I just started in RC and I am way ahead of the other new guys at my club I can almost solo and I can land fine by myself. I always hear people saying landings are hard but I think they are easy my problem is takeoff. Every time I take off the plane goes up in the air and starts to wobble and tilt in different directions. It sometimes goes to the right or left right after it clears the ground do you guys have any tips? By the way the airplane is a Hobbico Superstar.

First you have to learn the basics before you can learn fly. It's like a baby learning to walk you have to crawl first. It seems from what you are telling us is that your instructor didn't take much time in teaching you how to fly properly because if he did then you would know that you are just making a straight normal climb out.

There is really no big secret to taking off. You advance the throttle to get the model moving the advance the throttle smoothly until you have reached full power. By that time you probably have more than enough speed to take off so just add elevator pressure just enough to raise the nose. The plane will probably leap off the ground as you will have excessive ?Zoom Speed" Then just hold that little bit of elevator pressure until you reach a safe altitude before making your turn 75' - 100'.

Yeah well I know how to fly I can even do loops and roll's and mix them together. And the only thing he told me to do is get straight on and the runway and give it full throttle. He didn't tell me to do it slowly or anything just give it full power thats all.

Sounds like your climb outs are too steep for the speed and its almost stalling, try a long roll and feed in the elevator GENTLY just like a real plane.
your only getting away with the take offs because of the relativly high power to weight of a trainer and youve learnt a bad habit.

I agree, that's a bad habit to get into.

Most trainers will actually take off on their own (from paved runways) if they are trimmed right. I always recommend trimming for level flight with 1/2 to 3/4 throttle (more throttle = climb, less throttle = descent).

Here's an interesting exercise to try. After trimming your plane for level flight with 1/2 to 3/4 throttle land and re-fuel. Now take-off without using the right stick (unless something goes wrong). Follow it up by flying a couple ovals using only the rudder to turn, and throttle to control altitude, then land, still without use of the right stick except when things go wrong. This is an excellent way to get used to using the rudder, since it is indispensible during landing when you're flying to slow for ailerons to work.

Are you taking off too steep? If so your plane may want to act as a sail (grabbing all the wind) which would mean you're having to compensate more until you level out.

Another thing... I had someone "adjust my radio" prior to my taking solo control just to be on the safe side. The settings entered either didn't save properly or the person had (like me) no idea what they were doing. Prior to a "proper" dial-in my take-offs were white knuckle rides until I was 30' in the air.

You've got good, solid advise from these knowledgeable guys. I'm going to say the same thing, but just a little differently.

We have a paved 400' runway. Even with a trainer, I take 300-350' of it to take off.

I take off at only a 15 degree angle...very shallow. As others have said, you may be hammering the elevator too quickly and you're close to stall when you're airborne.

Full power and gently, slightly pull back on the elevator. Maybe only 1/4-1/2" from it's resting position. After it is 1/2 to 3/4 down the runway. Don't apply elevator too soon!

One of the above posts said that a properly-trimmed trainer will take off by itself. And it will! Wait until the last 50' and if it hasn't taken-off, apply a little elevator. A little!

Patience, gentle, gradual, smooth are the words you want to learn for take-offs.

They'll become your favorites. Promise!

I agree with the previous posts. Sounds like you're trying to get too high too soon.

What's up MinnFlyer - no graphic? I thought you had a cute drawing for every occasion.

As the 182 taxied out to take off, the Pilot asked Murphy if he'd like to do the take off. "Sure!" said Murphy grabbing the throttle and yoke. Now Murphy had never flown a full size plane, only RC models, and takeoffs to him meant blasting off full bore and going vertical!

By habit, and ignorance, Murphy shoved the 182's throttle to full causing it to rear up on its Mains, roar forward, veer left and run off the runway onto the grass! The pilot pulled the throttle keeping the 182 under control before anything serious occured.

Lining up on the runway again, the Pilot said to Murphy in a patient and calm voice, "Try it again, but this time come up slowly on the power and let the plane takeoff by itself." Doing as he was told, a subdued Murphy made a nice takeoff.

Sitting in an full size aircraft under "his" takeoff procedure was an eye opener for Murphy, and he never slammed a throttle to full on takeoff again. Fact is Murphy became known for the most realistic takeoffs in the club. True story.

Sorry didn't mean to offend you. :disappoin

Lets look at what is happening when you take off.

If you juice the throttle then a whole bunch of things are going to happen all at ounce. Torque, P-Factor, the blast of the prop wind hitting the left side of the rudder ( this side of the pond) and several other things happen very quickly. Normally, the plane will want to turn left so you give it right rudder. It's natural to correct this and more than likely it will be over corrected and now the plane is heading to the right very fast. Most people panic and over correct with left and then your really getting into a bad situation. Next up elevator is attempted just to get the plane in the air and again probably over controlled. Now your more than likely flying very slow approaching a stall ( loss of heading elevator control going south and ailerons loosing effectiveness. BAD!

