Conference vmszoo::rc

When the kit initially arrived, it was evident that UPS had tried to 
fold it in half. After calling Twinn-K, they shipped out the 
replacement sheet. They supply 4-6lb. balsa in sheet form that you 
need to cut into strips. I discussed the box issue and they have lots 
of (weak) boxes in stock and are considering slipping a sleeve inside 
to better support the box. The replacement wood was shipped in the 
same style box and looked like it had gone through the same problem. 
Nothing broken in that box.

One of the things I like about this kit is the fact that the tail boom 
is removable for transportation. The show plane had the elevator servo 
mounted on the boom and a plug on the wing for the connector. This 
addresses the fragility of the boom in transport and makes replacing 
the boom relatively easy.

Controls are elevator, flaperons and throttle. no rudder. I might 
change this in a future version or I might try a V tail like the 
Yankee Twister. The removable boom would make this pretty easy. I'll
build the first one stock and see if the designer knew what he was 
doing 8^)

Last night I decided to take a night off from "the business" and went 
into the shop to work on my own stuff. Amazing what those intentions 
can do for incentive. I got down to the shop about 6:45 and turned on 
the radio for the Red Sox baseball game. I find that if I'm listening 
to the game, I'll stay in the shop until it is over. Last night the 
plane was the only incentive needed.

Construction begins by building all the surfaces out of balsa strips.
They don't provide sticks so you have to strip it out of the 4-6lb 
sheets provided. I used my Jarmac saw for this and it went quickly. In
short order I had the elevator, stab, fin and both ailerons done. The 
only problem I found was that they called for some 1/8"x3/8" strips 
for cross bracing in the ailerons but provided neither to strip. I got 
what I needed out of my scrap bin and continued.

On to the wing and the first thing you do is mount the tail boom holder 
into the engine plywood plate/mount. The wing center section is held 
together with 3 dowels (which weren't anything resembling straight) and
the jig they discuss will work but seemed like too much effort. I 
aligned everything without it and the wing is nice and straight. I 
stopped at 11:15 with just the sheeting and cap strips left to do on 
the wing. The instructions are brief and it helps to have some scratch 
building experience but the plane looks like it will perform and the 
wing structure is surprisingly strong for how light it is. The goal 
weight for it is 2lbs 11oz with an OS .32. I don't see this as 
unattainable. I expect that it will take 2-3 more hours to do the 
sheeting, cap strips and final assembly and then on to covering. The 
goal is to get it flying this weekend.

No chance to work on it last night so when I found myself up at 5am, I 
decided to start the day with a little work in the shop. I got some 
spars and bracing in place and am ready to do the leading/trailing edge 
sheeting and cap strips (I HATE cap strips). Should make some more 
progress tonight but it's going to be tight for saturday.

As mentioned in the last reply, I HATE CAP STRIPS 8^)

Last night I decided to "Just do it". I went into the shop and, with a 1 hour 
phone interruption, managed to get the sheeting done, the cap strips done, the 
tail feathers attached to the boom and aligned, and the radio compartment 
hatch built. I'm now ready to cover and install radio tonight for a test flight
tomorrow.

The structure really stiffens up with the sheeting and cap strips applied. The
covering will be the final thing to lock it in place. I'm very pleased with the
7 hours it's taken to get to this point. I should be in the air with 10-12 hours 
invested.

I finished up all the covering on saturday and with the wind blowing, 
decided to stand down. Monday was the planned day for several initial 
flights and it dawned calm. Our local field has a curfew on power flying 
before 10am so we waited. At exactly 10am, the initial sounds of engines 
were complimented by the onset of wind.

I set the plane up with the recommended throws and the CG was set 
slightly in front of the sport setting. The battery pack and Rx are at 
the trailing edge already so I want to see how it handles before moving 
more stuff rearward.

The final count of hours was 7 hours building and 8 hours of covering, 
radio installation, and setup. The plane flew straight off the board and
wasn't bad to handle. the only thing I need to work on is the landing 
flap configuration. I have too much down elevator compensation. The horn
mounting points on the ailerons and elevator need to be "hardened" or 
reinforced. I'll probably use small pieces of plywood in my repairs 
(they pulled free while testing). This will help move the CG rearward 
into the suggested range as well.

    Gremlin, Goblin, Gyro........I love it.

I got to compete with this plane this weekend. I managed to take 2nd 
place in the touch and go event and did ok in the limbo. I'm convinced 
this plane will do fine once I get a handle on it. After all, the 2nd
place flight was just my 7th on the plane.

The biggest short coming of the plane is ground handling. It has no 
rudder in the stock configuration and the ailerons are only marginal 
in steering by dragging a tip. I think you could get used to it after 
a fashion but I'm not there yet. The OS32 was leaned a little on the 
low end and it's a champ on throttle response.

This was my first limbo event and the plane performed quite well once 
I got the right amount of throttle up set for the go around. No loops 
were allowed or it would have been simple. The touch and goes were a 
matter of flying it to the ground and leveling out and then going around. 
No time to let this floater settle on it's own. During the open flying 
I went deadstick up a ways and someone else went deadstick shortly 
afterwards. I circled until they landed and then came in behind them. 
This plane will definitely thermal, given a chance 8^)