Official Nexa 1870mm DHC-6 Twin Otter Canadian Yellow (Balsa ARF) Discussion Thread

[rpearse]

A quick question for all of you who have assembled the Nexa Twin Otter. When installing the horizontal stabilizer, there's a notch in the front of the stab that is initially covered and I'm assuming the skin is to be cut away, along with the rest that the instructions indicate to fix the vertical & horizontal assemblies together. Then when locating the stab, should it be pushed forward so the notch is surrounded by the vertical stabilizer. While doing some trial fitting, it appears that if you don't, the fillets will extend out behind the vertical assembly and will interfere with the rudder. Also, is thin CA the best adhesive solution for this assembly, as it's not the tightest joint and might require some gap filling. All suggestions and experiences are greatly appreciated.

[xviper]

It's been so long, I can't remember. But if the notch is the same width as the vertical, then push in forward. In either case, there is plenty of space behind the horizontal for the rudder to make a full swing anyway. Cut the covering away from the notch as it's hidden inside the vertical. Wherever wood meets wood, the covering has to go. I think the notch will help to hold the horizontal win the vertical at the precise 90 degree angle. The manual says to use CA, but I used 5 minutes epoxy and held it all in place till the glue cured (5 minutes). I squeezed it in between 2 small square boxes. Makes it easier to keep it square while curing.

[ken23322@aol.com]

I just got a Twin and was wondering if anyone has used an eFilte P25? I have NIB P25, 1000Kv and thought of using them. Thanks

[Kdwdarkskies]

I will be running 4S on this plane, it is next on my build list.

[Twowingtj]

A 4S based power system is perfect for this bird.

[Kdwdarkskies]

What about an 11 by 7 prop?

I'm building mine now, I will be running two 11x7 props, one will be running in reverse for the reverse pitch.

[Kdwdarkskies]

Evening all. I'm another one that joined the Twin Otter club. I've had my eye on this plane for several years and finally pulled out the Visa card to get it. My build is under way and made a few mods to mine in the process. First, I'm using dual elevator servos as I've never trusted the dual fork design (three set screws securing one of the most important control surfaces - on a smaller plane maybe, but not on this beast). Second, I moved the nose gear push rod to the right side. When I dry fitted the steering horn, I found where they ground the flat on the strut, the arm was just about bottomed out on the firewall resulting in very little left turn. With the move plus filing a notch in the strut mounting plate, the arm is about 30 degrees from the horizontal and swings rearward with plenty of room to turn both directions. Lastly, as a result of lessons learned, I'm using a separate servo (metal gear) for the steering (too many stripped gears in the past). The move also gave me more room to do this and still keeps the center clear for a receiver and a battery(ies).

Now, a question for those who've built theirs. In the package of hardware, in addition to the long push rods, there are three short ones with Z bends and three with clevises. Now, I see one of the shorties with the Z bend is supposed to be used with the elevator fork linkage. That leaves two Z bends and three push rods with metal clevises for the ailerons and flaps. Any idea why Nexa wants you to use two different styles of push rods for the flaps and ailerons? Personally, I plan to use Z bends at the servo and clevises at the control horns for all the wing controls (old habit). Just curious to see if I'm the only one that got this mix or if this a normal packaging set.

I got the same packaging with 3 z bends, and 3 short clevis's, I used two z bends for the flaps and two short clevis for ailerons, thats how far I've got so far.

[Chris_WaterGuy]

Having waited too long, the Nexa Twin Otter is out of stock at Motion RC (EU) for the moment, but I’ve ordered a VQ models Canadian version which I’m hoping is the same kit.
Question:
As I plan to configure it for floats, is super glue the right adhesive to use, particularly for the motor mounts? I’m concerned for joint integrity when subjected to water.
thanks for any help.

[Warbird51]

I used epoxy for the motor mount/nacelle assy. I have had 2 VQ Twotters (1 on floats) and 1 Nexa version still in the box. I believe they are the same. When they changed the name from VQ to Nexa, they did do some upgrades to some of their offerings. I don’t know if the Twotter is one that got any upgrades.

[Chris_WaterGuy]

I used epoxy for the motor mount/nacelle assy. I have had 2 VQ Twotters (1 on floats) and 1 Nexa version still in the box. I believe they are the same. When they changed the name from VQ to Nexa, they did do some upgrades to some of their offerings. I don’t know if the Twotter is one that got any upgrades.

