carl24bpool

This is my diary of my attempt to self teach myself to fly my Ripmax 40 Trainer.

Introduction:

I have wanted to fly nitro RC sincee I was 15. For my 15th birthday I got a precedeent HI Boy trainer with a Magnum 40 GP engine. Leter I bought the Hitec Optic 6 radio gear. It was all put away without flying for about 8 years until I was 24 and I got it out again. The Hi Boy was badly build and possibly not even airworthy. Regardelss I took it to the local sands and tried to fly it. I crashed on take off so I ordered a Ripmax trainer and bought a second hand Irvine 40 engine to go with it. Then golf came along and away went the planes again for another 9 years. I'm now 33 and have decided that I will fly the Ripmax if it kills me.

So I bought new battery packs, got fuel and plugs and started preparing for a solo flight.

May I add that the advice I gathered in the weeks running up to my first flight was invaluble but may I also add that there is a lot of other knowledge and know how that you can only be shown in real life at a club or by another enthusiast who will spend time with you. For this reason, and as advised by a hundred forum members, it is probably quite advisable to joing a club. It may save you money and help you progress faster. My view was that I simply don;t have time to spend at clubs going through the procedures and club teaching programmes before I am allowed to fly on my own. This may be seen a little arrogant but I can assure you it has little to do with pride and is more to do with what works with my lifestyle and how I want to be able to just turn up in a field and fly my plane without and queing or waiting like you get at clubs. I don't want this thread to turn into a "join a club" - "don't join a club" but thought I would give a quck overview of my choicee and reasons. Despite not beeing a club member I stil feel that the seasoned members of this forum area able to offer more advice than you would get from any club but bear in mind that you will also lack the physical assistance when it comes to engine tuning, pre flight checks, radio programming, trimming and most importantly take offs and landings.

Okay so lets start the diary:

Flight 1

I had the ripmax trainer ready to fly and had all my batteries charged. The engine had been tuned so all I had to do was het it in the air. I went to the local field which has open fields to two sides and some houses on the othersides. My friend also attended with his Thunder tiger ready. He had never flown before either. My friend went first and he had what I can only call a very erratic flight. He didnt even try to trim the plane and he was lets say a little excited. He eventually crash landed into some bushes in the field. No real damage done so he went up again and after two circuits he got too erattic and he nose dived and smashed the plane into mother earth at full throttle. The result was total destruction. Everything that was glued to something was no longer glued. I have the videos but this is a diary of my flying so wont post them. I only mentioned this part as it goes to show that without any sort of preparation or thoughts of what you are going to do once airborne you will crash and lose control. So before you take off make sure you know what your plan is once up there and have a friend handy to help with trimming the plane because no matter how flush you think your control surfaces are there will still be trimming required to some degree.

So now my friends plane was out of the way it was my go. I started her up and pointed her into the 5mph wind. First attempt and the plane tracked badly right so I had to adjust the fixed front wheel. Next attempt was even worse. I got the plane up to what I thought was take off speed and eased back on elevator. Possibly too hard as the plane lifted to around 7 feet and then roled right over and smashed into the ground. This crash smashed the fuselage in half and ended my days flying quite promptly. Looking back now and knowing the aileron trim was way out the the right I think I stalled and the misaligned ailerons made it look worse. I originally thought I had probably failed to check control surface directions prior to take off but I can't be sure if any channels were reversed. So my advice here is to make a list on paper of the pre flight checks so you can go through them and not forget any. You've no chance if the plane isn't even set up to fly properly from the ground. Thats before you have to trim it in the air.

Here we are after the first venture:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...49597949_o.jpg

carl24bpool

Sorry,
Heres that image again

carl24bpool

I'll add the next 3 flights tomorrow. theres a few videos to go with them too.

mike109

G'day

You did well. Your planes are still recognisable as planes.

It is possible to teach your self. I taught a bloke to fly by email. We are about 1500km apart. The selection of the plane has a lot to do with it. I would not try to learn or teach on most of the "trainers" sold these days. They are too fast, too powerful and if set up as described, too maneuverable.

