ARC carosel

[hereward]

just got bitten by the RC bug again after MANY years away have got an ARC carosel with a OS61 engine running on a FF6 TX useing 5 chanels (2 for aerelons) my idea is to use this model to de-rust my fingers, a trainer if you like by useing only at low rpms then upping the speed as an when my confidence returns! I've read this plane with an OS 40 motor is ARC's trainer and with the 61 it's used as more of a stunt plane afair? certainly looks capable and now everything is ready to go I'm just waiting for a bit of fair weather to take her out! is there anything I should know about this plane? ie flight characteristics that are unusual or is it a fairly doseile aircraft at low speeds? as a future project I'm about to receive a byron F16 running an internal fan engine? this style of aircraft is totaly alien to me but the price is right and have seen F16 models at local club and decided I must have one! all I know about the F16 is it has an OS77 fan engine???? retractable undercarage and has been built all the servos, undercarage engine ect instaled then tested and striped ready for painting and yes it's comeing with the paint as well! the only doubts I have is will it run on 6 channels or will it need more? the plane it's self is 6 feet long and weighs around the 12lb mark fueled up! the way I look at it is the bigger the model the easier it is to fly being less iratic and 'flying flea' like! any feed back on these 2 planes would be greatly apreciated especialy any comments on the way the F16's engine works ie air intakes ect?
ATB
owen

[Dave Robelen]

Hello Owen,
I will display my ignorance by pointing out that I am not familiar with the Carousel. Your rational of installing extra displacement and running at part throttle is fine if you have the discipline to stick to it when things get tense. The extra speed available with the additional power can bite you pretty quick if you fail to throttle back. You might consider dropping back a bit on the prop pitch, say a 4'' or 5'' pitch if the landing gear can handle the longer prop.
The F-16 from Byron is one fine bird in the stock configuration. The original model has an extra air inlet on the belly coverd with a section of painted screen. This worked out just fine. The 6 channel transmitter ougt to be plenty, I would use a Y cable to connect the two aileron servos together, and the same for the elevators.
Plan on having ample long smooth runway for this one, and hold off flying it till you can handle the .61 powered Carousel at full bore.
Have fun, Dave

[hereward]

yep thats the plan! use the carosel as a trainer then work up to the byron! I was thinking of re proping the carosel before flying her and your sugestion is taken onboard! 2 more questions have poped up 1 regarding the F16 it's been fited with Robart air retracts I take it these are an air powerd retractable undercarage, I've been told it uses an 'air' bottle system? can anyone shed light on the workings of this? the second question is regarding a colour scheme for the carosel! its a tail drager with the wings mounted beneath the fuseerlarge I want to do a 2 colour scheme is there any web sites about with diferent schemes? was thinking about a red and black sun burst from either a wing tip or the nose cone? oh and finaly regarding a long smooth runway? dose 2'000 acres of feilds mown medows undulating contours and miles of private roads sound good? no I'm not a lottery winner I help a local game keeper on a shooting estate with a bit of shooting every now and again and he's given permission to fly on there!;)

[Dave Robelen]

Hi,
The retract system does use an air tank. It is a thin walled metal tank, and the retracts are signaled with a valve in the air lines that is driven back and forth with a servo. The air lines are a special form of very tough but flexible plastic tubing.
That flying site sounds fabulous, maybe I can drop in and help check out the F-16;)
There are several websites devoted to model color schemes I have seen a couple that are animated so you can examine the results from all angles. A search with www.google.com for model paint schemes should turn up some nice options.
Regards, Dave

[hereward]

thanks will go do a search! as for 'poping in' I think the uk is a little far ! will post some pics in the near future when she's up:p

[Dave Robelen]

Hi,
So I did not do so good in my geography. Us Colonists seem to think all of these places are somewhere on the continent. Ah, well.
Dave

[hereward]

yes getting rid of all that tea was sacralige! but I won't take ofence I drink coffe! :D

[hereward]

problems problems problems! took the ARC out for a flight on sunday did the normal checks controls engine batts ect but when I came to do my range checks I was only getting a range of 40 YARDS!!!!!!!! I had a look around and in the corner of the flying area some 150 yards away nestled behind some trees was a bl@@dy mobile phone tower! I was running a 77 fm crystal and tried different locations but to no avail! as I've said earlier its been a while since I last flew (pre mobiles!) and I figured it was the mast that was drowning out my signal? is this right or is there some other problem? I'm useing a standard Futaba FF6 TX and Futaba RX by the time I'd given up walking round the feild it was getting late and I gave up and decided to call it a day!:(

[Dave Robelen]

Hello,
It is not likely that another signal would only affect the range of your equipment. The most typical effect is erratic operation as the signals clash. The presence of a metal structure sholud have no effect on the ground range check.
Perhaps it would be in order to perform the range check at some other location for a comparison.
Regards, Dave