Hi everyone, im new to the forum and an absolute beginer in the hobby so i will be askin you guys alot for help.
I just finished assembling my trainer plane last week and took it out today. Where i live there are no instructors around so thats not an option so i decided to learn to fly myself...slowly. I realize that flying a plane is no easy task so today i just went out a did alot of taxiing around and getting used to throtle and and steering. It went well for a while until the engien quits and wouldnt start again. I followed the instruction very closely on break-in procedures but im not sure on the needle valve setting. When i couldnt start teh engien again I thought the glow plug was dead do i checked and it was glowing fine but when i turned the prop i saw the engien was half full of this thick green gooey oily stuff. That didnt look so good then i dumped as muc of it out as possible and started the engien again it wokred then i closed the needle a bit cuz i thought i was running too rich. The engien quits again after about 10 mins i took the glow plug out and the bottom of it was burnt black and the piston was also burnt a lil bit... maybe from the heat and combustion and all but i dunno... is this normal or is it suposed to be clean lookin and stuff? The instruction said to open the needle 2 and half turns for break in then close it gradually till rpm drops something liek that. the needle was 2 turns open, after i tighten the needle like mentioned above, its now 1 and half open. How much do you guy open your valve... i understand that this varies from engine to engien but i just wanted to get a rough idea so i dont lean it too much

Its winter here in ontario, like -5*C. Is it ok to run the engien this cold? cuz i ran the engine outside once and it was freezing.. probly colder than -5, it ran but a lil slugish but that was durrin break in. I was thinkin of puttin skis on and run on the snow. And the props... at my local hobby store there are only 3 kinds of props available[:'(]... wood, master airscrew, APC. I've tried them all but cant really tell which one is good, what kind do you guys use?. And also im runing a GMS 47 so what size and pitch is best?

I have a futaba skyport 6 transmitter and was thinking if i can buy an adapter or whatever and use it as a controler for the flight sim i found on the net for free cuz i dotn wanna buy the Real Flight package im on a tight budget [&o]. thats all for now... liek i said, Im a real newbie at this so ill be coming back here often asking you guys stuff. Thanks for your replies
Trung

just break in the engine by what the manual sez. follow it to the T!!! as for the goo yeah your running rich and its an excess of oil thats all. try leaning it maybe 1 or 2 clicks. as for cold, yeah thats a bit too cold to run an engine. As for prop, your new, the best prop that stands up to beginners is the master airscrew, has square tip so the ground wont do much damage. go with an 11x5 or 11x6. The wood will just splinter the second it touches the ground and be no good and the APC will break the tips off when it touches the ground. The APC IMHO gives more thrust and is better, but stay with master airscrew for now as the ground wont hurt it much. As for no instrutor, I did it without 1 and flew successfuly my first time and landed. Now I am an istructor and teach other people (i'm 19 too). Make sure you know what your doin, read everything you can get your hands on, Search the net, use the sim. make sure all control surfaces move the right way and your used to aileron and rudder reversal when the plane is headed torwards you. I started off with high speed taxing, then getting the front wheel off the ground for a wheelie, then getting the plane about 3 feet in the air then cutting throttle and landing, then I got the balls to actually take her up and fly aound. Nice and easy control inputs. Dont be afraid to lose the plane to a crash cause its not a matter of IF you will crash but WHEN you will we crash. I dont think there is 1 seasoned modeler hear that has not crashed. Good luck and if you need anything just email me directly at [email protected] and I will be glad to help you anyway i can.

sean

Trung, Sean has answered your questions perfectly, but I will like to add a couple of things. For your safety, if you use the any plastic or fiber prop, which are very durable, dull the edges with sand paper because they cut like knives. I will recommend you use wood props for now, they break if they hit something, that alone might save you or somebodyelse a trip to the hospital. Taxing the airplane is very good for you as it teaches you many things, like engine/power control, engine adjustments, and taxing is the preamble to take off, so mastering that will help you later when flying. When you taxi, practice both going away and coming towards you, you will see that the orientation or motion reverses to your view, coming towards you, a left turn goes to your right, same will happen in flight with turns, keep that in mind and practice it. Remember to power down the throttle to idle ( or to off ) in any difficult situation, even in flight, it takes much practice to make power help you in an emergency. Please tell us what airplane you got to give you hints on it. Do not hesitate to e-mail Sean, or me, with ANY questions no matter how simple they sound. Good luck !!! <<[email protected]>>

Yah i actually taxied mine for like month through a gallon of nitro up and down my street. I live on a dead end so it wasnt a problem. Make sure since your on the ground alot, get a small airfilter also as dirt and sand will get into the carb and ruin your engine fairly quicly. I ALWAYS have an airfilter on my models. Alot of people say you dont need one, but hey it dosnt hurt. As for the wood props, Everytime your prop touches the ground, you will need a new cause it will split spanwise down to the hub. A plastic one just may lose a little material off the tip. Motocross is right about the wood props on the hurting a lot less and causing less bodily harm because they are not as sharp. I have split open my finger before in the cold from the prop, i almost passed out from the extreme pain and it was only at idle! Watch out for that prop!!!

