ORIGINAL: fishdeep
I,ve been flying helicopters for about a year or so now and decided to get a plane for something a little less stressful. I had a plane a long time ago but got rid of it for lack of place to fly. My new found plane , so far, hasn't been that relaxing. I built a Lanier Stinger 40, it's powered by an Enya ss40 with a 12x7 prop. I've tried fueling it with Cool Power 15% (thats what I run in my heli). I tried a first flight the other day and spent about 4 hours trying to get off the ground. I leaned it out, richened it up, changed to larger fuel lines, it just doesn't want to gome off the ground. I was in a large sports field and had about 500 feet of runway and was using it all. Being a tail dragger, as it went down the runway the tail came up as expected, when the plane got to what is aparently full speed I gave it some elevator, the tail would dip down, the plane appeared to get a little lighter, but that's it. It continued down the runway just bouncing on the grass. Not hopping like it was trying to fly, just a little bounce..
My question is..... should I be running different fuel....... or a different prop.......... different engine....... I'm not sure where to start.
Any Ideas?
Fishdeep,
First off I have to agree that the prop is just way too big, you are not getting thrust. If you have the ground clearance which you obviously do go to a 11X5 so the engine will come up in rpm's
Verify the CG. Even with the right prop if the plane is too nose heavy it may get off the ground but will take allot of up trim in flight and will land really hot. That is a mid wing plane but almost to the point of a high wing so when you balance it make sure the tank is empty and the plane is upright.
I just looked up the specs and the CG is as follows, this is taken from Laniers web site
The CG on the Stinger 40 is 3" to 3-3/8" behind the leading edge.
I would start with the CG set at the 3 inch mark. If you need to know how to balance it just make a mark on the bottom of the wing at 3 inches behind the leading edge of the wing right next to the fuselage on both sides. Now pick up the plane with your index fingers, one on each side, with the nose facing you and it should set level or very slightly nose low. If the tail drops then you are tail heavy. If the nose drops more than a 1/2 to one inch then you are too nose heavy. You can proably move the battery around to get the balance correct
Also verify your throws which again are taken from the Lanier web site
The elevator throw is 1/2" the ailerons are 3/8" and the rudder is 1".
Hope this helps and let me know if you need anthing else