Lighter smaller foam planes crash better. They don't fly better but you may get a second chance. Three channel gliders like the Radian are a very good bet for self teaching as they can fly by them selves and give you time to think.

Here is a tip about ailerons and setting them up. Most of the cheaper ARF trainers are not built very well and the materials can be pretty rough. I recently bought one to try and its ailerons are twisted. Its horizontal stabiliser is also twisted but with some thought I managed to get it to fly quite well. The trick is to remember that the outer ends of the ailerons have the most effect on roll. Make sure that they are aligned and don't worry too much about the inboard parts. As for twisted elevators; they don't seem to make a great deal of difference to a trainer.

Another trick to give you a more stable plane is to set the ailerons slightly (about 1/8 inch) high at the outer end. This emulates "washout" which makes a wing less likely to stall at low speeds. This can be really helpful also on faster warbird type planes.

Here's another tip - try to test a new model by taking off directly into the wind. Then if as it leaves the ground it wants to go left or right ( it should not ) then cut the power and put it straight down again and try to work out why it veered off course.

And, if your radio has provision for "Dual Rates", set the high rates as per the manual but set up low rates at about half the recommended setting and try this for your first flights. It won't be so aerobatic, but it will be easier to control. Most beginners "bang the sticks" and over control their models. Kids who spend a lot of time playing with a Playstation or PS3 are the worst but being kids, they soon learn.

Pity you are several thousand miles from me. My club has a pretty relaxed atmosphere and is not crowded and I will go out whenever someone wants to do a little training or flying. (Being retired has many advantages.) I have an old Sig Kadet Senior (large, slow and very forgiving) and I use it to give newcomers some initial instruction. Once they can land it they can move on to faster planes. Young kids take a couple of weeks. Blokes in their thirties take about a month and senior citizens may take a year but they all get there in the end.

Cheers

Mike in Oz

carl24bpool

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10200608710755131" width="226" height="400" frameborder="0"></iframe>

this is the video of my first failed flight. I hope the link works.

carl24bpool

Thanks Mike. I've progressed quite well over the 5 trips out I have had and still have a plane. I'll do a full update tomorrow.

I forgot to add that my main reason for thsi diary is to allow other like minded people to follow my progress and learn from my mistakes whilst also perhaps takign some tips and info from my diary as I'm sure there will be lots of helpful hints along the way.

eddieC

My Feedback: (2)

I'll play Devil's Advocate:

BobFE

Carl, glad to hear you are learning. Did you get a chance to try the rudder on approach like we talked about on another thread? In answer to your question about the plane rolling with the rudder. Yes the plane will roll with the rudder. Several trainer do not even have ailerons, you do all the turning with the rudder. When you use the rudder once you are established on the approach the plane will roll, but not as fast as with the ailerons. Use the ailerons in the opposite direction to keep the plane level. This will cause the plane to "slip" in the direction the rudder is pushed. I've found this gives more control on the approach and on short final just before you touch down. I've seen an amazing difference in my approaches and landing since I started doing this. Good luck and remember, "any landing you can use the airplane again is a great landing!"

tschuy

My Feedback: (1)

The three words I would add are: RC flight simulator.

there are many available and some are actually free. Spend time with a simulator which is much cheaper then the cost of the repairs and get the basics down.. Then transition into flying your actual airplane.... The other thing I would say is do investigate the local flying clubs. A part of this wonderful hobby is sharing with like minded people... Spend time with these folks and help lessen the painful (and sometimes very expensive) lessons of learning to fly...

