I am thinking of getting a Giles 202 too. Will it be able to knife edge, hover, torque roll?

weather permitting Mine should be in the air first time this weekend 4/23/2005 I have heard there may be rain so we'll see. I am using an OS .46LA with an 11X7 prop and may try out a 12X6 see if I can get anything out of it. I still need to balance the plane but so far I have everything moved up to the front and using my fingers tells me I am close. Will use my Great Planes balance machine for fine tuning. Might need and ounce or two. we'll see. Going to use low rates at 70% on the Ali with 30% expo on all channels but throttle. I am using the RCU review as a guide for my setup. I have heard it fly's well with full thows it rolls fast... VERY fast, Hence low rates on the wing. I also have flaperons set so I can try some flap settings to see if it will benefit. Hind sight I think I would mount the engine at 90 because it was a real pain cutting out all that cowling for the muffler. a Pitts muffler would work Perfect.. Maybe next time or when I am bored. I will try to post what I found about the flight... again weather permitting.

Well weather did not allow flight, rain all weekend. tried to balance it but I could not find enough weight to get it even close WOW this thing is tail heavy I did get it run in and tested on the ground. mare up dates later.

anyone else out there get a flight in?

[>:]

Well weather was permitting. Slight breeze about 5MPH straight down the runway left to right. I had double and triple checked everything. I am not sure the size of the runway It is short grass and rolled out so it is nice and smooth. I know full scale bi-planes and cubs fly in at this field on occasion. Anyway It took 3 runs at full throttle into the wind to get that brick in the air. final weight was 8lbs 7 oz. according to the scale at the local FedEx place. so that and the small wheels helped keep this thing on the ground. well I rechecked re fueled and reset the needle valve put on an 11X8 prop which seemed to help. It was airborne flying ok full throttle and trimming it out. once trimmed made a nice big pattern going relatively fast. slowed down each pass once I reached 1/2 throttle the plane seemed to start to tip stall or slide down through the turns. gave a little more throttle as the plane really got squarely. made a pass to bring it in to recheck everything on the ground. made right hand turn on the down wind leg and kept the throttle at no less than 1/2 for fear of stall. turned into the wind and it stalled on decent. I powered up but had no effect. tried to let the plane build some airspeed with full throttle and neutralized the sticks. This started at about 30 feet up. she went in at a 45 degree angle right wing tip first then the landing gear. The wing is repairable but the fuse is gone. I have not put a plane in for many many years but have seen allot and I have to say I have never seen a stronger wing yet the fuse it gone... it exploded like I have never seen. It should have fared better than it did. Of coarse it didn't help that the wing bolts didn't, ripping out a whole section of the rear bulkhead. I checked everything mechanical like the controls the servos the battery and RX. every thing looked to be properly connected. I know the balance was right as I had used my GP cg machine 4 times to keep checking.

the cause of the 202- demise..

1. pilot error- should have kept the throttle up further than 1/2 for landing. Though most planes using the suggested size engine should not need that much for a decent.
2. plane is just to tail heavy I needed 7.5 oz up front for CG to be perfect at 105mm recommended location Yes everything was placed as far forward as it would go.
3. Needs a much bigger engine for this weight... wing is then not large enough.

I have heard about some people having this plane and they fly great and others like myself that received a plane that just seemed to be way off.
Well good thing I have other planes to fly. I think I may go back to kit planes they just don't seem to be so overweight. As well I think I will take a step back to my low wing trainer.

KG4,

Sorry to hear about your crash. I read all the threads about this plane before I bought one. Its still in box which I am planning to put togather this summer because in this part of world its too hot in summer. I will be putting OS 46 FX in it, I have never flown OS LA engines nor intend to, just following my instructors advice.

I think your plane was heavy for LA engine. Hope you enjoy your other planes.

Imran

I put the 8th flight on mine at our funfly yesterday and as always...FLEW GREAT!
This plane is VERY sensitive on the sticks,the MDS .58 I have in her is just perfect and as for landing,I go with a high approach,cut throttle to idle and let her come down,about 10 ft beyond the threshold I flare about 3 foot off the ground and hold a little up elevator to slow her down and seems to land nicely every time.

I once Had a Giles by Phonix also there 300 extra [&o] the 300 flew verrrrryyyy bad the worst plane I have ever flowen i had a os 46ax and was pretty quick but always tryied to do strange thing on me all the time so I got stupid and put a supertiger 90 ringed made in italy on it and it almost flew better but its batteries died on me MY FAULT. But not really any big loss . The Giles on the other had with the same 46 ax flew like a dream the fastest rolling airplane in the world with a 10x7 apc ad the snaps on hiRa was alomst faster than my switch and way to fast for sticks but I seemed to get stupid and ring it out and got it spinningggg to the ground so I leaveled the wing and pulled slowley and still snaped out on me I was high enough for a second attempt and same thing overagain then there was the ground, Now its all over I would Of had to pulled all throttle all the way back casue no matter how slow you pulled up it still snapppped and went back to the dive again but and the wing was fine at a midthrottle nose dive to the ground ammmazing but could of kept a toothpick company in business for a month with the fusealoge

The OS LA may have been the wrong choice in the end for this model, but hindsight is a woundelful thing. The LA series are however a very GOOD motor. They are not designed to have the power of a FX or AX type. That is why OS also make those. I have been using the OS 46LA for some years, the only thing you need to do is tigten up the back plate screws every few months. It is a perfect choice for a slightly lighter model, they have good idle/throttle response and are cheap. I use one in a scratch build KAOS40 and it is perfect for the sports flying that I do in it.

I agree with Matt, The OS LA series are very good. I also had this plane a little over a year ago (probably about the same time this thread was started) powered by my OS.65LA, it flew the plane very good. With a 12-1/4 X3-3/4 APC prop I was able to hover and this plane built relatively heavy as noted in prior posts. But it flew better with a faster higher pitch prop. I eventually lost the plane when the engine suddenly and unexpectedly deadsticked. I tried to bank towards the runway but turned too steeply and without power she stalled and nosed into the dirt. It was a good thing the engine was not running and I had closed the throttle cause all the dirt was on the oustide. When I removed the head to clean the engine, low and behold was the remnants of a bug!
The Giles is long gone but my OS .65LA lives on in a Model-Tech P51. And still running strong. (hopefully it lost its taste for insects )

Hi

I also had a Phoenix Giles 202 once. The design itself is a bad one not to mention how phoenix have ended up putting the icing on the cake by making it as heavy as a rock. I lost mine due to flutter. Though it used to tip stall like hell.

My advice would be to go with newer designs. Like all i also was attracted towards it because of the breathtaking trim scheme but in the long run that is not what matters. This plane has a tendency to fall from the sky.

Siddy

OUT...........