Does the angle of the engine and in particular the prop angle make a big difference in the planes performance? After my recent crash, which broke the firewall away from the fuselage, I epoxied it back in place and it fitted back in place like a jigsaw piece.
However I have now noticed that the prop angle seems to be down slightly say around 10 degrees down from being horizontal.
Is this normal anyway, I cannot remember if it was on that angle before the crash and as the firewall fitted back in place nice and tight I am wondering if it wasn't perhaps like this originally.

Thanks,

Troy.

Welcome back Troyp: Yes most (not all) planes benefit from some down thrust, usually not more then 2 to 4 degrees. And some require right thrust to compensate for torque, again usually not More then 2 to 4 degrees. the best way to tell is by flying the plane in different attitudes, and observing how the plane flies. There is some real good info. at rcfaq.com on trimming airplanes, that helped me tremendously, a very informative sight, good reading, all of it. But unless the thrust angle is terribly off I would not think it would cause a crash. Always glad to help if I can.

if your plane has a flat bottom wing it probably had some down and or right thrust,as $ircras$halot has said,some planes and pilots need 0 degrees in thrust and offset,fly it then trim it

Thanks for the reply $ircra$halot. Looking at it more closely now it does seem as if it is supposed to be angled down slightly. I will see how it handles when I finally get it up flying.

Regards,

Troy.

Troyp: Anytime.

Hi Troy... glad you're back with it! I'll agree with what's already been said in that nearly all trainers benefit from a bit of down thrust. With more speed, a flat bottom wing will usually tend to climb, and the down thrust in the engine counters this. Often not perfectly though. An advantage of this is in a dive, as speed increases the airplane will tend to pull up...especially if you chop the throttle. Yours is probably ok where it is.

Gday Crosswind,

Im Glad to finally have the time to be back into it. I just have to wait 12 more days until the airport runway extensions are complete and I finally have my own flying field on the makeshift runway they have made just out of town.
regards,

Troy.