For a minute there I thought Waldo was fixin to break intp a episode of (The TWISTLIGHT ZONE)

Well, I've read just about every post in the entire thread. Ouch! [:@] I just received my Twist and have a brand new SuperTigre 51 to go in it, much like Rhee's (and Fyrwalker's too, I think). Funny thing is I ordered both before I ever saw this thread. I saw much discussion on the weak spot just behind the wing, but never saw any real solutions. Have any of you done anything to strengthen that area while first assembling the plane? I thought about adding a couple of light ply stringers butted up against/between the formers. Just wondering if anyone else has done anything about it before the first flight.

Edit: after read all those posts, how did I wind up spelling your name wrong, Ghee?

Your right on the money, run some balsa ply stringers along the former behind the wing saddle and you'll be happy you did, I put 4 in mine, one on each stringer running length wise from the former about 3 or 4 inches into the back of the fuse.

jarhead, Welcome aboard RC Universe and the monster Twist thread!!!! [sm=shades_smile.gif]

You deserve a prize for digging through this whole "unabridged" volume of Twist info! [sm=bananahead.gif]


The G-51 is definitely a strong engine for the price. Get that thing built and in the air... you will be yet another happy Twist owner.

I'd fix the dowel problem before flying. Remember that video where the wing flies off the Twist? Oooh, that was traumatic.

I'm still waiting for someone to add a second (and third?) wing dowel so the wing is more secure. It kind of bugs me that the wing can 'rock' slightly even with the bolt screwed down hard.

What exactly is the problem with your dowel? I don't quite understand you explanation.

Matthew

I think the problem is the plane has a few too many flights on her and a few too many rebuilds to boot. or there is a loose connection between the box and the pilot head, its just getting loose in her old age, but its as solid as bag of rocks with all the glue in there.

I will not fix anything yet, she flys, and besides it all adds to the excitement[>:] I do remember the video,, I laughed my butt off, not at the poor guy who was upset, but at the whole scenario that took place,, been there, done that, way too many times in my hobby years, I've discovered long ago, it doesn't matter what you do, how careful you are, the stupidest thing is going to happen and your plane is going to become a lawn dart, once you except this, you seem to have fewer crashes,,, I don't know why. I haven't really crashed hard in quite a few years because of the planes I fly, but once you enter into the world of 3D there is no saving a plane hovering 10 to 20 feet off the deck when the motor quits, I have to say I have rebuilt the T_ _ _ T 4 times because of the hover and an engine quitting, once because the elevator servo arm popped off, all my other crafts that don't do 3D, have 1 or no crashes on them, over a 4 year span and my Kadet Sr. has no crashes over 14 years, they can aways glide in because of a flame out. I always try and take every precaution I can, more for the fear of it going out of control and hitting someone or something, But I'm afraid I will just have to put out the warning this weekend to my fellow flyers and see what happens, as i won't have a minute to work on her this week and I will not give up a day of flying the T_ _ _ T because it doesn't seem right, I know its not right,, so I will fly her with respect and away from all of us, and I probably won't do any inverted flat spins this week,,, but who am I kidding, if she is flying great I'm sure I will put her through the usual course of action,,, The T_ _ _ T test..

But I've decided I like 3D and I am going to do what ever I have to do to become as close as a master ace at it as I can. if that means rebuilding it until I can't anymore then so be it... I'm sure she will be just fine,,, Or am I,, LOL I don't know, but I'm having a great time... and thats all that matters, no matter what plane it is...

Blue skies all.....

I say we each chip in $5 and buy Waldo a new Twist. It would only take 20 of us with shipping.

Sorry Waldo, had to be a party pooper.

LOL,,,

Thanks for the concern Adam, But I assure you it isn't the money holding me back yet, especially with a plane like the $99.00 T_ _ _ T, you can't afford not to buy it... I'm just an old fashion kit builder and I now feel like I have built the T_ _ _ T,,, so I am very happy I will most likely go out and get another one over the winter so I can have a fresh one next season, then I could really have an experimental plane with the one I fly now..... providing it survives this weekend,, LOL,,,the best part about it is (and DownT should appreciate this) I have taken horizon for a ride on this one, as I have squeezed the absolute complete Value of this plane above and beyond the amount I paid for it, This plane has given me countless hours of fun air time, Fun crashing time, and fun building time for the original $99.00 who could ask for anything more... sure I thought of buying another one, but the thought of seeing if I could repair this one just one more time won the battle.

