Darook

After reading, and doing a bunch of research, i finally went and got a gws slow stick. I just jumped into the hobby and this is my first plane. I have no flight experience and cant wait to get this plane in the air. A buddy of mine and I bought the planes on Fri, and put them together that nite. Ever since then it has been unbelieveably windy and rainy. The weather is killing me. Is it less windy in the early mornings, or should I just wait for an extremely calm day?? Its crazy, I've never spent so much time worrying about the wind.... - dont know how much longer I can wait!!!

rahtware

You have to believe that a calm day will come... Anything more than 5mph and the SS has a hard time on the ground as well as in the air.

crash and burn

My Feedback: (19)

The slow stick is an incredible little model!

I don't know why all the hobby shops are pushing those horrible little FIREBIRD type models??? They are NOT a good first model, in fact I think they are total garbage!

I have seen dozens of fathers with their kids at the field go away crying because their FIREBIRD crashed on the first toss! And they even get a video with the kit to show how to fly it. For God's sake, get a simulator instead before you buy the model and save the poor kids grief!

The SLOW STICK is an easy to fly model that responds great. The trend at my club it so clip the wing tips off just at the outsid edge of the fake ailerons. This greats a model, with the right motor, that will atually do a little 3D maneuvers!

I fly mine in my back yard and have a blast. I would suggest you get an 1100mah NimH battery. I get over 20 minutes of slow flight or 15 of aerobatics out of a charge.

I am currently using the stock motor and standard GWS flight pack on mine with great results.

Yes, you need a calm day to fly this beast, but that day will come.

C&B

Darook

Yea I guess I'll wait, I'm too much of a rookie to battle these winds... Anyway the guy at the hobby shop told me these planes fly better if you put the battery at the front of the plane close to the motor as opposed to under the wing. Something to do with preventing the plane from always climbing. As a beginner is it better to have it the default way or the way this guy recommended?

crash and burn

My Feedback: (19)

My battery is under the wing towards the leading edge and I use an 1100mah Nickel metal battery pack. I have no trouble with weight.

You just need to learn proper throttle management and you will be a better pilot!

Too many first time pilots go full out with the throttle. DON'T DO THAT!!!!

Keep your control movements slow and throttl back a bit to get to know what your plane does and how it responds. Overdoing the elevator is going to stall you out.

Good luck,

C&B

mrstormy

If you wait for a calm, calm day, you will have an infinitely better first experience.

Mark my words and remember this. Begin with calm weather and don't overdo the throttle or controls.

Fly the SS with some wind as a beginner and your are doomed.

Practice with FMS and you will fly.

Rick

Splonky

I am new also but I have an aerobird. It is like the firebird but it adds elevator. I took it out twice and didnt crash but it was a little too windy for me to be flying for the first time. When I was flying into the wind It was pretty slow, and when I was downwind it was pretty fast. It was a little difficult to get it back. Since then I went out and bought G2 so I can practice with all of the models to get used to flying in the wind. When a nice day comes I feel like I am going to be totally ready. Don't go out now, if the wind gets behind that thing it is going to zoom away and you will be nervous anyway and may panic a bit and you might not get it back safely. Use FMS the free sim or G2 until the weather is nice..just know you are not the only one waiting....

Splonky

woodduck-RCU

I agree 100% with Crash and Burn,everytime I am at the Hobby Shop and I see them push the Firebird type planes it really gripes me. More than once I have butted in and recommended the Slow Stick, which did not endear me to the kid behind the counter. I fly several other type of planes such as a Lazy Bee, Kadet Senior, 4 Star 60, etc. but I really have fun with the Slow Stick. I have also watched fathers and their sons walk away from the field with broken Firebirds never to fly RC again. With a brief set of instructions a beginner is ready to fly and with a few verbal commands such as "pull back the elevator stick a bit" they are flying. I keep one at work and fly in a small park at lunch. My most
expensive damage so far has been to bend a prop shaft which cost $2 for two replacements. I also agree about the wind , I put
my SS in a tree during a windy day. I highly recommend the SS for anyone!

