Didn't manage any flights today, but as of yesterday I have 11 flights so far...so that brings my ownership of this plane to about $11 per flight. Is it just me, or does anyone else look at it that way? Somehow I feel better about my purchases when the cost per flight gets less and less. Some of my old stand-byes are in the pennies per flight range.

A couple of things I have noticed include:

1) I have had a few power dives that I couldn't seem to pull out of. One of which almost ended in a collision with a soccer goal! The plane just seemed to get sucked to the goal is if it had a tractor beam. No up or left input response for about 20 feet...finally pulled out just a couple of feet from the edge of the goal.

2) While just trying to get a feel for the characteristics of the Mosquito, in flat level flight I have applied some left and right rudder to varying degrees. The plane tends to dip the wing HARD in the direction of the turn...Is this normal for this plane? I may still be a bit tail heavy and this is my first twin so I really don't understand what is going on...

Also, a few times so far...the plane has just dropped to one side unexpectedly. I am not sure if it was an unexpected gust of wind turbulance or a motor has been dropping out. So far I have toyed plenty with the stall characteristics, but when this has happened I was at least 2/3 throttle at the beginning of the flight.

The nickel in the nose proved to be PERFECT!!!...The plane now behaves as it should...I was making low passes with zero problems being pitchy...If it took a nickel to balance you can see why I was so displeased with the plane in stock form...I'm still taken back as to why this plane needs so much nose weight..?!?!?!?...Shame on HH for putting out a plane that needs so much trimming...I have over 1/2 dozen HH micros and this plane has been the worst to get to fly correctly....

I flew for 13 minutes/55 seconds before the LVC kicked in on the Hyperion 450mAh battery...I had to push it to see what it will do...10 minute flights should be the norm with this battery...

With the correct nose weight the Mossy is now well behaved and a pleasure to fly...I'm serious---When tail heavy this plane was all over the place in pitch!!!...I never expected this from a stock RTF plane with the expected quality from HH...

Anyway---All is now well and the plane flies wonderfully as I expected...

Kevin

Originally Posted by barmonkey

Didn't manage any flights today, but as of yesterday I have 11 flights so far...so that brings my ownership of this plane to about $11 per flight. Is it just me, or does anyone else look at it that way? Somehow I feel better about my purchases when the cost per flight gets less and less. Some of my old stand-byes are in the pennies per flight range.

A couple of things I have noticed include:

1) I have had a few power dives that I couldn't seem to pull out of. One of which almost ended in a collision with a soccer goal! The plane just seemed to get sucked to the goal is if it had a tractor beam. No up or left input response for about 20 feet...finally pulled out just a couple of feet from the edge of the goal.

2) While just trying to get a feel for the characteristics of the Mosquito, in flat level flight I have applied some left and right rudder to varying degrees. The plane tends to dip the wing HARD in the direction of the turn...Is this normal for this plane? I may still be a bit tail heavy and this is my first twin so I really don't understand what is going on...

Also, a few times so far...the plane has just dropped to one side unexpectedly. I am not sure if it was an unexpected gust of wind turbulance or a motor has been dropping out. So far I have toyed plenty with the stall characteristics, but when this has happened I was at least 2/3 throttle at the beginning of the flight.

My CG is now about 1/8" behind the wing spar...Don't fly until you achieve this CG...The rudder WILL roll the plane in flight...You can fly this plane on rudder/elevator alone...Roll coupling is VERY apparent with this plane...I had trouble with this plane in pitch---It would suddenly pitch up or down with any elevator untill I got the CG correct...I can now fly "hands off" with the CG correct...I wasn't expecting this amount of trimming needed for a RTF plane of HH quality...

Being a twin really isn't the issue as the counter rotating props cancel out any P-factor the props may produce...This plane accellerates just like my single engine couterparts due to the counter rotating props...I can just about bet the the CG is off...Get it where I have stated then report back as to your findings...I'm expecting you will be a happy camper!!!

Kevin

I haven't rechecked my CG since my first flight...which included the dime only taped to the batteries. I now have a combination of a penny and a washer and some tape to get all of my E-Flite batteries to weigh the same...

I chose to add the weight to the batteries instead of the nose for a couple of reasons... 1)I was afraid too much weight added to the nose hatch would create too much weight for the magnets to hold it on and 2)I have (now) two new E-Flite batteries and two older E-Flite bateries which weigh a bit different...this way my flight experience will remian constant.

Do you have any idea how much your Hyperion battery weighs? I certainly see the need for the upgrade to some better batteries.

Also, are you flying with the landing gear?

Originally Posted by barmonkey

I haven't rechecked my CG since my first flight...which included the dime only taped to the batteries. I now have a combination of a penny and a washer and some tape to get all of my E-Flite batteries to weigh the same...

I chose to add the weight to the batteries instead of the nose for a couple of reasons... 1)I was afraid too much weight added to the nose hatch would create too much weight for the magnets to hold it on and 2)I have (now) two new E-Flite batteries and two older E-Flite bateries which weigh a bit different...this way my flight experience will remian constant.

Do you have any idea how much your Hyperion battery weighs? I certainly see the need for the upgrade to some better batteries.

Also, are you flying with the landing gear?

