Hey propSpinner

Yes,,, as a matter of fact I was successful in the consistent knife edge this weekend It took a while to get it to happen though, as I kept rolling out of mine, but I finally was able to hold her until I started turning to come back to me, then it would roll out again,

I found to feel this plane out, I would start a slow right turn with my ailerons, and after completing the turn, I started adding in left rudder to keep her on its side, and let off the up elevator to stop the turn, this method works for me, as its a very smooth way to enter a knife edge and you can add very little of what ever is needed to correct the situation, and it is a very little needed.... I'm sure its easier to just snap roll into it, but for some reason I couldn't hold it until I got it happening the other way. Now I can snap roll into it and hold it.

I'm still learning this plane right now, the Twist is taking me for the rides, and I really don't mind.. Practice practice practice is what its really all about. Maybe we can get a video next weekend of the Twist knife edging. Happy flying , I hope this was able to help you in some way. Man, I'm already all shakin, waiting for this Saturday, [&:] its going to be a long week......[:-]

dkurschner,

So you went all out and got the Saito 82! I'm so jealous. We had our club picnic this Sunday and there was another Twist there with a 4 stroke. We had the opportunity to fly side by side and do a stare and compare. I have to say I like the way his flew better. The 4 stroke came up to speed faster where my 2 stroke had to wind out. It just seemed to pull the plane slower and smoother. His Twist just flew with more authority. A new engines just not in the budget right now. I'm trying to pay off my new Futaba.

Hope all goes well on the first flight.

Waldopepperaxel,

Thanks for the knife instructions. Yeh, I can't seem to get enough of this little plane. If I can just get a few more moves down maybe I can start putting them together were they look like something. I don't think the nice weather is going to hold out much longer here in Ohio. My practice may have to wait till 2006.

No Waiting LOL, You must practice right now.. Well go On,!! before I make you walk the plank.[sm=pirate.gif] I too, have a short season in the flying category, its a bummer, every October we go to Cedar point for coastering fun, so I lose another weekend of flying then but Its worth it I guess, but we dress for ski season, as its pretty cold going 100mph or so on a cool October night in Ohio.
As you fly the Twist you will learn to make things look like there something just never keep the sticks in the neutral position, Its a hell of an acrobatic plane, and so far (knock on wood) it seems to hold up the stress, as soon as I get a few minutes at home I will hook the video link in here.
Have a good one and happy knife edge learning. This plane is a Blast for sure.

Listen, guys, you HAVE to learn about flying in winter. First, the Twist take's skiis very well (we manufacture our own, though Dubro makes them); second, the engines LOVE the cold, and your consumables (props and glo-plugs) last longer; third, any open space becomes a flying field.

We fly MORE in the winter than in the summer here. We've got a spot, a road, without wires, between two ponds. I take a handwarming heater with me--and you can sew a very large "glove" to fit over your TX and hands. We've flown in -2 degree weather.

So don't let winter get in the way of your flying.

Jack

Says Jack- " Tim, it's only 2 below out. We're going out flying or I'm gonna let you have it with this here shotgun".
Says Tim- "Pull the trigger Jack".

Check out this review of the Twist. There's a pretty sweet video in there too!

http://www.rcgroups.com/links/index....40&skey=8e26c1

Hey Jack,
I have learned about flying in the winter, I could never get enough flying ever, even now, but what I learned is that frost bite is nasty,[&:] but still worth flying with, I've learned you need a good crisp glaze over the snow, or your plane just sinks nose first on take off,[:-] but the best thing is to just fly off the ice on a lake.
Well we decided to build an R/C Rocket plane for Ice & Snow, we took the Eagle fuselage from Carl Goldberg and basically turned it around back wards, put ski's on her and flipped the tail around, (to the firewall side) she was powered with 3 D size Estes Rocket Engines, and an OS Max .40 mounted up high from the center of the Fuse, [>:] let me tell you this was the most impressive rocket plane we've ever built, this thing went so fast and so far with about a 20 foot flame out of the back of her, it was the coolest thing ever, but then of course there was the 700 yard walk through the snow to get her back, it was so fast, radio control did nothing but weigh it down a little more, she went perfectly straight though. which is where the OS max would come in, thats what brought it back if it stayed running through the 6 to 8 seconds of thrust. most of the time something would stall it out though. But I insist,, you go right ahead and enjoy winter flying, once in a while I get out there for a winter shot, but not so much anymore.[&o]

Prop - yeah, I broke that beautiful motor in for about an hour the other day. Seeing the Twist with a Saito 82 in it is like looking at an old muscle car that has a hole cut in the hood so the heads and carbs can stick out. Haha.

