mesaflyer

Another beginner question. I have taught myself how to fly using a Nexstar and the simulator without much of a problem. Had a couple of semi-hard landings but nothing serious. Took all the training stuff off the plane and been doing loops, rolls, stalls, etc. Now I want to upgrade the plane and radio (already bought a Futaba 6EXAS). I see that I can either use flaperons, or I can cut the existing ailerons (the plane is set up with instructions on how to do this) and have flaps and ailerons. I have enough servos for the flaps/aileron set up. Just wondering which is best? Also, after I have several more hours on the Nexstar, I am planning on moving on up to warbirds. Probably will start out with the Hanger 9 P-47 60, and then it depends on how much my wife will let me spend! Thanks for your advice.

Mr67Stang

If you have the extra servos, do the flaps.

jetmech05

I'd recommend a tail dragger of some sort before your P-47. A 4 Star 60 perhaps or a Sky Raider

bruce88123

Go with the seperate flaps. It will fly better. You may not see a great deal of difference on a Nexstar either way to be honest but worth a try. Start with no more than 45 degrees of flaps and do it at altitude just in case I'm wrong. The idea is to generate lift more than it is to generate drag.

Insanemoondoggie

Don`t jump from the Nextstar to a Warbird.

mesaflyer

Couldn't find find a sky raider (pretty sure you didn't mean the A-1 skyraider!). Saw the four star 60 on Tower Hobbies. I just have to ask, is a tail dragger that much harder to fly? I have read alot about take offs and landings and needing to use right rudder. I guess that is something that can't be "simulated" for practice on the computer. Maybe I am kidding myself, but it was soo easy to fly the Nexstar, and I reeeeally want to fly warbirds. On the other hand, don't want to re-kit the P-47 on it's maiden flight.

B.L.E.

It's not taildragger landing gear that makes warbirds hard to fly.

mesaflyer

So, it's the low wing that makes it hard to fly? I kind of like the looks of the H9 Pulse XT. Is that a good low wing plane that I can learn from?

bikz

yeah...it is because they have similar charateristics as the real planes...different stall speeds should be the greatest consern i would say... it is not to say you shouldnt get a warbird...if u think ure up to it, go ahead...my second plane from a trainer was a CAP232...i went agaisnt many advice in going with it and i did ok i think...except that learning to land the thing at first was a lot different from my trainer...after flatting the landing gear completely a few times it got ok!

anyway, nowadays there are alot of 'hybrid' warbirds and the most common being the mustangs. they look like a mustang or whatever other warbird they intend for it to look like but in reality are more of a sport plane..they should be a lot easier than trying out a scaled mustang and i guess that would be a good choice..

sowega flyer

Mesaflyer,
Here is a link to the Skyraider Mach II:

http://www.airborne-models.com/html/...p?ProductID=16

This is an ideal second plane for you. Like yourself, I taught myself how to fly and I figured I was ready for the higher end of performance (and looks) when moving up from my trainer. I ended up with a bunch of scrap balsa and a lot less money. Try to progress slowly, and when you have really mastered the plane you have, then move up.

The Skyraider is an excellent choice because it is a very capable and sturdy plane. IMO, it has the ugliest color scheme imaginable, but that is redeemed by the $69.00 price tag. When you crash it, it doesn't hurt too much.

Jason

aerowoof

there are two types of warbirds the arf type which are sort of scale then there is the true scale warbird.the arf type are basiccally set up for the average flyer but do require experience as they are prone to snap roll if lifted from the ground before sufficient flying speed is reached,they also will turn left immediatelty if you slam the throttle to full on a take off roll.the difference between a trainer and a warbird is not the position of the wing a trainer is designed to recover from your mistakes a warbird does not allow much room to mahe a mistake.the wing loading is higher and you must use rudder to recover from snap rolls at low flying speed as using airlerons will make things worse in a hurry.then the scale warbirds have even a higher wing loading and require more expeerience,check out the warbirds forum for snap rolls and see how many new warbird pilots had problems on the first take off with out any idea why.take that trainer you have and add weight at the cg till your wing loading is 25 oz/sq ft this is a low wing loading for a warbird but you will see a big difference in how your trainer fly's

rlipsett

trainers land slow are are very stable. Low wing trainers fly faster and if they have symetrical wings with no dehedral then they fly inverted well. Tail draggers are not harder to fly or takeoff but you have to be aware of flying the tail before the plane lifts off and how you steer with power on the rudder or at very slow speed with the tail wheel. Taxing is the hard part because the plane can flip forward with gusts hence you fly the tail. Tail draggers do not roll over forward in a diagnal direction like nose steering airplanes do. Warbirds are finicky. they usually have high wing loadings which make them require speed and power to fly at slow or stall speeds they have a tendency to snap so this means you must practice at altitude to determine what the minimum safe speed to fly is. Some warbirds are adjusted to be more sport model then scale which means that liberties are taken in the design to make the plane more stable and have lower stall speeds. Most unknowledgeable people can not notice the change in wing dimensions or the lines of the aircraft that this has been done too though.

