and blower. When I measured the distances between the wing tips and the elevator tips, the whole scheme was right on, within 1/32th of an inch. Likewise the fin was perpendicular to the fuse. The plane was aerodynamically perfect, except for one slightly bowed aileron, fixed with a heat gun.

I installed the charging receptacle, separate from the on-switch, only to discover my Futaba female plugs don't fit it. You spend the most time setting up the servos with this package. Everything else goes together in a hurry, especially, as in my case, if you've already built 8 Twist ARFs. I referred to the manual only to find something on the Evo .46--nothing, except a reference to "read the Evo manual that comes with the package." None.

I maidened the PNP alone. 80 degree temps, 65% humidity, winds gusting to 23 mph. The engine started immediately and ran through a tank. Without the Evolution .46NT manual, I called Horizon and a tech said break it in with an 11x6 prop. But he said the engine doesn't really need a break-in. (?) The pre-set high end needle doesn't turn more than one full turn, weird. For break in I turned it full rich, but it only took a half turn to fine tune the high end for the maiden flight. I wonder about that needle--and there's no hole in the cheek to deal with the low-end breather setting. For all that, the engine transitioned well and didn't flame out, though the low end needs some tuning. I have a drill.

So after the first tank, I installed an APC 12.25 x 3.75 prop (which the tech said was fine), and put her up. Two clicks of "up" elevator was all she needed. [The CG came in at 5.25, so I added an ounce and a half weight to the drive shaft. She maidened at 4 and 7/8ths--so tail heavy.]

In high winds it's difficult to "read" a plane, but the PNP flew well and the .46 responded well, no flameouts even with my inverted, through outside loop, to hover maneuver. Very good news for me.

I got her to hover in the wind. Got one full revolution of torque roll. But the deciding factor on this bird are the small throws! They are HALF what my other Twists have with long, Dubro arms and S3004 servos. So 3D flying is a challenge, esp. in the wind.

Eric, there's your problem. The throws are minimal--and I have mine, with given equipment, set at the OUTSIDE of the arm and the INSIDE of the horn, maximum for the set-up. I have no longer JR arms, but I'll order them right after this missive. The plane's a punk, a trainer, without those throws!

Consequently, this bird flies predictably, like a trainer, and easy. I landed cross wind twice, then came through the trees to land upwind just to see how she floated--with a CG at 4 7/8ths. NO problem. She flies like a dream.

I couldn't get a good inverted spin, but the throws and the wind were ag'in me. I hovered her at high alpha in the wind for a long time. There was no falling off on either wing. Loops into the wind were perfect. Knife edges needed just a little aileron mixing (because of the wind?). The plane is aerodynamically sound--which holds much promise. I flew her at 100% throws after I trimmed her, two minutes--and for the next two flights. Then the rain came, and I had to close up shop.

This bird, even with minimal throws, shows the identical snap right my other Twists have when given full up elevator.

Without serious throws, she's just another plane. Without dominant tail feathers (rudder and elevator), she's no 3D bird, I'm thinking. On a calm day… maybe. [Who has "calm" days?] But I'll fix this bird with longer servo arms, THEN see how she does.

You have to love the absence of yellow/pink/purple.

More later.


J