Travelair or Twister

[David Ridgeon]

Im thinking of buying a Black Horse Travelair or Twister can you reccomend a 2stroke engine for either and if you have either what problems did you find with the kit if any?

Any feedback much appreciated - David

[Chris Perkins]

for my twister i was tolded to get a os 32sx love it nothing wrong but it is quite expensive. if you get a twister don't land it too hard as you will probably snap the undercarriage of(like me)as it is weak but the plane has great performance. look at the other forum topic for more info. chris

[flytilbroke]

Travelair, Will fly on a .40. Any reasonable .46. is better. A good first low winger or just a relaxing flying model.

[David Ridgeon]

Any idea what comes in the kit like are there wheels? What size is the engine mount etc

[flytilbroke]

Been a while since I bought one possibly 6yrs. Was a 40/46 size mount. Wheels were included although due to our rough grass and cow foot-printed runway at the time, I put larger wheels on. I have one just now which was passed to me in a "re-kitted" state. Rebuilt and fly's fine, I use an Irvine .46 and 2.5 inch wheels.

[winchweight]

I used an OS46LA in my Super Air which is the same size and weight as the Travel Air. It was perfect and being one of the cheapest, most reliable and easiest to buy of eBay, engines, it really fits the bill.

There are foam wheels, but they aren't great, so I went up an size and fitted lightweight rubber tyred ones.

[Jonathan Lewzey]

I have a Travel Air with an OS46AX. Very powerful engine for a model of this size (1.65 hp!!!) It will take off in no time at all and climb at 70 degrees. Unfortunately, the model is very lightly built and i've had problems with the UC ripping off. Otherwise, it's a very nice model. The 46AX is about £67 on www.servoshop.co.uk

Jonathan

[flytilbroke]

Like most other modellers I did not even think of mentioning the mounting plate for the undercarraige  Most artf seem to need a bit of extra strength here. A light plane flies better thougfh

[David Ridgeon]

Excellent information and advice everyone.

I have been advised to get an os 46 ax for the travelair so that the C of G balances ok without adding weight but i am a bit hesitant. I would prefer to install the lighter cheaper 46LA as i have found plain bearing engines very trouble free.

What do you think?

[flytilbroke]

That'll do it, nowt wrong with a bit of ballance lead up front.

[Ian]

I much preferred the travel air, the twister seemed to be rather short in the fuselage making it very twitchy in pitch. Travel air is much more stable.

[Jonathan Lewzey]

I added some lead to the tail in my travel air, because the landing speed was too high. Of course, i could have used flaperons, but i already have a Y lead. I suppose i could try flaperons at a later date. Anyone done this?

I agree with ian, the travel air is a very stable model in both pitch and roll. However, I have flown models with shorter moment arms than the twister and find them just as stable. A CofG matter?

If you want to fit an LA, David, then go ahead. They're a very nice engine - i've had one in a trainer for about 3 years. It survived 3 minor crashes, one night in a tree and one 'total' crash. It still runs as sweet as ever on duraglo 5.

[winchweight]

I have three OS LA engines and they're great. Easy to start, run well and survive crashes!  The OS46LA was in my Super Air (tail dragger Travel Air) and it was perfect.

Why the Travel Air out of interest? Both my son and I learnt on the Super Air, a much nicer looking machine and a great fore runner to a tail dragger warbird!

[Jonathan Lewzey]

The travel air is a tail dragger. The only difference between the super air and the travel air is that the super air has a tapered wing, wing mounted undercarriage and a different colour scheme. I'm sure they both fly very similarly although I would opt for a constant chord wing instead of a tapered wing for a low wing trainer. 

[David Ridgeon]

I tend to get the feeling that the travelair is going to be more suitable for me.

I like the idea of the os 46la

Anyone got any experience of balancing the c of g ?

Thanks David

[AWM]

I have just finished a Black Horse Canter, as my first low winger. This seems very similar to the Travel Air, 'cept the Canter is a trike! The kit is fine, all the bits you need at included.. fittings, tank, wheels, engine mount etc.. the control rods are already in the model. I have used an Irvine 46 for mine. I would comment on the instructions lacking in a bit of detail, but otherwise all is fine. Hope that helps.

