I own a Thunder Tiger Champion 45L I fly with an OS 46 Fx. The plane won't fly knife edge for more than around 50 meters and I have checked that C.G. and tail throw are as required in the instructions. Is there anything else I can do or am I asking more than the plane can perform?

This plane flies very well however it is lacking in side area. A larger engine may help. You are looking for speed (high pitch prop). Minimal power and a somewhat heavy plane for the size.

EXCAP232

I had one of those when it first came out! Same thing, knife edge performance was marginal at best. Here's what you can do to help it keep KE longer...as you're doing a quarter roll to KE, kick in rudder earlier. Also, it wouldn't hurt the plane to move the CG a little backwards as well. I did it to mine when I rebuilt the stab (one half broke off in mid flight! but landed fine believe it or not, so just rebuilt one based on the remaining half, using rather heavy wood.)

Cheers,
Ken

Hi,

I also had one of these many years ago. Same thing as Ken, I was very disappointed in its knife edge capability (it was marginal at best - even full throttle and throws), and so I sold it.

It is a heavy plane with large wing area and small side area. You might try to switch to a .60 if you can work out the CG issue. Other than strong engine and rear-ward CG, I increasing rudder area might also help. Let us know how it turns out. Matt