Hey guys, I still haven't gotten her in the air yet. I just haven't yet had the opportunity to go out to the field yet. And now that I'm ready, it sounds like our airfield is going to be flooded by about 12:00 noon on Thursday as the minnesota river is raising up pretty fast. Our field is in a sort of flood plains area that has a chance of flooding about 1 a year or twice on a really bad year.

But I've got a couple quick questions for you experienced Twist'ers. I go back and forth about what type of control surface throws that I should use on the maiden flight. I'm a pretty new flyer but pretty confident as well. I'm worried that If I make them too low of throws, that I won't be able to get out of a bind if I need to? I taxied my plane around the street using aproximately 1" of throw in the rudder and I could hardly turn the plane in a 20 foot radius. Would it be better to use larger throws and use like 80% Exponential as opposed to .75" or 1" max throws? What should I expect on this plane during the first flight? My CG is somewhere between 4-1/2" and 4-3/4" currently. I've got the battery in the standard tray area and the receiver behind the throttle servo. I'd move the receiver but its so light, is it going to change the CG at all?

Why not set it up as the manual indicates? It's not surprising that you are not getting much turn authority taxiing with 1" throw on the rudder? The recommended low rate is 1 3/4" each direction. High rate is 2".

I use 50% expo on elevator and ailerons and it seems comfortable. Best of luck on your maiden.

Hey DK

I think you have her balanced at a perfect spot for your first flight with the Twist, I couldn't get mine balanced back far enough, I was hoping for around 4-1/2 to about 5, even after I added 3 Sockets to the area behind the Throttle servo with the Battery, it was still on the 4-1/4 side, She flew great though, I would go with the recommended throws for Low or Hi rates to start off
Like Jim Said (1-3/4 - 2), And just remember to be easy on your movements with the sticks, but once you feel this plane in the air you will want all the throw you can get, I originally set this plane up with the 3D rates and the very next week a Friend of mine gave me the oversize control arms for the servos so I could get even more throw, it is very easy to control, she flies so nice and lands as slow or as fast as you want to, I usually land this plane like a Harrier as the landing gear needs to be beefed up a bit, because our field is very bumpy and rough on our planes.

I agree that you could go with the 80% Exponential as opposed to .75 I know its harder done then said, but even in a panic if you can just remember to be calm and make slow adjustments on your sticks, this plane will do what ever your asking it to do as you do it, I didn't find any delay at all in whatever command I sent to her, but of course I have every surface going as far as it can without ripping the control horns out of her. What Kind of runway do you fly on Grass Or paved?? I love the look of a nice soaring plane at any speed just looking smooth in the sky, even when your snap rolling this plane, she tracks very straight and you can do long slow perfect rolls, just get the nose pointing up a little and start a very slow input on a left or right aileron roll, and just hold it for a bit, its a beautiful site. once your comfortable of course.
I finally got to put a pop hatch in mine this week behind the wing bolts, and stuffed a bunch of foam and my Battery in there, moved my receiver back behind the Throttle servo and I'm balanced in around 4-7/8 almost 5,, Yahooo I can't wait to see the response now, Plus I was able to take out the 3 sockets of weight, Its going to be a great Saturday I hope, Good Luck and don't be ascared, fly this plane with all the confidence you say you have [>:] because she'll be right there to back you up. I haven't found any bad habits from this plane yet.... what you can expect from the first flight is a true flying straight plane, that is easy to handle, Good luck!!! have fun!!!

I just picked up a Twist 40 yesterday, only problems I ran into was that two of the blind nuts for the engine mount were stripped out. Just about set up and ready to fly. Just a quick question though. Are you guys setting up the CG dry or wet. I assume dry, but am not sure. This thing looks like its going to be a lot of fun.

My cg was 4 3/4 dry with a os 46 on it.

