70x7

Am I the only one?

I bought a kit from StevensAERO. The kit (IMO) was extremely well constructed. Every piece went together with no extra sanding or trimming, I was impressed. I took my time, made a few mistakes, but thought I had all the mistakes corrected (except for a few aesthetic ones)but the plane flies like a paper plate. I don't even know what the problem is. It fights me to turn to the left. When I force it to make a right bank, it stalls and does a nosedive. It is very unpredictable. After 5 minutes in the air, it now has broken landing gear.

I'm sure this is not the fault of the kit.

Everything to my eye looks straight, except for the tiniest warp in one wing where it meets the fuselage. It seems very small to metoo small to cause such erratic flying as this, but what do I know.

AnywayI'm frustrated and disappointed. Anyone else been there? How many people give up after a start like this?

dignlivn

Not sure,

Could be thrust angle, incidence off, Need more info,
Your first kit? How long you have been flying? Was it
balanced both ways ?

Bob

R8893

My Feedback: (20)

I suspect the guys who have given up are not watching the forum, so you're going to get responses from a bunch of hard headed types who have stuck it out through all sorts of challenges.

I know I have had some models that did not fly up to my expectations.

You don't say how much flying experience you have, so forgive me if it is more than my next comment assumes. Get somebody else, perhaps an experienced pattern flyer if there is one around, and have him check the model, fly it and trim it. A second set of eyes may pick up on something you missed.

Chuck

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Other things to consider are (1) whether you might have added additional weight while building, perhaps beefing it up here and there, etc.; (2) is the CG correct, or (3) is the engine above or below the recommended size??

Just my $.02

What Chuck says is also true... get someone else to fly it and see what their opinion is. But, whatever you do, don't give up and don't stop building. We've all been there.

Bob

SeamusG

Do a search out in WWW land for "Dean Pappas trimming from the ground up". There is a set of 3 pdf files that help you understand how get things sorted out.

Btw, I was really nervous on the maiden of my 1st build, so much in fact, that I got an experienced club member to do the maiden for me. There are sooooo many little things that can bite a nice "build" squarely in the arse. Have a local builder do a "tech inspection" of your plane. You'd be surprised what we overlook 'cause we've been looking at it for a long time.

Sit back with an adult beverage and ...

[*]Make doubly sure that all of the throws are within spec. [*]Are all control surfaces tight? No slack when you grab the surface with your fingers and try to move it against the servo's resistance (off or on)
[*]CG? A tad nose heavy is a good start.[/list]
Oh, thanks for reference to Stevens - they are just down the road from me in "the Springs". I like to keep my $$$$ local.

70x7

I've been flying maybe a year (on and off). I'm not expert by any stretch, but I am very comfortable with 4 channel foamies. Not to say I don't have any unplanned landings anymore, but they mostly do what I want. Unplanned landings are mostly now the result of me trying to fly in too much wind or trying to do something new.  This was a 3 channel balsa kit, so I felt like the required flying skills were way within my comfort zone.

Motor and electronics are all as spec by the plans.

CG is slightly tailheavy. I knew that going in, and tried to adjust by moving the battery a little forward. The problem is not that it wants to climb, but that it wants to fall, particularly in right turns.

It is slightly heavier than the plans. I had to upgrade wheels because the only place I have to land is a gravel driveway. It is the small pea gravel, but it still needs wheels a little larger than the 1" ones that came with the kit. So a little larger foam wheels, plus a larger tailwheel to match.

The kit is spec'ed at 1.5 ounces. I cannot weigh anything that small, but I feel like it's still under 2 ounces.

jkpape

Over weight & tail heavy is not good, even if it's just a little.

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Right, but (depending somewhat on the model) overweight may not hurt much. Tail heavy always hurts. Add weight to the nose, even though this will make it heavier. And make sure your throws, especially elevator, are within specs.

eddieC

My Feedback: (2)

Which kit/motor combo? More info please. 

70x7

As I said, I'm convinced this is not the problem of the kit. I was so impressed with it's quality that I'm sure that it's something in my build that went wrong, I just need to figure out what.

It is the Piper Vagabond, PA-15. Parkzone motor (the same one in the ultra micro Trojan). I'm using a 1 cell, 160mah battery. I used the Solite covering that Stevens recommends. Standard prop. What other information would be helpful?

As for weight, I could take the larger wheels off, but I'd be limited to hand launches and grass landings (not very exciting).

