georgehere

Bought a used Fighterbird off Ebay 'cause I never flew electric. That in itself, was a mistake, as I could not immediately tell what was out of alignment. But, Mr. Anxious had to get to the field and get it in the air. We have a grass strip, so it's a solo hand-launch as I'm retired and everybody's working.
This is an area I don't think anybody has realized or gave any help on. I am left-handed. Not totally helpless with my right but that's not my throwing arm, either. First launch level for 10 feet then in the ground. Reset everything and second launch, threw it up at a 45 and got my only fair flight of the day. Got the plane home with a damaged wing and THEN watched the video. It jumped out and hit me in the face! This guy is launching right handed! Of course. Then he's right on the transmitter. I then realize what I have to do, and know I need my son to launch for me. First, I'm holding full throttle with my RIGHT thumb, then launching, and when full power is critical, I'm changing hands, coming off the throttle and when I add full power with my LEFT thumb, I then need to get my RIGHT hand trying to level the plane. No wonder I crashed so many times. I'm flying almost six years now and nothing has beat me like this, except a bad engine. I need to have BOTH hands on the TX to make quick moves after a hand launch. After I repaired the wing I made some basic measurements and found that this guy had to epoxy the tube back into the fuse and didnt check to see if it was square. When the wing is in the saddle the right tip is 3/4" further back than the left. I can't believe it flew at all. I have just moved the control lines to the lowest holes and will fly with an able bodied launcher. If you are about to hand launch left handed I hope you got your act together better than I.

rdeis

My Feedback: (1)

I had a similar problem with their Outlaw, even though I've been hand-launching left handed for years with sailplanes- the difference it the sprug-neutral throttle that forces you to switch hands.

I thought about trying to put a rubber band on the stick so the thruttle would default to full, but didn't try it.

georgehere

That's right, Deis. With my Futaba full size Transmitter I can leave the throttle wide open while I change hands, but this spring loaded Hobbyzone snaps back to idle when I need all the power I can get.

rdeis

My Feedback: (1)

Y'know, it can't possibly be difficult to get rid of the spring on the throttle stick and solve this problem- unless, of course, they glued the xmitter case shut..

You'll have to go first, though- I've set my Outlaw aside for a while to try a different project.

georgehere

I think there will be times when I want to fly and no one is at the field, so I will likely get inside the case and see what can be done. Will let you know if I am able to modify it.