Waldo... that last sentence made my day!!!! [sm=lol.gif]

This was from my post on 10/17/2004.... http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=2261275

OK fellas,
I am new to this thread, posted a questin to you all a week or so ago about 'do you think the .60 size is too much for a novice' and got some helpful replies. Since then I have talked to a handful of other pilots and they all think I'm nuts for thinking I'm going to fly this thing. As a re-cap, I tarted flying this year in a H9 P-51 PTS and had no problems at all (with or without the training gear) and have boatloads of hours on both the G3 and FSone simulators. Seem to fine on those, but of course there is no reset button on a real plane. I saw one of the guys at the field flying one of these this last weekend and my first thought was Yippee! Boy can that thing turn! My second thought was Holy S**T! Can that thing turn! Part of me is excited, part of me is well, not... The people weighing in on this thread are the only people I have found that actually fly the T_ _ _T and are familiar with it. By the way, what's with the abbreviating of T_ _ _T? Just curiouos. Anyway, the reason I have to make up my mind here real soon is I am going out of town to visit realative for x-mas and wanted to bring my plane to fly with my cousins club. If I have to get a new plane buit by then, I'd better giddy-up. The guys at my feild are telling me I should be trying an Edge 540, Yak or something of the sorts. Any input would be great. Thanks!

-Jay K.

Jay, with the control throws on the suggested low rates and the c.g. towards the front, if the Twist 60 flies like the 40, I don't see you having any problems. I would pick a day with little wind for the maiden and take it up quick to a safe altitude for getting used to the way it flies.

I'd just like to start by saying I HATE DAY LIGHT SAVINGS! I finally got my T_ _ _T last week and got everything ready to go sunday and of course it was windy as Hell here in good ol' OK. about 4:30 or so the wind died down so I took her out for the maiden. I packed up and headed to the field had her put together and range checked and went to start her up and forgot my stupid glow starter.[:@] I've only got daylight on the weekends now so I have to wait a whole week before I get a chance to fly again.

Jay...I second TimC's opinion!!The T_ _ _ T is an awesome, reliable, capable yet easy to fly plane!! The T _ _ _ T is my second plane, and I could not be any more happy. Like TimC said...take her up "3 mistakes high" and get used to the way she handles. I too fly her with an O.S 61FX. I used to have the 46FX in her, but missed the power to recover from silly mistakes I still sometimes make. The 61FX will pull her out with authority. She will give you way much fun with a lil' heavier engine than the .46 size engine. Trust us, DIE HARD T _ _ _ T flyers. Once you will fly this baby, you will never wanna be without her.Most of us here have many, many months of flight experience with this beautiful plane, hundreds and hundreds of hours. Some of us are actually flying their 5th, 6th or more T _ _ _ T. Do you think they would continue to fly this plane so many times, if it would not be a pleasure to fly..a continous challenge...a reliable, dependable plane??? Your message will sure get more opinions than TimC's and mine..so..the more opinions..the better. The outcome will be the same....we all LOVE!! our T _ _ _ T!! We are 24-7 compassionate about this plane. Talk to Waldo.....Downthrodden...Adam....and many more T _ _ _ T owners..it is more than "just another glow plane". This plane is part of our "family"..
just my .02....

Orange Poke..I understand you still have to maiden your T _ _ _ T, but trust me..the best times with this plane for me is when there is.....WIND!!!
The 1st time I was about to take her up, I did not have the guts to do so. I was scared I wouild not be able to handle her in the wind. Till one of the more experienced flyers told me not to worry, since she would not handle any different than without the wind.
I finally took her up and boy,o,boy..what a KICK it is to fly her in the wind!!With the wind, she of course gets pushed fast, but if you fly into the wind, you can have her hang like a humming bird!!I love to crawl by the pitts so I can look at her, and when there is some wind...PARTYTIME!!She will climb like a rocket when you point her into the wind.Maiden her first..get used to her..but trust me...you willl have an absolute blast flying her in the wind!!I assume most of the guys her will second my opinion.

jwk72,

I'm happy you asked about the T _ _ _ T abbreviation thing. *Sighs and feels the true burden of driving a point home.* The plane was a Eflite YAK54 equipped with all the latest brushless gear and the ESC (Electronic Speed Control) was of the variety that didn't allow for motor to run if the radio was turned on with the stick in any other, but the off position. I can't remember the total value but it was something like this....plane-$59, Lipo battery-$56, servos-$17/ea, brushless motor-$54, and ESC-$50.............anyway the first two flights were flawless. After I hooked up a fresh battery and placed it on the ground, I made sure the stick was in the off position and turned the radio on. The plane immediately leapt into the air and missed by inches my buddy's noggen and then smashed into pea-size pieces on the ground. I was able to save one servo from that mess and our friends at Horizon hobby took the stance that they'd replace the ESC, but nothing else.......they called it "collateral damage" and refused to accept responsibility for my loss. It is because of this that I refuse to edorse their products and I have since adopted using "T_ _ _ T" as reference to the subject of this forum. I'm happy to say that others in this forum have offered their pledge of solidarity by using the practice. Oh, I'm sure there are those that think it rather petty, but if you think about it... business shouldn't be dictating to us, we as consumers should be dictating to them. One voice isn't much, but maybe they'll listen if they witness organization amongst the disconcerted ranks. *Whew* *Jumps off the soapbox while remembering that this a freedom that was hard won*

