wojtek

My Feedback: (73)

I have a BVM .91 powered T-33 that im going to fly for the first time this weekend. I have it set up with only ailerons and no flaps ..

Can anyone give me some insight into what kind of flight characteristics i should expect ... anything I should be carefull of ?

thanx !


Wojtek

tp777fo

My Feedback: (28)

It's a great flying airplane, had one for several years. Mine too was without flaps. On the takeoff keep the climbout shallow to build your speed. Get gear up quickly. Inflight it's a real peach, no bad habits and the T-33 has the prettiest aileron roll ever seen. Landing is where you will earn your money. Dont get slow as it will snap. It would be a good idea to get some altitude on your early flights and slow fly it and stall it just to be familiar with the characteristics. It recovers from the stall quickly but loses quite a bit of altitude when the nose drops. It spins beautifully and recovers quickly. The approach should be flown with a slight bit of power and a little more shallow than an airplane with flaps. Try to fly it to the runway and pull the power about 2-3 feet. Too slow it will drop a wing, too fast it will bounce then drop a wing. Keep your speed brakes out to allow a little more power and help kill the speed. It will be a good idea to keep a few spare landing gear parts as I needed quite a few of them along the way. You will really enjoy your T-33, it's a beautiful airplane.

Jetman007

My Feedback: (6)

The T-Bird is a real sweet heart to fly and land. I used no flaps, and up ailerons (~1/4" max) tied into the final position of the speed board switch.

The up aileron corrected the stall and bounce habits 100%. Made it my favorite jet to fly.

As prior post says, keep the take off climb out shallow and gain some speed before your first turn. Mine flew out of a 400' paved runway regularly.

Landings - Drop gear on overhead pass, reduce to 1/2 power on down wind and deploy 1/2 speed boards.

Turn from down wind to base - 1/4 power and full speed boards (with up ailerons).

On final - maintain just a few clicks of power (adjust for comfortable sink rate) with a slightly nose down or rather flat approach. About 100 feet prior to touch down, reduce power to idle. Let her settle in from 1' high with a slight flair.

I used brakes and had her stopped in about 200'.

Enjoy! It's a great, gentle, graceful plane to fly.

wojtek

My Feedback: (73)

all this stuff is great ! thanx guys !


Wojtek

Steve Collins

My Feedback: (8)

I have a fan powered one which, as others have said, flies like it is on rails. It did, however, teach me how to and how not to land it! Once we figured out how to land it and do it that way every time, life is good. I am using an 8 channel radio and do not have enough channels to make the ailerons into spoilerons as others have suggested. Mine does have flaps but still it seemingly wants to glide forever. The trick to smooth landings without the spoilerons is to let it glide! Let it glide about a foot or so off the runway until the wing no longer has enough lift to fly and then it settles down nicely. If you get anxious for it to set down and let loose the up elevator too soon, be prepared for the plane to start that nasty hopping thing. Mine seemed like it took turns which of the four points hit the runway. Wingtip, bounce, nose, bounce, tail, bounce, you get the picture. However, when we discovered why it was doing the bouncing thing, we quit doing that and almost every landing since has been perfect.

I found that the elevator throws recommended make the elevator waaaaaaaaay too sensitive. I cut mine down by about half and the plane is a real *****cat.