RCU Guys

Twist FLIGHT #2
Another Day, Another Flight

Wind: 8-10 mph
80 Degrees, Sunset

Engine: Evolution 46
Prop: My new 12.25 x 3.75 - This prop made all the difference in the world!

Another thing, I visited our fav expert hobby shop, Debbies RC World in Va. The owner was more than happy to help
me get this plane outfitted for the right setup for my requested flying style. He also helped me set the Expos on my controller.

Setting Exponentials on Futaba Controller: We set them all to -30. I flew my Maiden a day earlier with a 10x4 prop and 100% Expos on all channels.
No wonder I could keep it in the air. But alas, I didnt know about the Expos. Even after all the forum reading I didnt catch it. It helps to have someone
who knows what their doing check out your setup. We set the -30 expos and I was all set.

The field:::::

- Got to the field. Put the shiny new aluminum spinner on, with the 12.25x 3.75 prop on....looks great!
- Gassed up

Fly time ::::

Some taxiing around in the grass. It felt good and seemed to pull great. So with the now or never attitude, I lined it up for take off. Full throttle, straight to the end of the
grass flats and up. Very beautiful controlled takeoff. The guys next to me even said wow. Very noticable difference. I was in awe. With my heart racing I flew up and did some
passes. After a few passes I tested some rolls. Very snappy and easy! Awesome! - next some loops. Did a few loops easy. moved on to outside loops. Still great. It will do two just easy.
next some buzz the tower passes. With nice controlled speed, tower buzzes... back to some height, I did a few small hovers. Rudder corrections for left and right. Im not very good at the
hovers but I know it takes time to learn. 10 more minutes of awesome banks, turns, rolls and loops... I came in for some touch and gos. The plane comes in great with low throttle, very soft...
touched the wheels down in the grass powered, and took back off... whoo hoo! Touch and gos werent high on my list today. Nice !

I ran three full tanks of gas this evening. no deadsticks. Land, let the engine cool. Re gassed.

- I did notice the wing came loose after flight two. The nylon screw moved out some. The wing had a noticable movement to it when I picked it up. I will be checking this
screw after each flight from now on. Also the screw doesnt tighten all the way down. It comes tight and slides past...? Anyone have this problem? Gonna suck if you have to
check it everytime... arrgh. Overall, twist my new fav for the moment. Im loving it. Still have alot of respect for the Avistar ( thumbs up! ).

Happy Flying

JD
OBX RC Flyer

JD, I'm glad that you had such good luck with that prop... that 10x4 would probably be more comfortable on a .25, I think...

As for your wing bolt, check more closely... look for some cracks in the wood or a loose mount... I've had 3 Twist 40's (two are still flying) and none of those showed that 'looseness' problem.

I'm having fun with mine... both of 'em

Bob

Check that the nylon bolt hasn't stripped in the section where it tightens in the blind nut. Had mine strip over a years use. Only ever just snugged up. The threads in the blind nut are fairly rough so I believe it just worn the bolt out.

Hi,
I'm new to this thread. It looks great! Just a couple of questions;

My first T-t is nearly finished (.40 ARF). I'm installing a Saito .72 .How about a prop size suggestion? I usually run APC. And, should I follow the throws in the manual?

Thanks!!!

13x4w or 14x4w APC

Thanks N1EDM,

I bought some extra Nylon Screws by SIG. They look the same size. I'm going to try one of those. Does your nylon screw tighten to a solid lock? Mine gets to a certain tightness and spins around once more. Like its missing somehow. I've had a few more flights now with it this way. Probably 6 Flights so far. Flys like an angel!


JD

I'm trying to remember... that wing hold-down might have been a metric thread. If it was, I would have changed that out for a 1/4"-20 so that I could buy the bolts at Lowes or Home Depot. But, you have a batch already, so that isn't necessary.

I also hold my landing gear on with 10-24 nylon bolts for those less than perfect landings. It beats ripping the LG plate out. It was windy and gusty at my field last week, and it slammed my plane onto the deck (honest!). Broke the prop and the LG bolts. I was back in the air in about 15 minutes.

The stock LG bolts might also be metric... and I would have modified those too, to make them ANSI threads.

Bob

The wing bolt is 1/4 course. So that is handy

Good idea for the nylon landing gear bolts. I was dreading breaking mine out as well. Im not an experienced balsa fixer yet so, the less the better. I know its inevitable but, you know. - NO FLYING on the OBX today. We have tropical storm Hanna here and 50mph+ winds! 12ft waves. etc. Anyone flown their Twist in high winds? Whats the highest wind you guys have flown this plane in? Just curious, no plans on flying today!

