Did a bunch of work on the slightly used twist I picked up. This guy did a really nice job of putting the thing togethor. I moved the battery and receiver all the way back, and was able to take an ounce of lead off of the tail from the original owner. My CG is at 4 3/8 with out fuel. I figure if I want it any farther back, I will move the engine back 3/4 of an inch. I would hope the motor mount would be fine with 2 sets if holes 3/4" apart. If anyone has any experience to the contrary let me know!

The way the guy has it set up, my flaperon dial make the ailerons go up and down, with center being the correct neutral position. I suppose this way I have flaperons and spoilerons. I will have to put a mark on my transmitter to tell me where neutral is on the dial. What do you guys think, this flaperon/spoileron set up OK, or should I switch to just spoilerons? Any advise would help.


I am cycling the reciever battery now and it appears to have all of its compacity. My all up wieght is now down to 5lbs, 3 ounces. I hope to get it in the air soon. Been reading throught this thread starting at the beginning. There is a lot of good info.

Adam

Was a nice day here in central Ohio but I didn't have the time to go Twisting. Had to get ready to travel south for spring break so the kids can go see Grandma. Will be going down 65 past GheeGross air space. Will be stopping in Huntsville to visit with one of my old buddies but won't have time to fly with the Twisters in the area. I want to do that some day but this is not the trip. If I can't get to a computer while I'm gone I'll talk to ya'll in about a week. Happy Twisting.

Adam, it sounds like you're ready. My radio is set up like yours. The middle of the dial is neutral on the ailerons. I never mess with it though. I found I like the way it flies with just a little spoiler effect. Your all up weight is 3 ounces less than what I ended up with. I bet it flies great. Good luck.

Adam, I never cared for the idea of using that little dial for moving the flaps (ailerons, flaperons) up and down. Even if you put a mark on the dial, it's just to iffy. You might set it up so that all the way on the dial is normal, and going the other way will make them droop a bit for landings. Actually your Twist will land so slow it is laughable anyway.

A better way (just me) of doing it with my Futaba tx, is to set the flaperons up using the airbrake function. That way with the flip of a switch (very positive, just on or off) the ailerons can both droop a bit for landings AND the elevator will move to correct the trim at the same time. Even with this method, it is another annoying switch that you have to be careful of being in the right position before you make a WOT inverted pass right on the deck, lol.

Jack, I love your stories. You are very in touch with nature and the finer things in life.

Ernie

Hey Adam, I use the spoiler / flaperon set up as well, And like Ernie said, just be carefull when you open her up, I love the effects,,, it is set to center on my dial, which has a little indent for easy finding, But I play with that dial all the time, as long as your careful with it, it is a great friend, I don't have any expo on it, it just goes from 0 to about 50% in both directions, its how we play the plane a little bit extra,, and HARRIERS,,,,, with some serious flaps going are wicked, its a fun toy for sure and the more features you use the more you will love this plane. I think anyway.

Jack; Glad to hear of the great flying day, its always nice to hear of such things, I can almost sit back and see the planes gliding and flying, flying and gliding for hours on end, Its a beautiful life.

Prop, Have fun on the ol Family vacation, just be careful of that smell coming from the back.... [][X(][&:][:@]

BlueMax Did you happen to catch a price on that FS 1 I searched around but didn't see one, It looks like it will be a good one though.

Another quick question guys:

How did you all attach your Twist canopies? Early on in the thread someone recommended Goop glue - is this the best option? I do have some, lovingly borne across the Atlantic from Canada... Or I could use UHU Por, which might be even more flexible.

I would sort of prefer to have the canopy removable though - has anyone screwed their's on?

I really wish I'd thought to buy a pilot. I guess I'll probably end up doing one of those cartoon profiles of Calvin and/or Hobbes or something. Unless of course someone can suggest a way to make a proper pilot in less than half an hour or so, because that's probably about the limit of my patience.

Thanks again, I'm almost there!

Matthew

EDIT: Btw, after consciously deciding to make the lower servo hole the rudder, I then went and put the horn on the wrong side. Looking at the geometry, either way should be fine, but boy I feel dumb sometimes.

Matthew, I used some extra servo screws I had (4) to attach mine. On my first Twist, the canopy sit tight against the fuse at the front. This one had a gap, so I filled it with silicone.

Thanks Tim - that looks nice and neat, I think I'll do something similar. I like to avoid sealing up sections of my planes as much as possible, so screws seem like a good idea. I've never been a fan of making anything permanent (like servos) except on the simplest of foamies like my Yak Shocky.

Another thought: do your tail servos get covered in gunk, or does all that pass over? Just wondering - my engine is a Super Tigre .45 so I can angle the muffler up slightly, but I couldn't help thinking that my nice new Futabas might be in the line of fire. I'm a little paranoid...

