Who's this Hugh guy and where'd he learn to land an Eagle??

Oops! Didn't use spell check It's all better now

I emailed the guys over at tnt landing gear. It wont be until the end of summer for the carbon gear to come out..They'll make the aluminum one for about 45 bucks. It will take 7-10 day to make..
My stock gear is spread a little now. We'll wait till it falls off until we get new.

Although I haven't flown my CE yet (hopefully this weekend) I know from experience that a common mistake alot of RC pilots do, is to come in too slow. With a bipe you can't do that, periode. Regarding the GP CE II, I heard from a fellow RC-pilot that he had to mod his top wing incidence from +1° to a -1° by spreading the front of the cabane struts. He told me he almost lost his CE on his maiden flight because of that. After his mod he said she landed like a dream. Now, hearing that I checked the incidence of mine and sure enough it was also +1°. So I changed mine as well. Will find out if he was right. I'll keep you posted after my maiden flight.

d

I'm still struggling with takeoffs. I'm keeping the plane pretty straight with right rudder while adding throttle and the speed builds, but when giving it a little elevator to bring it off the ground, she immediately banks to the left. Once in the air, she flys pretty good. The plane has a 45cc Homelite chainsaw conversion with a 20x8 prop. One of the better pilots at the field suggested adding another degree of right thrust to the engine. I have done this (one washer under each of the two left motor mount bolts), but haven't tried it yet. Any other comments or suggestions? During one of the takeoffs, I forgot to release the up elevator when starting out, and she came off the ground early, at a low speed. She tracked nice and straight, and away we went.

Takeoffs are off grass at a sod farm with at most, light winds.

Hey there,
I got one too, The best thing I can tell ya is practice!!! With the short coupling of the fuse it will be a bear on takeoff. Maybe use high rates on the rudder for takeoff then turn them back to low.
How ya doing on the landings? I still get a couple of bumpy ones. I waiting to get some kind of new gear for it. I think the stock gear is to stiff.
Good Luck,
Frank

Most biplanes seem to work very with with incidence setup as follows:

Top wing: -1 degree
Bottom: 0
Stab: 0 or +1

Also.. MOST biplanes require a degree or so of UP thrust to fly straight uplines.

The key to landing ANY airplane is not to force it down.. that just doesn't work. Also.. if your incidence is wrong on the top wing.. it WILL be a nightmare to land.

I have had a week of flights on my recently finished Eagle. It is one of the easiest planes I have flown. It has a BME 50 with a 22X8 zinger prop. Slows up as soon as it it idled. I usually use about 1/4 throttle on appraoch. Our field is surrounded by trees so any approach is somewhat steep. Ground handling is very good as long as you throttle up smoothly.

I got the chance to fly the GP CE this past week. I have not flown a bipe in a LONG TIME.. the last time was an ultimate about 3 mos ago, and that was in the air only not take-off or landing... my last take off and landing was over a year ago...

The plane was powered by a Moki 2.1 and it weighed in an RCH over 16 pounds (the owner did some creative lightening). I checked the CG - just slightly aft of the center of range (perfect as far as I'm concerned) the plane was modified with some home-made taller and wider gear (that prop was huge)...

I did some ground handling checks prior to take off - a little squirelly - but not bad. I was a little nervous but I lined it up and gave it throttle slowly - it started toward the left.. gave it a little right rudder and it snapped right... cut throttle.. fortunately, there was nothing but desert where it went and no fence.... time for try #2

I was using too much throttle on the first round.... So this time I very gently advanced throttle and I did not touch the rudder (exactly like I do on my Monocoupe) ... she took off perfectly!! In the air - AWESOME! Talk about some serious power and unlimited vertical at that weight.

OK - 5 minutes of some conservativ fun flying and time to land.. I actually was NERVOUS as I know these things are a PITA to land. Made a low pass / touch and go attempt - a little shaky in front of the crowd... made a few more to be sure.. and then I flew her in. I think I had 3 clicks above idle (noticeably still under power) when I made my final and flew it right to the runway. When the wheels were a few inches off the ground - I cut throttle and did not move my sticks..

The CE settled right in and wheel landed with no bounce!! Once slowed down, I fed in some up elev to get the wheel on the ground and I brought it back to the pad... It snapped on the wheels on rollout after landing, but did not flip or ground loop on me.

I had no issues with landing other than the snap turn which looked ugly but did no harm. I think as someone mentioned - anyone who owns this plane should construct a little taller and wider gear - it makes all the difference. During the landing and I had the snap turn - the plane came up on the gear once but recovered - and that was with the wider gear .. had the stock gear been in place I am sure I would have ground looped it or at the least chewed up that $50 prop...

I think the secret to success on this plane - build it as light as possible (Duh) and toss the stock gear. It was simple to make a set that worked. If you are VERY GOOD bipe flyer (and I'm not) then the stock gear are probably OK... for the rest of us... training wheels make all the difference!!!

Not a big bipe guy, but it is a very nice plane.
Not sure if I want to fly it again though... too much drama!!

DP

I have been studying this forum a lot because I just built a Christen Eagle (GP) and now I have two. I have yet to fly both. My experience up until now has been 3D planes. The only bipe I have flown is an Ultimate, which I guess has no bad habits. Perhaps I am just so used to the ultimate. The best landings are the ones that seem like you are comming in hot. Fly it to the ground, just before the mains touch add a hair of up elevator and then a little more elevator and you have a picture perfect landing. Try to slow up too much, and you will stall.

I am hoping that my experience with the Ultimate will help a little with the Christen Eagle. I have flown so very much on the simulator and thus far only really have to work to grease the landings. There is just a sweet spot you have to find I think.

Is anyone else using a FPE 3.2 in their GP Pitts or CE?

Relax,

Just be patient and land the plane. All you have to remember to keep up the throttle when you're coming in because it slows up a lot. That's it

It is my first Bi-plane and second big scale plane. Have faith in yourself and keep playing with the gas when you land.

Cheers,

Thierry

Is the aftermarket gear from TNT wider and taller then stock at all?

Does anyone have the TNT gear that could comment on how they compare with the stock? The stock gear on mine are not bent equally, so one side is taller then the other. by 1/2" or so.

Regards,
Lee Snover