Monday, October 24, 2016

My Twist Returns to the Air!

I finally had time to get my old Hangar 9 Twist repaired and ready to go. This time, I had to patch some covering (especially on the wingtips, from dragging them on the runway), replace the throttle servo, replace a defective charge jack on the side of the airplane, and replace the flight battery. I've totally worn the treads off of the tires, and they flop around on the axles like something stupid, but they still roll! Hey, you don't need wheels on an airplane but just a few seconds each flight, right?

This airplane has been thru hell and back over the last 10 years. It has been broken in half twice by donking it into the ground while flying inverted limbo and other fun stuff (once at the 95th flyin), tail totally smashed from going dead stick while trying to hover low (unsuccessfully), canopy smashed from multiple inverted crashes, landing gear blocks ripped out from full throttle touch-n-goes, a zillion holes in covering, cartwheeled (ripping out wing saddle) while flying loowwww circles over the deep grass with Manny, etc... yet she still flys. It is a little heavier from all the repairs, but loads of fun!

It has a little removable hatch for battery & receiver access. Much easier than some of my older airplanes.
 

The old 700mzh 4-cell NiMH pack was only cycling at about 400mah, so it was time to go. The battery wasn't very old, but it sat unused with a partial charge almost 3 years...doing as much harm as daily usage.
 

I replaced it with a 5-cell NiMH 2000mah pack. More voltage and a lot more current. Should make for much longer flight times, and only a little heavier. These systems can handle a 5-cell pack just fine, no regulators needed. The servos are a little faster on a 5 cell, too.


The charge jack had failed, and I made a quick field repair back about 3 years ago. I soldered on a little pigtail connector, and just let it flop around outside of the airplane while in flight. I replaced that with a new charge jack to clean that mess up, too... 


Solid! Plenty of voltage to fly with, now!


These old tires are the originals that came with the kit 10 years ago. The treads are worn off, but they're still fine. These don't have bearings in the center, so the bores are worn pretty badly, as well. Doesn't seem to impact the ability to take off and land, so I'm still rolling with these :-)


Wing back on, checking everything out. Looks like it's good to go!
 

The camera hides a LOT, believe me...in person it doesn't look nearly as well. I thought about recovering it, but then I wouldn't want to bang it around as much... So patched up it stays!

Dave AMA119484