I've seen and heard of many who had given up way too early in the experience of flying RC due to the frustration of crashing and making numerous repairs to their airplanes... Do yourself a favor and get some help so that you'll have a much more rewarding experience...

cheers,

byrne1157

Good on yer, Carl!!! Keep on with it and you'll be an excellent pilot in no time!!

carl24bpool

Eddie - Its not telling anyone what to do or not to do. Like the US the UK is a free country and hobbyisits can choose theeir own path whehter it be self teaching or learnign at a club. I don't want to turn this thread into a debate over whether to join a club or not. Thats why I started a new thread that is solely for my diary and progress so that for the few that choose the same route they have some reference points to help them along the way. I agree that a club is the ideal way to learn for the average hobbyist with enough time but its not just about whats ideal for the average person. Everyone has different lifes and things they need to work around. I have 3 kids, two dogs and run a business so my time is precious and I just like to take the odd hour here and there to nip to a field and fly for some fun with mates. I just don't have time for the club life and without sounding arogant I don;t have time to make more friends. I struggle to keep in touch with all the ones I have. You mention that I have time to post on here but not be in a club. You will find that a lot of the posts I make are late at night in the UK or are in the day time when I am perhaps sat wiating for a meeting to start. I can slot posting on here in at convenient times where ever I am. For a club I would have ot be there at set times to meet tutors to an agreed schedule. I can't do that. Some will agree wth my points but most wont simply because they are club members and are biased the opposite way to me.

For the sake of this thread It would be great if we could leave the "join a club" nagging alone and just allow readers to learn from my mistakes. I can assure you that my diary on its own will probably make most people understand that a club is the normal route and will highlight many reasons why. But there will still be those readers that like me don;t want to be in a club so will learn from my mishaps and hopefuly succeed like I hope to.

In my 5 flights I have carried out one major repair which took all of 45 minutes when I snapped it. That included covering time. I'd say I added no weight as I removed the thim ply coverinng totally and just used strips of balsa to make props and reinforce it. I would say it is now stronger than before as I spoooted an obvious weak point and rectified it. If anything it may be 5 - 10 grams heavier but thats it and its a whole lot stronger. And besides I've flown it 4 times since then and it flies straight. Without wind it does anyway but thats a story for my fifth flight. the only other repairs have been propellors and front wheel that fell off. There was a repair to teh tail plane but that was before I started flying it and I caught in in my van doors. That doesn't count. [>:]

I haven't totalled a plane yet so I'm not even close to the two you totalled. Perhaps I have done more preperation. Lets see over the coming weeks.


Watch this space!

carl24bpool

Flight 2

Before flight 2 I had to take my plane to the workshop for some repairs to the snapped fuselage. as it was structural I thought best to not use balsa wood and get some stronger redwood from B&Q. I bought a 6mm quadrant which was £1.80 for a 2.4m length. It was strong but alos thin enough to keep weight down. I used 4 ieces of this to use as splints on each corner of the fuselage to hold the tail back in place. I then used some balsa wood arrpox 4 x 8mm to form some diagonal struts between the repairs. I also added some bracing accross what I felt was a weak point. Once all glued with a weather proof wood advesive I recovered it in some random black film that I had knocking about. I'm really not bothered how this plane looks. I just want it to get me to a stage where I can fly my low wing Seagull Spacewalker that I have in the workshop. After that I have a pristine Seagull PC-9 with an OSAX46 in it that will be my main plane for messing about with. Were a long way off that right now though.

So I went back to the field with one of my friends and got the plane ready. This time I was sure to carry out as many checks as possible to give me a fighting chance:

- Checked fuel tank full
- Checked transmitter battery okay
- Check distance each surface moves. i.e elevator, rudder and ailerons all move the distance specified in the manual. No more!
- Mor important check each surface moves the right way and reverse any servos if necessary. If you don't understand aerodynamics then don't guess as this will end in disaster.
- Check the movement of the throttle and ensure that lowest throttle allows for a steady idol without cutting out. Trimming down should then cut the engine.
- Check high speed needle valve is set 1/4 turn out from optimum speed.
- Check all your wheels are on firmly

