Phoenix decathlon engine questions!
 

I recently purchased a beautiful phoenix decathlon. i love this kit so far it was very easy to construct and looks even better. at first everyone said not to underpower it. so when i ordered it i bought an o.s. .61 fx. but now looking at other decathlon owners they are saying that a good .40 class enigine is more than enough power. i guess im hoping that i didnt do the wrong thing. any info would help let me know your opinion. thanx!!!!

RE: Phoenix decathlon engine questions!
 

you'll be fine... at around 7Lbs it will fly nicely over powered with your .61... sure a .46 would fly it fine and have an OK amount of reserve power but your .61 will really wake it up. If you can fit it, I'd think about a little bigger Fuel tank... 8 oz on a .61 considering you won't be... or should I say shouldn't be at full power unless your going straight up will give you a good 10 min flight... a 10 oz tank will give you a bit more reserve fuel for when your having to much fun;)

If your new to Decathlon's be careful until your use to the planes rudder, stall and watch the snaps... it will tip stall if you get to slow on landing or try and take-off before it's ready. Snap's can be tricky... they almost ALWAY's do a snap and a half unless your on and off the stick's quickly... Decathlon's start kinda slow into a snap then finish FAST...watch multi snap's... if you do two consecutive snaps it will spin up into the second snap VIOLENTLY... since your kinda over powering it don't try full throttle snaps until you see how they are at say 1/2 to 3/4 throttle. The rudder is deceiving... it may not look large but boy is it EFFECTIVE... giving it to much at the wrong time can spell disaster.

John

RE: Phoenix decathlon engine questions!
 

I have one and the plane feels much heavier than listed although I haven't actually weighed mine. I have an ASP Super 52 on mine and the it has more power than needed. It just makes it fun to fly. The OS 61 has mediocre power for its size so I think it would be fine. You want to have a bit of speed on while landing with this plane and the 12" prop will give you that at idle which is ideal! If you slow the plane down too much on landing, it doesn't drop a wing but the ailerons suddenly lose effectivness and you have to resort to rudder. It took me aboout 6 takeoffs to figure out how to keep the plane straight down the runway. After that, no problems. The plane flies nice. :D

RE: Phoenix decathlon engine questions!
 

This pig is heavy. I had an HB 61 and it wasn't enough. I'm installing a Magnum .91 Four stroke. Maybe that will wake this bird up.

Also, this thing is a ground looper to the Nth degree. Good luck...

RE: Phoenix decathlon engine questions!
 

Actually, if you keep that plane light and power it with a good .46 I guarantee you won't regret it. Most .61s don't have a great power to weight ratio and you will probably end up having to add even more weight to it to get it to balance.....even more so with the 91's. Mine pulled HARD with an OS .46AX and an 11x6 APC on it. Was quite fast and nimble as the wieght was in the range the plane was designed for. Take a look at the OS .50 by the way, only a tenth HP less than alot of 61s and (measured with mufflers) about a half pound lighter! That may be an excellent engine.

RE: Phoenix decathlon engine questions!
 

I too powered mine with a 46AX before it's untimely demise. I personally thougth it was a bit underpowered, but to it's credit it had good speed and was quite aerobatic. I was thinking a 70 4 stroke would be a perfect mate or perhaps an 80 or 82.

RE: Phoenix decathlon engine questions!
 

UPDATE!!! I finally grew some balls and flew this thing. it flys awesome. It has an almost unlimited vertical climb. im very happy with the way it flys and with how easy it is to land. much to my suprize i had th most problems with takeoffs. and for anyone thinking of buying one of these do it. you wont be dissapointed

RE: Phoenix decathlon engine questions!
 

Update on mine: one of the wing tips came loose. When I opened the covering up to check it there was barely any trace of glue on it. Glue the tip back in place and recovered but I must have it secured at a bit of an angle. It flys fine and will roll fine in one direction but only barrel roll in the other. Will have to cut it off and try it again! [>:]

RE: Phoenix decathlon engine questions!
 

I finally got the wing tip back on straight and the plane flys great! I have an ASP 52 on the front and its very fast at throttle. The only thing at our field that is faster is a guy with a new Seagull twin with 2 OS 46AX's on the wings. Awesome looking and flying twin by the way! :D