N1EDM,

Where did you get the LG bolts? I was looking for them online and couldnt find them anywhere. Any link for me to order some of those? I'll probably put some on my Twist if I can find some.
Also, I Tryed one of the SIG 1/4" Nylon screws today at the field. Worked perfect. Tightened down like it should. First time I've flown with a solid wing. I'm suprised the stock H9 Screw didnt work...

I'm also happy the plane is still in one piece. After some great flying and acrobatic moves... my Twist was coming to the runway about 15-20ft up and I inverted it for a pass. Well, I pushed the stick the wrong
way... it went BRRRRRRRRR! at the ground.!!!!!!! I pulled on the stick and it looped hard and went back up. My heart dropped, I was expecting a crash but it came out. Thanks to the tight loop this plane will do.
I will say my twist is still here due to an act of god or some amazing luck...SHEW!!!

Alohas,

JD

OBX RC Flyer

Nylon bolts are sold in just about any hardware or home improvement store. They won't always have the very smallest sizes, but the 1/4-20s are there for sure.

The assembly manual for the Twist ARF .40 specs 8-32 X 1/2 for the gear. You said 10-24. Are youreferring to aa larger plane than the .40 size?

Also, for a Saito .72, I think I need to drill-out the prop to 8mm. IS THAT TRUE?????

Hi Ya Guys - Well I've been having a pretty good year here with the new Club after the transfer Both the T___T40 and 60 have been given a pretty good workout (why the wings don't fold up in the air during some of the rolls I have no idea). We had the annual Fun Fly last weekend. Weather did not cooperate for the Sat/Sun portion though. Saturday morning was great all though overcast. I got two really nice flight's in with the T____T40 before the wind really came up. Well you know how we all like to fly in the wind, so's I go up for flight 3, the flags are standing straight, the wind sock is straight, so just about right Had a great flight and then came into land, and the 1st attempt with the gusts forced me to go around. 2nd attempt, working the sticks and throttle trying to get it to to set down, was only about maybe a foot off the runway and this stupid gust of wind caught the wing, sucked it up in the air about 6 feet and then flipped it over and slammed it into the ground. Not real graceful So now what do you do, well you turn around to the crowd of about 70 fellow pilots and visitors and take a DEEP bow ( and then just to help things out the wife comes out and gives me a hug ).

So after two other fuselage repairs I think my beloved T___T40 has gone on to cleaner skies and smoother air [8D]

The funny thing was a guy at the other end of the flight line just happened to have a BRAND NEW T___T40 for sale for $70. Crash it at one end and buy a new one at the other end, doesn't get much better then that [8D]

Well, gotta go and start transferring parts and pieces over from one to the other so I'll be ready for this weekend, later guys

The pictures show RIGHT before the gust caught it and the other picture is a couple of the guys from the Club basically giving me a lot of grief about the aftermath

GPutt33,

Man, that sucks. I can see your pain there on the table. Essh. Ive had a TT for a few weeks now. Its my second gas plane and I love it. Great flying plane... I will tell you this lol.

- Last week at our field I was coming towards the runway, so I flipped her over inverted to do an inverted pass... hmm. One second she was flying nice about 10-15ft up, next minute with the
wrong stick input... a LOUD BRRRRRRR!!!!!! I sticked it into a lawn dart dive at probably 30mph. Instinctively, I pushed the stick the opposite way. lol, and it flew into a loop. up. and out. I couldnt believe
my eyes or my heart that stopped beating. Man, I thought my two week old TT was done. First attempt at a runway inverted pass. I think I wont do that again. Now the TT is running on its Second Life...

- However my buddy, who had less luck than me. Brought out his FunJet moments later. Flew it 2mins around the field and up. It flew in the distance and started looping. I said dude, bring it back. He said, I'm trying!!!! I think his radio or battery got disconnected? So this thing went off in the distance full throttle... 120mph loops... and next thing we knew it was a qtr mile away. Bad thing was, the flying field is next to an old over grown land fill. Nothing but shoulder high overgrowth for 100 acres. Once you pass the first embankment, theres no coming back. - He had a total loss! This was his second plane ever. I feel so bad for him. That really sucks. FunJet is now living in the land fill. - Finders Keepers!!! - Bad thing is he lost about $400 out there... ekkk! "Word to the wise, strap down your batteries guys!"