There wa sno wind so I set her off and after about 70 yards of rolling the plane looked light and I pulled back ever so slightly on the elevator to get her up. The plane climbed steadily but any release of the stick and it wanted to roll right and pitch down quite badly. At this point the plane was too low for messing about so I just have to hold the stick in a place that keeps the plane flying straight at a steady ascent. Once high enough I initiated my first turn to come around for the back leg. I tried to let go of the stick to trim but there was no chance. The ailerons and elevator were that far out that it would of certainly crashed or at least beein in a position where I could not recover from. So I had to call my friend over to trim whilst I fly. He first gave the ailerons a good shove back left and got it fairly level. I finished it off myself to get it just right. I then managed to trim inthe elevator and get the plane flying virtually straight and level ant 3/4 throttle.this was by far the hariest moment up to now of the flying and is probably wtill the worst part after 5 flights.

I managed a few circuits just like onthe simulator and it was virtually the same as the simulator. A little more intense maybe as its a real plane and you don;t want to crash it. All of a sudden the engine spulttered and then cut out at aorund 80 feet or more. I wasnt too worried as I had performed deadstick landings on the sim so I just kept the nose level or just below level to maintain airspeed as I turned back towards the field. It seemsd to be moving much slower than on the simulator so I was happy with my approach. All I did was pretty much kept adding a little bit of up elevator easing it down lower and lower until it was right above the ground and just settled onto the grass. My mate even gave me a round of applause. what a great landing I thought.

I was unsure of why it cut out but I think it is likely becasue I never carried out the correct running in prooceedure when I was 15 or again when I was 24 lol.

Anyway undeterred I rechecked the high speed needle and topped up the fuel ready for another flight. Again the take off was okay and much easire to handle once trimmed. Its even fair to say its quite a ***** cat up in the air flying around. Agiain I managed 5 or six laps of the farmers field in front of me and then decided to try and practice landings whilst I still had fuel for a few attempts. I tried around once and was coming in way way too fast. Its surprising how quickly you run out of field unless you are going slow. At the back of my mind I thinkI had a fear of going to slow and stalling. The second time around I was too fast again and had to go back around for another approach. After climbing back out the engine cut again and this time I was out over an old industrial estate behind the pub. I made the turn back to try and make the field and then I hit the telephone lines with the tail plane upright which took her right out of the sky and landeed softly in some bushes below.

The video is here:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQT0pd4FcFA[/youtube]

carl24bpool

Flight 3

After my last escapade, and following good advice on here, I decided to find a field with much more room and much further way from houses, pubs and other flying hazards that I am a danger to.

I went to a football field on the edge of the area where it backs onto farmers fields. A good place to have a third bite of the cherry.

I went on my own so had no video footage but a mate did turn up later ant took a photo of one of my crash landings.

Fuelled the plane up and up she went. This time it felt even easier as I have spend a few hours on the IPad simulator since flihgt 2. I was doing laps and figure eights and all sorts of patterns without much difficulty. I was also trying to tighten my turns up instead of making hte long sweeping ones I had always been doing. This allowed me to fly slightly tighter shapes and gave me a feeling of greater control. you just have to be very careful not to try and turn too much and result in coing too far over into a dive. That could end badly unless you have some good altitude.

I flew around for around 5 minutes just getting a feel of the planes behaviour and how it flies before thinking it was time to try the dreaded landings again. this time I drooped to 50% throttle and just tried to circle like this but allowing the plane to descend slowly until I felt it was time to turn in for an approcah. At this point I have no designated runway as I am concentrating solely on the descent and level wings. One step at a time I thought. I eased her down and started to run out of field. It was too late to pull out and I just had to let her float into the dense bushes at the end of the field. No harm was done and I brushed all the plant matter off her and went to refuel.

