Friends,

A little proud hot air history first - if you don't mind..........

Two weeks ago, I soloed (with the generous help of an instructor -Ed Pasick of JCRCC in Allaire NJ -I am not worthy!!!-) on a used and rebuilt Nexstar after about a gallon and a half of fuel, 3 Sundays, many winter hours with Aerofly Pro Deluxe Sim and RealFlight Nexstar Sim, RC Universe forum research, hours at the field watching, asking, listening and most of all being "HUMBLE".

Before I even flew the Nexstar ---during the loooong winter --Having eyes bigger than my mouth, being impatient and obsessive compulsive about anything that can divert me from the everyday routine,,,, I bid on a reallllly used busted up Avistar and won.

With Ed's help, I rebuilt the Avistar --swapped the wimpy OS 40 LA for a free OS46FX (it pays being a good music teacher) and flew it around the field last weekend after the kind and gracious Ed took off and landed because of my novice (no longer newbie) fingers not being sure of the different semi-symmetrical wing and expected difference in speed.

What I'm trying to say is this -- After reading numerous threads about the "Avistar Bounce" and ways to support the landing gear and prevent its springy tendencies--

JUST SET UP THE LANDING CORRECTLY or you will bounce the plane -- Depending on your field of course........ give yourself plenty of ROOM/RUNWAY LENGTH - come in low and slow - 1 or 2 notches above cut throttle thru the final turn and -- try not to see the underside of the wing -

Blip, THAT"S RIGHT!! BLIP (thanks for the secret tip Thom Thomas--also THE master pilot from JCRCC) BLIP, Blip (short, 1/8 inch, quick taps on UP elevator )-- It works every time - almost greased ---what a rush -- most of the time-------

Too bad I can't do a video with the sticks on the corner of the screen--then again, you probably couldn't see the 1/8 inch Blipps on the screen anyway

I truly Hope this helps allof you Avistar owners as much as these forums prepared/ helped/ saved me !

Good Luck,
root

p.s. GET WELL THOM THOMAS!!!

Good tip,

Another thing to help reduce bounce, shorten the nose wheel, change to a smaller nose wheel. Cut it down 1/2" at a time till it stops. That will solve your problem if you can land other planes without bouncing.

Big (serious?) Ned,

I never heard of that one...........

I actually took this forum's advice and used a 11X5 Prop, a 3 inch low bounce Dubro nose wheel (they come in pairs for about $6) and 2 "light wieght" 3 inch wheels with treads for the mains to keep the prop clear of the grass and clumps grass cuttings.

It really does make a difference because I flew last week with a 10x6 prop and 2.75 wheels without treads

- the wheels were vibrating sooooo much that it inhibited me to accelerate enough for "lift off" speed.

Now my "reconditioned" Avistar w/OS46fx takes off at 2/3 throttle with a long slow "blip" on the elevator and 1/3 throttle for level/cruise flight.

ps - I moved the battery pack just aft of the servo tray for correct front to back CG (3.25" behind leading edge) and cut a hole to slip 3 medium sized split shots soaked in 5 min epoxy in the passenger side wing tip to balance side to side CG .

root

Big Ned is our high schools Mascot. Im from Nederland and our Bulldog mascot was dubbed BigNed before I was born in 1967. I also am a high school football fan and took on the nik for football forums. My name is Mike[

Just convert it to a tail dragger & put the bounces out of their misery.

Bouncing on landing is a landing technique problem, not an airplane problem.

i agree... i used to bounce my avistar but by working on my technique and feeling how the plane wants to land i have bid farewell to the "avistar bounce."

a technique i use is... i come in a little fast and cut to idle at the end of the runway, keep it about 1 foot off the ground and slowly feed in elevator. as the plane slows and wants to dip i feed in a little more elevator until i have full elevator at the moment it touches down, nice and smooth.

you can modify the plane anyway you want to get rid of the bounce but that defeats the lesson on landing.

John

BigNed... I sort of did the samething..... But I just bent the main gear
to raise it... With that wing angle it worked great...

The Avistar can be landed with out bounce without doing anything but
landing good..... But one must admit... She does tend to bounce pretty
easy at times:-)

Thats partially true. A really good pilot can land almost anything without bouncing. But, there are things like a nosewheel that elevates the nose slightly that makes a plane more condicive to bounce. ONce you have adjusted all of the bouncy characteristics out of the plane and it still bounces then you have a point. If you think you are a pro at landing try to land a GEE BEE at all, much less without bouncing and you will find out you have much room for improvement.

Why not eliminate the things you dont like about your plane instead of fighting them unnecessarily?

Good pilots spend as much time doing things to make a plane fly better as they do flying. Only time I can see justification in dealing with bad characteristics and learning to fly them is if you want to fly something that is truly scale like a Gee Bee or a p51 or something like that that had bad tendencies as a full scale plane.

i have an avistar and the nly time i had a biuncy anding was when i came in to hot or f@@%$d up bad,, it really is one of the best landing planes i have ever had Tricycles all the way!!!

If the model's set up so that the chordline of the wing is parallel to the ground when the model's sitting on the wheels, then bounces are a result of the pilot's less-than-perfect landing skills. What happens, though, is that novices wind up dropping the model in on landing rather than getting smoother ones. Drop in enough, and the main gear will spread a bit. This results in a tail-low attitude. Now, it's a bit harder to get good, smooth landings, and many times, the nosewheel touches first. Presto! Bounce!

