They are a great company. They, without a doubt, have excellent customer service. They sent the plane with no questions asked. Thanks Phoenix Models, I shall fly again. Since then I have also bought a Seabee. Any input on this plane would be great.
thanks

I am currently flying a SeaBee and have an O.S. .52 four stroke in it for power. I have to say I am very happy with the the performance that I am getting with the .52 FS (which, dare I say, is the recommend engine size[X(]). It is a very smooth pattern style flyer, but also does very nice snaps and spins. All up weight of my Seabee is 5-1/2 lbs. and I am using all standard Futaba servos except on the throttle (Hitec HS-81). I tell you what, for $100 it is a great deal for what you get. The Seabee that I am currently flying is my second. I lost my first one by getting to low in an inverted flat spin and not having enough room to safely recover.[]

Just got back from flying my seabee and WOW!! This is a great flying plane. I have a 46 ax with a mac pipe on it and it sure does move with a 10x7 apc prop. My friend got his new Phoenix model Giles back up and it started fluttering again so he cut throttle and landed. upon closer inspection we noticed that the control horns on the ailerons cracked near the base of the aileron and caused the flutttering. No crash this time and will just replace those control horns with better ones. Do you think that foam tape to go between the fuselage and the wing would help with the fluttering??

Control horns were not the problem!! replaced them and today was doing some 3/4 throttle passes and the wings started vibrating, I should say flapping. What is the deal with this?? Anyone have a similiar problem. The plane went in the woods this time and got totaled. This giles really sucks, now I am afraid of this happening with my seabee. Any Ideas????????????????

Danedelman, are you talking about the replacement Giles they sent you?

Wow, I think I'm going to ask them to send me the Su31 or Seabee if and when I call them for a replacement. I don't trust their Giles at all.

yes that one. I talked to a guy at the field, actually the founder of RC Universe, his name is Mark and he said that this plane is meant more for 3d. Full throttle only going vertical and that is it. Half throttle on straights. My seabee is great though, gonna take it out tomorrow.

I just finished my version of the Giles 202 : Magnum .61 2-stroke, side mounted, Slimline pitts muffler, GP adjustable mount, 5 cell 6 volt pack next to tank in nose (on left side to balance engine), servos in tail to get CG right. Hitec 475 servos. No extra weight needed for balancing. All up weight on digital fish scale : 6 lbs 9 oz. Here are some pics. May maiden her today depending on the weather.

Here are some pics of the tail mods - servos and tailwheel

here they are

Flight report: Take off - no fuss - the tail comes up super quick and minimal rudder input is needed. Airborne after 30-40 feet. The Magnum .61 with a 13x4 prop provides unlimited vertical. I think a .46 will not do this plane justice. The Slimline Pitts muffler sounds great. The 13x4 prop also helps to keep the speed down and reduces the risk of flutter, I don't think this plane was designed to go fast. Needed 5 clicks of down trim to fly hands off. Tracks very well, the 2 degrees of right thrust seems spot on. Roll rate is astounding ! ! Snaprolls are a blurr. Exponential rates are a must to fly this one smoothly. ( if you don't have a computer radio keep the control throws down ! ! ) Knife edge flight is effortless - pulls a bit towards the canopy but it is easily mixed out. Flat spins nicely. Landings : it actually flies fairly stable at slow speed but be sure to keep a bit of power on to avoid a surprise. At idle the 13x4 prop acts like an airbrake. I used Hitec 475 servos all around except on the throttle (Tower TS53). With the rudder and elevator servos in the tail no other weight was needed for balancing. Battery is a 5 cell 6 volt 1700mAh NiMH sitting next to the tank. Tank is a Hayes 13oz unit - not the supplied one because of the bigger engine. I use a third line for refueling. I used different hardware but the supplied hardware is also OK. Make sure you have no slop in the control linkages, the control surfaces are big and flutter could be problem. In all - I like it, it looks great in the sky and is real easy to transport without taking the wing off.

I would like to add another Giles 202 to this thread...

I have:
Super Tigre .51 Ringed
Master Airscrew 10x5
S3151 Digitals on R,E,T
HS-475HB Karbonites on the Ailerons
4cell GP3700 nicad (Big battery! That's all I had on hand, but I can fly all day!)

I basically used everything from the ARF kit. I did not use the Clevises it came with. There's no barb on it to hold the rubber ring back. I used a flex cable for the throttle.

Since this is my first Glow plane, I had trouble at first tuning the engine. I was close, but yet, still far from tuning the engine good enough for a good flight. So I dead sticked it many times. 2 times I broke the landing gear off of the mount. I used Poly Urethane glue to put it back together. Now, it's stronger than ever. I'll probably end up glassing it later.

Mine came with the aluminum wing joiner. Because I fly alot of gliders, I taped the giles' wings together with the joining rod. Alot of gliders that I flew, the wings are held on by electric tape. The wings go up, because of the lift, not out. So it holds just fine. I've been flying my giles like this since. So far no problems. Better yet, it's easy to pack down and save space in my honda.

