Is there anyway to predict which way a wing tip stall would occur (left of right) before flying a ARF for the first time? Building the G.P Escapade now and I thought it would be helpfull if one knew which wing would drop first in order to balance and prepare for that event.

I have an Escapade and not once has it ever tip stalled.
Red.

The simple answer is, "no"

There are several factors that determine which wing will stall first. In a slow turn, it is usually the wing on the inside of the turn - you know, the one that's already closest to the ground - so recovering from a stall on a turn to final is usually impossible.

Of course, you might have a badly warped wing that will ALWAYS stall before the other, but that's rare.

Your best course of action is to climb to a safe altitude, chop the throttle and hold the plane level or slightly nose-up until it stalls - then recover from the stall and repeat until you get a feel for what that particular plane does when it stalls.

Electric or glow? Im doing the electric build. I'v just be reading some old threads on the Escapade and most said it does not glide very well and come in very fast. Right now I just fly a P.Z T-28 which is sweet until I get better skills in flying a "real" plane.

A PZ T-28 is a sweet flying little plane. A guy at the club has one and it fly's great. I would consider that a "real" plane.
I have a 40 Super Tigre in my Escapade and it balanced out great. I would just set the CG EXACTLY how the book recommends and you will be fine. I think some of the guys that were having trouble with their Escapades stalling or coming in to fast may have had some set up issues. I can easily get 3 point landings with mine and if it stalls at all it just drops the nose.
Red.

You guys are the BEST. What a great hobby!

Most RC airplanes are designed to avoid tip stalls if they are flown within their recommended weight range ( there are exceptions ).

Add too much weight and/or move the C.G. too far back and you can see tip stalls.

Tip stalls happen for a reason. That tip is too slow to fly, at that moment, in that AOA, in those wind conditions. You see, many factors contribute. Simply avoid the whole thing by keeping your airplane well above stall speed. Not too difficult really. You can tell when your control is becoming 'mushy' and difficult. In those conditions, a stall is only a heart beat away. Add more power.

When landing, for aerobatic and most sport planes, get the tail wheel down first and the wings will follow. For most war birds, fly it to the ground on the main gear, and let the tail come down when ready. There is more to it, but those are the basics.

GoPens,

You can find additional information in this thread:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8947745/tm.htm

Best luck!

Back in the 90's, I had a wing drop on a WM Chipmunk that I just couldn't figure out [>:]

Than I finally used my head (der!) and balanced the plane laterally...fixed the wing drop right up! No more tip stalls. I did learn a bunch about vortex generators though

Its all clear as mud now.

As someone suggested. Clime to a safe altitude, and stall your plane. Practice stall and recovery in different directions relative to the wind, and you will be fully competent to know how to avoid them at low altitude, where the outcome is very much in doubt most of the time. It is really no big deal.

Looking at your original question as two parts:


And
As I said earlier, get lots of altitude and make it stall. More than likely, both wings will stall at the same time and the plane will just nose over slightly and recover.

"Tip Stalls" will usually occur when you are flying too slowly through a turn. As you turn, the outside wing is moving faster than the inside wing and vice versa. So since the inside wing is moving slower, it will stall first and the plane will fall to that side - usually resulting in a major loss.

If you are coming straight in on final, the chance of a tip stall is relatively small - In fact, in 50 years of flying I've never had it happen. If a plane tip stalls on landing, there's not a thing you can do about it. For that matter, if the plane stalls at all on landing there's nothing you can do about it - You're too close to the ground to recover from it.


When a wing stalls, you have no control until the wing starts flying again - which isn't going to happen if you're less than tree top high - so there's nothing you can do once it happens. The trick is not to let it happen. Keep your flying speed up until you are ready to set the wheels down.

My wife has an Escapade and my experience with it is that if it is forced into a stall it will fall straight ahead. Her's weighs right in the middle of the advertised weight range and has no modifications.

So fly with speed to the ground. Saturday will be the day when theory ends and reality begins. I no longer will fear the skys but will fly unto horrizon's unseen.

Fly with enough speed to prevent a stall - which is not hard to do with that plane.

Once you get into planes with a heavier wing loading (like a warbird) you'll learn the meaning of the term, "Fly it into the ground"

Minnflyer is correct. I see more tip stalls in the final base turn to final. Low, slow, and often too steep and sharp to make up for a misjudged approach.

However, many also occur on that final flair due to too high an angle of attack at too slow a speed. Your sport airplane should be very resistant to that.

Landing is where all your flying skills come into play, because it is basically a stall to the ground. At some point, those wings need to stop flying, in order to land, and the trick is to make them stop at just the right time. Too much speed, and even if your wheels are on the ground, they are still flying and the slightest up elevator puts you back in the air. Too little speed too soon, and you land / stall before you reach the ground, usually ending your flying day for that plane.

Each plane is different. So that first flight plan should be to learn the slow flight characteristics of that particular plane in order land successfully. That is my approach anyway, for the maiden flight.

Not rocket science. You will do fine.

Hey, if I can drive my Toyota without crashing this should be no trouble at all : -)

Not to change the subject, but as long as you mentioned it...

I think Toyota has the right idea - Kill off the people who are too stupid to turn off the ignition!

but if i turn the key off, then how will I hear the radio?

in the hospital

No tip stall's in this vid guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn6ggPWDZqo

HI ON FINAL THE PLANE WILL USUALLY DO A SLIGHT ROCKING MOTION IF YOU SLOW IT TO MUCHTHIS IS YOUR SIGN THAT THE STALL IS COMINGBLEEP THE THROTTLE JUST ENOUGHT TO INCREASE YOUR FOWARD MOTION AND THAT WILL KEEEP THE PLANE FLYINGALL WILL BE FINE ( INCREASING POWER CAN SAVE A STALL )- NEVER STOP TRYING TO FLY THE PLANE (NEVER NEVER GIVE UP) AND AN INPUT OF UP AT THE LAST MOMENT HAS VERY OFTEN SAVED MY PLANE-EVEN WHEN I THOUGHT IT CRASHED -I HAVE WALKED TO IT TO SEE IT SITTING ON ITS GEAR A HALF DOZEN TIMES IN 20 YEARS- AS THE PLANE SKIMMING ALONG THE GROUND IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN A DIRECT NOSE IN-FLY THAT THING EVERY MOMENT YOU CANI HAVE SEEN FRIENDS WALK AWAY FROM THE FLIGHT LINE ONLY TO HAVE THERE PLANE POP UP OVER THE TREES TO COMPLETELY SURPRISE THEMYOU GET THE IDEAENJOY REGARDS TONY

Please, please, please, turn the caps off. Your post gave me a headache.[]