The attitude of the model on its gear is of great importance in getting good landings.

I converted mine to taildragger so its lighter rather than being "bounce free"...although, she does love wheel landings...and every landing I've made with the taildragger conversion has resulted in a dead stick...thats about 10 landings

I've owned and flown three Avistars and the only bounce I got was my own fault. I did replace the nose gear with a two-prong unit and used bigger wheels, both due to the rather rough grass field I have been flying from. This is a great airplane...I'd like to see it used as a primary trainer more.

More than what? I agree that it is a sweet flying machine & I see it used as a primary trainer quite frequently -- but it isn't always good for everyone who is a complete newb. With a 46 LA ot TT 42 GP, it's a great trainer for the second half of the "surviving" phase of flight instruction. With a hot 46 in it, I think that it makes a great second plane [8D] -- & one to keep in your collection forever.

Agreed. I have a OS .46 in mine, at at full power, it feels like the rear stab is going to rip out if I hold it too long. Also, I only need 3/4 throttle during takeoff for a "controlled" takeoff. More than that, and I can takeoff in about 2-3 lengths of the fuse.

Yes, I 2nd that motion with only 3/4 throttle needed to take off with a 46fx as a power plant. My instrucor kept saying "less hot - less hot" during landing approach and only 1/3rd throttle for cruising around the feild with - no aerobatics ( looops and rolls don't count) and........full throttle cut before the final approach to land if you want an expected 3 point touch down at less than 30 mph!!!!!warm but not not HOT, HOT,HOT...........just got to get used to it like hot salsa if you never tasted it before---KINDA??

root

Couldn`t agree more. It was my primary trainer with a 46fx replacing a 40LA. Pretty much taught me what a throttle was for on the first flight after the change!! Just about ran off and left me! I still fly it after over 2 years ( and a few repairs ) and plan to keep at it until it goes to that great runway in the sky. It`s an RC classic IMHO.

Friends,

OK -- now I'm looking forward to a 3rd plane after I get better at the emergency situation skills such as stall turns , immelmans, split S etc etc etc that you need to know to survive at a seconds notice.

I have a GP Spacewalker in the box with a fairly new YS 91 in the closet that I thought would be a good 3rd plane.

I also orderd a TT Lazy Tiger P 51 and have a OS 25 or OS 40 LA to put in it to pre - requisite the GP Spacewalker cause i'm into the "looks" of both more than the "CORRECT" sequential order of things.

SHOOT ME........... I'm GUILTY........my eyes are bigger than my mouth.....and I have the extra 100$$ to spend here and there.

Some guys in my club are saying NO NO don't go to a 90 size plane yet......

Definately get a 60 size Ugly Stik and put my .91 YS with a 13x10 ....or there abouts for prop clearence etc. and learn throttle control as well as refining the essential "get out of a jam" maneuvers" before any low wing experience.

I also heard the Hangar 9 60 Ultra Stik is more reliable or put together better than the "other" 60 size "stik" brand ARFS.

What do you guys think of that "TRAIN" of thought.

root

Mine hasn't crashed yet in the 6 flights it has on it. I dunno about the "put together" part, but mine took about a week everyday after school to put together.

Root should probably be discussed on another thread but,
approximately how many solo flights do you have under your belt, how long have you been flying and how old are you?

Depending on what plane you want to buy,, the size of the model isnt as important as "cost" and "skill level required to fly". SOme larger models are actually a heckuva lot easier to handle than a 60 size model, its just that there is an additional $$ risk with bigger planes.

You just dont want to go spending a bunch of money on a plane you are not yet equipped to fly.

If you trust the judgement of the guys you fly with then take them their word. If you dont and ar confident of your skill and old enough to make your own decisions then do what you want. Old enough to make you own decisions meaning you are an adult paying your own bills and making your own way.

By the way those"skills" you mentioned.... stall turn, split ess, and imelmman turns are not survival necessities but they are handy skills to have and should be part of your basic training package just to teach you simple maneuvers to demonstrate your basic skills.

Big Ned,

I'm 52 -- 3.5 gallons of fuel --about 30 flights solo.

The Spacewalker is from what everyone tells me is a very docile plane and should be flown to scale. The Lazy Tiger is smaller and is supposed to be a lamb with a 40LA in it.

I was at the field today and asked alot of members their opinions and some say the low wing taildragger is not too much of a jump for someone with my skills. Especially, my instructor, Ed, who thinks I shoild be putting it together...."what are you waiting for?"

Some say the Ultra-stik 60 on low throws would be good too.

i don't know if i should send the littler Lazy Tiger back to tower or keep her.

and maybe put the YS 91 in the ultra-stick 60 and have the spacewalker just wait till down the road.

What do you guys think?

root

Definitely big enough to spend your money any way you like.

The spacewalker is a pretty easy plane to fly. Sounds like your club friends and instructor know you pretty well. The stick planes on low throws would be good, so would a 4 Star 60 or even the big 120 size four star. Sounds like you like scale planes.

Mike (aka BigNed)

-----Thanks for responding to my drifting away from my original post - I'm gonna go at my own pace and start with the Lazy Tiger and the 40LA combo with 3 inch wheels and the throws set low. Yeah, I really get a special kick out of "scale" stuff. Personally, the "Stiks", although highly regarded by many, just don't do it for me visually speaking.

Have a good Summer

root - out

Me either. I like scale aerobatic stuff, Im not much on warbirds though. They are beautiful just not agile enough to suit me.