Dean,

Are you using aftermarket springs, or no?

Ryan, yea I am running the radio south springs.

I've heard the steel pins might pull out and cause some issues

??

Ummmm cough cough... Airtronics 10SD 2.4... now on the market at a mere 499.

Let me know if I can help.

Chuck Hochhalter
Team Airtronics
Team Stafford Loaners (grin)

that does look like a cool radio. but tower says maybe july...

Dean,

I've always heard of aftermarket springs causing damage to the radio (any radio). You can crank the tension up pretty good on the stock springs, but I know the Radio South springs are a lot stiffer. The reports that I've always heard have involved the little tabs that the springs hook to breaking since they are plastic, but nothing involving the steel pin. Check any plastic around the pins to see if there is damage, if not, it may be a good idea to send the radio in.

I'll be glad to help in any way that I can, give me a shout.

</p>

Dean,
Easy fix. There is a steel pin that can work its way out and starts rubbing on the side of the stick assembly. It is what the plastic levers that have the springs on the ends of them ride on. Push the pin back in a little with a small flat bladed screw driver, and use a dab of thick CA to hold it in place. Hit it with some accelerator, and you are done.

Stiffer springs have not been an issue on JR's that I know of, if properly installed. Tony has some tricks to make sure they don't break the tabs. The steel pin issue seems to be the only weakness in the 9303, and is common with the 10x. The 12x seems to have fixed the issue with the new assemblies.

I like my 12x a lot. The new Airtronics looks interesting, but it only came out a couple of days ago, so user experience is limited. It is going to be interesting to see how JR and Futaba react to the new Airtronics and Hitec systems that are considerably less expensive.

Jon

Thanks Jon,

Iremember talking with you about this issue a while back. I am about to take a look at this.

If you can't fix it, and can live until Friday, I can fix it for you at Harvest.

Thanks all for the help....

Ithink it just might be worn out and the entiregimbalneeds replaced. I still have acreakinessas if something in the carrier bearing is worn in the vertical.

I've adjusted the steel pins, I was able to move the upper pin on the vertical axis a bit, but it didn't seem to be rubbing or bumping into anything. I actually removed the entire gimbal to see if there is any dirt orforeignbodies,reassembledand it just feels the same andweird. Theredoesn'tseem to be any cracks or damage to the arms due to the stiffer springs.

Without the springs Idon't seem to feel thecreakiness but with the tension of the springs there is thisweirdsloppy worn out feeling. I've also went back to the stock springs and have the same issue. Ididn't have a lot of tension on the stiff springs to begin with as I had the adjusting screw turn up, so the stiffer springs where only just a bit stiffer than the stock springs.

So I am on hold right now with horizon service. I am thinking what Ineed to do is have the entire right gimbal replaced. Really these sticks are just plastic assemblies and are somewhatchintzyI guess. The radio is almost 4 years old and has been service twice by horizon since new. I've been flying a lot this year. burning lots of fuel, and I think it just plum worn out....

There isdefinitelyan issue here because I had almost one hour of flying before Inoticed this problem, and it was just enough of an issue to really deflate my confidence.

If there is someone out there with a back up 9303 that I might be able to borrow in the meantime that would help.

Dean,
See your email.

oh boy....

after one hour on hold I am told it's a 20 business day turn around for service....

ahhh... not good....

looks like I am in the market for a new radio for nats

You might try Radio South....or...

Give me an F, Give me a U, Give me a T, Give me an A, Give me a B, Give me an A..what's that spell..  FUTABA!!!

Sorry, couldn't resist and my daughter is at cheer camp this week so all I've heard is cheering. 

V3's in general fly better with Futaba equipment

Arch

Ouch....

Seriously dude, look around and see if you can find a deal on a FUTABA 12Z. In my opinion that is the best pattern radio on the market today. I have had countless transmitters in my life and NONE of them stand up to this one I have. And no, I don't have an orange shirt....I just use what works.

Now watch, mine will take a dive on the way to muncie LOL....

-Mike

12Z is the way to go thats what im running in my vf3 and im also running radio south springs...just my .02

byrd

Really Idon't have a bias when it comes to radios...

Ilike how the 9303 feels when your holding it - the weight andsolidnessof the case, I do like the 12x and 12z and 14mz - I wish the 12FG had more of a solid feel. I know it could be to my advantage to fly the futaba stuffbecausemy main black magic dudes fly futaba ( Mike and Arch). I really do like the high end futaba stuff, very solid. Iwas flying futaba before I got into pattern, when Ifirst started out Jim Ivey was my mentor and he got me into the JR radios. I've been back and forth from Airtronics to Futaba to JRover the years.....

I think in the interim Ihave a solutionthanksto Ryan's help, he is loaning me a 10x till Iget my 9303 back from service.

I am alsoconvincedIhave an issue with the pots as Iseemed to be getting bumps in roll and things just where not smooth... Thanks Jon for offering help as well.

and thanks everybody !!!

<br type="_moz" />

Hey Mike,
Take a look at Sczcur's latest post on rebuilding his VF3.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8860844

Got to love it!

