Steve Campbell2

I recently got one of those "fire sale" H9 1/4 scale CAPs, and I'm in the process of acquiring the goodies for it.

Yesterday, I called Tru-Turn to inquire about a spinner, and nearly suffered a second heart attack when the nice lady on the phone quoted me a price of $67.90 for a standard 3" aluminum spinner to fit a Saito 150 and cut for a Graupner 16x8.

Now, I'm not afraid to spend money for quality, but this is slightly ridiculous.

While reading the review in RCM on the Evil Empire's Giles 202, I noticed that the reviewer used a Spin Right spinner, which looks to be aluminum. Never heard of this brand. What others are out there? Give URLs if possible, please.

Please advise of some alternatives. I'll put a DuBro plastic spinner on if I have to. Before you accuse me of being a cheapskate, know that I do helicopters and am no stranger to exhorbitant equipment costs. But this is my first foray into "big planes", and I'm simply not coughing up the cost of a good coreless dual BB servo for a prop spinner; yet.

TIA,

Steve

Kickin Chicken

Hi Steve,
Check out Dave Brown (Vortech)spinners, biggest bang for the buck, quality just as good but lower cost, 3" about $23.00(Towers).
KC
South Georgia

KingAirJockey

My Feedback: (-2)

check out the tigershark/kangke spinners.I just picked up a 2 inch one from them and it is super nice.Has a mirror finish and the fit is perfect along with the balance.Price cant be beat either.

pilotrc

My experience with spinners is Tru-turn Tops, Dave brown, Large ones [5"], they deform, too thin. Small [4"] or less, fine. Others ? ...Jim

RCPilot100

My Feedback: (4)

I bought a Tru Turn spinner at Toledo when they started selling them there. I still have it. I use them on all my planes now - small on up to Giant Scale. They look good and last - unless you do a nose dive into the ground. Some of the guys I fly Giant Scale with have tried saving money on the cheaper spinners - but they are just that, cheaper. My dad always told me you won't be disappointed buying the best - with Tru Turn I never have. Great service with a great product.

Dan

Diablo-RCU

My Feedback: (1)

Tru-turn spinners are very well made, but their manufacturing process is high cost since they are machining the cone. Spinning a piece of sheet for the cone is a much less expensive method and doesn't waste a lot of material. Vortech spinners are spun, but have a machined backplate. A machined cone really has no advantage over a spun cone.

OnTheEdge

A few years ago I recall asking why Tru-Turns are so much more expensive and I was told the machined cones have less weight than the spun units? Does this sound accurate? It was a about 8 years ago so technology could have changed by then.

bvmjethead

My Feedback: (10)

I've always found that Tru-Turn are just that Tru-Turners, very well balanced. I too am just getting into "big" planes and have been told numerous times about the inportance of everything being well balanced. You're not turning a 10 x 6 APC anymore!

Scott

Dazzler

My Feedback: (6)

I too like the Dave Brown spinners, they are less expensive and look better than the tru turn, yes they are thin but if you mount it right you wont have any problems. Tru turns are nice though, just cost too much, especially for the larger sizes. Good luck

TJK

My Feedback: (69)

Steve,
Did you live in Kingsville and fly at the closed NAS back in the mid '80s?

Sorry for the off-subject post, I didn't see an e-mail option.

Tom

Steve Campbell2

Tom,

Nope, I've never lived in Texas. Ought to, though; Lousyana sucks.

Okay, so far I've got Dave Brown and Kangke. Nobody's heard of Spin Right?

Guys, I know all about buying quality, etc. But you wouldn't advise a rookie to put a $25 aluminum spinner on a $100 Stik, would you?

That's me; I'm a rookie at this big airplane business. I paid two hundred bucks for a nice ARF. I'm simply not going to pay a third of that again for a freakin' spinner. I have thousands of dollars invested in my helicopters. But I'm in that for the duration. I am just getting my big toe wet with these larger planks, to see if I want to stay with it. If I do, THEN I'll pay the larcenous asking prices for some of this stuff. Man; I thought heli stuff was expensive... :-(

Steve

Wings-RCU

My Feedback: (2)

Steve,
I would stay with the Dave Brown Vortex if you're concerned with cost. The Spin right is significantly inferior to the TruTurn or the DB. The adaptors that you will need for the Spin Right are very cheep metric parts. The Spin Right uses a smaller center Allen screw that may not hold up. The one Spin Right I tried ended up costing me a new Mejzlik prop. Remember with all of these spinners you will also need to buy a $10-15 adaptor to fit your specific motor. I would also also stay away from a plastic spinner on anything this big.