Woodduck

Darook

Like I said I'm a rook, and theres two things that im unclear with. The instructions werent to much of a help so please throw me a bone... How does one "balance" a plane, well really how do you balance a Slow stick?? And the directions do give a detailed description of the CG, but is that even necessary? Another problem is my battery is in a different location then the book says so I dont think the CG will be the same. Please give me some stats, THANKS - still waiting for a calm day

Richie

Making sure that the plane has the correct center of gravity is almost as important as making sure that the wing is on the plane Take note as to where the instructions say the center of gravity(C.G.) should be. Then hold the plane(with all batteries and gear on board)under the wing with your fingertips allowing the plane to pivot forwars or back if it is out of balance. Move the battery forward or back until the plane balances perfectly(unless the instructions call for you to move something else like the receiver or E.S.C.). It is best to be perfect, but if you are not sure it is always better to be a little nose heavy than tail heavy. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but a plane that is tail heavy is going to crash almost every time. Good luck and if you can, get some help from an experienced pilot for your first flight.

Richie

mrstormy

I'm with you on that Richie. I am a newbie to RC flying and I had a great ten minutes of flying on Sunday with my SS. There was NO wind and the CG was good.

Last night, there was about 5mph wind and my CG must have been off a bit. She kept pushing her nose up and I was constantly trying to bring it down. This combined with the wind resulted in her getting a bit away from me and crashing into a tree. Split the wing only and was fixed in 5 minutes. I just used some clear packing tape to fix the 10 inch split. Seems very strong. Is this OK? Should I have used glue or some other type of tape?

Anyway, she sitting ready for the next calm day......

UltraBob

Hi Guys: We have discovered that if you set the CG as indicated in the instructions that the SS is really a handfull both in pitch and directional stability. All of us have tie wrapped a one ounce lead fishing weight right behind the motor and this just makes it a whole different airplane. It's now very stable in pitch and tracks nicely. We fly them indoors with up to 350ma 7 cell nicads or 600 nimhs. Outdoors I have seen them fly with up to 1000ma 8 cell hydrides which helps wi th the wind issue because of the increased weight.

rahtware

Adding lead to a Slow Stick is like pouring concrete in a boat. The "ride" will improve, but eventually something is going to give. In "Slow Stick" type planes, the lighter they are the better.

If you follow the threads about the SS you will see that all kinds of things are being tried to make them "fly better." My question is what is better? In some cases it means carrying a load that is 1/3 (or more) the weight of the plane. In other cases it is so they can penetrate the wind better, or fly faster, or stunt, or etc...

This is great stuff, I bet the GWS engineers are saying to themselves, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Personally, I like the way my SS flies (almost) stock. (OK, I did put in a larger battery.) I like the way it Takes off in less than ten feet and then leisurely hums around the sky at half throttle. I enjoy it's landings that seem almost in slow motion with a slight bump and almost no roll out.

In other words, I like having a plane that lets me kick back and relax when it is in the air.

As to "zooming", throttle back. Most "real" planes use the throttle to change altitude, why not our models? Full power to climb out, then throttle back to "cruising" speed and throttle back more to descend.. What's wrong with that?

Just my 2 cents.

Clear skies and calm air to you

UltraBob

You missed the point of adding weight to the SS. Many people (check the other chat groups) have had problems balancing their Slow Sticks with certain combinations of batteries, servos. etc. Weight was added to obtain a proper CG, not to penetrate and handle higher winds. I too enjoy cruising around at half throttle and relaxing but you can't do that if the airplane is out of CG (aft)!

rahtware

Bob

I agree with you 100%, if the SS comes up tail heavy it flies like a dog.

While showing off for some friends I attempted to land my SS backwards in a stiff breeze. I was successful except that after touching down it blew into a fence.

My SS ended up with a crease across the horz-stab and the elevator. I fixed this by adding a 1/8" fiberglass rod leading and trailing edge to the HS. Trouble with adding weight to the tail, now the only way she will balance is if the battery is slung between the landing gear.

I tried the "lead head", but didn't like the results so now I'm experimenting with different mountings of the gear. If none of this works, I will just replace the tail feathers.

The trouble with the SS is that it has such a long tail that any extra weight back there causes it to go tail heavy. What I would like to do is find a way to lighten up the tail instead of adding lead to the nose.

Clear skies to you.

roger- Michigan

One thing about balancing these small planes.

I use a little trick that is very easy to make.

I take 2 new #2 pencils, unsharpened, and drill a couple holes about 6" apart in a two-foot long 1X4.

Stick the pencils in the hole (you can use masking tape to make the pencils fit if they seem a little loose. Then balance the model on the recommended CG.

Total cost: $1.00 (and you can use the pencils later if you want!


