This model was bought to complement the TwinStar I was forced to fly when my IC models had to be "put on ice." It was easy to build and the first flight was ok - but felt sluggish. Subsequent trimming and increased control surface movements produced a nice-flying model
Flight No. 11, on Wednesday 21st Aug 2002, was exciting. After flying in a very "spirited" fashion, including loops, fast rolls, fast low-passes, etc, the model's nose dropped just below the horizontal whilst at a couple of houses altitude
Assuming the BEC had cut-in I closed the throttle. Next I attempted to correct a slowly-dropping left wing, but the model refused to respond and continued in FF mode. The contact with mother earth came after the model had completed an un-controlled circuit - and it was a perfect landing, with no damage at all!
The fault turned-out to lie somewhere within the speed controller, which was replaced free of charge by the supplier (thanks Dave). The model now flies even better than it did using the original speed controller, so maybe the fault was "making its presence felt" even before it "let go" completely
Later I decided I really must have rudders on this model (I miss rudders when they're "not there"). I didn't want them to be "immediately noticeable," so I hinged them with Diamond Tape and only chamfered-off the inside leading edges. I think I "got away" with that part of the plan:
I fixed a pair of Ronald McDonald's drinking straws over the holes inthe wing where the snakes exit
This is the only part of the snake which is visible underneath the wing. I've since covered the snakes with Diamond Tape:
The servo lives "up front." I "excavated" a small recess to accommodate the leading end of the servo and epoxied a servo rail at the trailing end. One screw and a small amount of silicon sealer in the "excavation" hold the servo in place
The rudders don't make an awful lot of difference to the general flight envelope, but they do allow me to hold the nose up during slow, steeply-banked turns, and also let me do a reasonable-looking knife-edge pass and stall turn! But the main advantage is that when I "automatically" put some rudder in, the model actually responds - which is much more reassuring than the sudden realisation that it has no rudders! I wouldn't be without rudders now