I've owned this plane since July. I haven't flown it since the last time I sheared off the landing gear., so the engine is still spanking new. I took it out last week and got a friend to help me tune the engine. We had trouble tuning it, but I forgot to mention to him, it's new! But it flew nicely without any dead sticks this time. I did one flight and left. Yesterday, I went out alone to run the engine more. This time, it's running a bit better. I'm feeling more power coming out of it everytime I fly it. It's SLOOOOOWL breaking in. I'm only 1/2 a gallon through this engine. I ran the first 2 tanks on the ground BTW. But I guess that wasn't enough for breaking in a Airplane Ringed engine. My OS 50 Hyper engine on my Heli was easy! to breakin and run. Airplanes are a big difference.

I like how it takes off, tail picks up when you take off. I take off at 3/4 throttle. Sometimes half. and still manage to take off less than 50 feet. I can only fly it at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle right now, I haven't gone full throttle alot. Just briefly. Since the top end is VERY rich, it makes no difference from 3/4 to full throttle. So I can't tell you if I get full vertical or not with this engine.

It flies nicely slow with a little bit of nose up. It flies fast when I dive it at 1/2 throttle. and still manage to get to the same altitude as before at 1/2 throttle too. Too slow, it'll give you a suprise alright... Snap rolls are scarey fast. Rolls are super fast on high rates. Inverted flight is no big deal. Just a touch of down stick. I'm going to move my CG back a little anyway because i'm flying with a bit of up trim. I have no weight in the nose. I think it's actually a little nose heavy!

Landing this plane is easy. I just make a large turn around the landing strip. Line up, 1/8th to 1/16th throttle, once it gets low, I get into idle and just flare it out.

So far, this plane is fun to fly. I can't wait for my engine to be fully broken in so I can have more fun.




Questions: This plane is darn heavy for it's size, but I notice, the control surfaces look like they are able to handle a bit of 3D. I won't be able to find out until my engine breaks in, but I would like to know if any of you guys are prop hanging it? If this plane last for a while, I'm going to for sure! put a YS63 in it when I can afford one and put my .51 engine in a 40 size stick for some bashing around fun.

I notice a few guys were talking about putting a YS63 in this plane, but I don't see anyone talking about it on this thread.

-Tomi

Oh I forgot to add, I put a pin on the front of the bellypan and drilled a hole in the fuse. So the bellypan can lock into position with the pin. The rear of the bellypan, I put a balsa stick on the inside of it so I can stick velcro to it.

so I basically put the wings together with the aluminum joiner, tape it together with 3M electrical tape, bolt it down with the supplied nylon bolts, and finally slide the bellypan pin into it's slot and stick the whole bellypan down on velcro.

Works great!

I can get photos if needed

-Tomi

(Nice work Tomi !! ) Your flight manager seems a little young,,, but he looks smart.


Well,,, it's been awhile and the little Giles still flys great. Knife-edge is so easy with this plane and very smooth returning to the upright position. The .46AX is running flawlessly with an 11x6 wood but I gotta have more vertical. So she's on the slab getting a motor transplant today. Hope this .61 2s helps the cause. Gonna try putting just the rudder servo in the tail for starters and moving the battery aft.

Anyone hear anything about the new Phoenix F-20 Tigershark??

Went out and flew the Giles this evening,, just got back. The OS.61 SF w/Pitts muffler gave it the vertical zoom it needed. Used a 13x4w APC for the testing. Easier to slow down just in case.
Flew around for a bit just doing some simple loops and rolls,,, no problems except it seemed I was having to add lots of up trim. I figured that I would need to CG again and that I was just a bit nose heavy. Not so. Went vertical with high rates on to see how she hovered. When I came out of the hover I had little if any up elevator. [X(][X(][X(]
Bob Pastorello "Aerobob" was at the field taking a break from flying his new UltraRC Giles 29% when I said to him that something is very wrong here. He said "LAND IT NOW !!"": I had to abort my first attempt because the throttle was way too high. So between jamming the elev up and trimming up at the same time plus trying to trim down the throttle I managed to land. Taxied back to the pits and shut down. "Whew"!! What a scare.
Removed the wing and discovered the whole servo tray had come loose. Needless to say I packed that little plane up for the night.
Luckily I brought my little Ultimate Bipe and got a couple of good flights in on a perfect evening. 3mph slight crosswind.

Took the digital camera but forgot to take any pics after the near gopher hole digging. But did grab a couple of the Giles after I got home. Also the little Wattage Bipe.

Thankyou!

The servo tray coming loose?? yikes!!! I put a drop of thin ca on the 4 corners to hold it down. Pops right off when I need to take the tray out.

If you can hover your giles, I"m sure I can hover mine then. But this is no hover machine. It's down right heavy. Even my buddies at my club said it was heavy for it's size.

