Hey guys,
I just build one of these twister arfs and I have to say that I am not so happy with it. The build actually went very well for me. I installed a OS 50sx and it balanced right were the manual said it was supposed to. Then the next day I took it out to fly it. As soon as it lifted off, it wanted to nose right into the ground. I had to pull hard on the stick to keep it up. It finally flew straight with lots of up trim on the elev. I landed and moved the CG back about 1.5 inches and then flew again. The plane still wanted to nose in, but not so bad. I still had to use some up trim on the elev. to get it to fly straight. I moved the battery as far back as I could and it still wants to nose in. If I use trim on the elev, then the plane will not fly straight inverted. I don't know what to do. As far as I could tell, the incidence is off on the horizontal stab. I really don't want to rip the stabilizer apart and try to fix the incidence, any suggestions?

I have the same set up and no problems. Something doesn't sound right, you need to check incidences before any surgery.

I agree with you there. I just have to go and get an incidence meter. I recently relocated and everything was left back home. Did anyone have to make any changes to the incidence before the horizontal stab was glued in place? I think I was naive enough to think that the incidences would be dialed in at zero at the factory and I didn't check them before I glued the stab in place.

From what I can remember my tail plane was a snug fit and required not adjustment.

WOW!! So I bought a laser incidence meter........ I put it on the wing and set it at zero. Then I put it on the right horizontal stabilizer and it read zero. I was so happy. Then I checked the left horizontal stabilizer........ it was a full degree off. Then i held the plane up and eyeballed the stab at the fuselage sides , the incidence was visibly different. How could this happen? My only guess is that the fuse was cut uneven.

Are you saying the tailplane is twisted or is one side lower than the other?

The horizontal stab cut out on the left side of the fuse was cut at a different angle than the one on the right side.

So yes, it twisted the horizontal stab.

I just got one of these last friday, its powered by an irvine 53. I took it to the flying site to test it and when I got it up it flew very nicely for about 3 circuts then the tailplane just went and started flapping badly, it looked as if it was going to come of but I manage to get it down safely. I then looked over the tail area and saw that it had crushed the the fusalage under the tailplane on the left and above the tailplane on the right, even a clevis had snapped of on 1 of the elevators so I guess I landed it with 1 elevator. I cut out the crushed parts and glued in a block of spruce instead of balsa because its harder and still light. After that dried I glued those 4 triangular things on it (havent a clue what there supposed to be for as it doesnt say anything about them in the manual). Anyway I'll see how it goes this weekend properly hopefully if it holds. I might change the rudder pull pull system to the wire things instead because they bind quite a bit.

I received by Twister two weeks ago and I am still fitting with the construction defects this model has. My ailerons were warped so bad that I had to make diagonal cuts on them, twist them, and then glue them back together. The instructions, like someone said before, are far from being accurate. I have not change the pull-pull system. It comes with wires but I will change them for kevlar wires. We'll see

GL

Thanks for all of the input on this plane. I have one on the way as of yesterday. I plan on using a OS 70 FS II . I chose this engine because I have flown a trainer with it, and a chipmunk and no matter how many maneuvers I did it would not flame out.

I am having a problem choosing servos. I have read some one used a futaba s3004 servo and thought it may not be strong enough for 3D. I too am new to 3D, but I also know the vertical stab needs a pull , pull system. I am looking at the ts-70mg super torque 2bb servos by tower hobbies. Any bad reviews about TH servos ? Are metal gears a no no ?

I have never really deviated from any ARF's manual. If the test pilot says flying wires are necessary I feel they should supply them with the ARF kit.

Please if any one of you guys have changed the landing gear , may you post a pic of it ? Two piece landing gear worries me.

Thanks all .

Do yourself a favour, add the flying wires. The horizontal stabiliser is too flexible. I too had a failure where the RH stabiliser failed but managed to fly it back on the LH (this is the advantage of a two servo setup on the horizontal tail). I was lucky this time....

Regards

W

What a great looking plane. Read the whole thread and didn't notice alot on the actual flight characteristics. What I did notice was all the mfg. errors and the two tail failures in flight. Think I will wait before I order one and see how the mfr. handles the issues. Thanks to all who posted, amazing how much power or persuasion we have! Still have my eye on one of those little Modeltech Magics though!

Well I just got mine today and I am pissed I didn't wait because in the November Model Aviation I found a YAK54 from RICHMODELUSA.COM for 160.00 . [:@] I have been looking for a YAK this size for two months. I am definitely going to buy the YAK but it will not fly until next season.

