TwistedHobbys 3D Planes - Favorite Models?

[ndrew3]

I picked up a 24" Crack Yak from Twisted Hobbys a couple of weeks ago and put it together over a couple days, and I gotta say it was one of the easiest builds I've done. Here's the build video if anyone is curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nCOTycyITc&t=520s

It flies like a beast as well and is way more fun to fly than my big EDFs, which makes me question a lot, ha. Just in the last few days of flying it, I've improved a ton. As it is so small and light though, it does get knocked around a bit in anything more than 5 MPH winds, and in general is just a bit touchy which can be good and bad.

Have you guys had any planes from Twisted Hobbys? They have some pretty awesome looking bi and tri-planes that all seem to perform great as they're just so light and durable. Any suggestions for larger models to grab from them? I feel like slowflying a triplane around the front yard could be a ton of fun:

[RRHandy]

Why yes, the blue Fokker DR1, the red Fokker DR1, Crack Turbo Beaver Red with floats, extra 300 48"

[ndrew3]

Why yes, the blue Fokker DR1, the red Fokker DR1, Crack Turbo Beaver Red with floats, extra 300 48"

Nice, how do the triplanes handle? Are they still pretty capable at 3d and stuff?

[RRHandy]

3D, that's what they were made for, make more tail heavy and you can hover the whole time, rolls nice too.

[Mizer67]

I fly an MXS-C around the backyard at times, but the wind really knocks it around and avoiding the trees and the house can be problematic in anything more than light winds.

I haven't had enough of the planes to comment on which are good or bad. I do like the ability to practice any time, but feel it's a bit too easy to hover vs. a larger scale model.

[SanExup]

Do they bounce well? I've considered getting two and teaching my wife so we can streamer dogfight. But they must bounce well, I guess I mean repair well.

[Mizer67]

Do they bounce well? I've considered getting two and teaching my wife so we can streamer dogfight. But they must bounce well, I guess I mean repair well.

The standard weight 32" planes do, in my experience repair well yes.

I can't speak to the others, but EPP foam tends to either not break at all and just bounce if you're below head height and chop the throttle before impact, or break cleanly if it does. A rip will usually form before a break and if you take the time to reinforce the hinges and join points in the fuse and any right angles they're almost indestructible.

Not sure if the typical 3D flat foamy would take well to pulling a streamer, but perhaps some of the other TH models would. I'd go for the highest power setup I could because of all the extra drag.

[SanExup]

Ah right! I didn't think about the draggy qualities of a streamer. Maybe its enough to just chase each other and yell guns, guns, guns.

I've had epp planes but they were slope soaring or speed 400 full fuse warbirds that I would wrap entirely in packing tape. I was curious with the flat foam. Thanks for the information. I see them in my near future!

[Mizer67]

Ah right! I didn't think about the draggy qualities of a streamer. Maybe its enough to just chase each other and yell guns, guns, guns.

I've had epp planes but they were slope soaring or speed 400 full fuse warbirds that I would wrap entirely in packing tape. I was curious with the flat foam. Thanks for the information. I see them in my near future!

Back in my youth, I flew 1/12th scale combat in RC, where the objective was to cut streamers.

I don't think it really caught on across much of the country, but I had fun then trying to cut streamers from what were small, nitro powered planes when you had a lot of them in the air at one time. You were almost guaranteed at least one mid-air per round though, which was a real downer for a kid with no money and only one plane if your luck ran out. Plus, we were building from kits which still took a good 30 hours of work to complete...no ARFs for these planes back then.

Still, my point being these planes very overpowered given the need to two a (if I recall) 50 ft. long streamer. Once you put that streamer on, you lost 20-30 mph in top speed easily though, if not more. We had the equivalent of .15-sized planes with .25-sized motors, for example.

[SanExup]

Yeah, I used to live next to the ocean with tall sand dunes and a constant on shore wind. We would dogfight with epp slope planes, mostly warbirds and wings. We didn't use streamers, we would try to nudge the opponents elevator or wing, it was usually more of a crash into than a nudge. But without a motor and very small batteries they hardly ever saw damage.

It makes sense, even the lightest of streamers could produce a lot of drag. But now I am thinking I need to convince my flying buddy to put streamers on our warbirds. I couldn't imagine doing it with a balsa kit. I've built quite a few but it was a balsa kit that made me give up flying some years back. It took me weeks to build and seconds to destroy, it was the final straw, at least at the time it was. The planes are way different now. I might build a balsa biplane or two in the future but I get just as much pleasure rattle can painting some foam and flying, as I do building.

I couldn't imagine a mid air with a nitro plane! I envision too much fun, in tiny pieces, all over the place!

[Mizer67]

Yeah, I used to live next to the ocean with tall sand dunes and a constant on shore wind. We would dogfight with epp slope planes, mostly warbirds and wings. We didn't use streamers, we would try to nudge the opponents elevator or wing, it was usually more of a crash into than a nudge. But without a motor and very small batteries they hardly ever saw damage.

It makes sense, even the lightest of streamers could produce a lot of drag. But now I am thinking I need to convince my flying buddy to put streamers on our warbirds. I couldn't imagine doing it with a balsa kit. I've built quite a few but it was a balsa kit that made me give up flying some years back. It took me weeks to build and seconds to destroy, it was the final straw, at least at the time it was. The planes are way different now. I might build a balsa biplane or two in the future but I get just as much pleasure rattle can painting some foam and flying, as I do building.

I couldn't imagine a mid air with a nitro plane! I envision too much fun, in tiny pieces, all over the place!

Some were balsa, others had foam core wings. Even others were early "foamies" which were EPS covered with fiberglass cloth and epoxy for strength. We did make an effort to beef them up with dowel rods, carbon fiber and the like in the leading edge, so they could take a hit, but it only worked some of the time.

Sometimes it was a spectacular wreck in mid-air, with little pieces falling like you envision, but more often you took out some critical surface or component like a servo or a wing and splashed that way. The guys that were at the top of the pile brought 4-5 planes to fly three 5 minute rounds.

A few things I learned that might help in your quest - speed is paramount. You want the fastest plane. Also the longer the wing the better if you're trying to get a cut. In scale guys would fly the TA-152 for that reason (long, thin wing). We also sprayed glue across the leading edge of the wing so the streamer would catch and stick, causing a tear. Very difficult at altitude to judge where each person is, so getting a prop cut was a challenge at best.

[SanExup]

Funny that you mention the TA 152, I had a TA with foam core wings and an epp fuse. I think it was an outfit out of southern California that was making them. You could slope soar it or mount a 480 in it. Overweight but fast. Way more fun sloping. I now have the Flightline TA, I painted it a few weeks ago and can't wait for summer! But if I combat itll be with the cheaper 850mm Dora and Mustang.

It sounds like I need to get some streamers and spray glue!

[ndrew3]

Do they bounce well? I've considered getting two and teaching my wife so we can streamer dogfight. But they must bounce well, I guess I mean repair well.

I've been amazed by how sturdy it is. I've smashed full-throttle into the ground or a metal lightpole without even breaking a prop which had me surprised. I get the feeling you'd have to try sort of hard to really break it. I do feel like, with really low rates and the right CG, they could make pretty good trainer planes too. Definitely forces you to be quick on the corrections