Hey, just got into the RC scene and have invested in a electric plane/glider, only trouble is im havin trouble keepin the thing up in the clouds. Once the planes up in the air, and i begin to turn to bring it towards me it tends to head for tera firma due to the fact its not facing into the wind, how do i over come this prob. I know that it is benficial that i seek an instructor, but gave it a go without, and seemed to be fine appart from turning, and i dont fancy just lettin it fly straight for the rest of my life. Ive crashed twice due to the same problem, the poor blighters still goin strong tho with no major scars. Any help appreciated [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

Chillywilly, If you are getting the plane up into the clouds, you know how to control it. Make those turns slowly, and the plane will not know it is going down wind, but will pick up ground speed going downwind. REMEMBER the plane is flying in air passing over the, wings, regardless of the direction of the wind in relation to the ground. The plane always flys in air comming at the front of the plane. A quick turn will have the plane going in relation to the ground, but not in relation to the air it is trying to fly through. WHAT KIND of model is it?[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Its called SuperpowerZ 200, thats in the UK as far as i know its a very similar or exact replica of the Firebird models in the USA, the simple ones in yellow, with no wheels or struts. It comes with a training wing which V's slightly at the ends, and a speed wing, its only 2 channel. Thanx for the advice aformentioned, u made alot of sense, and im already inchin to get up there again and put ur advice to practice. Cheers! I also realised i wasnt letting the plane gain much altitude, so there wasnt much room for mistakes if i made them. Its just lettin the little baby fly that high feels wrong on ur first attempts, but it makes sense so if you mess up youve got room to adjust.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

As Bill said you need to make the turns nice and slowly. The training wing is polyhedral and should be quite happy flying level but absolutely will not turn sharply. (Well, you might be able to force it too, but it will not be happy!)
If it has an elevator you will have to pull back a bit during turns or it will drop, otherwise, the steeper the turn, the faster it will sink. I think the Firebird has some kind of weird control system that does that for you - it might need to be adjusted.

U are both right! Cheers pals. For some strange reason England had a hot and windless day which is like the end of the earth for this time of year for over here. Which was great ofcourse, so i took it to the field which is about 30 feet away from my house and has a 20 foot bank at the end so i hand launched it off there and hoped for the best, turning gently it didnt decide to plumet to its demise, and carried on happily around the field about twice, GREAT FUN!!! Im now worrying as i have to go to college tommorow and wont get back till 5 so im hopin it wont be dark by then so i can fly again Thanx once again! U guys are great, no doubts i will be back with more problems for u to laugh at. And help with me[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

All right! Glad to hear you got it flying properly.
And don't worry about anyone laughing at your mistakes. Most of us have probably made the same ones [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Remeber that when the plane turns the wings have to do extra lifting. Not only must they support the weight of the airplane, but they must supply the lift to counter the centrifugal force, as well. I won't bore you with a physics lecture, but an airplane making a level(non-descending) turn with a 45-degree angle of bank needs to make 44% more lift than if it were just flying straight and level. This means that when you roll the airplane to turn, you must also pull (and hold) some up elevator as long as the wings are banked.

Historically, Most aircraft controls are mislabeled.
The rudder control is actually used to roll the airplane (in your non-aileron airplane)
The elevator control turns the airplane once it is rolled.
The elevator also controls airspeed. Pull the nose up, the plane slows. Push the nose down, the plane goes faster.

The throttle controls altitude. Add throttle, the plane climbs. Decrease throttle, the plane descends.

Good Points, Jim![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] We ought to paste them to our transmitters! Thanks for the reminder.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]