Waldo! Did you say your flying season is going to end!? You're not going to put skiis on it and fly through the winter? Say it isn't so![X(]

Sorry,,,, it is so,,, If I was out there with you I would definitely be using the skiis, I have a few sets of them, But We can not get to our field once the snow hits us, I usually just keep the wheels on and fly off the ice occasionaly, But winter flying for me is very limited, I only went out once last year because of all the T _ _ _T talk on this thread,, I couldn't take it any more,, so I lauched my T _ _ _ T off my spiral Sliding board in the back yard. Yee HAaa

Anyone notice that the 60-size version of the Twist 3D seems to have its covering scheme borrowed from the Parkzone Typhoon 3D?

Same parent company

Waldo,

I figured you could spare the money Waldo, I was just razzing you a bit. You are one of those hard core building type of guys.

I just finished fixing my .60 sized Twist tonight. It is a couple ouces heavier, but she will fly. What do you when you break it right behind the fuse and it tears the covering right throught the muticolor stripe in a spot where there is no balsa behind it to iron on to. Do you have to recover the whole side and redo the stripes and the whole shabang?

Adam

I know you were Razzin me LOL,,,, But I still had to comment,

The best thing to do for a tear in an opening i found, is grab a piece of balsa sheeting and just make a little piece to go in between the lightning hole and just Zap it on the top and bottom of the fuse hole (enough to catch the mono-cote where the slice is) just make it flush with the outside of the fuselage and you'll never even know its there.

If your worried about keeping things balanced, just cut 2 pieces and put the other directly across from the other, but with such a small light piece i wouldn't even worry about that.

Your looking at about a 4 minute fix here that looks perfect. it takes more time to find and measure the piece then it does to fix it.

Ahhhhh, Waldo's Paintbrush, sweeeeet!!!!!!!!!!!!

Adam

Flight report 11/11/06


The T_ _ _ T Has survived the Waldo Stress test,, What an awesome Plane.

The wing loose and the whole fuse just wobbles by touching the wing, so I said my goodbyes before I fired her up.. I guess all that glue and stringers are fine, but it has some play is all.

Yes the motor did start after completely having to strip it down at the field. there was debris somewhere blocking the fuel, we never found it, but I completely stripped off the carb and pulled all the insides out and when I put her back together she worked GREAT,, sometimes you just have to un assemble and re assemble to get things working again,, God will only know the true problem.

Winds were crankin,, started the morning with about 15-20mph and who knows how hard it was blowing within an hour after that well over 30 at times I'm sure, but man we had a great time.

After nursing the T_ _ _ T around for a flight it was time, she was cooking coming in downwind and then you just pull into a hover and watch her blow sideways across the sky about 200 yards in seconds. so I had to see if the wing was going to hang on, so I climbed way up and started the descend, I put her in a full dive, flipped around inverted and started to apply down elevator to come out of the dive,, I thought for sure the wing would be leaving at this point but she stayed right in place and screamed by us the fastest I had ever seen this plane fly with the wind, gave her hard down elevator and she she just soared straight back up, OK,,, if it handles that it was going to handle everything,,, so I proceeded with my normal flight routine, snap rolls, flat spins, just jamming the controls in any direction watching this plane do what it does best,,, EVERYTHING,,,, and then brought her up 3 more times. What a blast..... What a day !!!

Even the Bipe I had was flying great in all that wind. 3 pilots,,, 5 planes,,, all home safe and sound... It was 2 weeks since my last flight so I soaked up every minute I could... talk about getting your fix,,,, AAAAAhhhhhhhhhhh

My second Twist is almost put together. I should be putting the 4120 into it later this week.

Who else has an electric twist? I'd like to compare notes...

Bob

Re-maiden report:

Well, I got the electric Twist .60 flying again. I posted some pictures of it a few pages back in pieces on the ground. There is something so rewarding about fixing a badly damages plane. My first instinct is to throw it in the garbage, and go spend a few bucks on a brand new one. I then have to talk myself down and convince myself that although it will take just as long to fix the plane as it will to build a new ARF, I really should save the moeny and fix the plane if for no other reason than the principle of the matter.

The only downside to fixing them is they never look the same. Yuo can see the patches that I put on the wings, and the covering on the fuse tore right through the multicolor stripes. From 5 feet away she looks as good as new, but the covering on the died shrank when I was ironing it back togethor.

So I brought out the repaired Twist, and get her all set up. I was glad I was starting with an electric because it was 30 degrees and you eliminate the fueling, the glow igniter, starter, cleaning it when your are done,etc. Just attach the wing, plug in the battery, and go.
I now have 2 battery set ups. I am wire harnessing 4 Thunder Power 2100 3 cell batteries togethor to get a 6 cell 4200 mah battery. This set up is 6 ounces lighter than my 6 cell 4000 mah Common Sense brand battery, plus it has a lot more power output. With 2 chargers I can get 6 flights in four hours. I fly my glow planes in between.

