troyp

Well as suggested on this forum because I do not have access to an instructor, I have ben practicing with my plane just running it up and down along the ground and getting used to the controls etc. Today I went that little bit further and let it lift off the ground once or twice and then killed the throttle and let it land again. But then on a thrid attempt a lifted the plane a bit to quick and it climbed a bit to high and before I knew it the plane was a few metres off the ground. Bad turned to worse as I got confused and pulled back on the elevator stick and pushed the throttle forward then realised and pulled it back. The plane climbed up stalled and then flipped over and crashed to the ground. From what I can see the spinner took the force of the crash which caused the firewall to break away from the fuselage. It could have been worse I suppose so Im lucky. I can put the firewall back into place and it fits in exactly where it was before, so should I just do this and epoxy it back in? Also do I really need to have a fully covered fuselage. There is some damage underneath behind the firewall but I was just going to put in some 10mm square peices of balsa across the fuselage for strentgh and leave it at that.
What do you think?
Regards,

Troy

Jeff396

My Feedback: (1)

All of the exposed wood should be covered to prevent fuel from soaking in. If you don't feel like getting monokote and ironing it on, just get some clear packing tape and away you go. I've got more squares of packing tape on my plane than I care to count.

Jeff

flianbrian

Try flying a SPAD (PVC and/or coroplast plane). It'll withstand your beginner crashes better and is less expensive to rebuild or replace. Check out the "Debonair" trainer at:
SpadToTheBone .

Be sure to join the message forum. You'll have a great support group there. Quite a few Aussies there too that might even live close to you.

G'luck mate

1Jimbo

My Feedback: (2)

DITTO
SPAD all the way. Can't beat em for trainers.

DESERT RATT

My Feedback: (7)

Once you get to the SPAD site, Look up "TATTOO".. It's his site and you won't believe the support he is willing to give..

RSands

Get a sim! It'll pay for itself in saved crashes, and you'll advance much more quickly. As far as the covering thing goes, CA and epoxy will both fuel proof the wood. I'd not leave bare wood exposed, it will wick in the fuel/oil and weaken the structure, making later repairs difficult to impossible.

MikeL

My Feedback: (3)

Get some assistance, Troy. Even if you've got to take a whole weekend to do it, it'll be worth it. You've had your first crash, and by now you have to realize that without some experience the airplane gets way ahead of you.

If you're going to get satisfaction and enjoyment from this hobby, get the help that you need.

Braindead_Ed

im the worst person when it comes to asking for help, because i think i can do it by myself, but i finally went to the hobby shop, swallowed my pride, and asked the kid behind the counter for tips on EVERYTHING. I talked with him for about an hour while my wife chased my two toddler boys around the hobby shop, not to mention i the priceless help i have recieved from people that use these forum.


By the way, MikeL thanks for the tip on the ultracote, it's a piece of cake to apply.

Steve-o-RCU

Geeze..... pretty dangerous way to learn...and expensive, no?

Small steps, thats what ya gotta remember.

If you are freaking out and dumb-thumbing the controls when it unexpectidly "jumped" into the air......are you really ready for CONTROLLING it when it really takes off for the first time???

And when it funally is time to land it, you are gonna be crapping in your aussie shorts.

Flying is not hard. Getting the plane to go where you intend it to go is hard. or didn't intend to.

Stay calm, visualize the plane and the control inputs you are making.... I have flown in my head thousands of times, i deam figure eight patterns, and the control inputs to make them happen.

my advice? Fly some of those cool simulators that are FREE on the web, and practice until you can fly those things EVERY time without balling it up.

Look for some of the FLIGHT INSTRUCTION web pages... i know once i saw 1st US Flight School's web page with instrutional pages to print out.

Small steps, don't bein such a hurry to ball it up.
Check out my craches in the crash forum "Tiger Trainer 60 crash-o"



Good luck - post pictures if you can

Steve-o

zymox

Now when U have done your first crash, analyze it ...
- I always do when I have crashed trying to figure out what went wrong and in your case U said it your self, it stalled because U had to low speed and to much elevator.

Before I even takes my airplane to the field I check everything so that the control-surface don´t moves to much and that they are set up for right directions also I check the CG several times to make sure it´s right and if I´m not sure of how the airplane actually behaves I put it just a little bit in front of what the manufacture describes.
stick left = rudder left , stick down=elevator up and so on.