To everyone else, thank you for your continued support and patience.

downtrodden

Dutch,

It took awhile, but I finally had Jack211 convinced that "Wind is your friend!" I look at it as free lift, no fuel needed!

downtrodden

Opinion is secondated

jwk72 Fly the T_ _ _ T Right now !!!! and start the begining of your new Life sooner. on low rates, it flys as good if not better than most trainers. The 2nd time you fly it, try putting a cup of coffee on both wing tips and try and keep the coffee in the cups. When you land,,, have the doughnuts ready. your gonna need energy, because you won't stop flyin until sundown.

Orangepoke Sorry about the glow plug thing,, I know all to well how long it takes for a week to go by. we fly only on every Saturday. thats way too long,,,,,

Downtrodden,
Thanks for info. I will be more than happy to adopt this method as well. I to am not happy with Horizon Hobby/H9 at the moment. As you well know, my T_ _ _ T has not even been airborn yet and all of the decorative silver and black "swirls" on the wing are coming off already. I understand that this happens occasionally, more often on planes that have been flown for a while, but a brand new plane??? Alright, lets just assume this is not extremely rare for a minute. I called horizon to see what the deal was and to my suprise, they stopped just short of telling me to stuff it up my you know what. That pissed me off a bit, so yes I will be happy to adhere to the rules.

Thanks to all who have given me some reassurance that this plane a is a good way to go. I'll be sure to let you know how the maiden goes.

-Jay K.

Welcome T.W. JWK72, and Orange Poke!!

If you listen to the advice from Waldo, DownT, TimC, Dutch, Adam, and Ghee, and others on this thread you cannot go wrong. These guys are very knowledgeable and helpful when it comes to building, flying, and repairing the T***T.

You can't find a better bunch of guys anywhere...... [sm=thumbs_up.gif]

By the size of this thread you can see there is countless hours of flying and conversation. If the T***T was not a blast to fly this thread would have been long gone.....

jwk72,

The T---t flies much like a the pts mustang. It is a trainer at heart on low rates. There is always a chance that you will put her in on your maiden with limited flight experience, but the odds are in your favor. With your experience you are not going to nose it in taking it easy, worst case scenerio yuo will land it a little hard in which case you can fix it very easily.

On a more personal note, I have never had luck maidening a plane in a circumstance where I was flying in front of a buddy or relative for the first time. Find a nice calm Saturday morning around sunrise. Go out to a big open field, fire her up, adjust you your mixture so she runs nice and smooth, and transitions nicely. Give her 3/4 throttle and take her up to directly 300 feet and and just fly circuits around the field. Try some turns, figure 8's, and very easy stalls to get a feel for her. Burn a half tank up high getting used to how she flies, and then do 4 or 5 mach landings. Once you are comfortable you can bring her in nice and easy, and just go for it. Just keep the nose down and float it right in. You will literally laugh at how easy it is with some speed.

I bet you will report that she easier to fly than your Stang!

Adam

A reply to a post before, the reason I deadsicked was not because of the engine being bad (46 AX kicks over on my first try), but because I let my better judgement surpass me and I flew till there wasn't any fuel left.

Time flies when you are Twisting.

Jack

PS: Looked at my Tx timer and I have 5 hrs and 18 min on my Twist (all stick time), and it feels like I have only flown it a couple times!

JWK I can't believe that a brand new plane with the mono-kote falling off would not have the company offering to send you a new one,, its too bad the H9 people don't seem too eager to please the patrons of their products, I have a blast flying this Plane, and luckily I have been able to repair it at virtually no cost over the last 2 years, you'd think they would be a little more receptive to helping out their consumers seeing this could give them a black eye in the future, I love the T_ _ _ T but they would have so many more customers if they also had a great reputation,,, their loss is how I look at it.

So I will stand by DownT's ethics on the H9 products and i probably won't buy any other of their products, I was lucky on the ship I received in that it has stayed together and I do all my own repairs, but I refuse to go buy another one in fear of the stories I hear sometimes. I actually only ended up with one because the 2nd day out of our season 2 years ago, I smashed my Spanky new US 40 Ultra sport beyond recognition and needed something to fly for the season, I have 5 other planes but they are not acrobatic planes. well not suppose to be acrobatic planes[>:]

I was moving so I didn't have the time or my tools on hand to build anything, so for $99.00 I was back in, I will most likely trace out the parts this winter and build my self a Brand new one as I'm running out of places to re glue on this old beaten plane, But I will always have a T_ _ _ T in my hanger, I just love how she handles in the sky, all in all She is a great bird and doesn't deserve to be part of a low class company. so there H9

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Rain and more rain, but HEY it's 48 degrees!!!!!! NO SNOW.......INCONCEIVABLE!

