Fastsky: the local club has a grass strip, so for my first few flights, that power'd be good, i guess. after my first few flights, i'll be flying on a hard-packed dirt strip (I live on a farm and we have this patch we drive on all fall/winter/spring to feed the cows, so grass never grows there... ) so i shouldn't need as much... maybe after awhile i would be able to take off with 3/4 throttle!! long time before i try that tho...


Dicksoucy: Good point. That (and RCKen's comment) drove home the fact that i should, atleast for my first few flights, fly on the buddybox at the club.

Dreadhea: Well, its too late now... its nearly done. good idea though!! I was just checking my plane, to see if your idea would work. If i could do it, it would still be a very tight fit... the needlevalve is connected to the backplate with a C-shaped piece of metal that goes under the valve and then straight across to the backplate, so there would be very little room for movement. check yours before you do that. I have an Evolution .46NT, i dont know how close your motor is to that, but just make sure the needlevalve wont restrict it from the bottom too.

John: yea, i feel like everyone is hammering me!! but i'm getting some stuff out of all this. im glad RCKen and Dicksoucy told their tales, i certainly wouldnt want that happening to me. I was thinking of wearing gloves while i did adjustments (I want to break it in on my own, but i wont fly it on my own) but now that I think of it (and with RCKen's tale, thanks, ken) even with tight-fitting gloves, it'll probly make my chances of injury higher.

The only thing i want to say to make me feel like not such an idiot for thinking about flyin on my own... is that the Wrights flew their planes untrimmed, amateurly-tested, with throws that im sure were either inadequate or overadequate, and an engine that was likely 1. underpowered, 2. overweight, 3. unreliable, 4. poorly-tuned for performance in the air. am i right?