I usually does what U did when I tries out a new plane, I run it up and down the runway (but not with to much power down-wind -always start your airplane straight against the wind and when you become more experienced then U can take it up in side-wind and later on in almost any direction)
just to get a feel of it and if the plane takes off I just add full power and tries to prevent it from climbing to fast with the elevator, U will notice that U even have to use some down-elevator sometimes to.
When I´m at a suitable height (=HIGH 1:st flight to gain some time if somethings goes wrong) then I set the plane straight into the wind and starts to trim, at approx. 3 quarter of full speed I make sure that the airplane goes straight ahead without any changes in course or height and then when that is done I flies it around to feel how it acts in high and low speed (still high up in the sky).
One of the keys to a successfully 1:st flight is DON´T USE TO BIG MOVEMENT ON YOUR CONTROLS when trying to control your airplane because that´s what most beginners do wrong the first times and don´t try to make any stunts either just try to fly it straight and when turning -use big smooth turns.
When it comes to landing I always takes a free run over the field at low height (again straight against the wind and not to low though, approx. 2-3 meters height) to get the feeling if there is any thermal lift or turbulent winds that roles over the field who could cause my airplane to flip when I´m going to land.(here it is very important that U don´t use to much controls just enough to keep your plane where U want it)
On landing the most problems occurs due to low speed and to much controls so what U can try to do 1:st times is to approach your field in a straight line at 2-3 meters height against the wind and pull down the throttle-stick to idle when you´re close to your landing zone.
Then when you are almost down you should try to prevent your model from landing by adding a bit by bit of up-elevator causing your model to level out from the sinking-rate to get a smooth landing and if U gets a feeling of that something is not going right add full power and be very easy on the up elevator until U got good climbing-speed and try to make the landing on the next round.
Don´t try to take it down just because U want it down cause if you feel that anything isn´t right that particular moment , add throttle and go one more round .

Sorry 4 my bad English and a quote from Steve-o that I remember every one told me 2 :
"Small steps, don't be in such a hurry to ball it up."

Good luck

troyp

Thanks everyone for the great advice.
Unfortunately I live in a country town in the far north of Western Australia and the nearest rc club is 300 miles south in the next town. You all dont know how lucky you are to be able to just go along to your local club and get your planes checked, your engines tuned and your controls all trimmed correctly. Even to be able to go down to the local hobby store would be a luxury for me. The closest thing we have to a hobby store here is a Toyworld store which sell one or two planes and cars and some glo fuel. I have to buy everything else by mail order.

I think that I have been taking it easy with my plane considering I have had my plane for almost two months now (A 40 trainer) and have only progressed this far. No doubt if I had access to an instructor I would be in the air by now.
My damage was not as bad as I thought, I was able to glue the firewall back into place which was easy to get right as it fitted in like a jigsaw piece. I just have to put the fuel tank back in and glue the top peice in and Im done.
I do have a few more questions though, first of all what is CA? Im guessing its like epoxy or is it something else? Also should I set the adjustment screws on my transmitter so the plane does not have so much movement on the controls?

Thanks again for the tips I would really be stuffed without help from the people on this board. (and no doubt crapping in my Aussie shorts)

Troy.

zymox

About the control surface on the plane , I have set mine up like this for my trainer by using different hole in the control horn and programing my radio (computer radio)...

Rudder, as much rate as i Like cause I only use it on the ground steering my airplane while it´s still there.
( later on for a lot of maneuvers but for now only on the ground )

Elevator = just about a 1.5 - 2 centimeters up and down when I have moved my stick on the radio from top to bottom

Ailerons = approx. 1 centimeter up and one centimeter down when I have moved my stick on the radio from full to full side.

If I stand behind my airplane and checks my controls it moves like this at full:

radio-stick fully down: elevator up 1.5 - 2.5 centimeters
radio-stick fully up : elevator down 1.5 - 2.5 centimeters

same stick that controls the elevator - fully to the left gives me:
aileron on the left wing approx 1 cm up and on the right wing 1 cm down
fully to the right gives me:
aileron on the right wing approx 1 cm up and on the left wing 1 cm down

Normally this measurements can be found in the building manual since it varies from plane to plane.
( for beginners they should be set up not to flip your plane around in an instant )

the other radio-stick I use for throttle and rudder.
I know that it´s different on what hand U use to control what so therefor I don´t write left hand to that and right hand for that but in Europe we have elevator and ailerons on right hand and engine and rudder control on the left hand.

Steering the airplane with only ailerons and elevator is easy cause U flip the plane either right or left a little bit by using the ailerons and then U use the up elevator to control how much U want to turn and when you're done with your turn U straight it up again by applying some ailerons at the opposite direction.

CA glue is a glue of instant type that contains Cyanic Acrylate thereof its name. Not sure of the spelling though.

I´m not good at English but I hope U´ll understand what I mean in my explanations.

Unstable

clarification on CA glue.

CA glue is a liquid glue that bonds almost instantly.

it can be found under the brands
Zap
pro CA
jet

here is the towerhobbies page that has them just so you know what you are looking for.http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0093p.pgm?C=RGC

for gluing anything that is not under major stress (side panels,framework, wing ribs, servo mounts, etc) it is good. for high stress areas (firewall, wing spars/diheadral brace, etc) use a good epoxy mixed well

again an instructor would be good but i understand you are hard pressed to find one. so here is a piece of advice.

if you get into trouble dont worry about getting it on the ground, worry about getting the wing and fuse leveled off. after that you can worry about were its going or were its landing.
the only exception to this is if it will risk striking person or property. then you main goal is it ditch it away from people (straight in if you have to)

also do you have you engine set so you can turn it off by the transmitter. if you get into big trouble you want to be able to kill the engine before the prop does damage. (had a instance yesterday where a dog ran after a taxiing plane. the person was able to shut the engine down before the dog got to it which if the dog attacked (it didnt luckly) it could have been killed.)