Steve Campbell2

Wings,

I hear you re the cheap adapters, cheap Spin Right, etc. Thanks for that heads up.

But why avoid a quality plastic spinner? This engine comes with a double jam nut to prevent kicking the prop off, and the Dubro spinner is secured to the backplate by two 6/32 bolts. And it is only three inches.

Am I missing something?

Steve

Dazzler

My Feedback: (6)

Steve, sure you can use the nylon type spinner, they go up to 3 inches, and should work fine. Also, with the type engine size for this plane you will not be hitting any high RPM's anyway. Most guys just like the alum. type because they run truer. Also, comparing the sale price of this plane(199.00) to the $35.00 spinner is not fair, the H9 Cap is a $350.00 plane, you and me just got a good deal on it. Shoot, I spent $172.00 on just the servo's for this plane, thats almost the same price as the plane, but you can't base your servo selection on the sale price of the plane either, as you shouldnt for any other part of the plane. Good luck

Volfy

My Feedback: (23)

Steve, the way I look at it, you do pay for quality. But along with that, you do pay for the brand name as well - just like anything else. I'm sure True Turn is proud of their stuff for a good reason, but I too find it hard to pluck down that much doe on a

Diablo-RCU

My Feedback: (1)

Weight has nothing to do with why Tru-turn spinners are more expensive. They are expensive because the billet of aluminum they throw away is nearly all scrap turnings. A lot less scrap is produced when you spin a disc of aluminum. Sure, with machining you can guarantee the accuracy and wall thickness will be very tight tolerances, but for our application it really doesn't matter. I hate nylon spinners because they get brittle in the cold weather, have been known to fly apart, usually wind up with "starter burn" marks, and are difficult to tighten and align the prop. For most of my smaller models (less than 72 inch span), I use a rounded aluminum safety nut (about $5). More functional than any nylon spinner.

RCPilot100

My Feedback: (4)

Since I bought my first Tru Trun spinner at Toledo years ago, I now put one on all my planes. I guess the only ones I won't are the park flyers I am putting together now. I have some polish from a buddy that cleans them up better than new. I hand start everything - several reasons why - so I have no starter ring mark on any. I guess it is a matter of preferance - I do prefer them - as long as the wife doesn't see what a 4 1/2 spinner for one of my big birds costs.

Dan

LSP972

My Feedback: (13)

Dazzler,

I understand your reasoning, but I don't think servos are in the same class as a spinner. One is cosmetic; the other determines much of how the model flies. FWIW, I spent MORE on the servos than I did on the model.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm looking forward to getting this puppy up...

Steve

Dazzler

My Feedback: (6)

Steve, this is where I have to disagree with you, the spinner is more than cosmetic. Cosmetic is a decal, striping, canopy tinting,etc. The spinner is a working part of the plane, and can effect the performance of a plane, it may be a miniscule effect but it is an effect, making a spinner more than cosmetic. Also I was not comparing servo use, to spinner use, I was comparing the servo cost to plane cost, originating from your original post of comparing the spinner cost to the plane cost. Good luck

rbort

My Feedback: (4)

Hey Steve:

I fly helis too, I'm the Xcell gasser guy with many flights if you remember me from the good old RC-Online discussion days. I too have gotten into Giant Scale airplanes and my latest is an Ohio 75" biplane with a BME 100 engine on it.

Are you sitting down? On the nose of that airplane is a True Turn 5" Ultimate spinner worth $140, hugging a Fuchs 26x10 2 blade prop worth $60 more. Man, that's $200 for just the spinner and prop! I remember when I first started flying airplanes, my plane and engine combo was $200...

Luckily for me I bought the plane used, so I didn't spend those exorbitant amount of $$$s for it...

-=>Raja.

Steve Campbell2

Raja,

Sure I remember you. I also saw you asking about a GiantScalePlanes.com model on another thread. You DO know that's Irwin, don't you?

