ORIGINAL: bigdanusa
Does the goldberg chipmunk have any nose-over problems on takeoffs or landings from a grassy runway?
big dan
Yes. That's why I got rid of mine. This was before RCU/RCOnLine, and I didn't know about moving the wheels slightly forward of the LE. That works.
Built stock, particulary if the model is even slightly nose-heavy, it WILL continually want to nose-over when taxiing on grass. You can keep the tail planted during take-offs with judicious elevator use, but ya gotta be careful to keep from jerking it off the ground before she's ready to fly. Landing roll-outs are another great opportunity for a dinged prop and/or cowl, on grass; one major problem with an other wise excellent airframe. They fly great and look good. I was seriously considering getting and building another one; then I discovered the larger gasoline planes.
BTW, this problem is not confined the Chipmunk. Every model I've flown with the mains in the wing like this (Super Sportster, etc.) would do this to some degree. The trick, like warhwk said, is to get the wheel axles ahead of the wing LE.