No landing gear...I have the elevator control rod now in the inner most hole for increased throw...I have a nickel taped to the nose hatch and the magnets can take the weight...My Hyperion battery weighs about 15 grams..I took 2S cells and modified them for 1S use...The 1S 550mAh Hyperion weighs about 19 grams but is a narrower battery...You can move this battery further forward in the nose to get the CG correct with less nose weight...I would think that the 550mAh Hyperion would work well with a penny or even a dime in the nose cone for the correct weight...Due to the width of my 450mAh Hyperion battery I have to place the cell further back as the nose cone won't fit with the battery all of the way forward...

Kevin

Another thing you can do to help control surface efficiency is to seal the gaps between the control surface and the wing/horizontal stab...

As you can see by the low light photos I've uploaded that there is a visible gap between the ailerons and elevators...Using some tape cut to about 1/4" in width that looks to be the same as the stock tape used for hinges, etc, I sealed the gaps from the underside..

This helps to make the control surfaces more effective as air doesn't leak out from the hinge line...Flying is more stable and rolls/loops are more crisp...Although the gaps are small, air molecules are not in the grand scheme of things...Sealing the gaps makes the control surfaces more efficient...

Just one extra thing to help our planes to fly better!!!

Kevin

Kevin, thanks for the info! I was wondering how much removing the landing gear would effect the C/G. When I first saw that you (Vernon Davis SCORES!) had a Nickel in the nose I thought that was the case.

Kevin,

CG is usually referenced from the LE of the wing at the root. For instance, the CG on mine is 37mm aft from the LE. How far back from the LE is the CG on yours?

Joel

Originally Posted by turboparker

Kevin,

CG is usually referenced from the LE of the wing at the root. For instance, the CG on mine is 19mm aft from the LE. How far back from the LE is the CG on yours?

Joel

Believe it or not---My CG now WITH the nickel in the nose is 33mm as measured from the root..To get the CG as far forward as you have would take a HUGE amount of weight!!!...As you know the wing has a staggered leading edge...The root is much further forward than the outboard wing past the nacelles...My CG is now 1/8" behind the spar at the root...

Is your CG close to mine as compared to the spar or further forward???...The manual suggests 38mm measured at the root...WAAAAAY too far back for me!!!...My Beast V1 and Sbach V1 were easier to fly than this Mossy with the suggested CG....

Kevin

Kevin,

I must of had 'Carbon Cub on the brain' when I wrote that, as the CC's CG is 19mm. The CG on my Mossie is @ 37mm & it flies very nicely at that setting - as you can see in my videos.

Joel

Mine was pretty pitchy when I first started---The CG with the stock battery was at least 45mm back---...I measured mine again and it's more like 35mm back---So, we are basically in the same ball park...

Anyway--I'm VERY happy with my Mossy now!!!

Kevin

Originally Posted by Kevin Greene

Mine was pretty pitchy when I first started---The CG with the stock battery was at least 45mm back---...I measured mine again and it's more like 35mm back---So, we are basically in the same ball park...

Anyway--I'm VERY happy with my Mossy now!!!

Kevin

Yours was extremely tail-heavy. I'd think it would almost want to swap ends with the CG that far back. At least you've got it sorted out now. The Mossie is a great-flying plane when set up correctly. It's the only 1s UM that I still fly. The others have been collecting hangar dust since the UMX 2s brushless stuff first came out.

Joel

Originally Posted by turboparker

Yours was extremely tail-heavy. I'd think it would almost want to swap ends with the CG that far back. At least you've got it sorted out now. The Mossie is a great-flying plane when set up correctly. It's the only 1s UM that I still fly. The others have been collecting hangar dust since the UMX 2s brushless stuff first came out.

Joel

You should have seen the maiden flight!!!...I released the model and it shot straight up, almost into a stall---I gave it full down and she shot straight down almost crashing...Realizing I had a tiger by the tail I managed to get the plane under control...I realized she was tail heavy but I didn't realize how much...When I got it I just did the TLAR method of balancing as it appered to be about 25% back and usually the instructions have a pretty conservative CG...My Sbach was so nose heavy that I had to mack cutouts for the battery like in the V2 Sbach...

I got rid of all my 1S stuff as well....But I do have a Champ on floats that will get a 2S conversion as well as a micro Mustang for 2S...The Mustang has a modified wing where I took an extra wing, cut it apart, and made a symetrical wing...The new colors will be the VooDoo P-51 racer from Callie Graphics...I got the Mossy for a VERY good deal and the twin engines appealed to me...I like this model a LOT!!!...Now, on to weathering the model as shown in one of the Mossy vids from HH on YouTube...

Kevin

Does anyone know if the tailwheel can be removed in such a way that it can be re-installed?

Originally Posted by barmonkey

Does anyone know if the tailwheel can be removed in such a way that it can be re-installed?

Nope---The tailwheel wire goes all of the way through the fuselage making several bends and it taped to the rudder...No way I know to remove the tailwheel without cutting the wire...

Getting creative can be hard---If you could cut off the wire where it enters the fuselage and make a keyed coupler to snap the tailwheel wire on/off it could be done...But I don't know if it's worth it for you to go to all of that work...

Kevin