Today I took this plane out for the first time and I could not get it to lift off. I would get speed up and the tail would start to lift and then want to flip over. I then added a little down elevator on the trim and it would just bounce around a little and the tip on the nose. I even ballanced it a little heavy on the tail side. Do you thnk I am just not getting enough ground speed.

Adjust the landing gear so the tail is at least level to slightly higher than level. This will allow the wing to rotate to an angle of attack necessary to take off without having to lift the main gear off the runway.[&:]

The Voyager is a trike isnt it? What do you mean the tail starts to lift?

How about answering some questions so we can help you better...

Have you flown a trainer?

Do you have an instructor?

Does the plane balance at the correct place according to the manual?

Does the planes' wing sit level with the ground?

What propellor are you using?

Yes it's a trike and I have been flying solo since last spring. As I stated in my post I ballanced it just a little tail heavy like I was taught when I first started out. The plane sits with the tail just a little low. I am running 10x6 prop ( If I remember correctly)on a OS 46 FX.

What happens when the tail is low is that as the plane gains speed the wing (and tail) forces the nose into the ground and won't allow the airplane to take off unless you have alot of power. If you have enough power it will lift straight up. The wing wants to fly level and the tail does also so they are lifting the main gear and plowing the nose. This creates the situation you described. With the tail level or slightly (or even greatly) above level as the plane gains speed the wing and tail want to rotate the nosewheel off the ground and past allowing the plane to take off with alot less power. Lifting the nosewheel off the ground eliminates the drag of the nosewheel.
I have seen this situation alot on trainers in particular where people have great difficulty getting off the runway.

That seems to make scense but my trainers tail sits really low from the landing gear being bent to many times but it takes off in just a few short feet.

Try it on your trainer also. The trainer has a larger wing(more lift and lower wing loading) and does it have a pretty big engine? Does it kinda 'pop' off the ground? If you have enough power they fly anyway.

So what adjustments should I make after I reglue the horizontal stab? Should I also try a different prop?

Just bend the gear or put bigger tires on the main gear. Whatever it takes to get the tail up a bit. Sometimes the nose gear can be adjusted so it is lower in front to level out the plane. You don't need to do anything to the stab. It is just a landing gear problem.

Check the obvious first. I maidened my brothers trke trainer and thought the same thing, this thing doesn't want to fly. It just kept nosing over on take off. A friend at the field took a look and the elevator was reversed. This forced the nose over the more elevator i applied. If you haven't already checked it, check it. Pull back elevator goes up, push forward elevator goes down. I know it sounds too basic but sometimes these things get over looked.

I'm not sure what you really mean by "a little heavy on the tail side", but I strongly suggest that you balance it correctly. There is a good chance that when you do get it airborn, it will be tricky to handle -- very pitch sensitive. It may not survive the experience.

I had that exact same thought when I read it. If you make it tail heavy, its going to be a bear to fly.

You were taught to balance "a little tail heavy"? What the.......?

No way Jose! You should, at almost any skill level, balance a plane so that it's a little nose heavy. I try to do this on every plane that I'm just trying out and will move the CG to the rear as I get used to it.

I agree with Great-North. Check the obvious. Are you sure your engine is running right (fuel leak, running rich, etc.....), is the elevator reversed (been there done that!)?

Good luck,

I agree that you need to check the elevator direction.

Also, check to make sure you have the main gear installed correctly, and don't have the main wheels too far back, that can make it hard to rotate for takeoff. You want the mains just behind the CG. If you set the plane down on a flat surface, you should be able to push down lightly on the tail, and the nose should come up. If it takes a lot of force to raise the nosewheel off the ground, your mains aren't located correctly compared to the CG.

Set the CG as per the plans. A little nose heavy is ok, tail heavy is probibly not a good idea. But if you are too nose heavy then you have the problem with the gear being too far back.

Are you flying from grass or pavement?

On grass, you want a trike-geared plane plane to sit either level or slightly nose-high. A little nose-down is ok, but not great. If you are nose down, the nosewheel digs in, and you can't get up to speed very well, and you have to apply a lot of up elevator to get the plane to rotate. This can result in an abrupt takeoff in to a stall. On grass, being slightly nose up helps keep the nosewheel from digging in and allows you to get moving. But be careful about being too nose up, if you are too nose up, the plane can leap off the ground too soon. So, if you're on grass, you might try a larger nosewheel.

Also, if you are on grass, what size wheels are you using? Many sport planes, espeically ARFs come with wheels that are just too small for anything like a typical club grass field. (I've been to fields that looked like golf-course fairways, but most look like a close-cut house lawn, and for that kind of thing, you need larger wheels, at least 2", with 2.5+ being better)

On pavement, you usually want to be slightly nose down, but NOT nose up. If you are nose-up on pavement, it gets hard to land, you end up bouncing all over the place. And you run the risk of getting off the ground too quickly.