|
|
Avistar Re-Born!
By Mike Phillips
5/1/2006 10:09:00 PM
Its a new day! A Re-Birth!
It was in November of 2000 that I purchased my first RC aircraft. A Hobbico ARF called an Avistar. The salesman at the hobby store recommended this aircraft as a good first plane. This was followed by five months of taxi activity powering it up and down my driveway and across the yard for practice and training my brain. The first flight came in April of 2001. The rest is history.
A GREAT many flights, dead sticks, mishaps, heavy landings and modifications over the past years have caused me to reach the point that I dreaded. REBUILD … or trash. Even though I love to fly I am not a builder. But I just could not bring myself to scrap my first born.
So off the covering came to disclose just how hard I am on my aircraft. The wing tip, leading edge, a few ribs and wood sheeting all showed their age. Add the firewall, fuselage, tail feathers and you have a disaster waiting to happen. 
The wing repair came first. I fixed or replaced all the broken parts … added two servos into the wing for mixed flaps and then recovered. What type of graphics was the easy part. I wanted to keep my red, white, and blue USA theme. Just laid it out a bit differently.
Now, I have always wished I had more rudder control so I reduced the size of the vertical stabilizer and added the reduction to the rudder. I also moved them forward to clear the reconfigured elevator. This I shortened and added mechanical advantage tips.
The next challenge was the fuselage. Generally it was re-gluing and replacing some bad formers and sheeting. Because I was installing a larger Saito four stoke I had to re-route the throttle control and steering arm. Then recover all. The final step was to check the CG and move the batteries back in the fuselage to counter the added weight caused by the larger engine up front. I strapped the batteries to a hardwood plate and screwed it into the bottom of the fuselage aft of the wing. This will allow access if I need to get to the battery.
The hard part ended up being the programming of my transmitter to mix the ailerons and flaps the way I envisioned. Friends offered some help but in the end I called the Hobbico help desk and they helped me get it programmed properly. I now have full length ailerons when switch ‘C’ is in the up position. When I move it down one to the center position the flaps are lowered by 30% and are no longer coupled to the ailerons. By moving the switch to the down position I lower the flaps to full down for a landing configuration.
All in all for this non-builder the experience has been rewarding and I must admit … a bit of fun. But don’t expect me to build anything from sticks. Just could not do it … or better yet … do not want to do it!
First flight will be soon.
 
|
Last Updated by: Mike Phillips
5/1/2006 10:09:22 PM
|
|
|
Foamie Mini Ultra Stick
The Foamie Mini Ultra Stick began as a chance to build a corded wing out of depron. It has a double corded wing for inverted flight and better aerobatics. The wing was constructed out of 3mm depron spars glued perpend ... more
Building the Hangar 9 Ultra Stick 60 ARF
The Ultra Stick 60 is a versatile RC plane that allows 3D performance with docile top wing handling. This article will go through the basic build but mainly address a few steps that were not in the manual. Keep in mind that I am no expert at building ... more
Fuel - The ins and outs
What is the best fuel to run? I hear this question ring through out the flight line over and over from new pilots and long time flyers alike. Many wonder what the best fuel is for their airplane, costs, protection and other things associated with fue ... more
|
|
|
Avistar Re-Born!
Its a new day! A Re-Birth!
It was in November of 2000 that I purchased my first RC aircraft. A Hobbico ARF called an Avistar. The salesman at the hobby store recommended this aircraft as a good first plane. This was follo ... more
Those trees are closer than they look!
Three Mustang PTSs went out that day… Only two came back.
If you’ve been to the Renegade field you might have overlooked the average, inconspicuous trees lining the North end of the field – Some say guarding the North end of the field.
You s ... more
|
|
|
Big Ugly to StarLite
About six or eight weeks or so ago I acquired what its previous owner called ‘the Big Ugly’. I have wanted a larger aircraft for some time and this nine foot wing span twenty pound + Cessna 172 look alike caught my eye. I knew it was a beauty underne ... more
The Elusive Rudder.
During a combat session, Doug and Mike colided, a nasty midair for Doug, Mikes plane survived with minor repair however, Doug's plane suffered MAJOR damage as it always does when it "touches" another airplane.
Doug searched for hours for peices ... more
Rescue Tom and his Decathalon!
Flying on a Friday is like flying on any other day of the week except that its a Friday and not a weekend day busy with alot of RC aircraft as you might find on a Saturday or Sunday. Most of the time its pretty much an ... more
|
|
|
MansField Fun Fly!
On Saturday March 4th the Mansfield Hawks RC Club had their Club Fun Fly and I was invited to enjoy a day of fun with some really great folks, eat some really good food and just simply put, enjoy a great day of flying and company.
The Mansfield H ... more
|
|
|
Copyright © 2007-2008 RCRenegades.Com
You're currently 1 of 85 current users.
Visitors to RCRenegades.Com
11557041
Server Time is 9/6/2010 1:12:24 AM
|
|