[Jonathan Lewzey]

david,

I balanced my travel air intially at about 9 cm from the leading edge. I later found this was too far forwards as the landings speed was too high. I moved this back to 9.5 cm by adding some lead to the tail and this remedied the problem. Another solution would be to use flaperons on the individual aileron servos.

Good luck, its a great flying model although you may want to spend some time beefing up the wing mounting and undercarriage mounting.

jonathan

[David Ridgeon]

Thanks jonathan thats great information.

David

[Wasaforumite]

David

I have a well flown 'Speedair'. The trike u/c is fine and the plane is an excellent flyer - in the right hands it does all the b test patterns. I fly on a newish metal carb irvine 46 which is a beautiful engine. Its easy to start by hand and has really good performance. It also balances the plane without adjustment. If your field isn't smooth you might br better off with the Speedair as tail draggers can nose over on wet or draggy surfaces. These planes are good value for money.

Ian 

[COLIN MILNE]

I have a travelair and find it a great flyer. I agree about the under cart ,it would be well worth beefing up before flying for te first time. I have a SC46 fitted and it pulls it round at a fair rate of knots although it will fly at a fairly sedate pace before it stalls. The model will float on when landing if there is no wind to slow it. I'll try the tail weight idea to see if it improves my landing tecnique. I've ripped the wing covering a few times as a result of high speed landings and it is starting to lok a bit battle scared, but I would buy another without a doubt.

Colin

[Adam Chambers 2]

Ive got the twister with an os46la.

 Lovely!!

[Captain Slow]

I've had the superair and the travel air. (super was replaced with travel)

 Travel air u/c is easier to repair!

I put a bigger tank and wheels in both and ran a 55AX inverted.

Great 1st low winger (super air was my first) and very acrobatic when your ready for it. Cheap as chips so  you wont cry too hard if you stack it.

Great plane for the cash

[Delta Whiskey]

Will either of these, travel, super or twister be ok with an OS FS 52 Surpass?

 

Also there is now a BH Tornado, any views on it?

[Peter 'Ivanna Crashalot' Savage]

Slightly off topic, someone who goes to my flying field, they had a travelair and they accidently knocked the tailplane off in a doorway so they cyanoed the tail back on and it crashed on its maiden due to the tail falling off :s i have lost count of how many planes they have smashed on their maidens, i think they are 3D helicopter champions

[DAVID CLIFFORD]

I HAVE A BLACK HORSE TWISTER WITH AN O.S 46FX ON A 11X7 APC PROP. GOES LIKE THE WIND.

BALANCES PERFECTLY WITH AN ALLY SPINNER AND THE BATTERY AND RX BEHIND THE SERVO TRAY, NO NEED FOR EXTRA BALLANCE.

SOME MEMBERS AT THE CLUB HAVE TRAVEL AND SPEED AIRS AND THEY ARE GREAT PLANES AND LOOK GREAT IN THE AIR. UP UNTILL RECENTLY A BLACK HORSE PLANE REPRESENTED VALUE FOR QUALITY, NOT SO NOW WITH ALL THE PRICE INCREASES, AND YOU COULD GET THE TWISTER FOR 53 QUID!!! (84 NOW WITH A LITTLE CHANGE).

THE TRAVEL AIR REPRESENTS SCALE FLYING WITH A TOUCH OF THE SPORT IF YOU WANT IT (SOME MAY DISAGREE). THE TWISTER IS A 100% FUN PLANE WHICH YOU CAN DO ANYTHING WITH AND IT WILL COME OUT FIGHTING BUT WONT BITE YOU BACK. IT DOES NEED THAT EXTRA BIT OF POWER UP FRONT WITH A 46 AS A DEFINITE POWER PLANT ON 12% NITRO.

DAVID WHICHEVER YOU HAVE CHOSEN ENJOY IT AS WE SHOULD DO AND MANY HAPPY HOURS OF FLYING TO YOU.

DAVID