Primodus

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IronCross: Your idea for differential made a huge difference for me today. I adjusted my aileron linkages at the field and saw immediate results. The next flight was like a whole new plane. I am experimenting with props now. I tried the 13x6MA today and it was OK on the Saito .65. However, I think a 12x7 or 12x8 APC would be better. Thoughts?

Primodus

My Feedback: (56)

Couldn't resist another photo-opp at the field this evening. What a fun plane!

IronCross

That's great to hear on the differential... Sure made a differacne in mine... I put it in the transmitter instead of mechanicaly on mine...
I am not familure with the Saito .65.. Like I said, I am running a .72.. I have found with both the .56 and .72 on this plane I prefer a bigger diameter lower pitch prop.. They give a lot more pull and that is what I like, not speed... I have also found that APC props make a big differance in performance for me... You might try a 13x4 on the 65 just for grins...
Great picture, looking good.. Looks like you have a nice field also...

Primodus

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Thanks, we are very lucky to have a place like we do to fly. A 2200' runway, N-S, 80' wide, half mile approches at both ends and about 75-100yds clearance on either side. A local uses it for touch and goes with his para-plane and glider-plane. There have even been a few Cessna's land there for grass training. It's overkill for RC, but you won't hear us complaining! [8D]

IronCross

Anyone getting any flying in ?... Getting rained out here...

Primodus

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No flying today, although the weather was awesome. Plenty of sunshine, warm, and very little wind. Made it hard to stay at work.

Primodus

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Me and the guys got some flying time today, finally. Weather broke good for a day and it was a near perfect scenario. Ben, the young gun, was in rare form today, making the Decathlon move in mysterious ways. He made a prop change on the TT46Pro to a 12x6APC and it made a whole new plane. It seemed practicing Touch-n-Go's was the order of the day and he was greasing them in like "budda". After some serious tuning on my Saito .65 by one of the more skillful engine gurus, it was finally running smoothly and pulling it's own weight. I had several great flights and started getting confortable. (can you see it coming? [X(] ) During one of my Touch-n-Go's she got a little wild on me and it was like fighting a sailfish. I managed to get it somewhat level and it hit one side doing a low angle cartwheel and tearing out one side of the gear. I will most likely have to rebuild the entire gear area to make it sound again. Other than that it was not too bad and could have been much worse. All in all, a great day of flying and fellowship.

This hobby rocks.[8D]

IronCross

Glad to hear you guys had a great day... We are in the middle of a rain event here... Can't really complain... There are only 2 or 3 months out of the year we usually get any..
Sorry to hear about you last flight there... Hate it when I have to take one home needing repairs... Did you figure out why it became so unstable ?...

Primodus

My Feedback: (56)

Just typical unstability. [] I fought it hard to keep it from going in harder. It really looked like I was fighting a large fish. The rudder on this thing makes a huge difference. I was lucky to recognize the situation and not try to overcontrol. However, even small stick inputs made it move like mad.

IronCross

Ah, your using the rudder... I have never gotten acustom to using that.. Keep planning too but never seem to get around to it.. I keep like 3 clicks on my throttle and let the plane sink on the final.. Then when the wheels are aboutt to touch I chop the throttle... This seems to do two things for me... One it keeps enough air going across the airlerons to keep them functional and two it keeps the plane from bouncing when it touches down...
My experiance with the rudder is mixed.. On take off there is a window where it appears useless.. When taking off right before the tail lifts... Then when the tail lifts it becomes super sensative and real easy to over correct with... When landing (two wheel) about the time the tail comes down there is a window where the rudder is useless... In both cases either holding some up elevator seems to help but the hard part is knowing when to realease it...
On take off I have learned to rapidily advance the throttle until the tail comes up... Once the tail is up the rudder starts working again... Just my way of doing it

ABELL

We all kinda looked on in awe when Primo's Decathlon went down, but that is all part of it. There really wasn't much damage done, it'll be a quick fix. I still feel like I've just been to a funeral when I see a plane go down [:@]

Primodus

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Got started on the repair this evening. I was surprised to find out that the gear plate is straight hardwood and not ply. I will upgrade this to a ply material. I also have on hand the sheeting material for the underside. I will have to rebuild the bottom of the former that holds the rear side of the gear block. It seems it may be a bit more time consuming than I first thought, but not a difficult task, even for my limited building skills.

IronCross

Hardwood block ?... Interesting... Sounds like it will come out better then new

Primodus

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One can only hope.

Primodus

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Waiting for the glue to dry in cold weather....Once it sets, I will recover and bolt the gear back in. Looks like it will be very close to original, only stronger. (I hope) I'll snap some pics before I recover and after.

IronCross

Great, looking forward to the pics [8D]

RCVFR

My Feedback: (7)

I have mine completed and ready to go, maiden tomorrow if the wind holds back a little. I will give a flight report if I fly tomorrow. [8D]

IronCross

Great,,, Looking forward to that flight report...
Got any pics ?..

Primodus

My Feedback: (56)

Good luck with the maiden Jim. I know it will be one of your favorite planes.

swmarkham

I've been on hold for a while building the Decathlon.It was sunny in the 50's but the wind was 18 to 22.I flew the Dolphin and had no problems till about 5 ft. above the ground.A gust caught it and I couldnt recover.Broke the fuselage in half but other than that everything else o.k.I went with ply on the bottom and got it recovered yesterday.Should be better than new.To much confidence and not enough experience!Starting back on the Decathlon now.Thanks for all the info guys!!!

Primodus

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Sorry to hear about your misfortune, glad it's not too bad. Here's a pic of my Decathlon after the repair. Had to ditch the wheel pants since they are busted. May replace later, but since I fly off grass no biggie for a while.

ABELL

Looks good Luke ,now all we need is some decent weather. I ordered a tail dragger set up for the Tiger but it's caught up in a snow bank in Illinois I guess. Was suppose to come in Thursday but I have'nt heard from it yet. Tower said there might be some delays due to the weather. I guess we don't have it as bad as some folks do. I guess I'll set here and practice on the G3.5[]

Primodus

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That's a bad thing? LOL

ABELL

No thats not bad, I would just rather be smelling glow fuel burn. I have been messing with the hovering trainer, It will let you control which inputs you like, so far I am doing good when it's got everything but the throttle and ailerons , throw either the rudder or elevator in there and it's hit the red button time

Primodus

My Feedback: (56)

Yeah, it's hard having all the batteries charged, a jug of fuel and not being able to fly. Keep practicing, it will be neat to see you hover the Hobbistar 60! [X(] LOL