rudder or engine thrust

[Billa]

Have never tried a 0-0 thrust so can not comment. I like to get the thrust just right without having to use the throttle rudder mix. In the old days when our power to weight ratio would not allow us to hover, you could easily tell a thrust problem from a rudder trim problem - if the plane did not have enough right thrust, it would veer to the left in an upline as it slowed down and making the right rudder more and more ineffective as it came to a stop. Eversince, I had never thought of using a mix to correct the requirement of right thrust.
But as someone said earlier, gassers don't need that much right thrust to begin with. I was really skeptical about the 1.5 deg ( if I rememeber correctly) of right thrust recommended on the 37.5% Pilot RC Yak but that is where I left it initially and suprisingly, it was spot on for IMAC and 3D.
With a centered rudder, perhaps you could pull up into an upline with just enough throttle to hover the plane (previously determined) and see which side the plane falls to. If it veers to the left, increase right thrust and if it veers to the right, decrease the right thrust.
As for the C.G., it is not a good idea (i.m.h.o.) to have a plane which is so neutral that it requires no elevator input when rolled inverted. You will have a very touchy airplane no matter how much expo you feed in. The way I test a plane for correct CG (and I must have read this somewhere) is to pull up into a 45 deg upline and roll inverted - if it continues at 45 deg, you've got the CG in the just the right spot. If it drops the nose, you are bit nose heavy and if it climbs up, a bit tail heavy. You can follow this up with a straight and level inverted pass and see if you like the feel of the amount of down elevator and adjust CG/throw from there. This is not to be confused with where you like to trim your plane. Some (competition) flyers will not trim for upright flight even with a slightly forward CG because the sequence they fly hardly requires them to be upright at any length of time during the flight. For most of us, a slightly forward CG and the necessary uptrim required for hands off upright flight works quite well.

My 2c.

[Billa]

My apologies to Mr. Strickland and Jeffro503 for challenging their understanding of a correct CG. I was only expressing my opinion for the benefit of the newer fliers. I gather from your number of posts that you have come to these conclusions through experience. It is just that it doesn't work for most of the guys I fly with. Nonetheless, my bad.

[JEFFRO503]

Hey Billa.....don't worry about it man , i need all the advice i can get. I have only been flying for 3 years and when someone with a ton of experience puts things into Lamens terms , i tend to listen and try to learn. I'm actually taking your advice and am going to play around with my CG and balance this next weekend. I have only 18 flights so far on my 89" slick , and have had so much fun with the thing , i haven't really tried dialing to much of anything in just yet.

[Billa]

Great. My experience has been that a rearward CG can help you learn the more challenging 3D stuff but ultimately once you come full circle, you'll realize that a forward CG is not only good for IMAC but you will be able to perform the most demanding 3D manouvres with even more precision than before. A long moment arm on the plane helps too- haven't flown the Slick but it looks like a mighty good platform to push yourself. Good luck.