Chris

I agree with Jim on using the minimum throws in the manual. What looks like a lot of throw is just right at the sub-stall speeds this plane was designed for. At these speeds, most of the air flow the control surfaces are seeing is from the prop wash. fmulder, set the cg with the fuel tank empty.

dkurschner,
I agree with the guys. Use the manual throws, 50% expo to start and your CG is where mine is currently. You can make small adjustments as you learn the planes characteristics.

Ok, thanks for the info guys. I just need to mount the engine, an Evo 46. I mocked it up in place, but wanted to see were the CG came out before drilling out the engine mount. I want to run the CG closer to the 4" side of the recomended range. I am not looking for all out 3d aerobatics (not yet, anyway). The Twist looks like a fun cheap plane to beat around.

Thanks guys. I'm not trying to beat a dead horse. I've just been idle and had too much time to think. We have 300 foot asphault runways at our field. They aren't super wide so I hit them about 65% of the time on landings and short grass the other times.

So Would you just use the low rates to start and set those as endpoints? Or would you Dual rate them with larger throws also? Some say that the temptation can be too great to flip the switch before you've spent enough time feeling the plane out with lower throws.

CG - I talked with H9 on the phone. They verified that the CG should be set dry. The tank isn't at the CG of the plane so the nose get lighter as the fuel is used up. I think I'm preaching to the choir on this one as it seems many planes are this way unless you want to run a fuel pump.

I picked up a heavier Du-bro Chromed Brass spinner nut and a Harry's Prop Lock Nut. I've currently got the aluminum version on there and thought that I could probably move the CG almost 1/4" switching the nuts. I'll measure it and let you guys know the results.

Saito .82 Rocks - The more I've played with the motor during break-in, the more impressed I am. I truly believe that you could hold the plane in your hand, give it full throttle, let go, and it would just launch from your hand without any problem. Heck, it practically ripped the plane out of my hands. I've got the 13 x 4 Wide APC prop on it.

OK, I have my little evo 46 hanging as far foward as it will go on the mount, and im closer to 4.75" than I am to 4.5" and where I really want to be is at 4". I hate adding any weight at all, guess I too need to switch to a brass prop nut and see where I'm at then.

Here's a couple of photos for those intending on mounting 4-strokers in their twists. I also show where you can locate a fuel dot on one cheek and a vent dot on the other cheek for easier fueling access in such a tight space. Last but not least is just simple but use the precut hole opposite the one you use for the receiver switch to mount a charge jack for your battery pack.



Oops, forgot to tuck the servo lead in on that one.

dkurschner,

Looks great! From the pictures it looks like you pay attention to detail. If you have a instructor or someone who's skills you trust ask him to meet you at the field on the first flight. It's nice to have someone there to help you get things trimmed. I think you should be fine but this kind of plane tends to roll easier than a trainer and you want to get use to that. Once you do you will hate your trainer and think the Twist is much easier to fly. (I assume your first plane was a trainer) Good luck!

fmulder,

You should add a little weight to the nose until you are ready to try some 3D flight. The brass prop nut is the way I went and added a light prop nut my second or third flight session.

Hey i am getting one of the Hangar 9 Twist's and i was wondering what do you guys think is the best engine and prop combination i really cant decide whether to go 2 stroke or 4. So i was just wondering what you guys thought. Thanks for the input

Dave, here's one to try if you have the bucks. A Jett .76L with a 14x4W. This will turn some heads at the field.

The Twist is a fun plane to fly but it doesn't make a tow plane.

fmulder - I had the same issue with one or two of the engine mount blind nuts, but I made mine work. Now I put a Super Tigre .51 in it and had to re-do the blind nuts.

Hopefully tomorrow I can start breaking the engine in, and get it up with the new engine.

Anyone re-covered their's yet? I remember someone did a while back.

As for engine choice, if you can afford it, a 70-80 four stroke would be great. A couple of the guys I fly with had Saito 82's in theirs, and the plane was unlimited. I first started with an OS 46LA in mine, and it flew great for a fun-flyer, then I put in a K&B .48 and that gave it unlimited vertical.

I'm curious if you guys or any of your pals with Twists have tried taking off vertical with the Twist right out of your hand (holding the plane straight up and down)?