L'il Wizard First flight since 1978

Ron:

All of my Goldberg plastic 1/2A CL handles have provisions for adjusting line length in small amounts. (The "lines" are actually one piece of dacron rather than two separate pieces)

The elevator and horizontal stabilizer should be dead even with each other when the handle is in the "neutral" position.

If you believe the BW is too much power trying flying it first running slightly rich to keep the RPM's down. As you become comfortable with slower speeds lean out the engine to run at higher RPM's. A PeeWee .020 is a neat little engine but would underpower a "Wizard".

I suggest flying over grass rather than pavement for obvious reasons. It would be OK to take off from pavement, like a sidewalk, then take one step backward so the flying circle is entirely over grass.

Ron:

Just an additionional thought re: PeeWee .020.

The Pee Wee .020 is considerably lighter than a BW .049. Your CG my be considerably effected with a lighter engine.

Also, add a small amount of weigh to the Wizard's outboard wing tip. Otherwise the plane will come to "see" you in the center of the circle where it would be 'Ron vs. The Wizard'.

How fast can you step backward?

Hello Ron,

If the plane means a lot to you and your worried about smacking it in, don't fly it...build something else.

Read Godsey's thread: http://coxengineforum.forumakers.com/t471-control-line-wind , there's a lot of info on setting up your plane. The BW is fine, don't use the .020, use a 6X3 prop and like Godsey mentioned don't set it at peak RMP just slightly rich, maybe a 1/2 turn from max.

As far as throw, I'm guessing you're saying when the bellcrank is at a right angle to fuselage the elevator is not level? That’s not a big deal unless its off a lot. You'll use your handle to adjust your lines so the elevator is level and make sure you have proper travel up as well as down, appx. 30 degrees (down not so important), checking the plane at eye level.

Make sure your line spacing on handle is close together about 2.5"-3" for starters, use 26-28' Spyder line #12-#14, tip weight (a nickle works great) to balance out the line weight, CG balance, engine offset, fly over grass, no wind, etc, etc.

Good luck,

Mark

Godsey3.0 wrote:I flew my first flight and trained my friend to complete his first full flight with the Lil Wizard. You may want to run the motor on the rich side. Mine flew great with a golden bee. Real smooth plane that can handle wind as long as it has outboard weight. The .020 may fly it but probably not. See where the elevator is with plane up high like on a car or something. Try to have it as even as possible. This is what I did and it turned out great. Fill the tank with 3cc of fuel or less for first flight and just keep adding on to it from there. Have fun!!!!

P.S. I could do loops on my friends epoxy soaked plane but not on mine. His golden bee ran faster than mine though. Just depends on motor setup and plane. Yours should loop easily.

P.P.S How much line do you have?

Ok, I will keep the widow on it and run it a tad rich. I will also see how things look when the plane is higher. I have a 200 ft spool Dacron, but right now it has roughly 50 foot of line. The original instructions say it will fly on 52 ft line. I figure long lines are best for a beginner.

SuperDave wrote:Ron:

Just an additionional thought re: PeeWee .020.

The Pee Wee .020 is considerably lighter than a BW .049. Your CG my be considerably effected with a lighter engine.

Also, add a small amount of weigh to the Wizard's outboard wing tip. Otherwise the plane will come to "see" you in the center of the circle where it would be 'Ron vs. The Wizard'.

How fast can you step backward?

Ron vs the Wizard..... Funny, I can move pretty quick, but not that quick. Ok so I have no weight on the outboard wing but the rudder is fixed towards the right a little. Should I still add weight? If so how much?

SuperDave wrote:
Ron:

All of my Goldberg plastic 1/2A CL handles have provisions for adjusting line length in small amounts. (The "lines" are actually one piece of dacron rather than two separate pieces)

The elevator and horizontal stabilizer should be dead even with each other when the handle is in the "neutral" position.

If you believe the BW is too much power trying flying it first running slightly rich to keep the RPM's down. As you become comfortable with slower speeds lean out the engine to run at higher RPM's. A PeeWee .
020 is a neat little engine but would underpower a "Wizard".



I suggest flying over grass rather than pavement for obvious reasons. It would be OK to take off from pavement, like a sidewalk, then take one step backward so the flying circle is entirely over grass.

Ok, I have a 6x3 prop on it now, and yes the bell crank at 90 degrees shows slight down elevator. I think I better understand how to set up the control handle now. What exactly is considered neutral and do I hold the handle vertical or horizontal?

35' is ideal for most 1/2A planes with reed engines. That's what I usually use. Wind will cause your lines to go slack if they are too long, especially if you aren't at full power. With 50' you better have a lot of power.
As a kid I was taught by my Dad to hold the handle wrong, and I didn't ever change, so I better not advise you on that.

RknRusty wrote:35' is ideal for most 1/2A planes with reed engines. That's what I usually use. Wind will cause your lines to go slack if they are too long, especially if you aren't at full power. With 50' you better have a lot of power.
As a kid I was taught by my Dad to hold the handle wrong, and I didn't ever change, so I better not advise you on that.

Looks like vertical is the correct way judging by all the you tube video's wonder why it says it will fly on 52 ft lines on the box? Looks to be a babe bee in the original setup. My black widow is more powerful than one of those. I will take your advice and do 35ft though.

Ron:

Hold the handle vertically and use 30-35' lines. 50' is too much for a half-A. Class C (.35-.40) stunters fly on 60' lines in competition.

Wing tip weight: about 1/8-1/4 ounce. I use fishing pencil lead. Rudder offset also helps provided the airpeed is held fairly constant.

Remember you want to feel the plane pulling away from you slightly while in flight, especially straight overhead you in the circle as in a wingover.

To answer the question as to why I don't fly something else if this plane is so sentimental. If you go to the "good day for me" post, you can read the story about my experience with the plane.

Anyway, I have had this thing basically my entire life, my Dad built it and I have never actually seen it fly. I think 34 years staring at it on a shelf is long enough. It's kind of a personal goal to at least fly it once. If I crash then I suppose It will have a couple more battle scars on it. If I smash it to pieces then I will rebuild and put it back on the shelf. Either way I will at least fly it and achieve my goal. I wish I had the original elastic band engine mount that allowed the engine to flex on hard landings.

I had been looking for these mounts too. My friend ended up lending me one of his till I can find one. Is there anybody that still sells them?

There are a couple kits on ebay now that are about to close or just closed. I am not sure if they came in the kit or you had to buy one for the kit.

I doubt they are available now. Probably ebay or word of mouth is your best bet. Or you could possibly make one. Do you have a pic of one? I would love to see it.

Guys,
The Goldberg Li'l Wizard was designed as a trainer with a lot of engine offset and was advertised to be able to fly on 52' lines....much like many kits were advertised to fly with engines from .020 to .074, As a .020 would be marginal, the Wiz. would be marginal on 52' lines. Start with shorter lines for the first couple flights and once you see the planes trimmed out ok, move to 35'

Wing tip weight is primarily used to balance the lines, longer lines more weight, for a 1/2a a nickel work great. line tension more or less in order of importance: centrifugal force, lead-out location, engine off-set, tip weight, rudder off-set