P S I had one of our pilot instructors with me and he adjusted the trims while I was flying the plane. This worked out great and I suggest you do the same if thats possible. I let him know what the plane was doing and he reached over and made the adjustments. We got the plane trimmed out on the first lap around the field.

Hi Matt, Got my Rutan back together and am going to give it another try this weekend. Did you get a chance to fly yours?

Nope,

I was continuing to break in my 4 cycle motors. I was running the rear motor with the cowl on. It overheated and MELTED the motor mount that came with the kit. I am now replacing the motor mount for the rear engine. Of course none of the holes line up so I have to plug and re-drill the firewall. I probably am out for another week. I may get it done this week to do a flight this weekend. When I was doing my break-in I noticed that my 4 cycles where not pulling full static RPM so I may have to change my props as well.

I just ordered one and had a couple of questions. Are the seven servos it requires all standard size? Will two OS 40la engines be enough power? Finally, is 7.9lbs a realistic weight, most manufacturers tend to claim weights that are considerably lower than actual.

All seven servos should be standard size. This is not a small model. Because of the two .40 sized engines this model is essentially the same as a .90 sized model or a slightly larger 60 sized model. Larger servos are not required. 7.9 lbs good luck. Mine is almost 8.6...but I have slightly larger engines. OS 70 4 cycles. two 40's will be plenty of power. wils is "flying" with that configuration. I currently am not, so maybe 40's are a better choice I currently am still having troubles. Please keep checking back and let us know of your success! We need encouragement. I don't want mine to turn into a hanger queen.

An update on mine. I got the engine mounts replaced now I just have to muster up te courage to go to the field with this thing again!

All of the components, engine, servos, receiver, are coming out of a crashed Hobbico Twinstar, first engine failure at full throttle, which caused it to roll violently, which I thought was a radio glitch. If I had realized I would cut the throttle to regain control. I'm hoping an inline twin will be a little more forgiving!

Bad News Matt, My Rutan 74 has been destroyed! On the back side of a loop the canard wings folded upward and the model crashed very hard. The entire fuse is in splinters. The wings and the canard are still in one piece. I suggest if your wings are held together with a hollow aluminum spar to fill the ID of the spar with a wooden dowel to give it strength. I did this on my rear wings , but not the carnard and this proved to be its undoing. The two .46 motors with 10x6 props provide plenty of speed. I'm not sure where i'm going with this Rutan design, but I really like it. I'll stay with you guys on this thread and offer any advice or halp I can

Hi Matt, I miss my carnard! I was looking at a single engine Long EZ from nitromodel or raidentech, but their web site shows sold-out. Where did you get yours? I really like this Burt Rutan design and I want to make it happen.

I got it from Raiden tech but there are other suppliers

http://www.hobby-estore.com/rh-long-...-airplane.html

has long-ez's from electric to large scale....

hey Matt anything new with your Rutan?

Well I got the rear engine mount back together. Of course the new mount holes didn't match up with the old ones so I had to plug the old holes and redrill the new holes. Replaced a whole bunch of hardware, added dowls to the aluminum spars(per your story). I think I am ready to go again....I will admit I'm gun-shy with this airplane. I am looking for a field with a hard surface strip to take off from to get more speed. I will need to check CG again, after the engine mount change (the new one was slightly smaller) really shouldn't have any difference, but I'll end up checking anyway. The full size airplanes have been taking up my time lately.

Hey Matt! I ordered a Long EZ 46 today. Getting one with a single engine. Hope its a good kit, I'm getting it from hobby estore. I'll let you know when I get it and we will give this Burt Rutan design another try.

Hi Matt! Whats going on with your canard? I got my LongEZ 46 put together over the weekend and took it out to the field yesterday. Got it trimmed out and the thing flew great. The single engine in the rear made for good stable flight and an easy landing. The OS 46 ax with a 10-6 prop provided plenty of speed. I'm almost convinced that the twin 46's were just too much for the Defiant 74. I'm curious on how gmair is making out with his. A tip one our guys had was to mount the rear fuel tank backwards so the clunck stays toward the rear of the plane. Let me know how things are going on your end....Wil

I think I may turn the defiant into a hanger queen and move on to a long-ez like you did. I really want to fly...not mess around trying to fly. I may try one more time. I can't remember where you live , but here in northern IL it is getting cold and close to the end of the flying season...well at least for me, I don't fly during the winter....I may try one more time as I do have the airplane together. The plane has just been sitting in the shop for now.

Did you install the fuel tank with the clunk in the rear of the long-ez? Since it only has one tank I would assume so. I can see that doing so may provide a longer running rear engine, since the likely-hood of the fuel moving to the back of the tank is more than moving to the front of the tank.

Hi Matt, Did you get a chance to fly you defiante?Don't give up man. I live in southeastern Virginia so the winter isn't too extreme. I try to fly year round but not as often in the winter. We had a charity fly in at our club a couple of weeks ago for toys for tots. I took the longez out and it got some good attention, it flies really well. I think next season I may purchase the bigger version of this model. Check out our club website at Hamptonroadsrc.com, lots of photos of events and members at our field. Under member photos my picture is listed under Wil Styron and a photo of my Pulse XT. Catch ya later, Wil

Wil,

Yeah the flying season up here in Chicago is pretty much over. Wind and snow dominates the winter, plus cold cold cold. Don't enjoy being outside during the winter, even if there is a transmitter in my hands. I haven't given up....just winter caught me off guard. There will be posts when i go back out in the spring. It's all back together again and re-balanced. All I have to do is wait for sping and put in some fuel! I'm thinking of going with a long-ez as you have.

For those who have followed the exchanges between Matt and Will, I have added a post on a new thread by rgburn on the Defiant. I have about 20 flights on one of these models with the CG at between 1 and 2 inches behind the wing's leading edge and it has performed well.

I just competed the first flight of my Defiant and it looped on takeof and crashed. I now see that you have flown with the cg at 1-2niches behind the wing leading edge rather than the 4 inches in the manual. I have repaired the model and balanced at 1.5 inches. I hope it flys. I also have read many messages on this plane and I am aware of the need to set the ground attitude of the model. If you have any other goodies that I should be concerned with, please let me know