WOW billy thats all I can say is WOW.
She sure looks nice.

Originally Posted by Waldopepperaxe

Hey billytown that is beautiful very nice work and that 72 is going to be an awesome engine on this bird keep us up to date please and keep the pics coming

Thanks! Couldn't even have begun to do this without your help, after all!

The fuse isn't PERFECTLY straight, though, which frustrated the perfectionist in me... You can't tell in the picture. It lines up pretty darn close, but I'd say it's off by about 1/16 of an inch or so. Is there a 'tolerance' for that sort of error, or will it fly oddly being just ever so slightly out of true? The stabilizer is level, and the wing saddle and plate seem to be in order.

I guess just generally speaking, how forgiving is something like this if it's not exactly 100% dead-on?

You are not going to notice it at all. It is going to take quite a bit of out-of-whack-ness to change how it flies much. I'd say you are well withing tolerance

Hey billytown yeah brathanke said it well you should see how this bird flys with things hanging off it or broken in spots lol if your only 1/16 out of true you won't notice that at all. At one point my wing was so loose because the wing bolt plate was cracked it had a wobble to it at the wing tips on each side you could see it bouncing up and down about 3", enough where I actually patted it on the canopy and said goodbye before I took off as I was pretty sure the wing was going to be leaving in flight, I flew it that way for over 2 months and she flew just fine lol I did get it repaired and smashed it in a few months later becuase of a faulty Rx. besides rudder trim will take care of it as well. People on this thread and the twistaholics thread have tried many things with this plane, turning it into a twin engine, a biplane and a triplane, pontoons and skis all kinds of engine combos and this plane just flys. So no worrys just put her together and get it balanced and give it some nice low rates on the control surfaces to start off and you'll be amazed how trainer like she'll handle, then once your used to it, flip the high rates on set the CG back a little and have a blast.

I've patched my twist fuse many a time. And several times it was really off, but she always flew wonderful.
This plane is going to excel in the wind.
I don't know of any other plane that flys as well in a 20 mph wind than the twist.

Your stories are rather reassuring! She sounds like a forgiving beast. And I am no stranger to flying in the wind. A buddy and I were out in 30+ mph winds last month. His U-Can-Do was basically a remote-controlled kite. It wasn't particularly "fun", per se, but it was... educational. I took my Pacific Aeromodel Edge 540T up for about 8 minutes, managed to BARELY land it, and that was enough for me.

So... more pictures were requested. Here's an update:





I strung up the turtle deck and installed the throttle servo mount tonight. Yesterday I reinforced the firewall, installed the gas tank floor, finished sheeting the bottom, and installed the pop hatch and hatch supports. Edit: I also moved the rudder and elevator throttle mounts back about 3/4 of an inch. I cut them out before forming the fuse and, after watching how Waldo did it, decided to follow suit. Otherwise -- especially with the Saito .72 -- the CG might have ended up too far forward.

So far so good!

Dang Billy you are doing a fantastic job on her I'm really excited to see the maiden and kudos for flying in 30+ winds we actually quite often fly in those type winds as our field seems to attract heavy winds for some reason and the twist is definitely a player in high winds I love getting out there when the winds are crankin and this plane is my favorite in that kind of wind.

Your efforts are definetly right on and she's looking awesome, keep the pics coming.

Making good progress on the wing. The bottom is perfectly flat, but there is a slight but uniform bow laterally across the top from edge to edge, though imperceptible in this pic. It's so slight I am deciding that everything is fine and it will still fly =) If anything, it might add a touch of dihedral effect. (?)

I got the hardware -- the bolt and dowel -- installed today and the wing fits on nice and snug. Very sturdy, flush, and level. I was considering two bolts before I got to this stage, and indeed it's just fine with one.

Billytown Awesome progress and I believe you have yourself a perfect tweplica there and yes I believe she is going to fly just fine. If there is a slight dehidral the only thing I could see possibly happeneing is if you roll it over for inverted flight you may have to hold a slight degree of down elevator if any depending on the balance at the end, but I doubt it will have much effect at all it looks fantastic, Beautiful work and I'm gettin real excited to see this baby come all together and in the sky. Keep up the great work.

great build billy.
I wonder how ernie's build is going

Originally Posted by kerwin50

great build billy.
I wonder how ernie's build is going

My wife likes to use the workbench to wrap and store the Christmas presents so I had to suspend my tweplica build until after Christmas :'(

Man if this doesn't get your blood flowing to get building I don't know what would

Thats Ok Ernie I'm with you I'll be starting my new fleet after Christmas also

I get a serious inferiority complex everytime I visit this thread!! Oh well, I can crash em as good as anybody!

Originally Posted by plowboy1966

I get a serious inferiority complex everytime I visit this thread!! Oh well, I can crash em as good as anybody!

Truer words were never spake!

Originally Posted by plowboy1966

I get a serious inferiority complex everytime I visit this thread!! Oh well, I can crash em as good as anybody!

Lol that's exactly why this thread was created to shame people into building if a complete idiot like me can build this plane it should prove anyone can do it