Like I said earlier, if I get "into" these bigger planes, I too will end up paying $200 for a prop and spinner.<G> But I'm looking at storage and transportation considerations, too. I'm wondering whether or not this CAP is going to fit in my truck. I have an S-10 with custom fiberglass bed cover. I have 70" front to back, and 19" vertical clearance. It is gonna be tight...

Okay, Dazzler, I'll agree that the spinner does indeed affect the plane's aerodynamics. But I'm STILL not paying $70 for one...<G>

Steve

Dazzler

My Feedback: (6)

Hello again Steve glad we can agree, but again I didnt say spend $70.00 on a spinner, here is a quote from my original post to you:

"Steve, sure you can use the nylon type spinner, they go up to 3 inches, and should work fine"

rbort

My Feedback: (4)

Hey Steve!

You don't say! You mean to tell me "Aerobat" or "Mark" is actually Irwin in the other post?

I actually have talked to Irwin on several occasions trying to buy a Giant Scale Decathlon that he has in his shop already put together. It comes with a g23, the plane and 9202 servos. I offered him some $$$s for it, but he thought I was dreaming on the price (I gave 75% of retail on it). He actually wants 110% percent of cost new, this is after he came down a bit - originally he wanted 140% of cost as he wanted to add labor costs to plane as well.

Anyway he is such a hard sell and he doesn't want to let anything go for less than brand new price and then some. I've seen used and successfully used the 75/66/50% offer rule for RC stuff that is already out of the box and together, and its worked well for me on rc-online to buy and sell stuff. Irwin just wants top dollar for that plane and if someone here wants to pay top dollar for it please go see him and buy it to get it over with. I think what I offered him is more than fair, but, according to him I am dreaming, so I will dream on until someone else comes along more willing to sell at the going price (not asking for freebies, I just want to pay what others have habitually paid in the past).

I have a Ford Ranger and I have a roll top cover on it - bought that to give me easy access to an unlimited ceiling when necessary. Anyway, that box takes up about 10 inches from the bed so I'm left with about 62 inches in length. I end up leaving the tailgate open, and, with that I can transport my Carden Extra 300 which is 78 inches long, as well as my Ohio Ultimate Biplane which is 82 inches long. They ARE considerably higher than the top of the bed though, so, if you are going to be transporting large planes, you need to be able to do away with the "ceiling". Either get a roll top cover or get a cap (not airplane!) for it.

I looked at those fiberglass covers, they are nice, with the pistons that hold it up at 20 degree angle when open. Good looks, but not functional for a truck unfortunately unless you bought the truck just for looks and not to transport stuff. I don't mean to say you can't transport stuff in the truck, you can, like bags of concrete and wood and such, but the applications are more limited by the height (even my excel gasser wouldn't stand up in there with that cover on - some guy had that on his truck), as you won't be able to transport furniture, appliances, and most importantly, large airplanes with it!

Not sure what the insides of your bed is lined with, but, with the roll top cover I have a "Bedrug" and, it works great for the RC guy as its soft, tender and homy for those delicate models, and things don't slide as much when you put them on it. I can lay down my Ultra Sport 60 inverted on the rug all together and transport it to the field that way.

Anyway, good luck with the larger planes, and enjoy! Remember the most important thing is to go GAS, so, try to avoid the thirsty 2 cycle or 4 cycle motors, as they defeat the whole purpose of going large...

LSP972

My Feedback: (13)

Raja,

Dunno who Aerobat or Mark is; I just wanted to make sure you knew that GiantScalePlanes.com was HHI in different livery. A skunk is a skunk is a skunk....

Yeah, I hear you about the bed cap limiting the truck's carrying capability. But I normally don't have a need for a pick-up. I wanted another SUV, but the dealers around here simply wouldn't deal, and I refused to be robbed. I got a great buy on this little extended cab S-10. The bed cap was mandatory, so as not to get road grime, etc., on those precious models...<G> I've got a semi-custom rubber bed liner/mat in there, too.

Tried a gas helo once. Was turned off big-time by the hassles in dealing with gasoline. Bill Meador has been using Coleman fuel in his Vario scaler; I might try that with an X-Cell gasser. If the experienced big-plane guys report favorably on it (some are already trying it) that might just clinch the deal.

But I'll need to get a bigger vehicle... :-(

Steve

Dazzler

My Feedback: (6)

Stevecambell, check this spinner out:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...1&I=LXB949&P=7