Went up agian with no problems and my friend was asking if it did loops or rolls so I said yes but I've not done any yet. At that point I fancied a go so I throttled up and then nosed down slightly before pulling back up into a big loop. and again into a second. Fairly easy I thought but not something I will be doing all the time until I cna fly properly. I did the same with rolls and after a couple carried on flying normally. I came around to try another landing and the plane was what I thought going to come down at the back of the field. This time my judgement of distance was poor as the plane dropped behind the trees at the back of the field. I just had to cut the throttle and keep easing back the elevator. I didnt hear much of a crash so guessed the landing was half decent. I had to go around to get over the drainage ditch and recover my plane. It had landed right in a load of marsh reeds which gave it a nice cushion. Pic is here:


I refuelled again for another go. I was up flying and making steady progress and threw in a few more loops and rolls. I said I wouldn't but couldn't resist. The flying about was getting easier by the minute but it was the landings that were still the ones to get the hang of. Before starting to try landings I did a few more rolls and a few more loops. On about my third loop the front wheel fell off!! It was one of those front wheels that normally steers so turns freely but had been modified to be fixed. To do this the arm coming from the wheel wire was just screwed to teh underside of the plane. The screw had obviously become loose and the wheel plumetted to earth in the field near us. The landing was going to be interesting now.

So I got her nice and slow and brought her over the far edge of the field coming accross the front of us at a nice rate of descent. Right before touch down I flared slowly just to make sure the back wheels came in first to try and avoit nosing over. It worked and she just skidded a few yards before stopping nicely.

The lessone learnt here is to check your wheels are all weell fixed as this could cause somebody a nasty headache.

I retired back home after that to gather my thoughts and carry out the repair to the wheel and also a small hole in the wing film which I guess was from my first incident with the bushes or my crash landing.

carl24bpool

Flight 4:

I returned to the same field as last tie for this flight. The wind was about 10mph going down the fiel.

I was up in the air and flying laps and doind the odd loops. I got about 6 minutes of flight time and then she died as I was just turnign down wind. I was quite low and know I should of turned back up wind to land but I just wanted to get it down safely so attempted the dreaded downwind landing. I pulled up way too early and balooned up before nosing into teh ground from about 6 feet.

The only damage was to the propellor. I packed it away and we flew my mates 5m power kite for a while.

carl24bpool

Flight 5:

At thiis point I have no propellors left apart from an 11 x 7 Graupner that was fitted to an irvine 40 engine I bought. I was advised it is way too big for my cheap little Magnum so was advised to cut it down to 9 1/2". I did so and rebalanced it before fitting.

TOday I was going to try a new flying location which was my local beach. Where we live the sea is very tidal and on big tides (like this day was) the sea uncovers around a mile of sand that is also miles and miles long up the coast. Nice flat soft sand to land on. just be very carefful not to get sand in your carb and if you crash the engine into the sand then its back home to strip it down before you use it again.

The wind was blowing an easy 15 mph if not more right along the beach. I fuelled up and faced the wind and took off. The forst turn was down wind and these turns are much different that without wind. The plane just seems to drift past you as its turning and its down the beach in no time.

After a few turns the engine stopped again and it was time for anotehr deadstick. Well flying into the wind as strong as it was made it all seem to happen very slowly. The plane looked like it had a ground speed of around 8mph. All I had to do was keep the wings level and float it in. Which I did but I did get quite a bounce on first touch down. I guess this is something that happens easier with a headwind.

I topped up the fuel and ran teh engine for a few minutes to check it wasn't going to cut again. It was puffing smoke so was running plenty rich enough and not too rich as the revs were nice and high with the right note.

Went up again and after three laps it cut out. This time though the plane was around 80 yards out over the sea and the wiind appeared to have moved around and was blowing out to sea! Again it was a case of gliding back in and hoping I made hte sand. I just made the sand in what seemed like the worlds longest landin approach. It's crazy how much the wind slows the plane down when youre heading right into it with no power. Almost no ground speed or thats how it felt but I was almost coming straight towards myself so harder to tell really.

Big rain clouds were coming so I got the plane and went back to the car.

I decided I would strip and clean the engine when I got home and wait for my three 10 x 6 APC props I've ordered. They have now arrived as it happen and the engine is clean. I will fir the prop today and maybe get out again tonight if the wind dies down again. I think I'll stick to 5mph or less as far as wind goes for now. If anytning it just makes it harder when youre goijg down wind as everything happens a lot faster.

