I JUST BOUGHT A PIZAZZ AND PUT A SAITO .72 WITH A 13X6 MASTER AIRSCREW PROP.
ACCORDING TO HORIZON'S WEBSITE THIS COMBO SHOULD BE ABLE TO
HOVER AT 1/2 THROTTLE OR SO, AND HAVE UNLIMITED VERTICAL.
MY AIRPLANE DOES FLY VERY WELL, BUT IT DOESNT HAVE THE PERFORMANCE
THAT WAS ADVERTIZED. THE MOTOR TURNS ABOUT 9800 RPM ON THE GROUND.
I AM CUROIUS IF ANYONE ELSE HAS THE SAME COMBO AS I DO, AND CAN OFFER SUGGESTIONS
OR ADVICE ON HOW TO GET MORE VERTICAL PERFORMANCE OUT OF THIS AIRCRAFT.
WOULD AN APC PROP MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE?

The APC will make a ton of difference. I have the same combo and wont fly mine without an APC. Your RPM sounds about right. Mine will hover at a little more than half throttle but not much. Also you didn't mention the wieght of your bird.If you had to add any lead, get rid of it and move you engine on the mount to make up the diff. My engine is so far back the fuel tank hatch had to be notched to clear the intake tube.
later daveo

Mines great with the 72 and 13/6 APC. 10200 on 15% and 10800 on 30% heli. Those rpms are adjusted for flight rpms not peak. Non of the other props I tried 11/x through 13/x APC, Bolly and Master even come close to the 13/6 APC

SCOLLICA, Be sure to let us know how it flies with the APC. I'll bet you 'll think it's a new airplane.
later daveo

Ok,, how did you guys get it to fly. My son and I built one and it did fly, but the winds were 20+ and we could not control it on downwind. The island where we flew it never had winds under 20+. Do you fly in high winds? thanks.. Jim

I have flown mine in high wind several times. I dont know why it would be harder to fly with the wind behind????
Unless you were trying to fly it to slow. Remember that ground speed and airspeed dont have anything
to do with each other.That plane has no idea how fast the ground is going by.. If you were flying it down wind at
50mph ground speed the plane was only going 30 mph wind speed which would make it waffle around a little.
The hard part on a windy day should be a smooth landing. The average day were we fly is about 10-15 mph.
I have buddy boxed people at 25 knots. It is all good untill you have to land the thing.
later daveo

I CHANGED THE PROP TO AN APC 13X6 AND IT MADE A TON A OF DIFFERENCE, THANKS FOR THE INFO.
IT FLIES VERY WELL, BUT IT DOESNT FLY VERY WELL SLOW.
I WENT FROM A KADET LT40 TO THIS, SO ITS A LOT DIFFERENT.
MINE FLIES PRETTY WELL IN THE WIND.

APC's latest generation of propellers are reported to have an efficiency of 80-85% compared to maybe 50% for many older designs so that directly equates to a lot more thrust and a lot better performance.

OK HOW ABOUT WOOD PROPS

Wood prop
Well if it were a RevUp it would be very goood. Unfortunitly there are no more RevUps.

I had OK luck with Top Flight wood props. However the APC still out performed it and a 13" prop
on a Pizzaz dosent leave much ground clearance. The APC's break easy enough and the wood props
are worse. later daveo

I like wood, it looks nice, is light weight, is easy to work on and I have a Sterba 49 X 34 wood prop on my full scale Moni. But wet grass or rain drops are enough to eat a wood prop. Full scale wood props use either brass or fiberglass on the leading edge to make them more rain and dew tolerant but I've never seen this on an R/C prop and I have eaten the leading edges on a few on my Saito four stroke powered Goldberg Cub taking off in semi-high grass.

So for R/C I skip wood props and go for the improved durability and performance offerred by other materials. The only exception with this is with Piper Cub models which just look better on the ground with wood props.

MVVS .49RC + Minipipe and APC 12.25 x 3.75 prop its a great all-day-hovering combo ...

