ironfistx

Any particular reason?


We ended up cutting away some styrofoam to allow the elevators to move up more.

We've gotten this plane assembled and made a few flights. Here's a post/review I made on another forum:

Alright, I got to fly it a few times now.

We set the trim before flight so that they looked level. I was concerned about the fact that the elevators don't go up very much, but that would prove to not be an issue.

So for my first flight, it was hand launched from full throttle. If you push the throttle trim all the way forward you can get a little extra boost from the motor, which is needed because this motor is kind of weak.

Anyway, the plane took off, but was banking to the right quite a bit. I gave some left aileron to compensate until I could get enough altitude to adjust the trim. In the end, I had to give full left aileron trim just to get it to fly level.

The plane seems very light in the air. I'm constantly making tiny corrections so it doesn't veer (or blow) off path. It seems to even have trouble flying level. I would be flying level and then randomly it banks 20 degrees to one side. I guess this is to be expected with such a light plane (correct me if I'm wrong, more advanced guys).

I did a couple circles around the field and then decided to try a landing on the grass. I got fairly low, cut the motor, and glided it in. I think if the motor is cut you have a reduced chance of breaking your props on impact. It touched down, but almost immediately flipped over onto its back (remember, I was in grass). When I walked over to the plane, it was fine. The prop was intact, the vertical stabilizer was ok (I was worried since the plane flipped), and everything seemed to work alright. Time for flight #2, which was basically the same thing. And then flight #3. And 4 Each flight was like 2-3 minutes.

I ended up having to give the plane down elevator trim to keep it flying level. The fact that the elevators don't go up very far doesn't really seem to be an issue. The plane has no problem climbing when I want it to, altho I haven't tried a loop yet. I believe I will go for an Immelman before I try a loop

I took it out again a few days later and flew around for 4-5 minutes before crashing The plane lost a lot of altitude during a turn and I couldn't pull up in time. The damage was only a broken prop, which is easy enough to replace.

I did a roll during this flight, too (intentionally ). It rolled pretty quickly.
It was during this flight that I noticed that the motor is kind of weak (I'm assuming... I really don't have much to compare it with). Flying into a 5-7mph wind made the plane seem like it was moving really slowly, even at full throttle. During my flights I keep the throttle between 80-100%... any less doesn't seem to be "enough." With the wind, of course, it goes very quickly. Turns into the wind seem to happen in place. Turns with the wind are nice and smooth.

Oh, here is my RC flying experience:

When I was in 6th-7th grade I went flying with my neighbors twice. They let me do a couple turns in their gas engine planes. I don't know what kind they were, but these people were pretty hardcore into RC flying and had a bunch of big planes. That's all I remember. They also had a 4-channel RC sim for computer which I spent hours playing.

Fast forward to now (I'm 26). I have an hour or two on the FMS sim that came with my plane, and then the flights I told you about above. My dad is a commercial airline pilot and I've understood how planes work since I was like 5 For this reason, I never wanted to start on anything less than a 4-channel plane. I would feel handicapped without ailerons.

My dad, the pilot, has maybe an hour on the FMS sim and has crashed our plane twice with each flight lasting under 30 seconds I told him he needs to spend more time on the sim and practice moving the stick "on a dime." He'll get it, tho. He's over thinking it, and he's used to airliners that don't respond as quickly as RC Planes

That's my review so far. Let me know if you have any questions.

Oh, I have a question for the more advanced guys: I seem to be a "right stick" pilot. When I turn, I don't think I use enough rudder... if I get into a problem and I need to turn out, I bank sharply and then give up elevator to turn... it's not the smoothest turn in the world, but it's quick. I can do a nice, smooth, rudder turn if I'm thinking about it before hand and concentrating on it. I think this is from years of playing flight sims with a joystick and not have rudder controls, so to turn I'd just bank and pull up