i think im going to use the method tychoc used. I did just put a little flashing lit that weighs about as much as 1/3 of one of the wings i removed, on the nose, it sticks on and flashes, its pretty cool. Ill see how it flys with it tomorrow, that might be enough to change the CG enough without moving the battery.

Right on Micro Builder!!!! That's what I was trying to say while I was at work and responding to diggs. I just didn't have the time to get it all out. I got my Aero a few days ago and the first thing I did was remove the bottom wings, then I took her up and it did fly good but kept on doing the nose down thing and so I opened her up and move the battery forward and then took her back up and man she is a great lil bird now. What fun to have something like this to just go right outside my house and feed my RC addition. I fly lot of 40 and 60 glow stuff and it's only on the weekends that I'm able to get out to my club, so the Aroe is worth every cent. I will also be taking it out to the club with me this weekend and man will the guy's dig it. I will fly the Aero ace first, then fire up my Hanger 9 60. size P51 Mustang with the O.S. 91 four stroke in it and I will have the best of both worlds.

I did see a video or two of a guy who was able to do backflips with one, I cant seem to do anything like that

I opened up the nose following micro_builder's lead by Xactoing the nose seam, then just pulling it apart. then carved some foam out of forward nose to make space for the battery to move forward, as mentioned in an earlier post. then I just tacked it back together with regular zap...if it melted the foam, I can't see it. I squirted a bit in there, it grabbed in 10 sec. or so, and it's solid and everything is working fine.

has anyone else done what I did---adding more wing area to the top wing without removing the bottom wing? it makes it much more like a sailplane and it flies real slow and is definitely controllable...and responsive to little micro thermals. Fun, and a very different airplane, and definitely not faster.

I like Nick's idea...replacing the wings with Depron...maybe a long, polyhedral top wing and a little short bottom wing.

into the AA Twilight Zone!

I thought about doing this actually but im kinda liking the speed I got when I took the bottom wing off and id hate to lose too much of that. The control and sailing abilities are intriguiing though.

I'll have to try that with transplanting the lower wings topside...I've got 4 AAs to monkey with, sounds like fun.

Removing the lower wings definitely makes it faster and more able to handle a little wind once you correct the CG. It's a real nice flyer that way. However, I find I can fly a stock biplane version in smaller spaces more easily, like in my back yard. That's a very nice capability to have.

I can't decide which I like better. It varies with the flying conditions. I kind of wish the lower wings snapped in and out more easily so I could change the plane for every flight.

I got those at Home Depot. I have serveral sizes and they really come in handy when building regular balsa kits.

-tychoc

Im finding that now too....its easier to fly with the bottom wing still on in SMALLER spots but if you really want to fly and have a bit of room definately remove it.

Hey guys--after hearing so much about the AA, I picked one up this morning. I think its really cool, but mine seems to have an issue of always turning left. It's like the right motor is just faster, as nothing I do seems able to correct it. It's much more than the trim and rudder can handle. Without touching the right stick, it just flies in circles, and trying to turn right will get it going straight, and just a little to the right. Makes it pretty difficult to manuever as you can imagine. Has anyone had this problem and been able to fix it? Kinda makes me want to take it back and exchange it, and try my chances again. Appreciate any help--and overlooking the fact that I haven't had time to read all 20 pages to see if its already been discussed

Exchange it. I have 3 and none of them do that. Cut the bottom wings off the next one and tape a quarter to the nose, it flies awesome!

you didn't mention whether you tried adjusting the little dial on the TX to correct the turn. That little nob can help a lot...but don't put it all the way to the right, as it will, for some reason, suddenly make the turn to the left worse! Just adjust all the way to the right, then back up a smidge. If it's still not going straight by then, take it back...but all my AAs turned left at first, and I was able to get them all adjusted just fine.

Well, I was about to say "yeah, I tried that" but I gave it another shot and you're right. All the way to the right doesn't help at all, but back off a bit and suddenly it works. Thanks for the tip!

you bet...did it take care of the turn? tweaking the elevators a bit might help without costing too much performance...carefully slit along the lines scored on the elevators...put the silver tabs on there if you haven't (one on the rudder too). bend the left elev slightly down, right one slightly up. see if that helps...it'll put power off turn into it too, but maybe that will be an improvement.

