Has anyone assembled/flown this plane? What were the flight characteristics, modifications, etc.

I have started assembling mine and have made the following mods: Stronger spar joiner, braced the rear main gear block with triangle stock, and used a more conventional main gear instead of the stork legs up front. A center dowel and wing bolts to hold the wing down instead of the rubber bands. Epoxied or thin c/a'd everything i could reach on the fuse.

Any other tips would be appreciated. I plan on powering mine with an os 32 and macs pipe, 11/3 or 11/4 APC prop, and use standard servos(are those too weak to handle the large surfaces???)

I read the thread on the other reallly slow message board, and there seemed to be a 50/50 split on feelings towards this plane, with a weak spot in the fuse.

Hope to hear some info (good/bad/or indifferent) soon,
Thanks,
Steve

11!!! on a 32,, ooooh nooo you need a 10 x 4 for instant responance.
Standard servos are fine.
Magics suffer from weak rudder fins, beef yours up.
there are two in our club and they both broke, and those flyeres dont even throw them about

I've flown a couple of these now. Both have TT Pro .46's on them and in my opinion, thats a bit much for it, but it handles it well. The guys I know with them tend to think of them as hotrods and not fun fly planes, they seldom throttle down and their throws are extreme to say the least. I've seen the Magic handle power dives, one after another, and to my shock, it came out ok.
It's a pretty capable plane, you probably wont need high torque servos unless you intend to compete in NCFFA meets or similiar with it. If your still concerned, you can always use a 6.0v battery pack for a little more oomph.
I think they usually come out around 3 1/2 lbs.
The only thing I didnt like was the cheesy shelf paper type covering and lack of steerable tailwheel, but that won't bother you too much unless your flying off a hard surface. ( I am)

Good Luck !

Foamguy

Thanks for the info and tips

I have been playing with props on that os32 for a couple months on a model tech extra 300. It weighs in at 3 3/4 lbs, and will climb vertical at half throttle, with an 11/3. With it getting colder this weekend, I had to drop to a 10/5 (closest size i had onhand) and it would still perform great. When it was warmer, I could turn an 11/4 on it, and it would lag down a lil bit doing tumbles. I was going to pull the motor out of that plane, and drop it in the magic, but the darn thing flies soo good, I am having second thoughts. I know the magic has twice the wing area, twice the control throw area, and twice the airfoil thickness, but man, it is just something to fly totally different styles just by changing a prop. I can put an 9/7 or a 9.5/6 on it, and slice thru the sky like a pylon racer,(which on a plane that small is quite a feat to keep an eye on), or go to the larger prop and do some great spins and waterfalls.


Anyway, back to the magic. Thanks for the tip on the rudder/fin. I will make up some wires or triangle stock to reinforce it. How well did you like the pull/pull linkages? I am thinking of changing those out for 20 lb test spiderwire braided kevlar fishing line(rated at about 45-55 lb test monofilament). Should shave off a small amount of weight there.

Steve

pull/pull is great for rudder, gives huge movements, but i use push rod for elevator, just to get the stiffness there, just keep those lines nice and slack free & PLEASE! dont use plastic clevises

[QUOTE][i]

Anyway, back to the magic. Thanks for the tip on the rudder/fin. I will make up some wires or triangle stock to reinforce it. How well did you like the pull/pull linkages? I am thinking of changing those out for 20 lb test spiderwire braided kevlar fishing line(rated at about 45-55 lb test monofilament). Should shave off a small amount of weight there.

Steve [/B][/QUOTEpull/pull is great for rudder, gives huge movements, but i use push rod for elevator, just to get the stiffness there, just keep those lines nice and slack free & PLEASE! dont use plastic clevises]

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

I used pull pull for both rudder and elevator.......with plastic clevises!!! I hope the airplane Gods don't strike me down!!!
Gonna do the test flight tomorrow...I think.

Ok, pull/pull ok for elevator 2, rods are just my fave, but you gotta swap those links, you may live today, maybe tomorrow... but one day, this will happen........
www.rcflyers.fsnet.co.uk then crash links for some more plastic link victims

love mine. Bought a back up, just in case. Im using os46 and it hoovers at about 5 clicks throttle. I used 4-40 pull pull cable instead of there wires, and it works great. I have banged it doing tail touches and havent had any problems yet. I havent even beefed up my tail yet. Figured Id wait til I knock it off. Ive got a cool pic of hanging on the deck but dont know how to put it here. Someone let me know and Ill post it here. I will try to put it in.

