TWINS WILL KEEP YOU ON YOUR TOES
By Tim Bailiff | casurfish@aol.com
I AM THE PROUD FATHER of three great kids. They are all grown up now, with families of their own, but what fun Laura and I had raising them. My son and I used to fly model airplanes together. My twin girls … well, not so much. They were usually busy with plans of their own and were typically going in two directions at once! They kept me on my toes—the same as a twin-engine RC airplane might! This, quite cleverly, brings me to my column’s topic. I thought it would be fun to discuss twin-engine park flyers. That said, welcome back, my friends. If you haven’t flown a twin yet, my hope is that the following will inspire you to add a few to your squadron. If this sounds interesting to you, please join me up here in the flight deck and we’ll be off!
Twice the Fun
I have loads of fun flying my collection of twin-engine airplanes. As I’ve written in the past, I have a certain fondness for small RC aircraft. That affinity spills over into my twin-engine models as well. I have a number of store-bought twins, as well as fun, original designs. Some of them are propeller-driven, while others use EDFs. All of them fly differently, which is where the fun and the challenges lie. I have mainly outdoor park flyers and even an indoor slow flyer. All of them are such fun to fly.
Happiness Can Be Bought
Most of my store-bought airplanes are Horizon Hobby E-flite UMX models. Throughout the years, the company has offered a nice selection of twin models. I have had a lot of fun flying them and they have proven to be very reliable. I have owned several other brands that have flown nicely as well. In my experience, however, E-flite models are reasonably priced and readily available both locally and online.
The UMX A-10 Warthog is a really fun and nice-handling airplane. So is the UMX Citation. Both are twin EDF models and are quite cleverly designed. Their ducted fans are housed in rear-mounted nacelles behind the wing and against the fuselage. Should one of the engines malfunction, the airplanes will keep flying. The reason is because the engines’ close proximity to the centerline of both airplanes prevents a sudden and/or violent turn toward the “bad engine.” Nice work, you aeronautical engineers! In most cases, these airplanes can be flown back to the field and safely landed.
The UMX Shrike that I own is a little different. With twin wing-mounted motors swinging counterrotating propellers, it has
The solution is cutting the power to the remaining motor and, while remembering to keep the airspeed up, simply gliding down. This might mean an off-field landing, but it is way better than fighting with the airplane to a possible catastrophic end.
Home-Grown Fun
The remainder of my twin squadron is comprised of modified and original designs. You might recognize some or all of these little park flyers because they have all been the focus of various construction articles and columns. All are fun to fly, but
a few can give you a little attitude from time to time.
My Pond-E-Racer is probably the fastest of my twin designs. Using several slide-together balsa airplanes, this twin RC conversion looks very much like the fabled Pond Racer. It sports twin counterrotating propellers that are attached to two boom-mounted brushless motors. It might be simple, but it is quick and can be a handful if not flown with care. I have not had an engine failure ... yet! I’m keeping my fingers crossed and away from the propellers!
The 2-Fan Toucan is another design that was constructed from a slide-together balsa model. It uses twin under-wing-mounted EDFs for propulsion. Unlike the Pond-E-Racer, this one is very docile. I have had an engine fail. As described earlier, I simply cut the power completely and glided down. I usually fly this little airplane in close, so there was no trouble reaching the runway.
My On the Fly delta wing is an original design that uses twin coreless motors. I decided to make it out of 3mm Depron to keep it lightweight. This little guy moves along pretty well and can handle an engine failure without destroying itself. It won’t fly for long with one motor out; however, it remains very controllable as it slowly descends all the way to a landing, usually in the grass.
Finally, there is my Twin Vapor. With twin wing-mounted motor assemblies, this little slow flyer is probably my favorite twin and a terrific indoor flyer. Although the propellers turn in the same direction, they are independently controlled. I can throttle them up or down together, and then, using my rudder control, throttle them separately. It is really fun making tight turns around the lights that are mounted way high in our flying venue! By the way, on calm days, it’s super fun to fly outside as well.
Debriefing
So, what do you think about twins now? I hope you found the above information interesting and even provocative. Twin-engine airplanes are a breed of their own. You can get into trouble with them, but they can provide you with a lot of fun as well.
Next time you are looking for a new airplane, check to see what’s out there. Hey, I saw a cool UMX Twin Otter the other day! Hmmmmm ...
So, until we “armchair fly” together again, be safe, stay well, and consider a twin. Fun stuff ...
SOURCES:
Horizon Hobby/E-flite
www.horizonhobby.com