[&:]

JD

Does look a little bent I'm on my second one too. I have 4 trees painted on the side of the fuse.
About the bolts above the landing gear bolts are 8-32 steel bolts and the wing bolts are 1/4 nylon.
Speaking of landing gear bolts a flying buddy took off with his, got up about 3 ft. and slammed back down on the ground. Looked like, from a distance that the gear ripped out when it hit the ground, as the wing was flat on the ground. When he picked it up the gear was still on it and a aluminum bent up so far the wheels were up against the wing. Couldn't believe it[sm=what_smile.gif] Bent the gear back down and put another prop on it and replaced the elevat servo arm. Difference between the diameter of the Futaba and JR spline. It slipped when he gave a bit of up elev at lift off. Of course, when he went back to neutral, he all of a sudden had a lot of down elev.THUMP

Hi Guys,\
Sorry, didn't mean to ignore you... Been working late lately - but at least the OT lets me buy more planes....

yes, as da Rock said, the 1/4"-20 nylon bolts can be bought at Home De(s)pot or Lowes. That's one reason why I got them. For the LG, I put in 10-24 nylon bolts... the 10-32 are too find a thread (at least, to my mind) for a nylon bolt. Tee nuts for 10-24 are a bit hard to find, but they are out there on the net or at those same Home centers.

I get a lot of kidding about my nylon screws and how my landing gear pops off, but I'd rather take a ribbing and be back into the air in 10 minutes rather than take the plane home to re-glue a LG block... In fact, I lost 3 sets of LG in one day last year, and my Club gave me a T-Shirt that said "Wheels are for Sissies" at our annual dinner... I felt honored!

I'll be happy to discuss nylon bolts more if anyone is interested.... But, I don't want to "hijack" the thread. I'll also be happy to discuss my E-Twist if anyone is interested....

Bob

When T-nuts are hard to find for larger bolts, simply thread the wood. It's not only a savings in cost, but the nylon grips the wood great.

Had my first experience flying a Twist, this morning. Wow, very responsive. I came from a low-wing trainer, having done some aerobatics with it. I dialed-in the rates and I'll have to get used to it. I put in a Saito .72 with a 13X4. The plane wasn't designed for speed, right. This Saito .72 pulls very well. I can slow down and nearly float in front of myself! The landings are gentle because of the huge wing area and low wing loading. I can't wait to see it perform. I've been away from flying for a month, so I'm going to get used to the plane then take it from there!

I enjoy this thread. Thanks!

I finally got mine too. I got the PNP because for the price I payed it was only $40 more than the ARF. I flew it 3 times yesterday and it flew great (already becoming my favorite plane). After I get more practice with it I plan to put my O.S. 55AX in it, but for now it has plenty of power with the Evolution 46NT (prop: Master Airscrew wood 11x6). I will add pics later.

I was thinking about finding a metal screw for the wing. Has any one had a problem breaking the nylon bolt during inverted manuvers?

Guys,
Good to hear a few more of you are having good experiences with a new Twist. Ive had mine for almost a month now. Its my second gas plane and its fast become my favorite plane. I bought mine PNP as well. Manuevers have been hard and heavy. The Nylon screw worried me some. When I used the stock one it woudlnt tighten all the way. It would get close and slip around for another turn. I bought some qtr inch SIG nylon screws and they tighten nice. I think the thoery on the nylon screws for the wing is that under load they give some. Whearas a metal screw will not. If too much pressure passes the strength of the metal screw the wood around it will fail. Nylon screws probably give it a lighter load in the high G's. I could be wrong but I think a metal screw is not for this plane. I do think it could def use the 55 os. A little more power wouldnt hurt the Twist. Might liven it up alot. Just be careful with dumb thumbs at those high speed aerobatics. Ive almost lost my Twist to a lawn dart on a inverted runway pass. Got lucky and looped out of a death dive at close to 40mph. This plane has a tight turning radius, thank god! Btw, Nice Plane Martin, I bet the Saito makes it haul A**!!! Very nice setup!

JD

OBX RC Flyer
Alot of wind here this week ! [:@]

The thing that would worry me is the vibration in that wing. The metal bolt may vibrate out. I've never had problems with my nylon bolt. In fact someone else so kindly turned on their transmitter (which happened to be my frequency) when I was about 200 feet in the air at full throttle. The rest is history and believe it or not the nylon bolt was still intact. The rest of the wing and airframe were destroyed. I think the nylon is plenty tough.

I agree with you. The vibration and the nylon bolt allowing a little give could be better for this plane.

I have also considerd adding wheel pants to the Twist. Does anyone know of any wheelpants that will fit? Thanks for the input.

Not sure about wheel covers but hey... wouldnt it be cool if Hanger 9 offered a second wing for this aircraft. Like a slimmer narrow wing could give it some Extra 300 Style performance. I enjoy the speed it already achieves but it would be cool. Then it might be two planes in one!



JD