Littlest Low Stick FLIES!!!!
11-20-2005, 03:50 PM
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Littlest Low Stick FLIES!!!!
Hear Ye, Hear Ye,
The Littlest Low Stick flies.
My neighbor Ralph and his son Dalton picked me up and we headed out to the golf course. The temperature was 39 degrees F at 2:15PM. The wind was 6 MPH out of the North. I plugged in the batt, checked control throws and placed it on the runway, Ahem, I mean street.
. I pointed it into the wind gave her full throttle and she ROG in about 15 feet. There is a pic of it right after take off. Notice the real estate sign. I was worried about nailing it on the take off, but it took off and I climbed quickly over it.[8D]. Now my heart is really pounding cuz the ailerons were very touchy with the throws I had [X(]. Checked my transmitter and I was already on low rates. D-oh. I also should of had the elevator set higher. The elevator was a little sluggish for my taste. All in all it flew very straight hands off and only ended up giving it one click of right aileron. I made several large circles so that my neighbor, Ralph, could get some pix to post. I thought I would try some rolls and she did it nicely. Pretty smooth. OK now I am into the flight for 6 mins. So I climb up high and cut the throttle to half to See how she handles at low throttle. She looses altitude quick. Like, the littlest stick with no power, but not as bad. So I put the throttle to 3/4 and bring it in over the grass. It was hard to line up due to the touchy ailerons and sluggish elevator. I did manage to bring it in and cut the power about 1 ft off the ground and she landed, err, cartwheeled[:'(]. Whew. What a flight! My cartwheel did separate my crappy wing mount design[:@]. No big deal. All I need to do is add another wing bolt to the rear of the wing. So I only got one flight.what the heck. But I will try again later this afternoon.0
Hec
The Littlest Low Stick flies.
My neighbor Ralph and his son Dalton picked me up and we headed out to the golf course. The temperature was 39 degrees F at 2:15PM. The wind was 6 MPH out of the North. I plugged in the batt, checked control throws and placed it on the runway, Ahem, I mean street.. I pointed it into the wind gave her full throttle and she ROG in about 15 feet. There is a pic of it right after take off. Notice the real estate sign. I was worried about nailing it on the take off, but it took off and I climbed quickly over it.[8D]. Now my heart is really pounding cuz the ailerons were very touchy with the throws I had [X(]. Checked my transmitter and I was already on low rates. D-oh. I also should of had the elevator set higher. The elevator was a little sluggish for my taste. All in all it flew very straight hands off and only ended up giving it one click of right aileron. I made several large circles so that my neighbor, Ralph, could get some pix to post. I thought I would try some rolls and she did it nicely. Pretty smooth. OK now I am into the flight for 6 mins. So I climb up high and cut the throttle to half to See how she handles at low throttle. She looses altitude quick. Like, the littlest stick with no power, but not as bad. So I put the throttle to 3/4 and bring it in over the grass. It was hard to line up due to the touchy ailerons and sluggish elevator. I did manage to bring it in and cut the power about 1 ft off the ground and she landed, err, cartwheeled[:'(]. Whew. What a flight! My cartwheel did separate my crappy wing mount design[:@]. No big deal. All I need to do is add another wing bolt to the rear of the wing. So I only got one flight.what the heck. But I will try again later this afternoon.0Hec
11-20-2005, 04:16 PM
#2
RE: Littlest Low Stick FLIES!!!!
Nice going HEC! It's nice to see the small stuff here and to learn about what makes them tick. There are so many ways to go, so many choices, and things to learn about electric flight. Especially if you try to do your own home work and learn how to avoid spending money needlessly, and also where money DOES need to go for quality. I bought a ZAGI RTF a couple of years ago, and what a dissapointment! It barely has enough power to stay in the sky. That is my wealth of electric experience so far [&o]. It was advertised in the TOWER catalog as a AERIAL HOTROD! [X(]
11-20-2005, 09:00 PM
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RE: Littlest Low Stick FLIES!!!!
Well, I didn't get another flight in today[>:]. By the time I had added the additional wing bolt, blind nut etc.. (see pic) it got dark on me. It gets dark here at 5 pm. Well at least it flew. I do believe that the plane may have been a little nose heavy based on the way she dropped altitude when I reduced the throttle. I added a .25 oz. weight in the nose prior to the maiden, and I went with the heavier glow fuel prop. I think this was too much weight up front. I had a real tough time getting this plane to balance on my CG balancer. It is to light for the cg balancer. I figured it was better to be a little nose heavy than tail heavy. Now I have cut that .25 oz. weight in half and only have half of it in the nose.
As for the flight performance, she flew swiftly. Maybe it seemed quicker than it was due to the size. I would have to say that the speed was very comparable to my LS with the TD .020. The couple of rolls I did were quick and smooth. I have tuned down the aileron throws on the low rates. Man was she touchy. I only needed to graze the stick and she banked. I made a few rudder turns and the rudder seems to horse it around fine. I did try a loop from level flight but it didn't quite make it. Not enough elevator travel. I had the elevator at 50% on the low rates. I have bumped it to 75% for the next flight.
I did some more living room testing of the motor and got 10 min runs! That is encouraging. I opened up the slot in the fuselage a little as the push-rod was rubbing a bit. Now there is absolutely no binding and that has got to help my flight times. I can't believe that it ROG'd! it basically took off in half the width of the street as I was taking off at a 45 degree angle to the street. In the earlier pics I posted I was trying to slow her down as it passed over head. Kind of held a little up elevator and reduced the throttle. I need a digital camcorder. I thought of trying a landing on the street but with the elevator throws too low and the aileron throw too high I figured a grass landing was best. Tomorrow
I am going to pack the plane in the truck and take it to work and maybe get a flight or two in over lunch.
Hec
As for the flight performance, she flew swiftly. Maybe it seemed quicker than it was due to the size.
I would have to say that the speed was very comparable to my LS with the TD .020. The couple of rolls I did were quick and smooth. I have tuned down the aileron throws on the low rates. Man was she touchy. I only needed to graze the stick and she banked. I made a few rudder turns and the rudder seems to horse it around fine. I did try a loop from level flight but it didn't quite make it. Not enough elevator travel. I had the elevator at 50% on the low rates. I have bumped it to 75% for the next flight.I did some more living room testing of the motor and got 10 min runs! That is encouraging. I opened up the slot in the fuselage a little as the push-rod was rubbing a bit. Now there is absolutely no binding and that has got to help my flight times. I can't believe that it ROG'd! it basically took off in half the width of the street as I was taking off at a 45 degree angle to the street. In the earlier pics I posted I was trying to slow her down as it passed over head. Kind of held a little up elevator and reduced the throttle. I need a digital camcorder. I thought of trying a landing on the street but with the elevator throws too low and the aileron throw too high I figured a grass landing was best. Tomorrow
I am going to pack the plane in the truck and take it to work and maybe get a flight or two in over lunch.
Hec