As far as the vertical stabilizer on the Twister, is it safe to say I can go with two servos that equal about 60oz.in in total ? due to the fact both servos will be holding the vertical stab at the same time.

hey guys i had the twister and had the really bad flutter on my first flight and it crushed the rear end of the fuse above and below the horizontal stab i called modeltech and they gave me a complete new kit all i had to do was send in the fuse, i got to keep everything else. so if you guys have any problems call the customer service and talk to them i got the new kit and put stabilizer wires on the back end and it seems like it is alot better, i have a saito 72 and the thins flys awesome plane will 3d like no other and has no bad flight problems, except for my dumb thumb from time to time. hahaha.......

Which servos were you using , or are you using ?

The wing hold down dowels do not line up , what in the world am I going to do in order to fix this ? ?

Can somebody tell me what throws did you use for test flying this plane ? I was told 1-1/4" up and down on the ailerons and 1-1/2" on the elevator was alot.


Thanks.

I'm sure I'm too late responding to your question, but on my first flight I had very moderate throws on all surfaces (except the rudder). I went with about 1 inch on airlerons and elevator. As I quickly found out, it will take much more. I never had any problems snapping this plane due to too much elevator. After the first flight, I maxxed out all throws and never looked back. I still have the plane but this weekend will be the last time I fly it before I give it to a friend of mine. I'm using a Saito 82 with an APC 14x4W. I've also used a 13x8, just to see how fast I could fly it and how much it could take. I never did a full throttle dive, but I would often fly it full throttle to try to race some of the tiger sticks out there. Obviously I was no competition for them, but it would fly quite fast and performs pattern-type moves very well.

As far as 3D'ing the thing goes, it will do very well when a pilot of greater ability than me flies it. I've always had a hard time even hovering it, but that's just me. Once I got my UCD, I flew the Twister less and less because the UCD is so much easier to 3D for a novice like me.

Gary

Thanks for getting back to me GMoneyPIT , and by the way do you share the money it that pit ?

Now down to business, I never flew a pattern plane so the first flight for me was a shocker. I left the throws at the recommended settings for test flying. How you can fly this thing on high rates is beyond my imagination. I also dial in some expoential on the elevator and ailerons but I guess because of the way I fly I have to reduce the expo. In turns is seems as if my elevator is lacking and the nose drops more than I am comfortable with when flying. When I pulled back on the elevator stick about 75% down the nose jumped up and that was a weird feeling .

As far as the prop I am using a 12x8 on an OS .70 and never have to throttle up past 3/4 throttle. I did to see if the plane would pull straight up out of sight and it struggled . I believe this is due to the prop size. I am not sure if you read the instruction manual as far as trimming the plane , but my lord there is a lot of trimming to do which I will have to accomplish gradually.

I have to say I am not impressed yet but until I try different props I will not sell it or put it in the corner of my garage. I did a knife edge effortlessly but there was some coupling which I didn't like . The one thing I really like is the visibility of the plane. I flew it very high and was able to make out what it doing with out a problem .

The last complaint I have is the landing gear is a disaster. Can some one please show me or give me a link to a site that has better landing gear for this plane. Although the field was soft , I nosed over quite a few time even with full up elevator . A guy had a brio 10 rogging on the same day with out a problem

If any one cares I will post more progress on Sunday about performance with a different prop , maybe a 14 x 7 .

Thanks again.

I have absolutely no problems with my Twister. As a matter of fact its about the most reliable plane I've had. I went with two elevator servos and the rudder servo all in the tail. It does hover with a saito 72 but pullout is very sluggish. Does the prettiest spins I've ever seen. Has a tendency to snap with an abrupt elevator pull at low speed, but it doesn't have the really fat airfoil that a true 3D plane has.
BTW I bought it to replace a Hangar 9 Aresti. Even though the Aresti was supposedly a pattern plane the Twister tracks much better.

I gotta agree with the flutter thing. I lost my plane two days ago when the left elevator fluttered. It bent the pushrod giving the left elevator a ton of 'down'. Was able to get into final but couldn't hold enough 'up' to keep it from nosing in.
The real bite is that the left elevator pushrod (wire) was the only kit supplied hardware that I had used. After the crash I found I could bend the wire with two fingers. Both elevator servos were in the tail with short music wire pushrods. The CA hinges did not pull out.

I have a Super Tigre 60 laying around collecting dust. Would this engine work on the Twister without being too nose heavy or shut I put one of my Super Tigre 45's on? I would prefer to use the 60.

I have a os .70sII on the nose and it doesn't not pull unlimited vertical. It hovers for a few seconds then falls out of it , no vertical.

CAP