Otherwise, it's a great sport flying plane. I like it alot. Landing this thing is pretty fun. Kinda fast but managable.

I'm gonna take my canopy off and tint it. And take that funky overfed looking guy out..lol!

I looked at the F20 tigershark, but personally, I tihnk it would look better if it was ducted fan powered. Looks good though..

-Tomi

Got the Giles ready to fly this afternoon and it does very well with the larger motor. Used a 12x6 wood instead of the 13x4 APC and found it to acually be slower feeling for some reason. Also you can feel the added weight of the .61 compared to the .46 but it's worth it when you point the nose up. Just keeps climbing unlike before with the .46AX.
What prop works the best with the OS .61SF ?

Thanks in advance.....

I have a Giles with a .46 FX in it, and must agree that it is not enough engine for this somewhat heavy airplane. Oh, it will fly around and track nicely, but no guts in the climb department and a bit sluggish all around.

Anybody put a Saito 72 or Saito 80 in this bird? I have one of each looking for a home and thought one or the other might be a good match...any info appreciated.

With the Magnum .61 XL 2 stroke an APC 13x4 (not the 13x4W) worked well for me - unlimited vertical (at approx 3000 ft ASL )

I"m currently using a 11x5 APC on my SuperTigre .51 ringed 2stroke engine. It's a bit fast at full throttle. At half it flies great. But now I'm looking for a prop size that will give me better thrust and less speed. Should I go with a 11x3 or a 11x4? I think I can hang with the 11x5 prop for now. It's flying just fine. Point the nose up and away it goes. (After the engine is broken in!)

I took the man out and painted the inside of the canopy black. Man it looks better now. I also glued the wing halves together with Elmers Ultimate Glue. That polyurethane stuff instead of epoxy.

Oh boy I can't wait to fly this thing. I haven't flown it with the cowling on yet. My engine is almost fully broken in so I think i'll go ahead and slap on the cowling.

Also, I think I want to get a different type of landing gear for it later on. I want a one piece instead of that two peice it has. Maybe I can get something lighter.

-Tomi

You can try an APC 11.5x4 or APC 12.25x3.75

I would also try an APC 12x4...I used this prop on a Phoenix Funstar with a OS .46FX and it was great for 3-D, and kept the speed down...

The 12.25x 3.75 and 12x4 sounds good.

I flew my giles today. Went out and forgot my Belly Pan. but flew it anyway. The belly pan is velcro'd on. Easier to get to the wing bolts. Lots of wind. Probably 15 mph gusting. Landings were intresting. Downwind flying was really fast for this plane. Up wind sucked. Not quite 90 degrees vertical climbs but it climbed. Looks like I can prop it up and get better thrust and lose some of that speed. Hopefully those 12 inch props will help.

I have a question. When you guys are flying at half throttle, just scootin around, when you add full elevator, does it snap on you? I hate that!!! I'm not used to snapping at all. I will have to move the CG back a bit more and see if that will help.

-Tomi

Too much elevator effect will make it snap. Here is what I do: fly the airplane and gradually decrease the elevator control throw until you can pull full up elevator at speed without causing a snap. Use this as your low rate setting. If the elevator response feels sluggish at this reduced throw rate, then reduce the exponential rate to a lower level, lets say 0 to 20%. Be sure to do you test flying several mistakes high. You can then safely use this low rate setting to fly IMAC style aerobatics, pulling full up (and down !) elevator without fear of causing an unexpected snap. You can do a full throttle run on the deck and pull full up, all you will get is a loop, no surprise. On your high rate setting then use as much control throw as you want to fly pseudo 3D style stunts. Use a higher exponential setting here (eg 35 to 50 %) to prevent control over-sensitivity near the neutral position on the stick. Only use the extreme control throws of this setting when you are flying slower, this is the speed range where large control surfaces and extreme control throws come in handy without causing the plane to snap. Most aerobatic planes can be forced to snap by a sudden application of too much elevator at speed. This sudden change in the angle of attack of the flying surfaces causes turbulent airflow with abrupt loss of lift and control authority and wham ! ! you have got your snap. Setting up your low and high rates like this allows you to comfortably fly IMAC aerobatics to their limit and still be able to show off some 3d-like flying when you want. Just always be sure of which control rate you are flying on and adjust the speed accordingly.

Two more things : the higher the wing loading, the greater the tendency to snap ( that is why 3D planes with very light wing loading can get away with much more control throw without snapping ). The CG position is crucial as well : moving it further back may well increase the tendency to snap as it makes the aircraft more unstable (but more maneuverable) With a more forward positioned CG the flying stability and tracking is better ( but at the cost of some degree of maneuverability ) You have to find the sweet spot for the CG that best suits your flying style. My CG is at the aft end of the recommended range. My Giles is one of the older ones without the aluminum wing joiner.