I taxied her out on the massive tar runway, applied half throttle, and off she went. I needed a little up elevator because apparently she is a little heavier on the back end due to CA, epoxy, and popsical stick reinforcements. Other than that she flew great. I brought her around in a broad flight pattern, and killed the power to let her coast by on a low fly by. The sound of the wind over the wing and flight surfaces is amazing when you have no motor running, and no prop noise. On a calm day you can hear the change in airflow when you move the control surfaces. The landing gear pooped off on the second landing because I just didn't have it secured well enough. I am going to use fiberglass mesh this time to make sure it stays.. No damage done!

I proceeded to fly my profile yak, 1/3 scale Cap, and T-Rex Heli. All in all it was a great Saturday. Too windy Sunday to fly in the cold. Hope you all got out over the weekend.

Adam

Fixing a shattered plane and feeling the reward of seeing it fly again.......... PRICELESS!!!

Great Job

Good show Adam. I gave away my first Twist because I thought I couldn't fix it. A friend who is a builder had it fixed and flying in no time. The combination of a low, fast inverted pass, and an oops on the elevator stick made it beyond even his skills. When #2 goes in, this time I will try and repair it myself.

Do you want to know how to ruin three receivers quickly? Just have them near where you charge your batteries and then over-charge a 12v. lead-acid marine battery! It appears that the highly corrosive fumes, which are heavier than air, just love anything made out of metal, ie....IC chip leads, copper wire, in other words anything electronic! I get this call from a guy to trouble shoot why his receivers suddenly quit on him and when I get there I see and hear that the bulging battery, that's hissing at the vents, is the culprit. Costly lesson to learn........$85 deep cycle marine battery, three Futaba 8 channel receivers ($180), plus who knows what else came in contact with those fumes. It's lucky the guy didn't loose his house! When I was leaving his shop I noticed that he was keeping his glow fuel warm near the gas wall furnace. When I asked him why he stores it there he says he only does it in the winter when the furnace is on that way he doesn't have any starting issues during the cold months. He said he figured I would say something but not to worry.....that the glow fuel has such a high ignition temperature that it poses no risk. I wanted to ask him how he got so smart, but I was afraid he'd tell me. T _ _ _ T On Dude!

Important safety lesson there DownT,, thanks,,, I don't care what anyone says,, my Fuel at $20.00 a gallon and the drive across the state line to get it,, makes me treat my fuel like gold....

Here are 2 links if anyone is interested..

$0.99 for one T_ _ _ T new in the box with a little damage to one of the wing tips. the other is for $31.00 new in the box all pieces are there i think.. A friend of mine sent me the links,, but my T_ _ _ T work just fine for now....

[link]http://cgi.ebay.com/NIB-Hangar-9-Twist-40-ARF_W0QQitemZ180050117778QQihZ008QQcategoryZ19164Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem[/link]

and the other

[link]http://cgi.ebay.com/Hangar-9-Twist-3D-40-ARF-R-C-Airplane-Parts-Kit_W0QQitemZ160051638433QQihZ006QQcategoryZ19164Q QtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem[/link]

That's a good tip about keeping delicate electronics away from charging lead/acid batteries DT. The fumes given off are also explosive. I found out the hard way when I was trying to attach jumper cables to a rock crusher battery. The connection arced and blew the top out of the battery. Chunks of battery top peppered my face. I had safety glasses on so my eyes were spared.

I have 2 Twist in the back of my truck waiting to be flown. As I was loading them in my truck this morning at about 5:15am I couldn't help but smile. I must be a Twistaholic. For just a moment I got this giddy feeling and butterflies in my stomach as I thought about the fact that it is going to be sunny and 45 degrees today with low winds. I have no commitments after work today, 1/2 gallon of glow fuel, and 2 fully charged battery packs. Now that is true contentment.

Life is good, and I just thank God that we live in a country where we not only have the freedom to do as we please, but the opportunity to work hard and play hard. Veterans day is a good reminder for me that these freedoms don't come cheap. Thank you veterans.

Adam

I need a little help! I am flying a pizazz (very similar to the twist), and I have a balance question. The balance is set up according to the manual, but i'm not sure it is right. It flies great right side up, but inverted, it wants to nose dive BAD. Is there a fix for this? I have not been flying planes very long, so any help would be appreciated.