PAT

I ran a 13x6 MAS on my Pizazz with the Saito .72. It was fast, but hovered like garbage. I bummed a Zinger 13X5 of a buddy and it made a 100% difference. If your using the glow plug that came with your engine, I'm sorry for you. Throw it away and put in an OS "F" plug. The best fuel I've found for my Saito, which gives it adequate power, smooth transition and good idle is Powermaster 15%x15%. I've tried Sig 30% and was not impressed for the money I spent. I'm going to try the APC like others in this forum have suggested and see what that's all about. I'm running one on a ST 51 on a US 40 and like it. Also, have your CG totally dialed in (far back as you can comfortably fly it) as well as lateral balance (wingtip to wingtip). If your off laterally you'll feel it in the amount of rudder you have to hold. The Pizazz is kind of a wierd plane. Once you get it all tweaked out-balance, prop, fuel and radio settings-it will be a sweet flyer and pull off any 3D trick you can throw at it. Make sure to mix-out all the bad tendencies. A computer radio really makes this plane a lot more fun and manageable. Keep the plane light too. Get rid of the stock gear if you still have it on and get the carbon fiber gear for a Sig Something extra from TNT Landing Gear. Use pull-pull and the rudder and use a carbon fiber shaft for the elevator. I've built two Pizazz's now and feel pretty comfortable giving advice about them. I did everything wrong on the first one and everything right, for the most part, on the second. Needless to say #2 is a great flying/hovering plane. Check out www.minnesotarc.com for some great Pizazz footage. It's in the movies section in Pizazz highights.

I dont use the carbon gear but did turn it backwards. It still lands and taxis fine and helped move
the CG aft. later daveo

Run the gear backward? Wow, I never thought of that. That's a really good idea. Good way to manage weight and balance.

Can anyone advise on recommended engine size for the Pizazz?
I'm looking at OS .46 or .65.
Thanks

I run an OS .46 with an APC 12x4. Haven't tried real serious 3D much, it is mostly for club fun flies, and there I pretty much win every event. With that prop, it has great vertical acceleration and slows down fast (like for looping touch-and-gos). Not a high top speed, though. But good enough to win high speed vs low speed events where the plane with the widest envelope wins..
Mines getting pretty worn - cracked canopy held together with clear gorilla tape.....

Hello Ted Sander, would you happen to know where I can get a canopy for a Pizazz? I bought this plane without a canopy thinking that I could buy at any time but I've had no luck, so if you know of anyone or where one is please let me know.
Thanks Soinks

Hello Lazy Pilot would you know where I can get a canopy for this airplane? I'm in need of one so I can fly it.

Thanks Soinks

Since the plane is about 20 yrs old, I'm sure all canopies are long, long gone.
It's not a big size or complex shape. So one could carve/sand balsa blocks to fit to make a plug in the desired shape. Then cut a large plastic soda bottle, and use a heat gun, to form a canopy around the plug. Trim it up, and then mount like the original. Keep the plug if you ever have to make another. Or do the same with sheet plastic, in a clamping frame that has been heated in the oven, and then pulled down over the plug. For this size/shape no need for a vacuum former.
Or shape a block of styrofoam, and then use 1/16th sheet balsa glued on the outer surfaces. May take some piecing it together, or playing with getting it damp with ammonia to get it to bend around the corners. Sand and fill as needed, then use covering material (gray, black, whatever color you like). Glue the whole thing (foam and balsa) in place. The only hard part would be undersizing the styrofoam to accommodate the thickness of the balsa sheet, if you want it to be flush on the sides. But having the balsa overlap would be fine, just like the original plastic canopy, and easier to build too.
Or do the styrofoarm shape, and then cover it with fiberglass and epoxy instead of balsa....
There's a bit more to each method, but it's not hard to do. Some searching through the build threads for "how tos" should give lots more info. Any will be far cheaper than a premade canopy you might possibly find.

It's not ideal. But i like to look through old spray bottles like Windex etc and see if I can find the side of a bottle that that will work. You would be surprised how well some of them work. I have an old pizzaz in the shop. Not sure I could get the canopy off in one piece??

David