Good luck with yours

dave

just underneath there is a box marked Attach file... click browse and find the pic on your hd, then open, it'll attach this to your post

Thanks Phillybaby
Here goes, I tried that last time but it didn' t work

Still didn' t work, must be too big of a file. Guess Ill need help shrinking pictures. Any help would be appreciated. I know how to run my computer radio though.

Try this link for the pic.
http://www.foxvalleyaero.com/newslet...001/page6.html

A really easy and free method of shrinking BMP's and JPG's is to use Paintbrush that comes with Windows. Click Image then Stretch/Skew, and put an equal percentage in both Horizontal and Vertical fields and presto. Save the shrunken pic as a new pic. I've found that the 85k limit allows a large JPG pic.
-Tom

3dpilot, Where are you running your CG for good hovering with your Magic? If behind the recommended 4 1/2" how does it affect the overall fly-ability of the plane? Also, what is the overall weight with the OS 46? Thanks for any info. you can give me.
Bob C.

Bob

cant rember the actual number of cg, but I balance all mine at the furthest back of there suggestions. So what ever that is it what its balanced at. Sorry Im not full of answers. And I dont know what the weight is. But it is very light. Im waiting to fly my buddies with a 53 four stroke. I think it will be too heavy of a motor though. Im not crazy about the way it flies, seems to waddle at slow speeds. Mainly because the rudder is not that effective. I have prob. 45-50 degrees throw in the rudder. I can fly along and crank in all the rudder and it barely shows. When doing tail touches, I can bend the rudder stick to straiten up and it still doesn't do much. I usually use alot of aileron and elevator to keep it strait. I know that sounds weird but that is what works for mine. Whats cool though is at 1ft off the ground and quickly give it left aileron and it does a supersonic torque roll. (NOT torque) but roll.

Thanks 3D,

I was just curious. Mine came in at 3Lbs. 12 Ozs. with an old K&B 40 (very light @ Approx. 12 Ozs.), Hitec 225 mini-servos, and a triple A NiMH battery pack. It balanced about a 1/4" ahead of the recommended point and it flies very smoothly but I can't even come close to a hover. Reckon it's time to start moving the CG back.
Bob C.

Bob:

Heres what I do. come in like your landing, just before you stall, then pull up and add just enough power to sustain, you almost mush into hanging. then drop throttle one click at a time. Sometimes it comes down fast. but then just quick on and off the throttle til you maintain. to keep it from torqueing dont go 90 degrees, keep it about 85 degrees. just practice.

ps if your not using a 12.25x3.75 prop your almost waisting your time. that is the perfect prop for hoovering with a 40-46.

That is not the first complaint ive heard about the magic's weak rudder. I am still wavering on selling mine to wingspan99, or slicing the hinges and building a larger rudder. I would assume it would need wires or some other methods of strengthening. How much larger do you think the rudder needs to be? I am thinking mine should be around 3 3/4 max, which should equate to a blast with the os32 and the macs pipe. It takes my 3 3/4 lb extra and accelerates it obscenely while vertical. What is the thinking behind the 46 and up sized motors on this airframe? Is it just "because it was there", or am i just powering mine too low? I thought the intent of this plane was to be low, slow, and vertical. I would think that with that massive amount of wing area, you could take it up high, shut it off, and fly it like a sailplane. I may keep the 32 in my extra, and find a used cheap supertigre 45 for it, if it seems like it needs more power. Shoot, I think this thing would fly nicely with an la 46 swinging an 11/5, 11/6, or maybe even an 11/7 APC.

Keep posting guys,
Steve

IF i rember right, and i forget what I had for breakfast sometimes, this is the motor they suggested. again the max motor. It makes a perfect combo. My rudder is not weak, structurally, just not real effective. I love the kit. it is great for what it was bought for. HOOVERING> it does that well. I just dont care for the way it flies. I just finished a edge profile for the same reason. it s alot easier practicing tail touches with these planes than with the giant extras and edges and caps. There is absolutely no PUCKER factor with these $99 planes. And there alot of fun to just throw around and try new things. Dont get rid of yours just have fun with it.. Whats the worst thing that could happen???????

