I have been flying helicopters for many years and i finally decided it's time to get into airplanes. Well my bixler 1.1 arf arrived yesterday and after following a build guide on youtube the plane is assembled and looks ready to fly at least i think? the motor and all the servos work and everything fits very nicely together. I am using a Dx7 transmitter and i am very confused. i do not know what settings i must change or adjust on my Dx7 i would love for someone to explain to me the setup from scratch with the bixler and the Dx7. Also as this is my first time building a plane is there anything i should know or be careful of? it is stromy outside so going to wait until the weather dies down a bit so i can maiden her and have my first ever plane flight.
Thanks for any help
Jonathan

the Center of Gravity! is by far the most important thing of all! I have no experience with that plane, but it has wings, so I might be able too give a lil insight!

I also am not an DX7 user, but I will assume that you can set-up your transmitter, the controls or not much different then a heli, as long as you get your trans. into airplane mode!
the control throws should be in your instructions,

mode 2 planes, have the elevator and ailerons on the right stick.
throttle and rudder on the left stick!

when you pull back on right stick, the elevator should go up! and vice versa!
when you push the right stick too the right, the right aileron should go up, and left on should go down!
rudder (left stick) when pushed too the left, the rear of the rudder should go in the same direction as the stick, when looking at the plane from the rear!
in fact all references refer too the plane from the rear!

don't know if that is what you are looking for, but thought I would try! good luck, if you can fly a heli, you should have no prob. with that plane!

you'll love the bixler and the DX7, I've got one for my Kid and he loves it!
(I've got one that's a equipment test bed/ general throw in the car for a quick fix airplane)
the bix 1.1? .. is this the version with two long screws holding the wings on and with a hatch in the fuselage bottom for servo access?
radio setup is very straightforward, do you have the 'classic' version DX-7 or the newer DX-7S?
(really, servo direction and travel is the only thing you'd need to set..) also I've seen people manage to get the prop on backwards :-/
(the front of the prop is the front of the prop, regardless of which way the motor faces)

I would disagree on the heli to fixed winged transition. Suggest you find a person who flies planes to give you a hand on a buddy box as both aircraft perform and handle very differently.Don't you have a manual for your transmitter? If not download one from Horizon Hobbies.

Raptureboy
I will have to disagree on your disagreement on the transition from helis to airplanes as I'm one those that learned to fly helis first ( on my own, yes I crashed a lot in the beginning ) my transition to airplanes took only two days, on my first day ( 5 flights ) I learned how to take off, climb, level flight, turns without loosing altitude, pattern work , climb, descent, throttle management, approach to land and off course landings, on the second day I practiced the same but this time we focus on landings the other stuff was been flown as we practice landings, by the end of my second day I flew my solo flight with great success and that's how my journey with airplane began, now days I'm flying airplanes just my planes go a little faster and are more expensive ( way to expensive )

The transition from helis to airplanes is a very short one since the pilot already knows how to fly and brings a high percentage of knowledge during the transition ( like myself ) the biggest thing that I had to learn was the approach and the flare to land, that is the most difficult part for anyone anyways.

Ps: I'm steel learning how to flare

Jonathan

You are going to have lots of fun with the Bixler, I know, I have the original version for over a year or so, take a look at the link posted below it will give you an insight of the many mods you can do to it, I did a few not all of them, since I knew that I was going to push the Bixler to the max I reinforced the wings with the tape, the fuse with the carbon shaft, the horizontal stab, also did a mod where I can take the tail feathers off and now I'm able to put the airplane back in the box the way it came plus radio, batteries and the few other things I need to fly her

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1231310

Carlos R.

Jonathan

You only need to read the first three or four postings, those are maintained by the creator of the post, he takes only the important comments from the thread and brings it to the front 3 postings.

I did one or two more mods that are not poste there just because I knew I was going to push the Bixler hard also wanted to make it easy to assemble, at the same time it is small enough to keep it assembled.

I have a Spectrum DX6i flying mine, the software should be almost the same, I use dual rates and I have a mix AIL/RUDD that I can turn on and off with a switch for coordinate turns and rolls, I highly recommend the APC prop as the original one is just a toy also a small drop of blue locktight on the two screws holding the motor to the motor mount ( I can show that with a picture ).

If you like to see my mods I can take pictures to show, also I could give you the specs on my set up if you need it, let me know.

+1 on that. Going from heli's to planes makes things a lot easier (as I personally found). Adding a bit on time on the sim to get the 'feel' difference ingrained a little also helps a LOT.
Glad to also hear that I not the only mad so in so who taught himself to fly heli's, and that my planes are now starting to get pretty dam expensive.

One of the modes done to the wing was to doble the Aileron horn with plastic to be able to have a much smaller hole for the clevis.

The only part change here was the Aileron push rod, I added a mini Durbro one.