Sean

When you say there are no instructors around, is it that you couldn't find one, didn't look, or there is actually noone within a hundred miles of you? I am sure I have seen others from london Ont on here. Have you looked at the MAC website to see where the closest club is?

I have seen so many people say there are no clubs around, only to find one really close. I have also seen many taxi and try to learn on their own only to wreck the plane within seconds of lifting it off the ground. You would be better to drive an hour to get help than wreck the plane right off. If you are taxiing it in your neighborhood and it gets away from you at a high throttle setting for what ever reason, what is it going to hit? Are there other kids around where you are running it? What happens if you hit one of them?

Don't mean to sound like a doomsdayer, but I have seen it so many times. Make sure you are doing it someplace where you can't hit anything or any one if you are going to try it alone. I can say with about 100% certainty that eventually you will get it in the air and won't know what to do. Make sure you have the room so when it comes down again, no matter if it is in control or not, it won't hit anything.

"And the props... at my local hobby store"

Chances are, If you have a "local hobby store", there should be an instructor near by. Ask at the hobby store and I'll bet they can hook you up. At least take your plane to the hobby store and let someone check it out first and help you set it up for the first flight.

Good Luck,

Mike

Well thanks for the help guys
I live like half an hour out of London, its in the country place so everytime i need to get something from the hobby store its a real hassle. I thought bout learning it myself by taxing cuz my house is surounded by farmland anyways and its winter here so its easy to taxi on skis. I had my engine and plane checked out a bit by this guy i know but he flies helis so its not perfect. Maybe i didnt make myself clear but when i said local hobby store i meant liek the closest one to me which is in london[&o]

I'm not that familiar with Ontario, but try the link below. One of these clubs may be near you. Two of them are listed as London, and if you're only 30 minutes away, that's NOT very far! You'll be making a lot of trips to the hobby shop if you try to fly on your own anyway. So you might as well drive to a club instead and get help learning to fly.

[link=http://www.maac.ca/zones/clubs/clubs_m.html]http://www.maac.ca/zones/clubs/clubs_m.html[/link]

Kerry

I agree whole heartedly with finding an instructor. I fly at a place with no restrictions and it's a real nightmare. I would say half of the beginners and many of the "experienced" flyers leave without their entire plane. I see far too many crashes and potential for injury...

I hope this picture is evidence enough for someone to get off the ground with the help of an instructor

man you are lucky i only have one club in my area and its 25 min away.

Geez, Both fields I fly at are 30 to 45 minutes away in the opposite direction. A 30 minute drive will save you months of rebuilding. If you don't want to spend the time driving to get help, you won't be in the hobby long and everything you spent so far is wasted. It would be wise to spend the time to drive in for some help flying. May just be empty farm land that you hit when you crash, but the plane will be ruined just the same.

The field i fly at is about a 40 min drive. To (mentally) lessen the time, I just bring two or three of my fav cd's, listen to some good music, and think about today's upcomming flying. Afterward, I enjoy a relaxing ride home after a good day of flyin!

Hey Trung,

Where are you going to fly? We've got a really nice field on the west side of Dayton, built for us by the Dayton MetroParks (300' paved runway, paved taxiways, pit area with tables, pavillion, etc.). It looks like you would be about 30 to 40 minutes away (SR42 into Xenia, SR35 into Dayton, and a couple of miles up I75), and we have very good instructors. Training night is Wednesday, starting at 6:00pm, which starts again in the spring. You don't have to join the club to get instruction, either. A drive of less than an hour is well worth decreasing the odds of losing your plane!!!!

Check out [link]http://www.wingmasters.org[/link]

We have better parking since this was taken, but here's a pic of the field.

Sorry Trung,

LOL...I guess I should have put the glasses on. It looked like your location said "London, OH", not "London, ON". Oh Well, best of luck to you anyway. Felling pretty dumb now.........

Daaaaaaaaaaaamn Grittykitty, what a tease!!! I was wondering, does the FAA require you guys paint yellow X's on the runway so as to prevet full scale pilots from accidently trying to land there? Either way its a good idea.

It's not required on something our size, but we do have a few full scale pilots at the club who did some fly-overs, and recommended that it be done. They stated that from the air, your perspective can get a little skewed, and that it does look pretty real when getting a horizon (distant) look at it. They stated that once directly overhead, it is quite obvious it's a mini runway, but I guess there are just enough people in the air who shouldn't be.

from the replies im getting i think a 45 mins drive is too bad. Thanks kerrydel for the site. I asked the guy that helped me with the engine he lives in London so he got me hooked up with this one club and it was on the site kerrydel gave me .