Thanks,
Matthew

Matthew, oil blowing back on servos has been discussed here several times. Everyone generally agrees that it is not a problem. Oil getting to the servo connector is a different story. If oil penetrates the connector, the circuit could go open and the servo would lose signal or power.

In reply to TimC. I see that you have used 4 screws to hold the canopy on. I used to use 6. But I have discovered after many crashes that the Twist will often break just behind the canopy. So actually putting a screw hole back there will weaken the frame right where it is the weakest. I still use a few screws to fasten the canopy but I am careful to not use any near the aft end of the canopy. It is an achelies heel back there. I use a few screws forward, and some clear silicone. Seems to work just fine. Jim Tucker

Jim, I never thought of that. Are my rear screws in the danger zone? I hardened the balsa good with thin CA after running the screw in to establish threads. I hope this hardened the wood enough so the hole is an non-issue.

Pat, Tim, I gave up screws on the canopy--and possible consequent weakening of the frame. I just lay in a fine thread of silicone caulking all round. Looks nice and I believe it actually improves the strength across that weak area. Not a lot, but a bit. Screws won't do that. Before my Twist #6 bit the dust hard the other day, I had an incident which cracked the back behind the canopy (easy fix with CA and baking soda filets); then one that cracked the ply just behind the forward wing firewall. Easy fixes, both. When I REALLY crashed #6, the canopy shattered... BUT EVERYWHERE THERE WAS SILICONE, THE YELLOW EDGES OF THAT CANOPY HELD TOGETHER.

Silicone is my favorite glue. I think Down told me he doesn't cut into the Twist wing any more. he just uses silicone.

On my Uproar, I had to add 2 plus ounzes of lead to the tail. I did it with silicone only. When my elevator servo failed, while I was coming down inverted to go low, fast, I put her in nose down. Destroyed that plane but good--Super Tigre muffler stack, bye-bye. Yet, that lead weight was still there. I had to cut it off with an exacto knife when I saved things from that bird at the autopsy. Oh, and the Sullivan tail wheel wire, stuck into the elevator with CA and baking soda, ALSO endured that incredible crash.

Thanks to Down, #7 Twist is downstairs, awaiting receiver and bat placement. I got a 6 v. 1450 mAh bat for this one, and I'm gonna mount it under the canopy as far aft as I can with silicone and an epoxied balsa keeper so she won't go forward in a nose-in crash. No foam. Ah, maybe a bit between the bat and the balsa keeper.

I do believe a metal strap which goes from the landing gear screws to the fuse behind the wing bolt would vastly improve those bothersome fuse cracks. But putting it on, bolting it down every session would be bothersome. I think I just won't crash my Twists any more.

Jack

Waldo,
Horizon is saying about $209.

Also pretty hefty system requirements.

The minimum system requirements are:

Operating System: Windows XP or Windows 2000
Processor: 1.8 GHz Intel Pentium IV or AMD Athlon XP 2500
Memory: 512 MB RAM
Hard Disk Drive Space Available: 4 GB
Video/Graphics: NVIDIA or ATI graphics card with 64 MB VRAM
NVIDIA: GeForce4 Ti, GeForce 5000-series (5200 or better)
ATI: Radeon 9000-series (9200 or better)


Edited for system requirements

Matt, re: putting the servo horn on the wrong side: welcome to my world.

I've seen some nice canopies which show figures and instruments. Empty, the cockpit is for sheisse. Rick covered his with some thin carpenting, chalked in some dials (not readable) and put a long haired blonde under the canopy. But I've gone the other way. The new Twist will have the 6 v bat under the canopy, and I PAINT my canopies on the inside, so you can't see the hole, through which I used to mount the bat, or now, with the bat siliconed onto the canopy floor--as far aft as I can get it--to help counter-balance the OS .61.

Silicone is the way to go. And if you put a figure of some sort under an unpainted canopy, just spread some silicone under it. NONE of my figurines, including a Dalmation, with four feet less than 1/4 inch diameter (on a UCD .60), has ever come off in a crash. Silicone is amazing stuff. My preferred glue. (Right up there with CA and baking soda.)

Jack

Hey Matt,

I like Jacks silicone Ideas for sure, but I am a screw the canopy on kind of guy, It all started when every time I glued on the canopy the vapors would fog up the windshield, (now they make a good glue for the canopy I guess, I never tried it) one time I even remembered to put vasoline on the plastic, as not to get the vapor look, glued her on, and then realized I now couldn't get the vasoline wiped off,,, Talk about being a nit wit.. so from that point on, 4 screws hold all my canopies on and will forever.

I have built up the back behind the wing with just extra plywood bracing and much epoxy, as a matter of fact the Twist broke in its usual spot behind the wing in my last crash but not where any of the bracing was, its almost rebuilt right now, and the new needle valve will hopefully be here today or tomorrow, the first time I came in for a rough landing and ripped the landing gear off, (which I didn't really believe was that rough of a landing) I also braced and epoxied that landing gear block in, needless to say my last nose in crash didn't bother that at all, however my firewall was pushed in and I lost the left side of the most forward part of the plane, she will be air born this Saturday though, things are looking good, I was even able to save the pinstriping and had some extra yellow monocote laying around, the Twist almost looks like its Brand new out of the box again..

