Originally Posted by
Lightning Fan
I have to swing in here, because I have some gear like yours.
So far, great advice from all.
I am sitting here with a Focus Tx just like yours. This very evening, I modified it to run on Lithium Iron (LiFe) batteries, as I've been doing away with all my nickel batteries. More on that later, but be advised that I have, and operate, a Tx just like yours.
And then, I see this post!
I train people in the club as well and find that newcomers are often unsure if they are going to fully commit initially, so if they can try it cheaply, but safely, then that is the right course.
Thus, the advice to trash the batteries right now, and if you must stay with nickel batteries (NiCd or NiMh), then get good ones like Sanyos is very important. If you stay with nickel batteries ... please please please get a charger that has the capability to cycle the battery for you. Cycle means that the charger will charge, then discharge, the battery, preferably a few times, and report to you how much charge (in milli amp hours) went in, and how much went out. Here is why I say this.
A very good pilot in our club bought a new NiMh battery for a well flown P51 he had. There was nothing wrong with the old battery, but it was old and he was playing it safe, so he changed it. Charged the battery the night before, took it out the next day, took off, flew two laps, lost complete control and strained the airplane through a tree. When checked, the battery was dead, but the battery was capable of providing for a full day of flying, so it did not die because of the servo load. It died because some new batteries need a few cycles to get to where they can hold their full capacity. So, if you stay with a new nickel battery, get a charger that will do that cycling for you ... on the ground.
I have a Focus Tx because a guy I'm training is exactly like you. He got some old gear from his father in law, that is incredibly similar to yours. I buddy box with him on my Focus 4 I had lying around. His airplane had:
1. Big hole in wing ... and stabilizer ... and the covering was sticky back like yours ... and we patched it with iron on covering in a completely different color (red) because that is what he wanted.
2. Old batteries ... for the airplane battery I convinced him to use a Lithium Iron (LiFe) flight pack. These batteries have shown good service on the exact gear you have for two years, they do not need to be cycled, they do not self discharge, and they charge much faster than nickel based batteries. We stuck with NiMh for his transmitter. If you get a Hitec programmable charger, it will charge nickel, LiPo, LiFe, lead and every other battery chemistry we use, AND will cycle! I recommend you get one with the 12 volt power supply internal to the charger.
3. Locked up engine. OK, this is what you do (much of the advice above is correct and I'm just repeating). If you have access to a low temp heat gun used for iron on covering (do not use ANY other type of heating, like a torch, high temp heat gun, etc) then warm the engine ... don't make it so hot you cannot touch it comfortably. All we are doing here is softening whatever is in there. Dump a huge amount of 3 in 1 oil, or Marvel Mystery air tool oil down the carburetor throat. Gently try to turn the prop until the oil gets sucked down there, and then put more in. Get yourself soaked in oil. Keep the engine warm if you can. Eventually it will loosen up. DO NOT take it apart.
4. Prop spinner interference. It looks to me like the prop spinner is locked against the front of the fuselage. Try removing the spinner and see if the engine turns easier ... look for any sign of interference between the spinner and the fuselage ... if there is any, then you may have the engine in the wrong place (too far aft) or the spinner is wrong for this setup.
5. I guarantee you that every nut and bolt in that thing needs to be checked over ... especially the nose gear. Look carefully at the nose gear arm and any collars used to retain the height of the nosegear at the firewall, and all the collars on the wheels. More than one great takeoff has been met with a groan after a wheel comes off at ten feet of altitude. All the locking screws on the servo arms and the linkages need to be checked for being fully secured. Careful that you do not overtighten the screws holding the servo arms on the servos ... all this is plastic that you can strip. I found that the elevator horn on this guy's plane was loose on the surface and it required some work to stiffen the wood underneath and a much better horn than he had to get it right.
6. Balance. This kills more airplanes than anything and it mystifies me why, at my field, so many guys are willing to "test fly" other people's planes and never check the balance! All you need to do is put your fingers under the wing, where you feel the covering go from hard to soft -- this is where the wing spar is and is about 25 to 30% of the way back from the leading edge. So if the wing is 10 inches wide, this point is around 2.5 to 3 inches back from the leading edge. Lift the plane on your fingers and you are looking for it to hang there, level. If it falls back on the tail ... do not fly it. Add weight to the nose - you can get weights at the hobby shop, or just use fishing weights at Walmart.
7. Loose stuff. Wiggle all the surfaces on the tail ... look to see if the stuff is glued on right. Sometimes the horizontal tail is loose from getting hit, or it was never glued in right in the first place. Pull on the moveable surfaces ... rudder, elevator, ailerons. Sometimes the hinges have come loose, or again ... were never glued in at all.
8. Fuel tank is old. IF this plane was flown at some point, THEN the fuel tank is a problem now. The fuel lines will have rotted or hardened or come off ... or something. The tank must be pulled out and rebuilt before you fuel the plane. I'd recommend pulling it out, pull all the fuel lines, internal and external, off and trash them, wash the tank with isopropyl alcohol or fuel (if you have it), dry it out very well and rebuild with new fuel lines. if the tank has a rubber "stopper" with holes in it that brass tubes run through, then replace that too.9
9. Do not try to fly this plane alone. It is not safe for you to even start the engine without someone with you, and you need a person who can fly to do the initial flight for you. Do not try to start the engine by hand flipping (although that is what we did back in the day). PLEASE ... find a flying club and get a guy that will train you.
Good luck! Welcome back to the Hobby Where Guys Fly Toys.
Rikk