phoenix models,,what do you think
12-14-2005, 10:44 AM
#2
Senior Member
RE: phoenix models,,what do you think
Got a Phoenix .46 Sukhoi and it flies great. I like it and it looks good. That's not to say it didn't have some problems out of the box. Here is what was in the box.
The booklet shows "no up/down thrust" and says the same. Their picture of the motor mount installation shows mounting the motor mount compensating for up thrust and right thrust. My firewall has a hole drilled to match that picture. If you followed their direction you'd mount the motor compensating for up thrust. The firewall of my model has that hole and it's drilled for upthrust. The firewall actually has a bunch of downthrust. Glad I caught that before installing the motor mount.
My model has a large lead weight buried inside the front behind the firewall down below where the tank went. Phoenix did that to balance the weight of the model they build in their factory with the wood they choose to use. The lead is not visible where it is located unless you use a mirror to see it. My a/c came out nose heavy. I repositioned the battery and a servo. It's still a bit nose heavy. I just recently found out about the weight. If I'd taken it out before putting in a tank floor.........
The aileron servos are in the wings. They're positioned to be square to the wing ribs. The best servo-to-aileron connection strategy would have the servo square to the aileron hinge line. I caught that and changed their suggested positioning of the servos to the better way. This is probably a very minor thing for most flyers.
They have a large hunk of plywood at the rear of the fuselage where you screw on the tail wheel. It sorta bulges out here and there. It's obviously stuck on as an afterthought. It also places the tail wheel mechanism out of line to the rudder hinge line. The wire in the tail wheel mechanism doesn't actually line up with the rudder hinge line or the bottom of the rudder where it's "tiller" attaches. I very craftily sawed off the hunk of wood, rebent the wires, lined up the wheel's axis to the rudder's axis, lined up the tiller and the rudder's bottom, and had a very crafty installation. So crafty in fact, that I saved some weight in the tail..... and thanks to the hidden lead in the nose..... chuckle chuckle.... how very crafty of me....
The fiberglass cowl that came with my Sukhoi was pretty bad. It was oval and had a crease. I really should have returned it. But I've been building since the 50s and wanted to get back to flying power RC. I stuck a "wheel" of foam inside it to make it almost round. That foam also trippled the strength of the cowl attachment and did some other things for me. But the cowl was also very wide mouthed. It sucked. But today it looks ok to the guys at the field and like I said, the baby flies good.
All of the above really are things that shouldn't have been in the box to begin with. None of them obviously are fatal flaws because almost everyone praises the way their Sukhoi's fly. I've only ever seen that one Phoenix. If this one keeps flying like it's been so far, I'll probably have another some day. Or maybe not. I'm sticking together a WM Ultimate right now and that sucker is a BEAUTIFUL kit... uh.... ARF. And I've only found one design problem in it.... chuckle......
Oh, btw, the Sukhoi came with almost all the surfaces already hinged and the canopy attached. Good deal there.
The booklet shows "no up/down thrust" and says the same. Their picture of the motor mount installation shows mounting the motor mount compensating for up thrust and right thrust. My firewall has a hole drilled to match that picture. If you followed their direction you'd mount the motor compensating for up thrust. The firewall of my model has that hole and it's drilled for upthrust. The firewall actually has a bunch of downthrust. Glad I caught that before installing the motor mount.
My model has a large lead weight buried inside the front behind the firewall down below where the tank went. Phoenix did that to balance the weight of the model they build in their factory with the wood they choose to use. The lead is not visible where it is located unless you use a mirror to see it. My a/c came out nose heavy. I repositioned the battery and a servo. It's still a bit nose heavy. I just recently found out about the weight. If I'd taken it out before putting in a tank floor.........
The aileron servos are in the wings. They're positioned to be square to the wing ribs. The best servo-to-aileron connection strategy would have the servo square to the aileron hinge line. I caught that and changed their suggested positioning of the servos to the better way. This is probably a very minor thing for most flyers.
