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Twin Otter ARF Assembly Manual
Flying Tips
You will find the Twin Otter to be a very docile model
in the air and on the ground. Takeoff’s are a easy.
Landings are slow and gentle and very predictable.
This aircraft has a very light wing loading and will be a
fun, perhaps even your first, twin engine model. With
the Otter’s gentle flying characteristics and excellent
single engine performance you will have hours of fun
flying this wonderful model.
Begin by placing the model on the ground. Check all
control throws and ensure everything is traveling in
the right direction. Make sure your center of gravity
is as per the manual and you are now ready to have
your first flight.
Taxi into position on the runway, and ensure as best
you can you are facing into the wind. We would
recommend you do your first takeoff without using
the flaps. Apply power slowly and steer with rudder.
On the takeoff roll hold a slight amount of up elevator
to lighten the load on the nose leg and also prevent
wheel barrowing. As you apply full throttle and come
to speed, apply additional up elevator and the Twin
Otter should lift off gently and begin to climb upwards.
As you climb out release the elevator and maintain a
gentle climb to about 100 feet of altitude.
Once at about 100 feet of altitude trim the model for
level flight at 5/8 throttle. You will find the Twin Otter
to be very gentle on the control and feel quite light on
the sticks. The Twin Otter with both engines running
has plenty of power so you may find 1/3 – 1/2 throttle
is plenty of power for a stable cruise. Once your
trimmed out and happy, you will find how versatile the
Twin Otter really is. It has a great speed envelope and
is also capable of mild aerobatics such as loops and
rolls.
We have also done extensive single engine
performance testing with the Twin Otter. Although it is
a twin it actually can fly successfully on one engine,
and if you’re skillful you can even shoot touches and
goes with one engine running. If you do happen to
lose an engine in flight we recommend you reduce
the throttle position to 50% and apply rudder trim right
away. The Otter will yaw in the direction of the dead
engine, so you will need to apply a lot of opposite
rudder trim to the direction of the yaw. Do not try to
correct the turn with ailerons until you have obtained
stable level flight. Always use rudder to compensate
the dead engine and re-trim as needed. Once you
have re-trimmed the aircraft then your ailerons will
work normally. We found in our testing that once the
aircraft was re-trimmed for one engine it flies very
well, almost like a 40 size trainer. Even at 50% power
the Twin Otter should remain in flight with ample
power to make a safe circuit and land.
The twin Otter also has large flaps which can be lots
of fun to play with shooting landings. You will have to
compensate with some down elevator when the flaps
are deployed (we have some recommendations in the
manual). One thing to note, the more flap you use on
final approach the steeper angle you can approach.
Either with full flap or no flap the Otter is a wonderful
plane to land. Our only advice is try not to land on
the nose gear first. Always ensure a nice flare out at
the bottom of the glide slope. The Twin Otter has a
very docile stall so don’t be frightened to get plenty of
elevator in on the flare out.
We hope you enjoy the Twin Otter as much as we do.
Kind regards from all of us at Hangar 9.
Building and Flying Notes
