ORIGINAL: groundpounder2
A friend and I are learning to fly on a Hobbico Superstar MKII RTF. The plane flies quite nicely once it's in the air. Takeoffs are a little hairy. The plane rolls nice and straight down the runway but just below takeoff speed starts to go to the right and after takeoff continues to the right until full flying speed is reached. Once it's up and flying the trim is very good. It will fly hands off for several seconds.
Most of the time this is not a big deal but last week my friend was taking it off and didn't correct in time to keep it out of the chain link fence. Naturally we would like to avoid this in the future.
Since it rolls straight at slow speed and flies straight at high speed I figure the rudder and ailerons must be fighting each other somehow, buth I'm not sure how to go about correcting that.
Thanks for anything that will point us in the right direction.
RIGHT on. All the advice previously given should be adhered and checked on.
However one little item that I have noticed for the past couple years is that a number of the newer trainers have a built-in "right-rudder" as the vertical stab is offset for that reason just as many of the WW II fighters were.
The offset VS will be applying the "right-rudder" to offset the normal left-turn during TO. Normally Ed had it figured for a straight VS, but the newer offset VSs do the work for the newer pilots, and at lift-off become very much controlling as Ed stated.
Without instant correction, an unexpected right turn can catch one by surprise and ingrained inputs become confused. [X(]
Having to rudder left, well now THET jus' ain't natural, and those guys transitioning to the Griffon Spits found that out, big time.