Hi,

I have a Phoenix Scanner ARF and I'm about to mount the engine and wanted to position it to balance the plane. CG is suppose to be 2.5 inches from the leading edge of the wing. With my K&B 46, the plane is very tail heavy. Even when I move the batteries and equipment forward, it is still too tail heavy.

If anyone flies a Scanner can you tell me if the 2.5 inches is the correct CG?

Second, If the CG in the instructions is correct, should I add weight or put a larger engine on it, such as a .60?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Wayne Miller

I fly a scanner with an OSFX46 for power. I added about 2 oz in the front to balance. The 46 is plenty of power. Knife edges are level. The recommended cg is good.

Oky the Scanner is simple ... I had a TT46 and I put in about 2oz also but then I flew it w/o any weight later on. The plane flies very nicely. But do keep the engine as far forward on the mount. With the wieght the inverted flight was not as sweet, I had to hold a lot of down elevator. W/o the weight it was sweet. Best thing is to use tire balancing weights and slowly take bits of it off as you get used to the plane.

Also ... a word of advice, PLEASE CHANGE THE CLEVIS! I run mine with a tuned pipe now and after many many flights the clevice finally gave way, was the elevator one and that has no cure right? I think my plane was turning an APC 11x6 at about 12.5K I did wanted more torque so I did not shorten my header by much.

Hi,

Thanks for the information on the CG and the clevis.

I had bent one of the plastic pins in the clevis when twisting it on the wire. I suspected they were not very strong, but was going to use them anyways. You probably saved me a plane with your advise. Thanks.

I don't like to add weight and I was wondering if I should install a .60 engine instead, the CG would be about right, but I'm concerned that the plane may not take the extra power.

Thanks for getting back to me.

Fly4Fun,

Wayne

Wayne ... trust me just add the weight in first, you only need about 2 oz max. Then slowly take it off as you get comfy with the plane. Almost all the Scanners that I know of here do not use any weights. Do remember to balance it laterally. As for the 60, forget it, eg a TT61 weighs a whole 10 oz more than the TT46 and any other 60 would be make the plane very nose heavy. Can you get a 60 in the engine compartment? Also, the 60 will be over powering the plane.

If you want more speed go for something like a Rossi 53 or just a simple tuned pipe. Mine runs with a tuned pipe ... I did not cut it that short so I got a nice torque curve, she can do nice verticals with rolls, not unlimited though but really nice.

Hi tIANci,

I have just mounted the engine as far forward as possible, the batteries and equipment are as far forward as they can go as well.

The balance point ended up 3 inches from the leading edge. The instructions call for 2 1/2 inches from the leading edge.

The wing is about 9 1/4 inches from leading edge to trailing edge. So 3 inches back is about 1/3 of the wing, which is where I would normally try to balance my planes.

I will trust your judgement and add weight to make the CG at 2 1/2 inches from the leading edge.

I understand you now fly without any weight added. Would you mind measuring your CG without the weights, so I will where the CG should eventually be?

Thanks for all your help.

Best regards,

Wayne Miller

Wayne ... the Scanner is pretty consistent in terms of the CG from plane to plane. I fly mine with the CG about 1/4"-1/2" behind the spar. I did not really calculate how far it is from the LE. I can't help you now as I just crashed mine on Saturday. I think you are right about it being 3". When I flew mine with some weight up front and the inverted flight was not as nice. I added no more than 2 oz with the TT46.

Why not try this ... get the CG at 3" level and then add about 1oz to the nose. If you are happy with that you can start to remove bits off later on. With that set up I highly doubt that the plane will be too tail heavy to fly. Try it and let me know.

Hi tIANci,

I was hoping to do a test flight before writting this, but it was to windy and gusty at the field today. I so I flew my old heavy standby the Lucky Stik and even that was bounced around. I only put one flight in and nobody else flew.

I hope to get it up tomorrow if the weather is OK, I'll let you know how it flies.

Thanks for your help.

Wayne

Wayne ... I love the Scanner in the wind, its fun. The worst I have been in is about 20 mph max and no big gusts. Have fun with the maiden flight.

My 2 cents on this airplane. I bought it from BCM for a steal and I think it provides excellent dollar value. It has a Tiger Shark .52 engine with the battery pack under the tank - no other weight added - balances at approx 3 inches from the leading edge. Flies very well this way - almost no up elevator needed for inverted flight. Knife edge flight is great at about 70% throttle. Vertical performance is virtually unlimited. Quite aerobatic if you push the control throw a bit. Weighs 5lbs 4oz on my digital scale. Builds quickly - got it done in about 8 hours. Lands easily. Glad I got two - they were so cheap - will put floats on the other one. Highly recommended ARF.

Hi EyeGuy,

Mine balances at 3 inches with all equipment put as far forward as possible and no weight added. I think I'll give it a try. I'm putting in a K&B 46, since it does not have BB, it may be a little light - if it does not have enough pull, I'll try a GMS 47.

I also have two, one from a local hobby shop at regular price and one from Ideal Hobby in Barrie, Ontario advertised on 4th page of MAAC Magazine at 54.99 CDN, since I needed to order 150 for free shipping, I also ordered the Atlantis.

I know I got the last Scanner they had in stock, but if your interested, you can call them toll free at 1-800-799-2484 to see what models have left.

Thanks for your input.

Best regards,

Wayne Miller

Wayne ... the question is HAVE YOU FLOWN IT YET?

Hi tIANci,

Since our last post we have had quite a bit of rain and the field is very wet. When this happens at our field, you can gather speed while on the dry areas, but it almost comes to a stop when it hits the wet area. As a result, I wanted to hold off on the maiden flight until the field is reasonably dry.

Hopefully I'll be able to fly today. I'll let you know how it flew as soon as I get it in the air.

Were you able to repair yours?

Fly4Fun,

Wayne

Hi tIANci,

I was able to get out today, there was very little wind (10 km/hr) and the field was very wet with puddles. It was hard to get the plane into the air due to the soggy field. Once it was flying it was very comfortable to fly and took only a short time to trim it out.

I checked the CG with the gentle dive method. That is, fly level at low throttle, trim the airplane so it will fly level with hands off. Then put the plane into a gentle nose down dive with no throttle (45 degrees) and with sticks at center.

If the plane stays in the gentle dive dive then it is trimmed OK. If the plane pulls up, then it is CG too far back (too tail heavy). If the plane noses under, then the CG is too far forward (nose heavy).

The plane was balanced at 3 inches from the leading edge with plane upside down. This seems to be a good CG.

The plane flew well and was very predictable. I would definetely have no problems recommending it as a first low wing plane. I found the landing glide pattern to be shorter than I expected, but once I got a "feel" for the plane, the landings were very easy.

Thanks for all your help.

Best regards,

Wayne Miller

Wayne ... good to hear you had fun. The plane comes in on a dead stick real nice.