mesaflyer

Thank you all for the advice. This is such a great web site. I have been doing a lot reading on these forums. My wife is about to put me on computer restrictions! You are right, that Skyraider is kind of ugly. I am going to go with the H9 Pulse XT, as there are a lot of positive things written about H9 in here, and I wanted to get their P-47. After (hopefully) I have flown the crap out of Pulse, I will move on up the P-47. My original question was about flaperons, and now I am going with a different plane. I really appreciate all of your advice and help!
Just as side note, I have been to just about every air show around, and always love the warbirds. Last year, my brother and I were able to go for rides in Mustangs. Two planes for about an hour. What a ride.
Thanks again.

broke_n_bummin

Why don't you just get the H9 P51 PTS ARF. You can get just the plane without having to get all the rest. It has the droops, 3 blade prop and spinner and flaps. The flaps are made for either stationary, or you can put them on a servo. flaps don't just create lift, but they also create drag for slowing the plane down for landing. You can take the droops off and slap a 2 blade prop on it and you've got a taildraggin wadbird. The gera are bent so that the wheel axles are in front of the leading edge of the wing instead of even with it as they are normally, that reduces noseovers.
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=HAN2845

mesaflyer

Broke and bummin
I had been looking at that plane, but didn't know I coud get it alone. Guess I blew that one, cus I just ordered the Pulse. Thanks for the info.

AA5BY

Flaperons are generally helpful in slowing things down a bit especially on a those days without much wind. They don't produce as much drag and lift as dedicated flaps so I'd consider them a half way measure but worth doing on many models.

They do reduce aileron response sometimes to the point that rudder is also needed. My experience with them (currently have them on a Goldberg Cub and a Hanger 9 PT-19) is limited to non symmetrical foils so they may be more beneficial on a symmetrical or a plane that has more generous ailerons.

I'd not hesitate to add them and see what they can offer as very often they don't have any increased weight overhead as separate servos exist for the ailerons.

The only requirement is a radio that will do flaperons and most computer radios provide easy setups for them.

In general, I'd say that what they can do for you is to provide a more uniform glide slope between landings. What is meant is that with a good headwind, a model is given X amount of glide slope but in light air X produces too long a landing so using flaperons allows staying with X slope on light air landings.

mesaflyer

You answered the question I should have asked. What exactly do flaperons do and how much will they help.
Thanks

bruce88123

Flaperons are when you use the ailerons as flaps and ALSO as ailerons. Some also use them as spoilers by deflecting them upward.

Here is a handy glossary of RC words/terms: http://www.rcuniverse.com/community/glossary.cfm It can also be gotten to through the "RC COMMUNITY" tab at the top of this page.

Oh, how much they help is subjective and varies from plane to plane and by the amount used. They can actually hurt the performance of some planes and can make tip stalls occur more readily.

pkevinb

mesa, I have a Pulse and set it up for flaperons. I found that it tends to settle in and float on landing with them and not want to settle in. I don't really use them much on landing but they seem to help on take-off.

mesaflyer

pkevinb
I was going to upgrade my trainer (if thats possible), but now I am just going to start flying the Pulse. Was planning on putting the Pulse together per the manual, and just go out and have fun.
Thanks

pkevinb

It's a great plane to fly. It seems very light and fragile, but I crashed mine in a flat spin and the damage was very minor. I had it back together and flying again in 2 days. I was actually suprised at how minor the damage was.

I can do nice tail slides with it and it flies inverted better than any plane I own.

It also lands deadstick very easily too.

mesaflyer

This will be my first low wing plane. Should be here today. Hope to go flying this weekend. Saw the video of it flying and read a few reviews. I plan on taking it slow, anything special I should look out for?
I have not had to do any dead stick landings, yet. I am going to take my trainer out and run it dry on the last couple of flights, just for practice.

bruce88123

Don't have to get that radical for the first few. Just get some altitude over the field and reduce power to idle to SIMULATE dead stick. This leaves you an "out" just in case.

mesaflyer

Thanks for the advice. I have done that a few times already with no problems. Just thought I might practice a little just in case. I fly from a dry lake bed, so I can pretty much land where ever the plane comes down. I useally "pretend" I have a runway so if i do fly from a real field, hopefully, I wont have a problem landing on the runway. Thanks again