Thankyou Warbird51. I think I’ll probably use thick cyno to tack the nacelles in and then epoxy in some triangular balsa fillets.
Seems like you really like this model!. Im away for a week, but really looking forward to the Assembly when I get back. The plan is to fly it off land initially and then switch to floats for a waterplane event.

[RCAZDES20]

I appreciate thoughts/comments from this community regarding using the stock motors that come in the FLITELINE PNP P-38 for the Nexa Twin Otter. I have an offer to obtain these from a crashed donor plane (engines are OK) . I would use the motors, ESCs and 3 blade props that come on the P38 stock-version. I don't the understanding w/ motor powering calcs/info to know if this setup will beat, or more than adequate. I plan to have a separate 4s 4000 mHa battery on each engine-same setup as I have on the FL OV-10 Bronco. Thanks in advance for responses.

[pgiroma]

I have a question about powering the TWIN OTTER. I have two 3536 -KV850 motors with 40amp ESCs from my salvage yard. In trying to determine their suitability, I ran a watt meter test using EC 1500 5blade scimitar props I intend to use. At full throttle static amp draw exceeded 50 amps Can I set the throttle travel to 50% to limit the draw? The thrust appeared to be more than adequate at 50%. Will this be a safe set up ?.

[e123hpes]

Hello! I recently received the NEXA RC Canada Yellow Twin Otter aircraft and am a beginner to the ARF world and Balsa planes. Could any of yall link(preferably on Amazon) the products that don't come in the box like motors, escs, battery, servos, propellers? I found some of the linked ones on Motion RC, but most are out of stock and I didn't know if there were better alternatives that make flying the plane easier. Thanks!

[Kdwdarkskies]

The room is too tight in the engine nacelles for the esc's to fit and get airflow over them during flight. I added 6" extension motor wires and mounted both esc's on the inside walls of the fuselage below the wing. then after the mount, I ran a y harness from both esc's battery hookup, so I can use one battery to fly. I also if I need to I have a parallel adapter to hook up two batteries, I have Zeee batteries, 5200mah, when I hookup two batteries with the adapter the esc's will see the two batteries as one battery with 10,400 mah. longer flight times. good luck.

[Rmawer]

I have a question about powering the TWIN OTTER. I have two 3536 -KV850 motors with 40amp ESCs from my salvage yard. In trying to determine their suitability, I ran a watt meter test using EC 1500 5blade scimitar props I intend to use. At full throttle static amp draw exceeded 50 amps Can I set the throttle travel to 50% to limit the draw? The thrust appeared to be more than adequate at 50%. Will this be a safe set up ?.

Good afternoon
First, I need to ask - What diameter 5-blade prop are you using? As I recall, the 3536-850 prop recommendation is a 10" to 11" two-blade. If you are using a 5-blade prop, the rule of thumb is you need to reduce the prop diameter by 1" for every blade you add (eg an 11", 2 blade prop equals a 10" 3-blade prop, 9" 4-blade and so on). In the world I retired from we had a saying "Test as you fly, fly what you tested". You can't argue with data (well, some try to but I won't go into that :) ). As for my Otter, I'm using dual Turnigy G32s (600 kv) with 12-6, 3-blade props on mine. The motor recommendation is 13" to 14", 2-blade props. Doing the watt check using a 4-cell battery, I was measuring about 45 amps at full throttle.

As for throttle limiting, yes you can limit the throttle in the transmitter set-up. I had to do this once for one plane / motor / ESC combo. Regardless of what your final setup is, test and allow for some margin. Hope this helps.....

Rob

[Rmawer]

Hello! I recently received the NEXA RC Canada Yellow Twin Otter aircraft and am a beginner to the ARF world and Balsa planes. Could any of yall link(preferably on Amazon) the products that don't come in the box like motors, escs, battery, servos, propellers? I found some of the linked ones on Motion RC, but most are out of stock and I didn't know if there were better alternatives that make flying the plane easier. Thanks!