70x7

Wow, tons of good info there. Thanks Seamus

Lamoilleriver

I don't see being a little overweight as a problem, being tail heavy, even as you say a little bit is no good, no good at all. Add/shift weight to the nose and be a little bit nose heavy is preferable, especially on a new plane.

eddieC

My Feedback: (2)

Sounds like it still has a slight warp in the wing. If so, use a heat gun at low temp (I lay mine on the workbench with the switch clamped or rubber-banded on), gently twist against the warp and pass the wing in front of the gun slowly a few times. Keep holding while it cools. It may take a few tries, but go slowly and it should straighten. 

Radical Departure

My Feedback: (13)

Know what you mean. Been flying for 9 yrs., small micro flyers to 1/3rd scale. I have attempted to build somewhere around 5 kits or more, and have a big barrel full of balsa for the effort. Heck, they didn't even make it as far as being fully framed up. So you've done better than I have! But... kept after it, and finally have my first plane framed up and am in process of covering it. Its in the same vein as yours, the e'moth from retrorc.com. For all I know it'll last a grand total of 3 seconds in the air. If thats the case so beit, I'll have still learned something and WILL figure this building stuff out. Stevens has several kits am wanting, good looking stuff, not complicated etc... not exactly big-boy kits, but dang, if it means building some small flyers, that actually make it to flight, to move on to bit bigger, then bit bigger, etc.. than I'm all for it! Just don't give up..

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

That is a small little plane too and no mater how well the kit was cut or how well you built it that little plane can be a hand full with even minor incidence being off, even a slight warp in any of the surfaces. Being tail heavy will create all kinds of problems for you. These small light weight electrics can be a real hand full no mater how good of a pilot you are too.
This season I did a review on the AeroWorks Extra 260-E and assembled it and measured every surface. {That was a thrill using a Robart Meter on it} I lined it out and did the CG dead on to what AW showed then moved it to a slight nose heavy CG. Talk about a hand full on maiden!!!!! Hand full doesn't cover it, I was lucky to get it down at all in one piece. The shown CG on that plane is way too far back, even for 3-D flying, maybe a pro 3-D pilot would like it there, not me. That day I maidened two of those planes, the second one was even worse then mine and I came inches, maybe 2 from stuffing that other plane. All due to the tail heavy CG. I would bet money and give odds that if you place the CG a lot more to the nose you will have a better flying plane.

rgburrill

Spend some money and build a real model.  1.5oz?  Really??  Talk about a butterfly effect.

70x7

You must make a lot of friends on this forum.

eddieC

My Feedback: (2)

Right now I have 4 below 2 oz., two helis and two planes. They fly great. Also building the E-Moth previously mentioned. 

JohnShe

Hey 70x7, don't be discouraged. My first build, a Great Planes Spectra flew like a rock and broke it's back on the first try. I built a second one and corrected a few of my mistakes. The first Spectra was way overweight and dragged down by an extra heavy low power NiCd pack. So I watched the weight as I built it and found a much lighter and more powerful LiPo pack. This time it flew, but could have been better,

My next try was a Great Planes PT-60 that I electrified. It flew beautifully, no trim issues, perfect balance and fun to fly.

Yep it may take a few tries but if you enjoy building, like I do, it will be worth it. Just try to learn from your experiences.

70x7

Thanks for the help.

Here's what I'm thinking now. My experience up to this point has been small foamies that flew like a charm. I have done many modifications on them; bigger wheels, lights, flattening our dihedrals, etc. Those planes were always very forgiving in the air. Sometimes I could tell that they didn't like what I did, but they'd always fly. Maybe that has led me to think that all planes will be as forgiving as foamies. I guess that's not always true, especially with as many variables as go into a balsa build.

Zor

This forum is to help each other.
Lots of social forums to make friends.

Zor

70x7

PropsnWings

My Feedback: (9)

In all my years in the hobby, I have had a couple models not come out like I thought.  One reason or another, and after several attempts to correct the issue, just had to make em a hangar queen.   Its part of the hobby, and I enjoy trying to figure out issues that arise.  

tony0707

Do your very best to get all warps out of the flying surfaces
Get the CG correct and balance front back and left right
I hang the plane with a cord around the engine hubfor left right balance

acdii

A little trick I learned for getting the balance down all at one time. Find the exact CG point on the plane, and the exact center line of the plane. Put a hook at that point, and hang it from the hook. You will see both the fore-aft balance and lateral balance and can adjust both at the same time.