As far as screws in the danger zone I just run a nice bead of epoxy around the whole inside of the airframe where all the joints meet, I needed the extra weight for the balance on the OS .70 anyway, the screw holes have never been a weak point in any plane I've ever had so far, Maybe I have been lucky,, My canopies have shattered before but the holes have never been an issue or where the breaks have occurred.

Thanks Bluemax that sounds like a pretty good deal actually, And by the time I get that kind of money to spend on a sim program It'll probably be yesterdays news and Cheaper then I'll grab it for sure.

And oil on the servo just keeps her smooth.... That last line might be BS..... but it doesn't bother me at all. its never been a problem for me anyway. definitely keep it off the connectors as TimC said..

Later kids[8D]

Thanks for all the replies about the canopy. I'll see what I can come up with.

I've been very conscientious about hooking up servos this time, and I soldered in extensions rather than using ready-made plug in ones, so there should be no threat from oil. Another thing I think I might do is to fuel-proof the exposed wood around the nose and the firewall - it doesn't seem to have any kind of protection at the moment.(?)

Matthew

Sounds like some good ideas. I want to put some bracing in my Twist as well. I have read that you want to brace the firewall to the fuse with blocks or triangles using CA or epoxy. Sounds like the landing gear is another area that needs help. Any other spots worth shoring up?

Test ran my OS 61 FX yeterday. Boy does that motor run smooth. I am used to an LA. But the FX is more responsive, and just sounds nicer. I was amazed at well it would idle at a very low RPM.

Adam

Adam, I epoxied in triangle stock all the way around the firewall, then thinned out epoxy using alcohol to paint the entire firewall/ engine bay area. That .61 has a bit more pull than what the firewall was designed for.

I never quite grasped the difference either, until I got a .25FX recently. After running it in a few days ago, I'm a complete convert. This engine will replace a .25FP, and the difference is amazing. It sounds way, way smoother and will idle so slowly that you can just start to see the blades - impressive on such a small engine.

Back to the Twist, I've run up against the problem of short control rods that so many of you have had. The rods in the tail were just long enough, but I'm not sure if I can use the supplied aileron rods, they are REALLY short. If I can't, it's really going to slow things down, because I only have one threaded rod on hand, so I really need to get to my LHS.[]

Matthew

Adam, I too epoxied around the firewall with triangular stock, and I also cut a pop hatch just behind the wing in the first bay, and put triangular stock behind the former just behind the wing as well, I originally cut the pop hatch for placing my battery in for weight purposes, so while she was opened I braced off the former, that I believe is the weekest part of the plane, from all the stories I've heard here and from my own experience, I just fuel proofed the firewall and inside the front of the engine area and the tank area as well with regular fuel proof dope.

Waldo. I have done the same thing also. No hatch, just opened it up, did some reinforcing, then ironed on a new piece of yellow covering. It really seemed to strengthen the plane. However a few weeks later I did a 100' loop and I started at about 98' above the runway. It still broke in half!! I do beleive that this reinforcing would help to save it from a mild crash. Jim Tucker

I possibly shouldn't bring this up again, but I just did a little research on Google after not understanding too well all that stuff about linkages a few pages ago. I found this explanation which has some nice clear diagrams:

http://www.modelaircraft.org/mag/hur...rmgeometry.pdf

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to use my new found wisdom. If I can use the supplied aileron rods at all, I'm pretty sure they won't be long enough to allow for any offset whatsoever. As it stands, I'm still not sure if they are long enough for a "standard" setup - I should know for sure when I've put the horns on the ailerons.

Matthew

Hey PatnJ,

What,,, were you trying to re-inact the Axel Olsen outside loop on that 100 footer. [] Just a way out for you... say yes.. [8D] I too have had many oversized loops throughout my years, its usually a fantastic site to see, I did one with a Sig Kadet once, that is a stick built plane, and I think I saw every stick explode into the wind on that one, it was pretty spectacular to witness[X(] it all fit in a regular plastic walmart shopping bag, including the wing.

Mathew, My control lines were doubting me as well, but there was actually plenty there to get the job done right. if it doesn't make it, I think you can get some threaded rod for less than a buck at your LHS... Good luck

just finished putting mine together - wasnt that hard at all...only thing i did extra was to goop the firewall and personal experience went over some of the seams with a little epox for added protection - dont know if it really needed or not - put in a webra 40 in it to see how it works

Lemme get this straight: you put a 40 engine in a 40 size plane? Hah! you are in for it now. You are about to find out you "need" a 60, 70 , 80, 91 or 100 at least.

Imagine! Enjoy!