Just went through a battery flying around the office (quite an obstacle course) and it's flying really well now, just using the trim adjustment. Don't think I need to mess with the flaps--though I do want to get rid of the spring in the throttle stick, it's really difficult to keep it consistent.

What difference in flight characteristics does removing the lower wing give you? I bought this for something to fly around the office, so slow and manuverable are the goals--does a single wing add to that or make it more 'sporty'?

taking of fthe wing makes the plane climb much faster and much faster overall...dont take the bottom wing off if you want to use it in close quarters.

Thanks for the tips this afternoon guys! One last thing--anyone have a quick link to a how-to on removing the spring from the throttle stick?

ok ty all...now that I know how to safely half my AA, I'll try all these mods. Nick, I was just noticing on you pic attatchment that you're not using the aluminum tabs on the elevators and rudder. Why?


PB_2

sxates, look on page 8-10 (one of those) and look at post #190. It is a very in-depth mod to the tx to remove the throttle spring.


PB_2

sxates, glad you got it working, way to go. If you pull out the interwing struts and tape on an extra 3-6" of wing on each side of the top wing (see my post on page # 17 at the bottom, pix show you how it looks --- some dinner plate foam or any leftover kit foam that's light and fairly stiff works great), and also leave on the bottom wing, you'll have a yawy but very floaty, slow-flying AA.

tychoc, thanks for the info. i had to go to home depot anyway to get some more blue foam. perfect timing

BP_2, i opted out the aluminum tabs because moving the battery forward helps the plane a lot more than using the flaps themselves (plus, it adds weight, to the tail no less). using the little flaps does help keeping the plane going straight or maintain altitude, but it also induces a bit of drag. this is usually why a plane will turn really easy one way, but not so much the other way. if you get the plane flying straight with no flaps, trim nob, or right stick, the plane will control much better while flying. of course is can be much easier said than done sometimes.

diggs, do you remember where you saw the video of the AA doing backflips? i know the AA doesnt have enough power to do flips on its own, unless it had differant motors, or larger battery. but, i have been able to get it all the way around by flying in 5mph winds with the CG way back. i would give full throttle and it would nose straight up, then nose right back down and gain a lot of speed, then i'd go full throttle again and it would nose past verticle a bit. i did this till it went straight up and backwards. looked pretty cool. also managed a barrel roll in some winds too, but that wasnt intended also, if you chuck the AA as hard as you can into wind, or with the tail flaps up and full throttle, it just might do a flip then too

i attatched a pic for the throttle spring removal. when you take the back of the TX off, remember that there's 3 screws inside the battery compartment, and that the antenna has to be unscrewed.

nick

Nick, my AA with the extended (GWS Cub stick) top wing and bottom wing still on the plane does a very nice backflip/flop/loopy thing. not surprising considering the effective shorter tail moment vs. the span, I guess, eh?

Just got back from a couple flights in a large parking lot with 8mph winds. Kind of an excercise in cat herding I think Even though the plane flops all over the place, it does sort of maintain control surprisingly. I need to figure out how to keep it from bobbing up and down so much at higher throttles--level flight would be nice Maybe the wing extensions that were suggested would help, and moving the COG forward.

Got the throttle spring off--didn't even have to take it all the way apart actually, just loosened the screw that held on the spring, popped it forward and out of the way, and put it back together.

skypix,

yeah i suppose with all that lift you've got, the bird would roll over quite nicely sometime this month i'll be getting a new .3g RX thats like the AAs (except the AAs RX weighs around 2 grams). its for my 5" dual rotor helicopter, but since it uses two motors, it works for thrust differential airplanes too. its fully proportional, and has 3 channels, so i'll be making a mini AA with an AUW that should be around only 5 grams also already working on an even smaller P-38 that will use the RX.

sxates,
glad to hear the spring came off nicely, its much better without it, isnt it? changing your CG will help a lot at high throttle, you wont get that nose-up/nose-down issue nearly as much. if you know how to solder, i suggest doing the diode mod in the TX as well. the diode mod is one that every AA owner should do if they have a soldering iron/gun and some decent soldering skills. it makes controlling the bird a lot easier.

nick

hey nick do you have any pics for the RX that you'll be using for your heli? had to have the 500th post, lol but I really did want to see some pics. That P-38 sounds cool too.


PB_2