Woodsy

Troy

the best bet is to come on over to www.spadtothebone.com, your doing it the hard way with no instructor but A for efort if you stick with it, the closest bloke i knpw to you is in Carnarvon, not much help io know but he also runs a mail order model shop so that may help.

when you get to the SPAD home page down lod the free model simulator (FMS) and practice on that, i also found it helpfull to buy a gas car and practice driving towards me, when i started flying i didn't have problems with left/right orientation.

SPAD is the go for you as even if you still crash (and you will) the cost and rebuild time is about 1/10 of balsa

troyp

Thanks again for the advice. Yes Carnarvon is a bit far away from me Woodsy, at least 1200 kms. One question I have regarding the flight sim is where do I get the lead to attach my transmitter to the computer?
I have been looking at the spad website and will have a go at building the trainer so I can practice.

Thanks again,

Troy.

zymox

http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html

check in the manual section for a do it your self instruction...

BRGDS

lslewis

My Feedback: (2)

Troy,

I have been following your progress as we started at the same time. I have the great advantage of an instructor who has saved my plane countless times. However I was able to take-off and land on my 5th lesson. A part of that credit goes to my flight simulator! Put your plane in the hanger and get with the sim, it is your only chance not to "crap in your Aussie shorts!"

Best Wishes

BackAfter20

My Feedback: (5)

Troy,

I started trying to fly RC about 20 years ago with no instructor. The guy who WAS going to teach me to fly recommended a Jensen Ugly Stik, which I spent about 150 hours building. I also built another shoulder-wing plane, the name of which I can't remember. Well, the guy moved before I ever touched a controller. Out of frustration, I went to the field one day by myself to learn to fly. I totaled both planes in less than 2 minutes each. It was enough to make me quit this hobby for 20 years.

This time around I did not want to be dependent on an instructor for long. I read all great things about the RealFlight G2 simulator, so I bought it. I also had to buy a better video card and a new sound card also, bringing my total purchase to $350. That was the smartest $350 I have spent in this hobby.

After about 6 hours on the simulator, I went to the field to fly. I landed my 3rd flight. My instructor was amazed, and still talks about it to this day. I have read other posts in this forum of people landing their 1st flight after using the SIM.

It took me about 3 hours on the SIM to instinctively (without thinking about it) give the correct inputs with planes flying away from me or towards me or any other direction. 3 hours equates to about (18) 10-minute flights, or about 4 days at the field with an instructor. In the case of no-instructor, that's a whole lot of crashes and time repairing or rebuilding planes.

I would highly recommend RF G2 to learn on before attempting to really fly. It now comes with both a controller and the cable to use your controller. It's not something you'll outgrow, either. I still use the SIM to learn new tricks, and I'm starting to learn 3D on it.

Just my opinion.

: )

zymox

I found another intersting link today for the fms simulator interface right here in this forum...

http://rcuniverse.com/showthread.php...689&forumid=72

crosswind

Troy, congratulations on getting your plane in the air... however briefly! I'm the guy who earlier told you what the rubber bands were for. The SPAD would be a pretty good idea, along with practicing on a simulator. BUT, if you're gonna try it again anyhow remember to use very small control inputs. Most students I've taught have a tendency to hold the aileron in when turning. Don't do that. just give it enough to bank the airplane a bit and then let 'em go to neutral and hold your altitude with just a touch of up elevator. You may need to bump the ailerons a bit if the plane begins to level its wings before your turn is done. Just remember that easy does it. I've found most people can level the wings when the plane is coming toward them by remembering to push the aileron stick toward the low wing. You may find a better method for you, but that always worked well for me. If you get to the point of landing, don't worry about hitting the runway. Just chop the throttle and concentrate on keeping it pointed into the wind and keeping the wings and nose level and let it land itself. It may not be pretty, but it should be in one piece. If (when) you get in trouble, chop the throttle and just try to level the airplane. Wish I were there to help you. There are a jillion other things but it's hard (if not impossible) to talk someone thru flight training on the net. If you can ever get to the point of getting up and back down in one piece you'll learn pretty quickly I think. Hang in there!

troyp

Thanks guys for the tips and advice. I want to try and practice more on a sim for awhile, does anyine know where I can find plans to build a interface cable for a Hitech transmitter? I checked out the other links but they all seemed to be for Futuba etc only. My dad is a electronics expert so could make me up a cable if he had the plans to do so.
Thanks for your advice Crosswind..Ive come along way since wondering what the rubberbands were for.... You sure you dont need a holiday in Australia? The weather here where I live is above 30C 330 days of the year.

Regards,

Troy.

Woodsy

Try e-mailing this guy he should be able to help you out, just explain your in Aus and just want the pin conections

http://www.mattclement.freeservers.com/fms/fms.html

also have a look here it should have the info you need

http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html

it says the Futaba skysport4 is the same cable as the Flash5 and also gives descriptions and diagrams