OK, I'm starting to get a little nervous about maiking the maiden flight of my second airplane (4 star 40)[&:][&:] My trainer is an LT-40 and I have flown about 2 gallons through it without crashing or having any bad landings. Do you guys think I'm ready? My 4 star has an O.S. 46 AX and good JR radio equipment so I'm not worried about it being unreliable, but I hope that I'm ready for the step forward. Do you guys have any sugestions about landing/takeoff of a tail dragger? Does the 4 Star have any bad habits that I sould know about? About how long do you think I can fly with an 8 oz. tank?
Thanks, Jesse

I would let your instructor take it up for the first flight, then possibly buddy box it, or at least have your instructor nearby while you fly it. I didn't maiden any of my first few planes myself. Not until my second Somethin Extra.

I know that you want to maiden it yourself but let an instructor or very experienced pilot you trust do it. It probably isn't needed but why take a chance. When I maiden for someone it seems to relax them a lot more. They can fly it without the stress of the first takeoff/landing. After that it's all yours if you have no trouble.

Second Parrot`s suggestion to let your instructor, or other club-recognized top pilot, maiden and trim your 4*. It`s worth it, believe me. The 4* series are great second planes and first tail draggers. I found with mine that they are floaters of the first order when it comes to landing. If you`re carrying much air speed at all on final, you`ll probably find that it`ll balloon with NOT MUCH ELEVATOR AT ALL. I lost mine to a bad battery[:@]. I personally prefer planes with a more deliberate sink rate on landing, but would/will I get another 4*? You bet! They are RC classics and everybody ought to have at least one somewhere along the way ( IMHO, of course ). Enjoy!!

Agree, let another more experienced pilot do the maiden. If you had a few more gallons (read that as time) on the LT-40 then most everyone will agree with you doing the maiden but there is simply a lack of experience at this point. I do not mean that in a bad way.

Tide has this one absolutely correct. Everyone should own a 4* at some point. I still have one (4*60) even though I've pretty much moved onto gas. It's a very relaxing plane to fly, floats just like the LT-40 but is better overall at all the aerobatic maneuvers. Then when you think you've had enough of it, screw on a bigger 4-stroke, add to the rudder and elevators and then you will see what she really can do and it still will be just as docile as it was in stock form.

Thanks for all of the advise guys, but I'm affraid that I didn't really do what you said. I went to fly about an hour after I posted the subject and the only responses I had recieved was the one from "the parrot". I got to the field thinking that I would ask a more experienced pilot to at least stand by my side as I flew it for the first time, but when I got there it was completly deserted. So I decided to attempt to do it myself. I'm only 15 years old and I paid for the plane with my own money so you have good reason to think that I'm nuts. The weather wasn't so perfect either there was a varying wind of 5-10 mph and it was cloudy. I taxied out to the runway holding up elevator and got lined up on the runway. I only have one word to explain my take off, CRAZY! The plane swerved all over the runway for about the first 20' and then I pulled up elevator, and it rocketed off of the runway almost vertical. I dont know if it was just me, but it seemed that as soon as that plane was off the ground the wind speed almost doubled. That .46 AX has tons of power compared to that LA 40! The plane needed alot of up elevator trim to fly level, and a little right aileron. I only flew for about 5 mins because of the increasingly strong wind. So I decided to try some landing approaches. The first approach I made was almost perfect, considering the conditions, and I decided to take the oprotunity to land. When you said it is a floater, you were right! It came in and when it was about 3' above the ground, it almost stopped in midair and just floated on the stiff wind. Then it slowly sank down, tapped the runway, bounced up about a foot, and then finally settled down so gently on the ground. When I think back today about my flight I think to myself, "What were you thinking!". I'm quite sure that today was the most wind that I had ever flown in, and I did it on a brand new plane![&:] So thats my story of my first maiden flight. I should have taken your advice but I didn't want to get to the field and see that there was nobody there and just turn arround and go home. I guess I was just one of the lucky ones.

Jesse

Glad to hear you will get a second chance. I'll bet your heart was pounding on that flight! Your Instructor will enjoy the story the next time you take it out. There will be plenty of time to do it all on your own - be patient and enjoy.

Look at it this way Jesse. You got the maiden done. Also you just discovered that tail draggers need a little right rudder just as you start to add power to keep it straight. The amount varies with power and this will become second nature as you fly it more and more.

Just a few hints for you.

As I already mentioned be prepared to give it a very small amount of right rudder once you start adding power and also beprepared to remove the right rudder as speed picks up

Do not hold full up elevator once the plane gets rolling. As you found out it will go straight up once it starts flying and if you do not have enough speed then even a 4* will tip stall and cartwheel.

On landing you want to be pretty slow and at about 3 to 4 inches you want to be at full up elevator on idle. In this position it will just settle right onto the runway wthout bouncing.

All in all you did pretty good for the amount of time you have on your LT-40

I just have one question. Did you change your underwear once you got home???

Well it does sound like you pulled a lucky one off. I didn't realize you were gonna post the question then run out & fly it after just one response. If 5-10 mph wind is the srtongest you've flown in up to that point & only 2 gallons of fuel under your belt, I gotta say you were REAL lucky!! A flying buddy & myself burned thru 2 gallons in 2 days last week in 20+ winds just practicing high wind approaches and Bubba's "Crab & Slip" tecnique in heavy crosswinds. And I'm still not quite ready to maiden my Dragon Lady, she's just too darn purty to go out & plant by jumping the gun too early. I'm tired of "Growing Airplanes". I'm just flying them now. I've planted 6 of them in the past trying to get ahead of myself, & I water them & talk to them, but they just won't grow back. Take your time, & if it were me I'd get a few more gallons of fuel under my belt before I broke theat 4* back out. But at least now you know what to expect.
The last thing you want is your new 4* to 4 pieces, think about it. It's worth the wait!!

Congrats on the maiden!!! Yeah, you were fortunate. It may be hard to do now that you`ve flown the 4*, but I`d suggest at least another gallon or so through the LT-40. At this stage, there`s simply no substitute for plain old stick time. By the way, once you do start flying the 4* on a regular basis, you might consider keeping your trainer. It`ll make a good spare ( don`t worry, you`ll need one! ) plus you might find you`re in the mood to just go out to the field and " relax ". Nothing wrong with that at all. I kept my Avistar and I`m glad I did.

Beside, allot of clubs hold events at fun flies that only a trainer is good for. Trainer racing comes to mind. Funny as all get out to watch and usually you get one that is all chewed up on the tail.

How it works is pretty simple.

Put 2 cones out on the runway several feet apart, we use 100 feet, in the center of the runway. Remove the wing from the trainer and get 3 - 5 of them at the start line. At the start run 3 - 5 laps and the first one across the line wins. You are not allowed to cut the corners and anything goes.

What's really hard about it is a trainer without it's wing is very unstable and hard to turn without flipping it. When you have 5 of them on the track and the runway is 50 feet wide that really is not allot of room and someone always gets their tail chewed up by the plane behind it. Crashes are normal when the leader flips his plane and usually you go out pick it up and go again

Depending on the amount of people taking part in this you may have to run heat races. We found that's the best and is always the most popular event we have. Guys have gone out and bought the World Models Mach trainer at 70 bucks just for this