Hi Herb! Hope all is well back in Cali!

I have about 30 flights on the plane so far and cannot be more happy with how it is flying. I flew it in a contest this weekend and a few other top pilots were able to put a few flights on it as well and both of them felt the same way.

Some of the things that stand out to me so far are that the plane snaps very well, handles the wind better than some other bipes that I have had, has minimal mixing (2% down ele with low throttle and 2% down ele with R rud), and presents well.

Regards,

Mike Caglia

Hi Mike

Glad to hear it is flying so well. Look forward to seeing it and watching you fly at the Nat's this year.

Herb

Hey Mike great thread. The plane looks great.
Is that your home flying field? Man it's nice!!!
Mike

Build looks great, Mike. Can you please tell me what switch you're running? I didn't know that PowerBox made a switch for dual batteries. Is it regulated?

Thanks so much, and best of luck to you this year.

Ryan

FWIW, Hobbyking makes a dual battery input regulator modeled after the Powerbox Systems
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...arehouse_.html

IIRC, the Powerbox Sensor switch is s single Batt in, dual regulator output device
https://www.powerbox-systems.com/pro...ox-sensor.html

Hi Ryan. Hope all is well!!

Yes, it is a Powerbox Dual Digi Switch. Similar to the very popular Digi switch but with dual switch, dual voltage regulators at 7.4V, dual input and output. The switch weighs 35 grams with wires and I run two small 430 mah TP batteries that gets me about 6-7 flights.

Here is a link. I just get mine from Duralite.

https://duraliteflightsystems.com/in...&product_id=99

The another nice feature is when the batteries are getting low the lights turn orange and when they are very low they flash red. Yes, it is a bit heavier but it is nice knowing there are two of everything. I have lost a plane to a bad fairly new TP 900 pack. My brother runs the same switch with two batteries but instead of one receiver he runs two receivers.

Regards,

Mike Caglia

Mike
looks awesome
are you liking the OS belt drive?

Jon

Mike,
Great build fascinating workshop. I purchased the O.S. engine for my Oxai Fantasista. Please post the contact information as to where I can buy the engine mounting system for this engine.
Roger.

Hey Roger,

Here is the link.

http://www.ralphschweizer.com/startseite.htm

Regards,

Mike

Mike,
Thanks.

Mike,I am using Futaba's MC9100A-same as the OS 100Amp speed controller. I am using the referenced example shown on the OMR-4043-172 instruction sheet, but engine won't arm and does not work. I suspect the problem is in the setup. Please let me know the settings you used to get the engine to run. Yes I am using the OPC-1. I would like to know the motor pole number setting you used and the gear ratio setting.
Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi Mike,

Was fantastic to meet you at the world championship in Switzerland. Hope you made it back home safely!
Just a quick question on the OS motor. What throttle curve are you using with the OS Motor and OS esc?

Regards,
Mikey

Mike,
I found the problem as to why the engine won't arm. The throttle channel was not working. After exhausting every logical senario and consulting with known professionals, I decided to switch receivers and "voila" after linking the other receiver and programming the engine per the instruction sheet. The engine armed and ran perfectly. Now the only question remains is the setting for the gear ratio. Mine is set at 1.5 to1. Is it the correct ratio? what ratio are you using?

Hi Roger,

This site says the reduction ratio is 6.74:1
https://rcjapan.net/o-s-engine-o-s-m...otgn0v33s04nq0

The OS speed controller should be set at 6.7:1 ratio for the OS belt drive motor as that is the gear ratio of the unit. Just as Steve said.

Sorry for the delay,

Mike

Hey Mikey,

Great to meet you too and the rest of your team!

The first 1/3rd to 1/2 of the throttle curve is very steep and then levels off after about half throttle. With this curve it is very linear and not jumpy at higher throttle settings.


Regards,

Mike

Shannah (Team BJ Craft) and Mike respectively, I have made the correction to 6.7:1 using Futaba's MCP-1 which is the same as the OS brand OCP-1.
Sincere thanks,
Roger
p.s. Steve hope to see you Saturday at the field.

Hi Mike,

Thank you very much. I will copy directly and see how it go's. I take it your top end power is limited to around 90%?

Regards,
Mikey

Well now all 3 versions of the Finals Touch are flying so I figured it was time for a update.

Finals Touch EP (single prop)
You all know Mike has been cleaning house with his on the east coast and all though I haven't seen it personally the reports are it's on rails. Wind or no wind so that's a good thing. Mike currently has a plety in it but started with the OS which he prefers and I believe he is switching back to and his all up weight is 4825g. He has no rudd to elev or rudd to ail mix of any kind and only the standard throttle to rudd and elev. That most planes require.