The fuse is in the storage unit, I will get to it later and will take more pics ( sorry, I recently moved and my place is a mess, just ask my wife, anyways most of our stuff is her stuff ( figures )

this guy never saysn anything about instructers,,buddy boxes etc. itsurelooks to me like he is going to go italone. this meanshe is going to re-kit the little bird right out of the box. being a 1000 hour full scale pilot before flying rc sure showed me that next to nothing about flying the real thing transfers to rc. i doubt that anything will transfer from heli rc to aircrat rc. this guy needs a buddy box and save hinself lots of rebuild time.

Hi guys thanks so much for the help and tips. I must say i was really surprised at how easy and fast it was to build this plane. Thanks for the radio setup tips just a small question to you plane flyers i am flying mode 2 and so when i pull the elevator (right stick) down the airplane should pull up right? and when i push the stick up the airplane should dive correct? i know it's a silly question but i am just curious what the correct way is that most people fly with.

@AMA yes it is the 1.1 version with the 2 large screws holding in the wings and the removable hatch. I heard bad things about the Bixler Version 2 like it being underpowered so i opted for the 1.1 like many others. My Dx7 is the original version.

@Cars thanks so much for showing me that thread on Rcgroups i will definitely be making some of those mods soon and yes i would love to see pictures of your mods if it's not any hassle
I like how you have taped the wings and fuselage and to double the aileron horn with plastic i think i will do that today! But i will slowly add the mods as i learn more about the airplane and how she handles.

@Fred yes for the most part i am going to go it alone currently between college and holding down a job i don't have much time for the local club i much prefer to fly by the fields nearby my house. so yes i will be learning to fly by myself if i crash and have to rebuild so be it! Then again i also taught myself to fly rc helicopters so i really doubt it could be that much harder. As for this whole back and forth about whether flying rc helicopters helps you or not. I really don't see how it could not help you. Anyway hopefully tomorrow the weather is better and i can maiden her it's just been wind and rain all day but i guess that's typical when you get a new plane karma i tell ya! Oh and how do i go about balancing the plane i really have no idea?
Thanks for the help
Jonathan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw-7qlCaIJo version 2 but should be close

Jonathan

You're welcome, I also suggest to double the elevator horn
.

On this one you can see that I opened a hole on the front side of the fuse for ventilation this air goes right by the speed controller and it comes out on the back via another hole, both cut at an angle.

more

On this one you can see that I added a tab made of the reinforced tape to have a handle where to pull instead of squeezing the canopy that could lead to damage.

On the pics you can see another mod, hot glue the lead to the side of the fuse.

Jonathan

On your first flight have some Elevator up using the trim, when you push her into the air she is going to want to descend some then she will pick up speed and flaw away, the up trim will help you reduce the descend and stress on you when that happens, other than that she flys like a dream and smooth,

Have fun.

i am loving those mods cars! i look forward to adding them in slowly but i have a big problem at the moment! Yesterday i took her for her maiden everything looked okay so i got my friend to hand launch her for me and i was on the controls. It immediately went in hitting the ground nose in. It did not even get to fly for 2 seconds. I am guessing the plane is nose heavy i mean i was giving it full power and pulling back a lot on the elevator and it still went nose into the ground. Luckily nothing broke i only have to re-glue the nose so i got lucky. Please don't tell me i need help from an experienced pilot cause i am still going this alone for now. Anyway i am really disheartened i really thought she would fly What am i doing wrong?!? i am guessing my center of gravity is off? i now see i missed a link from wishykid that may help. Please help thanks!
Jonathan

a couple of things... forst, that airplane would need to be EXTREMELY nose heavy for it to lawn dart like that... what is much more likely is:
1) the elevator moves in the wrong direction (when you pull the stick BACK, the TRAILING EDGE of the elevator should move UP)
2) the elevator is trimmed down too much (with your hands off the sticks and the radio turned on, the elevator should be trailing edge neutral / streamlined OR SLIGHTLY trailing edge UP)
3) with the bixler, you should launch with only 1/2 to 3/4 throttle the first couple of flights, with the down thrust and high mounted motor, full throttle tend to push the nose down.

to check the CG:
the CG should be set at 60mm from the leading edge of the wing, measured where the wing meets the fuselage....
make a mark on the bottom of both wings, 60MM back from the leading edge.
with the battery in place, put your fingers on those 2 marks and see if the airplane's nose drops (nose heavy) , tail drops (tail heavy) or stays basically balanced on your fingers (balanced)
if it's nose or tail heavy, try to move the battery around forward or aft until the airplane does balance.

my personal thought is that you had a combination of the above issues...

Good advice from AMA,
The Bixler will balance right out of the box, mine came. With 5 whashers ( you see them on one of the pictures on top of the nose.) if you don't have them then you can balance it by using a 2200ma battery if you do then use a 1300ma battery to fly and balance it, I use both size of batteries, I remove the washers to fly with the 2200ma batteriies

Jonathan
You could have someone with experience do the first flight to trim her after that she is all your.