Hi All
Just completed my fiirst flight (with instructor) of my Hobbico Supersport Electric w ailirons.
We had a hell of a time keeping it on the runnway - It just fishtailed off as soon as the throttle was advanced.
It is a tail dragger, with pretty flimsy wire gear, but I need to solve this if I'm ever to take off myself.
The gear just starts to vibrate a the plane goes crazy left to right and then right to left then ...
Is anyone out there familiar with this model? would trying some new gear setup be the answer?
Any Ideas?
Lenny

Lenny,

Bend the gear slightly forward, that will help it some. Are you taking off from grass or pavement?. Some smaller electric planes just do not like grass runways and need to be hand launched

[edit] sarcastic answer removed....

my wife hates my sarcasm too.....

Second what bubba said. If the gear is bent back it will cause the wheels to point outward, called toe out. This will make a taildragger very difficult to keep going straight. You want them to point inward (toe in) slightly. Bending them forward will usually give you this.

I did not see a SuperSport on Hobbico's web site made by Hobbico but I did see the Superstar EP. RCU has a review and what you need to do to help it track straight on grass

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=577

Make sure that both wheels on the main gear will turn freely; if one of them is binding it may cause the problem you have described.

Taking off fron blacktop runway - Already went to 2 1/2 inch wheels and I bought a tail wheel assemby but the wire was not long enough to reach the rudder to make it steerable so I set it up as stationary thinking at least the rubber would not slide as easy as the plastic skid - I'll try bending the gear forward - should I try changing the gear to something more solid then wire.
thanks
Lenny

Lennyshotgun, I am not familiar with this model at all, as i rarely fly electrics,, but be careful on putting in stronger undercarriage, as anything stronger will also be heavier, and as i said not being familiar with this model , i don't know what wing loading it has, or the amount of excess power the motor has , to be able to handle this extra weight, . Maybe someone who is familiar wit hthis model will be able to help you better .
the_madgenius, down-under , Australia

Lenny:
Put a longer wire on the tailwheel to get it working. needs it on pavement, not so on grass. Bend the gear in, not forward, otherwise bending it forward will cause it to groundloop, switch ends, which is what it's trying to do now. Wire gear works fine.

Bending the gear further forward will only make the fishtailing worse. The closer the gear are to the CG the better the ground handling. Of course the further back the gear are the more tendency it will have to nose over, so you need to find the sweet spot. But do not bend them forward, trust me.

Stronger or shorter wire if you can for the mains.

Dion

Thanks guys - I bent the gear forward and loosed up the wheels (i guess they were binding a little) and it is much better - you people are the best.
Lenny

Lenny, did your 'castor' type tailwheel help reduce the fishtailing? I'm having the same problem with mine, I finally hand-launched it and it flew fine, but would rather ROG.

No - I ended up putting a steerable tailwheel on it - taxis fine now

Chances are YOU are over controlling it, to much rudder and to fast acceleration. ENJOY !!! RED

Which steerable tailwheel did you use? I've tried two and neither one fits.

Bent my own - see http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=577
toward the end of the article.

Yeah, I wanted that one but I couldn't see spending $8 on shipping for a $3 part. I'm going to try it tomorrow with the caster tail wheel, but from what you said, it won't improve anything, so Ill have to hand launch it. There's a ten foot berm along the runway I can stand on and launch. Man, what a pain, you'd think Hobbico would make these things right in the first place.

here here you would think a trainer would be better thought out - it was really easy to make - epoxy it accross the bottom of the rudder and run it through the fuse - bend - put on wheel
good luck

Check this out:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/attac...hmentid=544862

the SSEP gear are basicly "junk." stronger gear would be of big help. keep in mind on asphalt wheel movements are eggagerated & you may have too much movement. a slight main wheels helps too.

the SSEP gear are basicly "junk." stronger gear would be of big help. keep in mind on asphalt wheel movements are eggagerated & you may have too much movement. a slight toe in main wheels helps too.