Vector and Thinderbird II report

[Phil Coopy]

I flew both planes Tuesday just to get the engines straightened out.  The T-bird with the McCoy 35 pulling it flew rather nicely after finding a good launch rpm.  The McCoy breaks real hard which is what I am used to from the old days. CG seems to be about right and it turns pretty square corners.  I had to do a lot of line adjusting and I thought the plane was way out of whack but I discovered somehow I made a mistake on leadout lengths (whew!).
 The Vector on the other hand was sort of dissappointing. It flew very slow and the turns were not very crisp.  Then I remembered that it has a 4 inch bellcrank and my handle was not set up for that.

Last night I made up a new set of lines and a handle matching the bellcrank size. Today I went back to the field with the Vector.  This made all the difference in the world, I was just not getting enought handle throw before.  The plane still flew kind of slow but I discovered that if I turn the launch rpm's up to 8400 with a 11X5 Zinger Pro prop that it flys at a good speed for me.  I was alone so I didn't get a lap time.  I added a little more weight to the weight box, added a little more rudder (made mine adjustable), set the leadouts a little further back, and now the Vector feels great.  It flew the sequence OK and is very stable in both upright and inverted flight. It probably needs a little more tweaking but it's OK for now. Happy camper!

Phil

[john e. holliday]

Great to hear the planes are flying.  As far as lap times, as I have told several people and its against what the pros say,  Don't worry about lap times until you are happy with the way the plane flies.  My take,  DOC Holliday