OK - Here's that I'm doing on my Otter but first I need to ask this (and I hope you are not offended). You stated you are new to ARFs and balsa planes. How much RC flight experience do you have? Twins fly a bit differently than the single engine planes. Also, because of the long skinny wings on this type of plane, they not only like wider turns (coordinated rudder turns are a must) but they also like to stay in the air. Translation, landings can sometimes be a challenging as they act more like a glider. Flaps are definately beneficial for this. If you are very comfortable in the air, awesome, and have fun with the Otter.

Now for the technical stuff (aka "How I Did It")
My motors are Turnigy G32's (similar to the E-Flite 32) using 65A ZTW Mantis ESCs. If you have no intention of flying off water, then a viable alternative is any 800-900kV motor should work (eg the E-flite 25). Props are 3-blade 12-6's and are set up as counter rotating (my preference for twins, scale or not). Based on my setup, I have my ESCs in the nacelle and have added some additional air egress vents to aid in the cooling. I chose motors a tad larger because I intend (one day) to fly off water and like the additional power.


As for power, I'm running dual 2200 4-cells in parallel (4400 mAh, 50C total) as far forward as I could as my plane came out quite tail heavy so plan on adding weight to the nose. .Definitely use a metal gear servo for the nose gear steering.

One last thing and you'll find this our soon enough. installing the nylon wing bolts are a P.I.T.A. (pain in the ...). DO NOT USE A DIE TO CHASE THEM TO LOOSEN THEM (don't ask me how I know). Just take a wing and the bolts, pull out a good movie, and thread them in and out of the wing several times.

That's all I can think of. Have fun

Rob

[Kdwdarkskies]

Hello! I recently received the NEXA RC Canada Yellow Twin Otter aircraft and am a beginner to the ARF world and Balsa planes. Could any of yall link(preferably on Amazon) the products that don't come in the box like motors, escs, battery, servos, propellers? I found some of the linked ones on Motion RC, but most are out of stock and I didn't know if there were better alternatives that make flying the plane easier. Thanks!

I put the Admiral GP2 motors from motion rc, plenty of power, I put two Mantis 65a esc's, the only thing i bought off of amazon is the servos, the off brands do work, just watch the voltage, get ones with the voltage 4.8-8.4 the servos labeled MG996 are metal geared and work well. As far as batteries I get Zeee lipo batteries from Amazon, 2 pack batteries are cheaper, two 4s batteries should be less than $100, as far as a transmitter, I run two different, I run a Futaba 10J and a Flysky 8 channel, they are less than $60 on amazon, the futaba radio is over $400

[Chris_WaterGuy]

OK - Here's that I'm doing on my Otter but first I need to ask this (and I hope you are not offended). You stated you are new to ARFs and balsa planes. How much RC flight experience do you have? Twins fly a bit differently than the single engine planes. Also, because of the long skinny wings on this type of plane, they not only like wider turns (coordinated rudder turns are a must) but they also like to stay in the air. Translation, landings can sometimes be a challenging as they act more like a glider. Flaps are definately beneficial for this. If you are very comfortable in the air, awesome, and have fun with the Otter.

Now for the technical stuff (aka "How I Did It")
My motors are Turnigy G32's (similar to the E-Flite 32) using 65A ZTW Mantis ESCs. If you have no intention of flying off water, then a viable alternative is any 800-900kV motor should work (eg the E-flite 25). Props are 3-blade 12-6's and are set up as counter rotating (my preference for twins, scale or not). Based on my setup, I have my ESCs in the nacelle and have added some additional air egress vents to aid in the cooling. I chose motors a tad larger because I intend (one day) to fly off water and like the additional power.


As for power, I'm running dual 2200 4-cells in parallel (4400 mAh, 50C total) as far forward as I could as my plane came out quite tail heavy so plan on adding weight to the nose. .Definitely use a metal gear servo for the nose gear steering.

One last thing and you'll find this our soon enough. installing the nylon wing bolts are a P.I.T.A. (pain in the ...). DO NOT USE A DIE TO CHASE THEM TO LOOSEN THEM (don't ask me how I know). Just take a wing and the bolts, pull out a good movie, and thread them in and out of the wing several times.

That's all I can think of. Have fun

Rob

I can confirm that the wing bolts real knuckle and finger torture. I am wondering if anyone has made up a special tool to make the exercise a tad easier?

[e123hpes]

Hello. Anyone have any suggestions for the reciever(preferrably spektrum)?

[Kazanski]

Hi! Anyone know who have the yellow floats in stock?