Why in the world would you put a canalyzer on a V3.  The canalyzer fixed deficiencies that this plane doesnt have.  Chip flew it last week and really liked the plane and even said it was as close to his Passports as he has flown.  The plane will comfortably fly the current F patterns as well as the newer ones.  The only thing that is going to do is hinder the performance.  The original canalyzer was installed on CPLR's planes because the veritcal fin was too small and he had to overcome some serious coupling problems.  When a plane is designed correctly, canalyzers do nothing but harm.  It worked on a Brio for the same reasons. 

Unless you find a need to install a handle on top to carry the plane, it is just a waste of time and really makes the plane look funny.

Arch</p>

We both flew (practice) in the evenings at the VA contest last month and Don looked really good and solid with the plane. I would guess it's just an experiment to gather information from it and more -than-likely will not stay on there very long,..but one never knows!

Having flown a couple,..I see no need for it either,....good to hear Chip gives it a thumbs up!

Sorry to hear about your bad luck Dean,..........glad Ryan is going to help you out.

Best Regards,

Bill Holsten

All that stuff,.........

Bill,

call or pm about your graphics, I've been on a little bit of a run lately. everybody's got new planes and getting ready for the big show

Ryan is a good man and a good friend. Ishould have a loaner radio friday and will be flying it this weekend. Ireally need to thank everybody that has offered help and loaners again.

Don failed to mention he has a pair of Focus wings on the plane because it was too slow for him. The canalizer was installed after the Focus wings. I have read his pro/con line by line on the canalizer. He also went from near zero mix to 6 mixes when he installed it.

Don is a tinkerer guys. He enjoys doing stuff like this. I appreciate his feedback.

He likes it overall, but basically he's changed it so it's not really a VF3 anymore. Still basically a Black Magic...not a VF3 though. But if it makes him happy, then more power to him. Isn't that what we're all about? CUSTOM Airframes afterall? [8D]  That one is more custom than any other.

I'll try to carefully explain this to avoid too much confusion. Everyone has a certain style and feel that suits them. We made a smart (in hindsight) decision early on to let everyone and thier cousin fly the VF3 and told them to be brutally honest...likes vs dislikes. Well the likes far outweighed the dislikes, and a lot of the stuff most people like is what Don doesn't like so much. Most people marvel at the slow speed of this thing...Don thinks it's too slow for him. Most people love the way it self corrects in a crosswind....Don sees this as a negative. Just examples, there's a lot more little things.

You can't look at this in terms of right and wrong. Everyone is different and it's very rare 2 people like exactly the same feel on ANY plane.

The only problem I'd have is if people started thinking this plane NEEDED that thing. Trust me I've seen the data....and my opinion is, it does more harm than good for most people.

I had heard Chip enjoyed it. That's very cool, after all you'd be suprised how close this plane is to a Passport (I have a year on the Passport though neener neener!!! LOL just teasing). There's not much not to like.

At any rate, it's experimental guys.

-Mike

Yep,...Totally agree Mike! 

For as long as I've know Don (1995) he thinks outside the box,....creative people and people who think outside the box are usually looking for self study data to relate to their own likes in a plane,etc. The focus wings seemed to work just fine,..very clean snaps,...not something I would do to mine,..to-each-his-own.[8D] I didn't fly it, but by watching it in the air on every practice flight it looked very solid with a very steady flight envelope.


I agree with Archie,.....great plane for the upcoming schedules (11)
 I've said it before,.....the VF3 will "not " become a dated design IMOP anyway, as a few others out there. It has to many positive attributes for the complex schedules to come,..maybe a tweek here and there for the future,..whatever that may be?

All I know is I can't wait to fly my V3,.....The Partner has served me well by just staying together. One of the sides is so badly delaminated, if you lay it the plane stand and turn it on the opposite side of the fuse and press the 15 inches of delamination down the fuse. The horizontials and verticle moves nearly a 1/4 of an inch. To top that off,.. the horizontial tube is off over a 1/8 of an inch off at the fuse, so the tail flies with one stab about 3/8 of an inch or more lower at the tip than the other side (no, I bought it that way in a rush to get back in the air). Now go and try to fly the P9/F9/P11 and F11 and throw in an unknown assortment,....it becomes a different plane for every maneuver. I've figured out how to fly it over the past two years well enough and developed a built -in set of mixes in my fingers,..LOL.

Had to put that in there,...just totally excited to Fly my V3,...thanks' Mike and Melissa!

Dean,...will do! call you later probably,......[8D]

</p>

</p>

Later Guys,</p>

PS: Mike R-U done yet? </p>

Well,..here are some pics' still have some detailing to do and installation work, but its' covered! An unusual color scheme for me but it seems to be growing on me.


Best Regards,

Bill Holsten</p>

Nice Bill !!!!!!!

Hey Bill,

You have got that thing looking great. The landing gear, are those the Central Hobbies gear? Mike told me about some gear from the people that import the World Models Spot-On. You can get them strait or swept back and different degrees of the swept back part. They are about 50.00 dollars a set.

http://www.airborne-models.com/index.asp

Look below and you will see the airplane accessories and follow the prompts for landing gear.

Look at PR8200143 this is the strait gear.


Larry

Larry,

Those look like the gear off of his Element to me.