Keep 'em in the air fellas!

Waldo,
It is very unfortunate that they think this way and do not appreciate their customers. I also will be hard to convince to buy another one of their products after tht treatment. Too bad for them!

You guys have me all pumped up to go fly this bad boy and now the weather sucks! The good news is Chicago/Northern Ill. generally has a good number of mild days if not weeks throughout the winter. Bad news is they aren't here right now. It's been beutiful recently, but the times, they be a changin'. Supposed to snow this week [&o]. Oh well, I can always hope! Thanks again for the encouragement.

-Jay K.

Crashed my 8th T...T yesterday. I have been good. No crashes for about a year now. But yesterday was another one. I have gradually been increasing my throws over the past several months, as I gain experience, so that now I am at full 3D rates as set out in the manual. (I keep my lows at low, and now high rate is the 3D rate.) Plane is balanced at about 4 5/8 " OS 46 with the 12.25 x 3.75 prop. As I was completing some manouvers high in the air with switch set to high, after having been practicing houvers and harriers, a fellow flyer yelled to me that he heard a noise. He screamed "you lost your prop"....."you lost your prop." So I tried to set the plane down as fast as I could. No time to switch back to low rates. The plane got out of control on short final, and I had a rough landing 100' short of the runway on grass. Broke the plane just behind the canopy as I have experienced many times before. Although this one is cleaner. Will be easier to fix.

We examined the wreakage and found one blade of prop missing, but later found the other blade within 5' of impact site. So I beleive the prop was not the problem. But we did find that the elevator was broken clean off at the hinges. So it was only attached by the linkage to the servo. No damage to the rudder .. not a scratch other than the 3 broken hinges. Now I am wondering. Did the rudder snap off during impact, or did it break due to flutter??? I must admit that I think that I may have overcontrolled the plane in it's last 5 seconds of flight trying to get it down, or could it be that the rudder not working caused me to not be able to control it?????????????????? Perhaps my friend over-reacted when he yelled that he heard a strange noise...perhaps I over-reacted in not being able to control the last 5 seconds of flight????

Any thoughts out there from any of you who may have experienced flutter or broken hinges. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. I am trying to determine if this was pilot induced or mechancial failure. But I guess ...even if it is flutter,..... that is pilot error anyways!

Jim Tucke in Clearwater Florida

Jim, when my rudder hinges sheared there was no noise. At least I don't remember hearing anything strange. At first I thought I was getting a glitch or something because I saw the rudder "twitch" one way or the other. After bringing it by closer I noticed that the rudder was kinda hanging there and every so often would flap. When I saw what happened I brought it in for a forced landing before anything else happened. This harder landing resulted in the gear being removed again... because of the somewhat thick grass that I landed it in. At least I got it down mostly in one piece though... I guess I should be kinda happy about that.

I don't see how the prop could've caused any troubles up there.

Jim,

Sheared hinges have been the cause of a number of crashes, but now I use pinned hinges and the problem is solved.

downtrodden

I'm at a motel in Grants, New Mexico tonight, headed for Texas. It is 8° outside with a low of 0° forecast. This is a little more than this desert rat can take. I brought my plane in the room so it wouldn't freeze and then hate me.

Tim C,

I thought it was supposed to always be warm down that-a-way!

Yeah TimC What is up with that???? [X(] Its slated to reach 68 or so here in NY Today December 1, That is just unheard of this time of year in these parts,,, Very Very rare. I think there is a serious storm a brewin,,,, []

PatnJim,,,, I have never experienced a problem when a prop has left the plane, its basically a flame out or out of fuel situation, and you may become a little prop weight tail heavy, you just glide it in,,, Unless of course your hovering around 8 to 20 feet when this occurs.

You may get a few Twitches when your rudder leaves the craft or is hanging on by a thread, but nothing too severe, unless it jams off to one side or something then you just have to counter it and or fight it with ailerons, you can become a little Panic stricken when your plane is flying and you don't know what piece may have left the plane or you see something dangling off her, just remember to fly the plane all the way in, calmly,,,, Hee hee hee,, Much easier said then done. it really helps if you can also remember to shut off the motor as Soon as you think you may have a crash,, this really saves immense damage.

Well it may be almost 65 or so today but we are expecting Sleet and snow and rain tonight,, hopefully this won't dampen tomorrows activities on the Air field,, cause they are predicting snow for Monday and Tuesday,, if this is the case, we may be shut down for the rest of the winter if The snow stays,,,,, Waahhhhhhahahhahhhhhhhhhhh[:@][&:][sm=cry_smile.gif][sm=cry_smile.gif][sm=cry_smile.gif]

Waldo,
I got some bad news for you. Your warm weather is about to come to a screeching halt. We here in the Chicago area are in the midst of getting 12-16 inches of snow and from what I understand, it's comin' atcha! Better get the skis out.

-Jay K.