ORIGINAL: Sourkraut
well gaRCfield, I finally got a chance to fly my Decathlon today with an OS60FP. She is a handfull on the ground but manageable with rudder. I fly off grass and have wheel pants on that I am going to take off. I also flew it without the wing struts. In the air it flew rock solid but did require about 3/4 to full throttle to make it perform. It will fly OK at 1/2 throttle but appears sluggish. Stall turns when using rudder caused a spin every time. Was fun doing these. Knife edges were hard too. It wants to roll over and spin doing these also. As far as landing, it is a very sweet landing aircraft, with a little throttle management, she floats in nicely.
In conclusion, a very pleasant change from the aircraft that I usually fly. Was not overpowered with the OS60FP but flew very scale like which made it enjoyable. Not a second airplane, maybe a 4th.
Now guys... a question. What prop should I be swinging on the old OS60FP? I have a 12x6 APC on it now. Should I drop down to an 11x6 for a few more rpms??? I bought this motor used and am unsure what is the best prop for it. Also is this a bushing or bearing engine?
Thanks
Curt
This is exactly what I think! First I found that Phoenix recommends the CG to be a bit far back, and most people move it forward. That helped. Also I found that during these early stages the 55AX is happier with a light prop. I remembered that I had a light prop on the 46AX for quite a few gallons before I switched, and it still took a gallon to get used to the 12". Today I flew with a 12x5 on the Decathlon and found exactly as you did. The plane likes air speed. I think there might be some trimming issues with my plane; it noses out of climbs and dives, so may be something to do with engine thrust. It is a nice change from the Dolphin, flies well upside down, and looks great. Been flying about 3/4 throttle, max throttle to go into a roll or something, and very sluggish at 1/2 throttle. The plane lands wonderfully, and I was having a hard time with take off until I forgot all the tips I read about how to take off with this plane and just flew the thing. I found that holding full down elevator and using left rudder caused the plane to get very squirrely when the tail came up. I had a bunch of nice take offs today, and even a nice touch and go. Overall I'm finally happy with the plane, as it is a nice supplement to the Dolphin, and I'm happy to learn to fly by the wing. I think as I get to know this plane it will perform nearly as expected, especially when the engine gets broken in.
I think a lot of what I experienced had to do with the fact that this is only my second engine, and when I was first learning on the Nexstar I couldn't have known if I had power or if the engine was lagging or anything.