is there a mail order house in the USA that sells a plane called the Wild Card

This model is marketed in the UK by Irvine Engines.

I don't know if they do anything over there in the states, but they may be able to help you if you contact them!

URL = www.Irvineltd.com

I have seen an advert in Model Airplane News showing a model that looked to be the same model, but called something else.
I can't think what it was called, or who the advertiser was, but if I find it again I will post it here.

All the best!

Andy E.

thanks Andy Irvine has no E-Mail address

Gasrookie,

Sorry but got my mags mixed up. The wildcard lookie-likey was in a British mag, NOT M.A.N.

I've had a look in Irvine's catalogue and they don't even give anE-mail address in that - not very good eh!!

If you can't get hold of one in the States, and you are desperate to get one you could try - www.stevewebb.co.uk
This shop does international mail order on a daily basis but I am not sure if they can ship to the states or not.

If you try them, tell them "Airport Andy" from Manchester recommended them to you

Andy E.

Ive got that mag its called Flyer nice wright up thats where i first seen it

Best price I've seen in the U.K. is from www.alshobbies.com. £66.34 + VAT.

Anyone had any experience of the Wildcard yet ? About half the price of a Hype 3D but is it half the plane ?

2 members at my club have them.....one of them has nothing but trouble with his.... first off the rudder broke all the hinge's while doing a knife edge loop....... then the next week it fluttered so he bought it in checked it over and found the stabiliser and broken at the LE and TE he repaired it then the same thing happened again this week ........ he said to me he has never had this amount of trouble with a plane in over 20 years of flying ......infact he is hopeing to sell it and buy a hype 3d after flying mine......

the other member broke the FUZ nearly in half mind you it was a deadstick but it didnt come down hard and it was landed on our patch

Try

http://www.srcm.co.uk/

I believe they sell abroard. There are two wilcards in the build a our club when they fly I'll give a short report.

Alan

I fly the Wild card with a Irvine 53 engine and have not had a single problem with it, but it's my first 3d flyer so I've got nothing to compare it against. I would recommend this plane, and the other members of my club, who have similar plane also say that it is very good.

I bought it about 1 month ago from Al's Hobbies and had it flying iwthin 24 hours. So far done about 20 or so flights with it and not had any trouble from either the plane or the engine.

Hope this helps.

Hi,

OK, I've been flying the Wild Card almost all the time at the moment, having loads and loads of fun with it, but I have found a problem that I'm hoping that someone can help with.

What's wrong is that at level flight on high throttle (anything over 3/4) the tail wags. The people at my club think that this may be because the engine is too powerful for the plane. I'm using the engine that they suggest, an Irvine 53 with a 12 * 6 prop, replaced with a 13 * 4 and the problem has not changed.

Can anyone suggest anything that would cure this?

The only reason that I can think of is it might be that its a fun fly and I don't think they are designed to fly fast. I guess you could try really slow flight then go directly up and apply full throttle because then the power is the same but the speed is slower. If the tail wags then it's probally a engine thing and if it does not its probally a airframe aerodynamic thing. (I'm using "thing" in its scientific term by the way )

Hope that helps,
Alan

Just about to start putting a WildCard together. Appart from the usual replace all the plastic bits with metal, are there any 'mend it before it breaks' suggestions to incorporate whilst putting together. Fus looks weak at rear of canopy. I thought I might reinforce of fus sides along wing seats.

Hi Cuban,

The Wild Card builds really easily. They're designed to fly not 'arrive', so any 'strengthening' will just add weight. Make the decision based on how good your landings generally are! Keep all slop out of the linkages as flutter on fun flys can rip off control surfaces. Avoid taxiing with full up elevator on long grass/rough fields, as it's easy to catch the elevator ends! With a good 46/53, use the APC 12.25 x 3.75 prop. Keep the undercarriage bent down as it needs some 'angle of attack' to get airborne smoothly.

I can look up my control throws/exponential settings if this is of help.

Thanks for that.
I would like to know your throws are. Especially for first flights! This is my first venture into 3D and some of my arrivals are still not what they ought to be but its getting there. The WildCard is intended as a fill in whilst I finish some 'proper' building.
I'll be putting an SC53 up front with the fun fly prop suggested.
Is that wire u/c ok? Had one like it on a Dazzler and the wire was really bendy. Thought I might go for a glass u/c I've got in the pile of bits somewhere or is this adding to much weight / cog problems?

I flew my WildCard for the first time today. I'm using an ASP .61 4-stroke engine on an 12.25 x 3.75 prop, and this seems about right for me. There's enough umph to pull the model stright up from the prop-hang, so I don't think it needs any more power . The maiden flight was ok, but I was a little dissapointed that the model was much tamer than I'd expected. But flight two, with the control surfaces moving as far as possible, saw a big improvement in the grin-factor. Inverted flight saw me pushing a little more down-stick than I prefer, so the battery has already been moved back a little ready for tomorrow's flying session. With the battery in its original position under the tank it exits the spin immediately the sticks are centred. General "flying-around" is as good as it gets and the 3D (with "all the movement" you can get) is reasonable (and will probably be better with the battery moved to its new position). It doesn't like knife-edge, which was a big surprise as I'd expected it would be ok. I had two dead-stick landings (new engine, not run-in) and the glide turned-out to be slow and predictable, but it's a draggy model so doesn't penetrate too well with the engine out (which suits me as I don't have to go for a long walk to retrieve it). Each of the power-on landings were very gentle, nose-high, and almost at walking pace. The dead-stick landings were just as gentle. This is my 51st model and I think I'm going to like it - once the engine is running properly and I've dialled-in a couple of mixes to help with the knife-edge situation

Hi, I am an aeromodeler, and I have a ripmax nova 40, I have completely masterd it and i have pushed it to its limits. I am thinking of buying a irvine wildcard as a second model, does anyone have any suggestions on how good this the wildcard would be as a second model??

All the best

______________________________________

It's all so funny until someone looses a b*lock

Hello All,
I have been flying for 23 years and have just tried my hand at '3d' with the Irvine Wild card after many years with pattern ships. I can honestly say I have been thrilled with the quality of kit, flying characteristics and grin factor. I would recommend this to anybody who wants to dabble in 3d, a very forgiving yet brutal performer on full throw...Exponentials a must....

Update: My engine-out problems turned-out to be due to the engine mount supplied with this kit. It's made from alluminium and was transmitting vibration to the airframe and aerating the fuel

Switching to a plastic engine mount cured the problem completely - and allowed my engine (ASP .61 4-stroke) to produce much more power too. If your WildCard's engine throws its prop or the engine dies mid-flight, try changing to a plastic engine mount. Worked for me (after wasting the whole Summer trying everything else!)

The model itself is a sweet flier and I like it very much

Tony

Hi all,this is my first message i posted so forgive me if i do something wrong!
I got a wild card with an o.s 46 AX up front,but what prop would you recommened for prop hanging?this is my first plane after my trainer so not really done much with it,but it keeps me on my toes!!
Any help would be great!

OS recomendations are: 10.5x6, 11x6-8, 12x6-7. Looking for 3D performance, or torque rather than speed, I'd try an 11 x 4 and see how it performs. You'll soon figure-out if it's right or not. Have fun!

Tony