Roger

jody63

the best way i have found to get the right CG without adding weight to my stick is to move the battery tray,wing,servos,and all abought 1 inch farther back than in the ins.u will have to shorten the pushrods.what happens is the farther forward the motor is located from the wing it acts as if u had added weight to the nose.try to keep the battery as far forward in the holder as u can.then try to adjust the rec.and the motor on the stick for final adj. u dont have to have the motor pushed all the way back on the stick eather.u can slide the motor forward on the stick also.if worried abought the motor coming loose,or not a snug fit u can soak the tip of the stick in water,(the first 1/2 in) then let it dry.the water will swell the wood.I have had 4 of the pico's,and love them!I have tried diffrent things with all of them,this is the best so far.I had rather save weight than to add it.they fly much better this way.buy the way this is my first post,love the site!!!

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

For this, and other light weight planes, flying in any kind of a wind can be a challenge, especially if you are a new pilot. Aside from crashing, there can be a major danger of having your plane carried away by the wind.

I have read so many threads about Firebird type planes, slow sticks and other light planes carried away and never seen again. My first day of flying with an Aerobird was great until the wind took it. I ditched over woods, but never found the plane. some kind of locator can be a big help.

Downed Plane Locator:

If you fly near woods or a corn field or something you want to add some kind
of locator for your plane. You can see my post on locators here:
lo
cators for small electrics]

iflyufly

I read the post about moving the wing battery servos etc back about an inch from what the instructions recommed. My question is this: If you havea a plane that is already tail heavy, how does moving everything frather back on the fuse toward the tail make it less tail heavy? Wouldn't it need more weight toward the motor to counter balance?

cwesh

Yep, moving anything to the back will make it more tail heavy.

In my slowstick, my CG is right at the forward limit. And I now have a bit of downthrust too. (Complments of bouncing off of a gym floor during some indoor flying! Bent the fuse up in front of the wing, took plane apart, flipped fuse over, instant downthrust!)

Later!

mrstingray

Thinking about investing in a slowstick now that I hear all you guys rave about them. Have a fighterbird but not having the
best of luck with it crashwise. Seems my luck runs out every time
I fly and when I land it (crash) something always breaks. Tail
paper? breaks away from styrofoam, main wing breaks, canopy
breaks, etc.

Question, am I stupid for deep sixing the Fighterbird for a slow
stick? Also, where can I find the slow stick cheaply. I know I cannot use the fighterbird radio so I guess I would have to
buy a radio as well.

Just thinking outloud. Or should I try some more with fighterbird. I would like to have a 3rd channel for the tail!

Thanks,

Joe

john 8750

Great info men. I have a SS with the first flight today, a great flying plane!! One question, what type battery to use? I have a 1300 ma Li ion, lasted 12 minutes and cut off. And is the stock prop the best for outside flying?


This is the absolute best starter plane. Still cost 35 buks and full size stuff is fine.

Thanks and regards again, John Smith

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

From what I read, the slow stick is a great little plane. However, the fighter bird should work for you as well. Our club has a lot of people who fly firebird XLs an Fighterbirds. I have an Aerobird, three channel.

You might try putting a Firebird XL wing on the Fighterbird. It will be more stable in flight and not as fast. Then, when you get good with that, switch back to the Fighter bird wing. Remember they don't consider the Fighterbird a starter plane.

Here is an internet site that sells the Aerobird for $159. They also have a link for a video of the plane flying:
http://www.parkflyers.com/html/aerobird.html

Here is a link to a review of the Aerobird:
http://www1.wildhobbies.com/news/de...w&articleid=853

The Aerobird uses the same battery packs as the Fighterbird and you can use a fighterbid wing, prop and tail on the Aerobird. So they can share parts.

I think the stick is probably the better move, but either way you move up to a three channel plane.

mrstingray

AEAJR,

Thanks for the reply. I have to buy a new wing for my fighterbird, maybe will put firebird wing on it to slow it down. That sounds like a good idea! Just getting frustrated with it I guess.

The reason I bought the thing was it was a "package" deal. All included. Hopefully the weather will be good this weekend so that I can crash it again.

Thanks again,

Joe

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

Remember you want the Firebird XL wing, not the Firebird wing. The XL comes folded. You have to set the dihedral, but that is what makes it more stable than the Fighterbird.

I am with you as far as the package deal goes. That is the way I went.

In fact I really wanted a fighterbird because I love the idea of the sonic gun. But I also wanted a three channel plane. The Aerobird won out.

However, I have posts all over the place to see if anyone can tell me how to attach the sonic gun to the Aerobird and make it work. One guy thinks he can figure it out and will get back to me. If he does, you better watch out because I will be coming after you, and I can do a loop to get in behind you! (three channels you know. )

Flying is so much fun, even if we do lose the planes and crash and such.