Local guy here is selling a swizzle stick 40 size i think. It has alerons. There is a .61 in her, and it looks like a nice plane. Just wondering what its limitations are, and how they fly and all that. Im getting back into the hobby after a 3 or 4 year break. So i wanted to start with a mild aircraft to regain my thumbs. Thanks. Oh, I do belive the airfoil is flat bottom, or nearly flat....

The Swiz is still made by Balsa USA and generally considered a good platform to learn to fly on, simple to build and easy to repair. It is available with and without airlerons. I have no idea how it would fly with a .61 but if it balances as per instructions and you learn to use the throttle lightly it should be fine.

NMS169, I have a Balsa U.S.A. Swizzle Stick with a Saito .56 in it. It is a great little plane, but it will not do an outside loop. It is fairly over-powered with the .56. I imagine it would be very over-powered with a .61 two-stroke. I'd finally had it with the bent wire tail skid, and replaced it with a tail wheel controlled by a mini-servo mounted on the bottom of the fuse and Y'ed into the rudder channel. This is a very easy plane to fly. Mine has ailerons.

Thanks for the quick resposes. I too thought the 61 is way over the top. Im not sure how it balances, as i have never seen the plane fly. But he wants to off load, flight box futaba radio(not sure witch one yet, hes not answering the phone), and all the accesories he has. This craft does have a tail wheel added on, but it looks as though it may need re-done....But he only wants 225 for the whole package.... I thought this was resonable. But, if i buy it, I think Ill put my OS 46LA, so that should tone it done some.

That dosent sound to bad, of coarse however it all depends on what the radio is how old?,what model?what frequency does it have a trainer port for instruction?,what shape the batterys are in? etc.

Dear NMS169:

The PIPE Here yet AGAIN...





...and a LOOONNNNNGGGG time SWIZZLER owner!!!!

The Swizzler in these photos is one I've had for some TWENTY years now...weighing in a 5-1/2 pounds, with a "pre-Surpass" OS FS-40 four stroke (ALL my engines are four strokes!) in (or is that ON) its nose, and EASILY flyable at ONE THIRD throttle, with a Master Airscrew "regular series" 11x5 prop turning at upwards of 9600 RPM at full power...!

Mine has a custom designed Douglas fir fuselage "crutch" for its main fuselage structure, with all PLYWOOD for the sheeting on the fuse (NO balsa on THIS Swizzler's fuselage)...the wings have been refitted with Frise-type barndoor ailerons, both driven "the OLD school way" with a single servo operating a carbon fiber pushrod setup running transversely through the wing, going to two scratchbuilt epoxy-fiberglass PC board 90º bellcranks...and a TOTALLY custom designed tail, since the Swizzler I had before this one had the "original" WW I Albatros-shape vertical tail...which was TOTALLY in the slipstream of the radio box (hence it was NOT very effective), so I made up a Mooney private plane-shaped vertical fin/rudder assembly instead, for this second one, that is QUITE a bit TALLER than the original vetical tail surfaces were, and ended up projecting ABOVE the level of the radio box/wing mount, so IT has been a WHOLE lot more effective.

There's a few pages on the Internet I've come across that have dealt with the Swizzler, such as those at http://www.rcnightflying.com/nfbiostick1.html and http://www.rcnightflying.com/nfbiostick2.html (THIS one at the second link sure DOES look almost EXACTLY like my FIRST one did...LOL!!)...the Swizzler sure DOES have a flat bottom airfoil, and therefore CAN easily change its pitch trim with various engine power settings! I've placed about three degrees of downthrust in mine, but building a new Carl Goldberg Falcon 56-airfoiled (semi-symmetrical airfoil) wing for my Swiz is about the ONLY thing I THINK that could be done to dampen down the pitch trim changes on my aircraft...that pitch trim changing characteristic can't "really" be fully eliminated, where it IS a high winged aircraft, but perhaps a new wing with a Falcon 56's semi-symmetrical airfoil can TAME it enough for the 3º of downthrust that's already ON my example, to have more of a dampening effect.

Mine had a SOLAR GLARE crash (lost sight of it at 8:00am near the horizon the day it crashed...it went in VERY slowly, so NO traumatic damage of any sort) in September of last year, and where my Swizzler HAS been my only flyable plane since I got back to RC in 2001 (I was away from RC for FIFTEEN LONG years before that) I've been "grounded' ever since then...but once I get caught up with some HOME IMPROVEMENT tasks I'm doing for my mother here at home these days, I should EASILY be able to get back to finishing up its repairs...! The Swizzler's fuselage as it exists right NOW is attached to this message for you to "initially" check out for yourself-the repairs on IT are just about FINISHED!

If you DO choose a four stroke engine for your Swizzler, the newer Saito 40, or the OS FS-40 Surpass four strokers, should give your PLENTY of power for a 5-1/2 pound "finished-weight" Swizzler...and I can even send you the info on what I've used for the TAIL SURFACE pushrods on my example..it's based on the Sullivan "Gold-N-Cable" .058 inch diameter metal cable pushrods, but with the cable running inside some of CST Sales' hollow FIBERGLASS tubing for a really SLOP FREE pushrod setup...Email or PM me a message if you'd like the WHOLE story and details on THAT one (it can even include DIGITAL photos of how that setup looks if you'd like-just got an Olympus C-770 digital camera)...!

Hope to hear from you at either this forum thread, by Email OR PM...good luck on your Swizzler project!

Yours Sincerely,

The PIPE!

Used to build those 25 years ago when I crashed a plane and all I had left was wings and tail surfaces. Didn't know there was a kit.

A friend of my dad, did one with a big stick wing and it was very aerobatic.

They give a new meaning to the word UGLY ... hehehe ...

Thanks for all the info....Special thanks to "The Pipe". Really nice to know there are still people out there, that are willing to donate some of there time to help someone else. Unfortunately the guy with the stick for sale must be out of town for the holiday, as i have not talked to him yet. I did buy an Air Vista yesterday came with a focus 4 TX, and a 7 ch. RX, and hitec 300 servos. Flight box, power panal, the whole 9 yards. Everything works ok... The throttle servo is a little slow. I think the push rod is bent at a funny angle. I have flown the air vista before, and its an ok plane. But the price was right. I may still get the Swizz too....

I have one and a 46 is over powering it.
If you get it, I would take off the 61 for sure.
You can use that engine in something that can handle it.
A good 40 to a 46 is more than enough.

Bill

had one of these several years ago. makes a good all-round flyer but a 40 is plenty. you will want to check the provisions for the fuel tank mounting as vibration is a more serious concern in this type. use enough foam around the tank or build some sides at least with rubber bands over the top. god radio test model -tough as iron.

Here's a shot of mine showing the tail wheel mod. It's a fun plane to fly.

Next to the Airmadillo the Stick is about the cutest ugly plane out there. Lord how I love them

Balsa USA also makes a SUPER STICK. Which is sort of a .60 size aerobatic trainer/sport plane. It has a fully symmetrical wing and is larger than the swizzle stick. If it has a .61 on it it may possibly be a super stick. I have had a couple of them and they are good for windy days as they are just about indestructable.