They have a large hunk of plywood at the rear of the fuselage where you screw on the tail wheel. It sorta bulges out here and there. It's obviously stuck on as an afterthought. It also places the tail wheel mechanism out of line to the rudder hinge line. The wire in the tail wheel mechanism doesn't actually line up with the rudder hinge line or the bottom of the rudder where it's "tiller" attaches. I very craftily sawed off the hunk of wood, rebent the wires, lined up the wheel's axis to the rudder's axis, lined up the tiller and the rudder's bottom, and had a very crafty installation. So crafty in fact, that I saved some weight in the tail..... and thanks to the hidden lead in the nose..... chuckle chuckle.... how very crafty of me....
The fiberglass cowl that came with my Sukhoi was pretty bad. It was oval and had a crease. I really should have returned it. But I've been building since the 50s and wanted to get back to flying power RC. I stuck a "wheel" of foam inside it to make it almost round. That foam also trippled the strength of the cowl attachment and did some other things for me. But the cowl was also very wide mouthed. It sucked. But today it looks ok to the guys at the field and like I said, the baby flies good.
All of the above really are things that shouldn't have been in the box to begin with. None of them obviously are fatal flaws because almost everyone praises the way their Sukhoi's fly. I've only ever seen that one Phoenix. If this one keeps flying like it's been so far, I'll probably have another some day. Or maybe not. I'm sticking together a WM Ultimate right now and that sucker is a BEAUTIFUL kit... uh.... ARF. And I've only found one design problem in it.... chuckle......
Oh, btw, the Sukhoi came with almost all the surfaces already hinged and the canopy attached. Good deal there.
12-14-2005, 11:00 AM
#3
RE: phoenix models,,what do you think
I think they are a very nice plane and a great bargain. I've been a BUILDER and flier since 1955 and these planes are built as well as I ever did. They are really complete. The only parts I replace are the engine mounts (the supplied ones are either too flexible or not really true), the clevises (I use the Dubro ones with the metal pins, they screw right on the supplied pushrods), and the throttle pushrod (I use the flexible brass cable Sullivan ones). I also bolt on the landing gear with nylon, rather than steel bolts. In a hot landing, the bolts will shear instead of tearing out part of the nose.
Some things to keep in mind regarding these and other semi-scale ARFs:
Construction is on the light side and suits the scale design, but isn't really rugged like a true sport plane.
The Chinglish (Chinese-Engish or Vietnam-Engish) instructions may leave some ares open for interpretation, so seek the help of an experienced modeler if something is confusing.
I think the engine requirements are under sized! If they call for a 40 to 46, you better be putting on at least a good 46 and a 60 won't be too much. A 40 will fly the plane if you don't horse it around, especially on take off, but you'll be flying it right on the edge!
You may or may not have to tighten up the covering, but you canexpect this with any ARF. Ultra-kote covering is used.
For goodness sake, don't add any tail weight until you fly the airplane! An airplane that balances 1/4 to 1/3 of the mean chord is going to fly OK. A tail heavy plane will be a nightmare and will snap and crash at the slightest provocation, especially when you are trying to stretch a landing approach or kill speed for a landing. Someone on this site said "Nose heavy flies; tail heavy dies!" and you better believe this advice!
The pictures are my Phoenix Sukhoi.
Some things to keep in mind regarding these and other semi-scale ARFs:
Construction is on the light side and suits the scale design, but isn't really rugged like a true sport plane.
The Chinglish (Chinese-Engish or Vietnam-Engish) instructions may leave some ares open for interpretation, so seek the help of an experienced modeler if something is confusing.
I think the engine requirements are under sized! If they call for a 40 to 46, you better be putting on at least a good 46 and a 60 won't be too much. A 40 will fly the plane if you don't horse it around, especially on take off, but you'll be flying it right on the edge!
You may or may not have to tighten up the covering, but you canexpect this with any ARF. Ultra-kote covering is used.
For goodness sake, don't add any tail weight until you fly the airplane! An airplane that balances 1/4 to 1/3 of the mean chord is going to fly OK. A tail heavy plane will be a nightmare and will snap and crash at the slightest provocation, especially when you are trying to stretch a landing approach or kill speed for a landing. Someone on this site said "Nose heavy flies; tail heavy dies!" and you better believe this advice!
The pictures are my Phoenix Sukhoi.
