dennya

Okay, the good news is that I took my Aerobird up for its first three flights today, and the first two went marvelously. The sim training helped, I think, although FMS doesn't really indicate the speed these things move at. Hardest part of the first couple of flights was getting the thing down for a landing.

Then came flight 3. I figured I'd swap in my 7-cell battery as I was concerned the standard battery would be running low on charge.

Alas, I think a combination of a CG shift and a not-quite-100% closed canopy screwed things up, and a few seconds after the launch I augered in.

The good news is that I did so without a bit of visible physical damage to the Aerobird.

The bad news is that, after the crash, the left elevon cable was pulled very tight, and the elvon is cocked up tightly at a 30-degree angle. Trying to pull the cable a bit didn't loosen it. Playing with the controls, the right elevon seems find, but the left doesn't appear to be moving.

Anyone ever had this problem before? Hoping to hear the voice of experience before I risk screwing this thing up. Is there a new fuselage in my future?

beginnerflyer

I had a similar problem after a rough landing. Turned out that the control line somehow wrapped itself around the servo arm. It was easily fixed by slackening the line from the flap and un-wrapping the cord from the servo arm. Hope that helps.

dennya

Thanks, Beginnerflyer. I'll check that out.

Also, when I look in my Aerobird, there's a white part that looks like it might be the left control arm. It's actually pointed almost straight up. Is that how the inside of a typical Aerobird looks? Wondering if it should actually be pointed down?

Airborne 2007

The servo arms in the aerobird are supposed to pointing towards each other. If the line isnt wrapped around the servo like beginnerflyer said, check and make sure the servo arms are in line.

hope this helps

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

Check servo arm alignment with the transmitter on and the main battery connected. That's the only reliable way.

If they're not pointed at each other, it's likely that the one that is pointing in a wierd direction has a stripped gear. Just pushing it back so it points in the right direction won't fix the problem. You'll need to replace the servo. These planes weren't designed to be repairable, so you'll have to be creative about getting in there to extract the broken servo and install a new one.

Tasmania

mine did the same when i landed in a lake, dont turn the servo arm, just remove the screw holding the servo arm to the servo, remove the arm, then turn it to align it correctly, slide it back on the servo and replace the screw.

To make it easier, cut an access hole in the side of the fuse, and then cover with tape, it doesnt seem to weaken the body and it makes it easier to fix than taking out the guts.

Taz

Crash_Airlines

Lakes, sheds, clothslines,.......

You fly around an interesting obstacle course

Tasmania

Crash, yes I'm going to write a book one day, "The Adventures of an Aerobird owner" I'm on my 2nd fuse, 4th wing and 3rd tail

Taz

Crash_Airlines

Sounds like an interesting read. I'd buy a copy. Maybe I'll see you in a bookstore someday autographing your books


I haven't flown as aggressive as you yet, so I still got my original plane except for the X-Pack wing which I just put on the other day. I must not have put it on straight though, as it does right handed circles with the stick in the neutral position. No amount of trim helps. The wing looks straight to me, but I had to put the right elevator up a tad and the left elevator down a rad just to get it to fly straight. Now it flys OK with me doing that, but kind of a stupid fix to get it to fly decent.

I love this plane though. It took me awhile to do a loop, but the nice thing was, even though I didn't make it the first few times, this plane seems pretty easy to recover from your mistakes as long as you got some altitude under you.

I have some rabbits in the field where I fly so I'll occasionally swoop down by a few to watch them run from my plane. That's been the extent of my risktaking so far. Can't wait to get better to try some other things.

Tasmania

I had the same thing Crash, it wouldn't fly straight without up on the right and down on left, then it flew straight, everyhting seemed straight at te time.

when i got my new fuse, I used the old tail and wing and dont have the problem now, so it must be a fuse/tail boom alignment I think.

we were out in some strong winds the other day, check out the ribbon on the antenna, on the 3rd battery I was getting a but cocky and tried to hover over the wind sock and ended up going through a barbed wire fence, another Xpack tail bites the dust

Tasmania

here's whats left after it went through a barbed wire fence. I put on a new Xpack tail (another) but didnt notice the crease in the wing, got up to about 300 feet with the new tail and then the wing folded, and my bird came down on hard ground, bending the fuse in two and breaking the circuit board.

So now have a new fuse and in the air again.

Crash_Airlines

Geez, you're not kidding about strong winds. The ribbon is perfectly horizontal. I hope you're not an air traffic controller in real life.

You have a great field to fly in from the way that picture looks. Lots of space and green grass. I have lots of space, but it's mostly hard dirt with some dried out dead weeds.