G'day

Are you getting anywhere? By the way - when an engine is running, the only safe place to be is behind the prop. Never tune the engine by leaning over the prop from the front. Not unless you like getting stitches that is. And keep any observers behind the prop too. And make absolutely sure the plane cannot move when the engine is running. If it suddenly moves, the instinctive reaction is to reach for it to stop it and more than one person has been hurt reaching through a spinning prop.

A couple more questions if I may -

1. Is that a sticker on the prop? If it is, get it off as it will unbalance the prop. This can wreck the plane and engine from vibration.

2. Have you balanced the prop? You need a small tool to do this. To make the prop balanced, use fine wet and dry sand paper to sand the front of the prop on the heavy blade. You should also use the paper to remove the flashing and molding excess around the edges of the prop. This will also save your fingers if you run them along the edge of the prop and make the prop work better.

3. Have you flown an RC model before? If not, you need to find someone to teach you or you will be spending a lot of money on crashed planes. Using two similar radios and a "buddy cord" is the way to go.

4. Is there an RC club near you? If so, go there and ask for help. They will be more than pleased to help you. If not, then a small single engine electric foam plane like an Electrofun is a good place to start. Your glow powered trainer is not really suitable for self teaching. It is simply not stable enough to give you time to learn while you are making mistakes. Some people do manage to learn all by them selves, but they usually go through lots of models and their models end up made of more epoxy than balsa. Balsa flies quite well, epoxy does not.

And finally - hang in there. It is worth it in the end.

Michael from Oz