I've been flying this plane for about 4 months now. I renamed it a flys funny instead of a 3D funfly. I crashed it twice due to the fact that you tend to fly it on the hairy edge all the time. Kinda like you get what you deserve! I have rebuilt it recently and made some pretty effective modifications. I removed the wing tips and made the tail completly over. It now has a much larger elevator and rudder with countr balance built into them. I redesigned the fin to allow more support to the fuse. I also added struts to better support the stab and fin. I have a honking Enya 50SS up front and am using the 12.25X3.75 APC prop. THe planes does alot of unbeleivable undescribable stunts but the thing I think is does best is harrier landings. Srap the POS landing gear and put a big pair of wheels on.All in all for the money shes a blast to fly. Mine weighs 3.9 pounds and I too have the cg at 4.5". Good luck with yours.

OK,
I've had mine still in the box waiting for good info and I have been putting in mass amounts of CSM sim time with the desire to 3D hover torque roll with no pucker factor.....I will be using an YS63 4S as this is the same weight as most 46, I will put Center line of a 12 oz fuel tank exactly right on the c/G balance. this being the big plus with YS and pressurized fuel system, using a 12.5.5 graupner for prop, 9K rpm, should thrust vector pretty well....
I think I'll add functional tail wire as mentioned......I plan on a target weight of 3.5-3.75, with bolt on wing...I've heard the flat bottom airfoil sucks for outside and inverted stuff, and am seriuosly considering 3" of anhedral in the wing..It may look funny but should have no adverse effect, and improve on yaw coupling. any input....OH and I will be using a HYDE sport soft mount as this is my personal belief that any ARF should have, since all the glue joints are hot melt and very poor bonding penetration, this mount is unbelivable on vibration dampening..
With a slow responding rudder as mentioned, has anyone actually tried using the hyper expo instead of the dampening expo on the rudder?

[QUOTE]
I will be using an YS63 4S as this is the same weight as most 46, I will put Center line of a 12 oz fuel, a 12.5.5 graupner for prop,
I think I'll add functional tail wire as mentioned......I plan on a target weight of 3.5-3.75, with bolt on wing OH and I will be using a HYDE sport soft mount.

I only have a little OS .28 with a small nylon mount and a light weight 9 X 6 prop in one and it weighs a whole 3.75 pounds. There were a few ounces of fuel in the tank when I took this picture. Taking out the OS .46 and lead necessary to balance eliminated 13 OZ. Good luck!!!

Dean,
I build with carbon fibre hence the c/f...The hyde mount is less than the a dave brown, uses only (3) 4-40 mounting bolts to firewall,(smaller blind nuts) I have titanium for engine bolts, the ys needs no 4 oz muffler setup only an elbow, the landing gear will be carbon with foam tires, mini servos 225hitecs for controls,JR321 for throttle, mini rx, JR xrta pack, Jett bladder tank no clunk or brass, the functional tail flying wires are .060 Spectra kite string ,,,this is just a short list of ways to save weight, my club members think I'm anal about weight, ya think? guaranteed no lead will be added, will put battery in tail if I have too..........I always take the model and hang it from an eyebolt directly on the CG point, I then lay components on exterior to get an idead were everthing needs to go to get perfect balance fore/aft left/right..........

Dean,
Were is the funky wire landing gear?
Sparky

I have been flying mine for a couple weeks now, with an TT 36 heli motor, tail wires, and standards for receiver and servos. mine weighs in at 3lbs 13 oz, no lead anywhere. I moved my battery pack to under the radio tray, and used a miniservo for the throttle, next to the tank.

Why would you want to run a 12 oz tank? That is twice the size of the original tank. I installed a 4 oz right from the get go, and get 15 min flights routinely. Would prob go 20-23 mins if i were just puttin around doing touch n gos. A ys 63 is overkill for that plane. If you end up around 4 1/2 lbs on this plane and it is going to lose alot of its floating abilities. Also, there is not enough room to mount a 12 oz tank in the plane, and still have it balance without alot of ballast in the back.

I did a single 1/4-20 nylon bolt for the wing. I epoxied in a piece of light ply under the rear wing area. I also sank one of the dowels they give for the rubber bands in the front of the wing, as I joined it, and cut a slot in the front former. I also reinforced the top of the former with a small piece of light ply. I started out drilling and tapping for 2, and screwed up the wing alignment, and opted for a single instead. Two will do alot more damage when ya dork the plane (all of these are on borrowed time ya know ). One should snap off with less damage. Thats why you can see a total of three holes in the top part of the wing. I didnt have a monokote iron handy and was anxious to get it in the air, so I havent covered over them.

Heres a shot of the nose, to show the motor mounting. I believe that is a hayes circular mount that I had on my extra. It had my os 32 on it, and the engine tab holes were the same. I have the motor turned almost 90 degrees, to let the heli pipe point downward.