Finals Touch Ep Contra version.
Kirt Campbell is flying this version and again is super pleased with the plane. He two has the same lack of mixes as Mikes the only glitch was the guy that installed the contra decided to cut a 1/2 inch off the nose of his airplane for no reason. The FT was designed for Brenner s drive and us exactly 2 meters long with it. That's with zero right thrust and a 1 mm spinner gap. I can't imagine cutting the nose of a Oxai plane for no reason. I did a quick conversion on Google just to make sure Myself, Mariano Gostanian and Oxai were not all wrong and it turns out we weren't.
2 meters =2000mm and that converted to inches is 78.74016. So don't worry the plane makes it for AMA and FAI rules. I think Kirt said it weighs in at 4950g.

Finals Touch IC
All the same as the others as far as mix ing. The total weight came out 4870g and that is with 2 rec. And 2 batteries with a very heavy 28 ounce bubble less tank in it. It could easily be 4800.

I could not be more pleased as to how this plane turned out and really have to give Oxai and Mariano most of the credit. Without either one of them it would not of happened. It's so funny everytime I take off I am smiling until I land. I have never had anything so true and balanced as this and it's so ez to fly it's gotta cheating.

The only thing that caught me off guard was the way it handles the wind at 4800g. I never thought a bipe would at the low weight but it is incredible. All I can figure is with the wings on top of each other (no sragger) and being so close together it just doesn't expose as much area to the wind. Whatever the reason it works . Mike was telling me some people were asking him where the gyros were last weekend. Lol. I will try to post some pics shortly after Kirt and I can get out flying with them both.

Hey Chip

Did you fly the Finals Touch at this years Nationals. It may have already been mentioned but are you able to explain some of the design concepts. However I fully understand if you don't won't to reveal too much. You mentioned the no stager and close placement of the wings. I find the close placement an interesting concept and would like to understand the aerodynamics of this. It seems some want to keep biplane design and trimming concepts close to their chests but it would be great to understand more. Is it possible to give some information on wing incidence and the relationship between the top and bottom wing.

The Finals Touch would seem to have a large volume fuse, very wide at the front and also wide at the fin base. I tried to check it out on the Oxai site but can't get access. Does it come in a contra version with no right thrust.


Thanks
David

I'm assuming the wings are fixed non adjustable, but are the stabs adjustable?

Hey David,

I'll try to answer your questions the best I can. Chip did fly the FT's in the Nats for the finals only. In terms of the wings not being staggered in my experience it helps the positive snaps feel the same as the negative snaps. Usually the bipes that have stagger snap slower positive and faster negative. This "may" be because during a negative snap the lower wing in a stagger conifguration is more stalled vs a positive snap the bottom wing is less able to block the top wing because if it being further back. This is just my guess as I have owned three different bipes and the staggered wing bipes snapped slower positive and faster negative requiring a different snap mode to make them the same. For some reason this plane also handles the wind better than my other bipes I had. Not sure if this is due to it not having stagger or the wing shape or the SFG's.

The wing incidence is usually a a bit different between the two wings on the Oxai bipes usually in opposite ways by 0.5 degrees. Not sure why but they all fly great and I have never needed to adjust the bipes wings. I know that some other top pilots have the wings set slightly different and may help with "darting" up and down, ie. less pitchy. Similar concept when aligning the two front tires of a car. I'm sure there is more to it but these are just my thoughts.

Itc,

The Oxai wing bipes are fixed, but all the Oxai models have an internal stab adjuster in the fuse that is adjusted by a small ball driver. All the Oxai mono planes do have built in wing adjusters. I have not heard of anyone needing to adjust the incidence on an Oxai bipe. They are usually very straight and built identical as all the wings and stabs are interchangeable between same models in my experience.

Hope this helps,

Mike Caglia

Hey Mike, long time no see until I was looking at pics from the Worlds and low behold, there's one of the Caglia brothers front and center. Darin and Andrew were exhausted when they got back. How was your trip?

I hope your school stuff is going well and if you ever get out this way again, you 'gotta stop by the club and say "Hi"......

Gary Z.

Hey Gary!

Nice to here from you! Everything is going great and 8 months left and Im done with residency and headed to Texas to live!

I see your into jets now too! Cool. I will definitely stop by the field and do some flying. The worlds was a great experience to see all the great flyers and Switzerland was cool too.

Regards,

Mike