I'll try to take along a friend on my next flight so that I can post a video of my take off, flight and landing. that way I can perhaps get some pointers.

Thanks again for all the help guys. Couldn't of done it without you.

mike109

G'day

You do seem to be having a lot of dead sticks. I'd suggest the following -

1. Check the tank and all the fuel lines. Perhaps you have a leak or perhaps (and this happens quite often) the line inside the tank is twisted forward and up or even had become disconnected.

2. Re tune the engine. I imagine it has an air bleed carby (there will be a hole in the front partly covered by a small screw). Start with this half open. Also, sometimes the airbleed hole gets blocked. Strip the carby and make sure it is clear.

3. Tune the engine for max revs with throttle wide open. Be careful and keep away from the prop. Always best to stand behind the prop as much as possible. Never reach over a spinning prop.

4. Now see how the idle is. If it gradually "loads up" so that when you open the throttle, it splutters and throws out excess fuel, then open the air bleed screw. If, when you open the throttle, the engine dies, you may need to close the air bleed.

If an engine just won't idle, your fuel may have absorbed water from the atmosphere. Nothing ruins a good idle like water in fuel. Alternatively, your glow plug may be dying. Always worth having a couple of spares. If you are using 10% or less nitro, an OS #6 (used to be #3) should do. More nitro and you may need an OS #8. The Enya #3 is a great plug if you can find them. I get them on eBay.

Keep having fun. You are keeping me amused down here in the cold.

Mike in Oz

PS I went out today and flew a Kadet Senior converted to electric. Flew really well. It just floats around really slowly. Great for touch and goes. I put a thread in here about it too.

carl24bpool

Thanks Mike,

My propellors have just come and also a starter stick (chicken stik) and a pocket glow starter. Hopefully these will save me all the messing of having iwres trailing to the plane every time I need to restart.

I've refitted the engine and checked all the fuel lines which are clear.

I started her up with the low idle in the middle of the hole and it seems ot idle quite well. I reset the high end revs and then tried the idle for a while and hte transition is fairly smooth. theres a couple of splutters but from an instant change from idle to wide open I'd say it takes 2 - 3 seconds to reach full rpm. I can live with that. I let it idle for a while and messed about with the end point adjustment on teh servo to get the idle on apoint where it runs fairly smoothly but doesn;t splutter or risk cutting out.

Hey I never realised how much easier it is with a stick andd a little glow starter. No trailing wires which I always hate around a prop. I'll keep teh electric start with me for any awkward first starts but the new gear will be much better for quick restarts after refuelling.

During testing the engine started running really badly and died just like it did in the air. I screwed out the high speed needle and found the peak setting and it was fine again. I have a feeling the needle valve is moving whilst the engine is running. to combat this I have tied a small cable tie very tightly around the valve and the two little clamps either side that make it click. It is now difficult to turn but can be turned for small adjustments in hot and cold weather.

I'm hopiing ot get out for a flight tonight but will have to see if this wind dies down a bit first as its quite gusty up to around 15mpg. Worst case it's a anight on the sim but i much prefer the real thing.

I have also bought a LIPro balance charger which also charges NI-Mh and NICad batteries but I'm unsure how to use it. I have to set charging current which I'm nor farmilar with at all. I'll post my question on another thread inthe appropriate secion for this issue.


If I get out tonight I'll try and get some video.

colmo-RCU

Good, for you, I admire your tenacity (is that a word in English?). I still think you went the hard and slow way.

Anyway, you're enjoying yourself and that's what matters. I watched in horror how close you were to the houses in your first site, and advise you never to try to fly there again. Needless to say, a 2or 3 kg object with a metal tip hitting a child, car, pet, etc. is really not what you want, and, let's face it, you are still far from being in control.

