No Mark I didnt mean to bad mouth the orientals, its just that nearly everything that comes from there for modelling, has a problem with quality control, or there's a design fault....like the firewall on the giles is not forward enough....the u/c mount on the waco 60 and 30 is not solid enough, not enough glue in ARF"S ect...ect
think about this...if your incidence is not 0--0 , what happens when you fly upside down ? ?
Ian White from down under

Son of a preface:
I know u didn't mean anything.
It hasn't flown upside down yet... This is only my second plane (Telemaster was the first).
Need to learn to fly this a bit better before trying upside down flying. The only time I've ever flown upside down was w/ the telemaster when it was heading down fast on my very first flight and I pulled back hard and did a loop. Boy did my trainer yell at me for that one.
Hopefully this weekend I will try to. As long as I can get comfortable to do so.
As far as this being a bad arf, I still don't think so. For the $$, I think it is great. Great looking plane, just hope I can get it to fly perfectly. I did fly nice once the trim was set, just want it to fly straight w/out trim..

Hi Kanto....was wondering where this thread went I'm still trying to get my buddies digital camera to take the pic to show you the set up of the wing incidence. BTW...I don't have a Phoenix Giles...sorry. What I have is a Phoenix Dolphin, Phoenix Cap 232 and Phoenix Sukhoi. That's how I know that these models balance slight tail heavy....but in flight, they head for the ground. Making my wing incidence positive on the Dolphin has helped trememdously...and this is the pic I want to show you....then you can apply the method to your plane. Any gap between the wing and fuse is taken care of by appling 'wing seating foam' between the fuse and wing....I'll try reminding my buddy to bring his camera.

Ok Kanto....here's the modifications I did to the wing, landing gear and a brace to hold the fuel tank in place so that it won't vibrate out of it's mount.

Hope these tips helps or give you some idea how to apply wing incidence. Don't be afraid to be innovative.....if your wing is mid fuse and is held together with an aluminum tube....cut the fuse in a slit fashion at the trailing edge and use bolts to raise of lower the trailing edge with the aluminum tube as the pivot. This method allows you to find the correct wing incidence for level flight and inverted.
The landing gear modification holds the wheels rigid...especially for wet grassy fields that is not recently cut. My landing gear used to bend backwards on takeoff and landings and crack the underside of the wing.....it doesn't happen anymore. Also modified the wing with fibreglass cloth for strength.
These models flies great and is easy to land when setup right..........have patience and try different methods until the plane flies how you want it to fly....then the fun begins.
Oh.....I also did put a No. 8 washer under the front holes of the engine then bolted it on to have up thrust.....don't think it made much of a difference.
I installed a Tuned Silenced Muffler to my OS 46 FX for a 1000rpm gain....now my Dolphin rocks.
Have fun and don't be afraid to try new stuff.

Cheers.

Ok, I see now. That's what I'll try if it doesn't fly straight this Saturday.
Thanks so much for the pictures.
Mark

Mark.. re read what iv'e posted []

Hi Mark....glad I could help a little bit. [8D] You'll be fine.....just have patience and don't be afraid to try new modifications. Just do it one at a time and keep a log book. Each model should have two pages. Any changes should be recorded...along with comments of how the plane responds after. Write down the trim settings used for each model etc etc. It is really helpful in the long run if you stick with this hobby.
In this hobby....at the field and online.....you'll meet all kinds. Be Patient, but stop crap in it's tracks. You seem like a nice person, so have fun.

Cheers.

Kaz.

I agree ...stop crap in it's tracks [>:] [>:]

Hi Mark....did you do the modification and fly the plane yesterday? If so....how did it go? Does it fly better?
My plane really rocked today with the modifications. It flies true. My trims are all centered. I did Cuban 8's, reversed Cuban 8's, Flat spins, Inverted flights, Hammer-head stalls, Torque rolls and they were all almost perfect.
On the fourth flight, a buddy came out to fly my plane....he was really impressed, came it a bit hot for the landing, and the tail wheel broke off...............that was it for the day. Too bad...I really like how the plane flies now.
Well....give me and up date as to how your flights went if you did the modifications.

Cheers.

No, Sorry... Didn't fly this weekend. Weather here in Japan was very windy both days. Will now have to wait till next Saturday. I will keep this post up to date after I fly.

Later
Mark

Ok Mark...looking forward to the flight report. Thought the wind was your friend though...

If you do the modification.........post some pics so that I can see how it went. Thinking of getting Giles 202, Atlantis or Sea Bee. Does anyone have any input on which to buy?

Cheers.

Mark , If I were you I would do a search for the plane and see what others say about how it fly's .
I did and you will see the same , search for PHOENIX GILES and check it out.
Regards Ian

Some times life sucks...
On only my 4th flight w/ this plane, I crashed it. The clevis to one of my ailerons came off on a previous flight and I was still able to land it. It was ugly, but ok. I had forgotten to put the nylon sleeve around the clevis. We used a piece of fuel tubing, but after the crash I looked at it and it came off again. I guess the fuel tubing was too stretchy. Not sure if that happened before or after the crash.
It looked more like it had an elevator problem. It flew right by us and just started vibrating very vilently up and down. Then it just dove straight down.
Well, gotta go look for another plane now.
Mark
P.S. Thanks to all that helped. I can still use the information in the future, especially if I buy another Giles from Phoenix.

Hi Mark.....sorry to hear about the mishap. Don't let it stop you. Why not try the Phoenix Cap 232? It's a very good model and flies nicely. Their Sukhoi is not so bad either judging from other posts here on RCU.
I'm still enjoying my Dolphin...it's been 2 yrs now for that plane and I only started modify it this year. It flies true now and I don't want to get rid of it.

Cheers.