A friend of mine has an alpha 60 trainer RTF with about 12 flights and no crashes on it. He wants to sell it with the simulator for $300. I am just wondering if its a pretty good deal and if it would be worth putting a four stroke in it. I just like the sound, and what ive heard about the torque, and fuel economy of a four stroke. From what I hear the plane is a good plane to learn on. I have flown a few times with help and am trying to learn as much as possible, so any input suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

You certainly could hang a 4-stroke on there but I would hold off for a little while. Go ahead and do some learning with what you have. Learn about tuning 2-strokes and flying them. There is also a chance you may crash this plane before too long and I'd hate to see your new 4-stroke go into the ground. At least wait until you solo before trying it. $300 is a good price, let's not run up the tab right away. You will also have club dues and AMA to pay for. I hope you are joining a club and getting good instruction.

Welcome to the hobby and RCU. I hope you have much success. Just don't be in a big rush to do everything all at once.

Thanks, I was wondering about the four stroke for future references. Two strokes do all there asked and more from what I've seen. I am pretty lucky in that I have a field with paved runway less than 5 min. away from my house and also have another one 15 min. away from where I work.They both have fun flys and all kinds of fly-in's. The one at my house is a city ran park that has a club but you dont have to be a member to fly. The other by my work is a member only club, but i plan on joining AMA soon and that club also so I can get help on the buddy box. Thats what helped convince me to get into flying, besides the dream to oneday stepup to those awesome jets and giant 3d planes. Thanks again.

It's all possible with time and money. [:@] Oh yeah, lots of practice helps a lot too.

Good luck

I have a alpha 60 that hasn't flown yet but I am concerned with the unequal throws of the ailerons . As you can see on pics the whitish area of the hinge on the right aileron is the one that offer more resistance to moving up or down and would obviously draw considerable amount of current which I have not yet measured...Would appreciate someones help on what to do with this hinge area as I am not sure how these hinges are put together....I will try to get all of the pics uploaded.
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Regards,

Steve

No pictures yet so lets try to anticipate what you are trying to say.
1. Are you trying to say one of the ailerons is too stiff in operation?
2. Are you saying both ailerons move more up than they do down?
3. Are you having problem #2 with only 1 aileron?
4. One or both ailerons just simply doesn't move far enough because it runs into something?

sorry Bruce.....actually one aileron doesn't have near the throw that the other and there is an obvious distinction , visually, i f I can just figure out how to upload these pics.........my concern was the added resistance on moving the control surface on this side and also what might have caused it to act this way post manufacturing.......Being an ARF , I don't know exactly how this area is put together and I did not want to start trying to free up the Ultracolt or whatever it is without knowing how this whole aileron is hinged....sorry for not having the pics yet but will work on that ....

Steve

Good morning Fellow pilots

The Alpha 60 is a Great trainer. I have to agree with bruce. The Alpha flys just wonderful with the EVO that it came with. I would suggest to be paiciant and put your four stroke on an airplane that you really like for your personel favorite.

Thanks Prairie Pilot but the 4 stroke was 4 months ago. We are on to a new problem now.

If it is stiff with the servo linkage disconnected, there is a good chance you may have too much CA or epoxy (whichever used) in the hinge area causing it to bind. Have you checked without the servo attached for travel freedom? Will it go all the way to the recommended throws and is just stiff or will it not make it at all

That is correct Bruce.....the movement is restricted even when not connected to the servo. In fact , if I can get these pics uploaded to you, you will see an obvious difference in the Hinge area of both of these wings.....I just didn't want to take a sharp knife to it so quickly without knowing how the hinge is assembled....I am sure your comment on too much CA or epoxy is true....It appears to be some sort of white looking material---epoxy of some sort.....I will try to figure out what happen to the upload of the pictures.....They were attached and went somewhere!!.....Thanks for the recommendation and help Bruce......I did not intend to change the thread concerning this matter but really did not know where else to go to ask.....so Thanks again..

Steve

Don't worry about the thread, it was laying dormant anyway.

Go to this post:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=3790833
it may help you with your photo downloads.

Thanks Bruce ...I will do that ..for the time being...check my pics in my Gallery and you will see what I am talking about...

I see what appears to be CA residue. Like someone wiped off spilled/excess CA from the covering. I assume the wing came to you with the ailerons already hinged and glued in place?

You might try a couple of drops of debonder (acetone is the same thing) Should also be able to use fingernail polish remover I believe if it has acetone in it. Could try to pick away excess carefully or just try to work free.

Be careful with the fumes - may want to work outside.

How far does it deflect before the bind begins?

has about 1/3 less throw than the other side....substantial enough not to fly...in my opinion..

But how much does it have? You may be expecting more than you need/want for a trainer. What does the manual say to set it for (if anything) and how close do you get to that?

I have to leave work here for the day in a few minutes,

sharpole,
If you want to post pics, you have to reply to someone. Pick a post, and in the upper right hand corner, click on reply. This will open up a posting box that has "upload" on the bottom. Click on upload, and navigate to the pics you want posted. You can't post pics using the fast reply box...

What Bruce is trying to say is that even though the one aileron doesn't move as far as the other, it might move within the specs of the plane. In other words, you might not need all of the throw of the more free aileron.

OK....I haven't measured it but I suspect it is within the specs, although I'm not sure they are listed in the manual of the Alpha 60....That was my initial reason for calling support to find out what the measurement were when using the wing ends or tips as a guide but apparantly it was not significant to the customer support folks.. As a trainer , It probably doesn't matter but it still would cause the servo to work against more resistance than otherwise and as a result drawing more current from the battery pack. Maybe this is no concern with this aircraft. Appreciate the instuctions on uploading pics from whomever chimed in . I think I was trying to do so via fast reply.....

The Alpha 60 is a big plane so I'm gonna say that if the ailerons deflect anywhere near 1/2 inch you should be fine for a trainer. Do you have this much available? I see in your gallery photos that you have the pushrods at the ends of the torque rods. This would mean that if you decide to reduce the total throw you will need to move the pushrod "in" on the servo arm. This would be done one hole at a time until you get to the desired throw specified in the manual.

I realize you have the 60 size. the 40 size by comparison has +5/16 up and 1/4 down for the ailerons. By this you can see that a lot of aileron throw is not needed.

Ailerons (as well as the other servos) actually spend a great deal of their time very close to neutral. If they are constantly moving all around (sucking up current) you are out of control.

With this said, I MUST go home. See you in the morning.

understand Bruce......thanks for all your help and recommendations.....
best regards,

Steve

I'm back if you have any more questions.

Looking over the rest of the model , it appears it might be a good idea to change the clevises to metal on the throw surfaces but what are your recommendations on the Z-bends and plastic connectors within the alpha 60's fuse? I will be out for sometime the am ....got to pay for SS and county / city taxes.....lol.....Thanks Bruce......actually spent several years down at UT in my training....back in the early 80's....time flies.....

On the clevis's be careful. I don't know if they use metric or SAE hardware. You can not mix or they will slip on the threads and crash.

Z-bends are good. L bends can also be used if you use something like these:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXAZC3&P=0

You can also use ball links like these:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXD897&P=7

The connection method that comes standard with the plane works too or they would have changed it by now. Be careful not to over-modify until you are familiar with the products. Yes, I know you can get familiar by using them.

UT? Never been there. Best school in Texas I hear.

DDS? Dentist?[:@]

The single most important thing to do is find a nice club and a good instructor. You haven't mentioned these so I thought that I would.