The engine setup you're describing is most probably the reason the engine is quitting on you. When you carburate an engine, it is stationary, so it has to work a lot harder to push the air to the back of the prop. When you take of, the movement of the plane actually unloads the prop, increasing the final rpm's. Also, if your carburator is front mounted, the air is entering with more pressure. All this conspires to have a lean engine, prone to overheating, which I bet is what is happening to you. When the plane is flying, a lot of the time it has its nose up, so the tank being lower than when you set it up, also makes it harder for the engine to pressurize, also leaning it.

The proper technique is: start the engine, allow it to warm up for about 20 seconds. Remove the glow plug heater. Let it sit for a bit more, just to warm up and lubricate. Now lift the whole model (careful, it might be slippery) and accelerate to full. If it stops, open the carb a bit and start over. It was too lean. When you manage to get full rpm with the model facing about 45 degrees up, open it further 1 or 2 clicks. Now set it flat on the ground and check you have adequate throttle for a comfortable takeoff. It wont be full rpm, remember, you'll get those later when you are climbing.

This procedure will give you a much more reliable engine, and will help it last a lot longer than overheating it all the time. Do it every time you go flying,and again every time the temperature, moisture, pressure changes.

As for the sand, I suggest you get a commercial air filter for the carb and for the feed fuel line. Or at least tie a piece of nylon stocking stretched over the air intake.

Last, fly only rectangles, just like full size aircraft do over a runway. Decide where your runway is, and strive to fly directly over it every time. Then start reducing the throttle a bit more each time you pass, allowing the plane to glider lower and lower. On one of those you'll feel confident enough, stable enough, youll just idle the engine, flare a bit at about 1 meter over the ground, and you will have landed.

I wish you success, and hope you keep enjoying it as much as you have

carl24bpool

What a great post colmo. Thanks for the positive commecnts and thanks for your earlier advice regarding my poor choice of flying site.

A note to all would be self teachers - MAKE SURE YOUR FIELD IS BIG ENOUGH - YOU WILL NEED DOUBLE THE SPACE YOU THINK YOU WILL.

I'll try the richer carb setting and see how she flies. What you say all makes sense and fits into my problem, since hte engine does feel very hot and after stoppiing it always restarts fine a few minutes later once cooler. All the fuel lines are clear so it must be this.

Rob2160

Good for you.I will enjoy reading this diary in full when I have the time.My first attempt to fly alone at 14 with my first plane resulted in a crash.. I fixed it and went to a club the following week.. I remember mum had tears in her eyes when the plane I built/rebuilt actually flew well in the hands of the club instructor.. A few good lessons from him and it was all good from there... Kudos to you for going it alone.. I had 33 years of RC fixed wing flying to fall back on, but taught myself to fly RC helis without assistance so it is entirely possible.. When the plane is facing you.. push your aileron to the low wing to level the wings... (Best advice my instructor gave me on lesson 2 - I never wrong thumbed a plane since...)

jester_s1

Yep, a hot engine is a lean engine. Just after landing, your engine should be hot enough that you can only touch it for a second or so before it starts to hurt. If it's hot enough to actually burn you, it's too hot. If it's smoking, it's too hot. If it's quickly baking the castor oil into a dark brown varnish it's too hot.

carl24bpool

There is defenitely a dark brown varnish on the engine around the muffler.

I'll try to keep it rich.

Its had a few tanks through it now but could it all be to do with it needing running in still?

carl24bpool

In addition I'm using 10% nitro fuel which I thought was fine.

flycatch

My Feedback: (26)

Correct me if I'm wrong but it appears the flight simulator is the only tool necessary to learn how to fly both fixed and rotary wing models. It would be interesting if a poll was taken to see if my statement is justified. I started with a two channel glider on a high start and progressed from there. Going from non powered flight to that of power was a world apart.

drube

I learned to fly using a simulator. My first flight was a little rough but I made it through with no probs. Carl, you should really pick up a simulator that has a controller with real sticks. You will be amazed at how much it will help.