Try this:

First make sure the plane will roll straight down the runway. Next make sure that your steering will only allow you to turn in about a fifteen foot circle if smaller you have to much control on the nose wheel and you should adjust it.

OK, Taking off easy right!

Taxi out to the center of the runway and if possible stand behind the model ( slow day at the field or early before the troops show up) with the model on the center line add power until it starts to move. Right away you will see what direction the model is going to pull - left or right. Correct to stay on the center line holding the rudder input and gradually add full power. You should be able to see the model kind of bounce along the ground and that is when you add only enough elevator to raise the nose. I like to point the nose at the horizon or a landmark like a small hill to climb out. Continue using the rudder to maintain heading toward the point you have picked out as your takeoff reference.

You shouldn't have to make more than 2 corrections and if you have to make more then cut the throttle taxi back and start over again.

You can really impress your fellow club members with a natural takeoff such as this.

Above all play it safe and have fun.

One thing I haven't seen anyone mention yet is that taking off directly into the wind is always smoother and easier than coping with a cross-wind.

perjar,
That's a classic too much elevator, not enough airspeed take-off. It's amazing how many "experienced" guys do this every time they take off.

As it was very well said above, just let the plane roll a big longer and get going a bit faster, and don't pull up nearly as quickly and use a much more gradual climbout, and you'll be fine. It's a matter of fine adjustment, not radical changes to what you are doing.

I loved that story about the guy in the 182. Classic.

Even with my acrobatic planes, I like to go tearing down the runway, lift off real slow, so it's hard to tell just when the wheels leave the ground, then zoom down the runway about a foot up, slowly climb to a few feet. Then, once I've done that, I can pull vertical, or roll, or do a hard bank around the field or whatever show off things I want with out worrying about stalling. Makes you look good, but is really just being safe

Yeah at my house I have a airplane a 2 seater not mine but Ive flown it. LOL I'm only 13 and he let me take off it went up slowly for a while then higher and higher. I even got to fly it in the air doing really sharp turns and he stalled it and taught me how to unstall it. It was really fun see I live on 200 acres and we have a really long and smooth grass runway. He also did a loop with the airplane. When we were lined up with the runway but still far away he shuts of the engine completely and lets it glide down really slowly. So ill try what you guys said let it get good speed and not put much elevator at all just a little to make the nose rise.

The only thing I can mention is you can REALLY notice the differance on a tail dragger. The ROTATION they sometimes call it when the tail is off the ground and the front wheels are still on the ground is a transition phase on the take off and pulling up too quickly can lead to a crash quite quickly. If you learn to fly a tail dragger a little bit you will understand the importance of a goot roll out during take off.

Yikes! Don't let the FAA know about that!

Oh lol ok. Oops I didn't know they weren't supposed to do that.

My best takeoffs are accomplished the following way:

Line airplane up down center of runway.

Close eyes will simultaneously advancing throttle to full;

Count to 3 and pull pack on the stick to rotate.

Open eyes...fly

Disclaimer
Not recommended if you are flying with other people in the area. Risk of personal injury may occur.

:-)

Does't any one know what the left stick is for , Punch it and go won't work if you can not control the tail.

I really don't think so as many instructors and students want an "instant gratification" of model control. The rudder plays only a small part of what there learning as you don't need a rudder to turn a model trainer. Most instructors don't teach it as they never learned to use the rudder. I have a student like this that I am getting ready to pass off. It seems that these people have a mind set that they can do anything if they are just allowed to take control and fly for a few minutes and can keep the model in the air just by boring holes in the sky. In my case the gentleman is 23 years old and gets paid to fly the model. No interest in why the model flies other than he is getting paid to fly it. It's really to bad as the guy has some talent and could be a top notch pilot in the program and if ventured out in the contest circuit, could really give some people a run for there money

Perjar, I have the same plane as you, and I had (and occasionally have) the same problem. It is too much elevator as people have stated.

Woodsy, I defer to your expertise, but I can't see the "high power-to weight" ratio you mentioned. I fly off grass (sometimes cut short, usually not). The OS 40 LA barely has enough power. It takes so long to generate speed, that you must devote much attention to rudder control to keep the plane straight. By that time, you just want to get the thing off the grass and into the air, and so there is a tendency to yank back on the elevator.

I'm looking forward to my UltraStick 120 with Zenoah G23, so I can just go straight vertical if desired.

there's a big diferance to yanking on the elevator at a take off speed barely above stall and yanking back when your well above fling speed.

i fly off grass as well (when were not in a 7 year drought) and when i first started i had a tendancy to pull on the elevator ASAP to get it in the air, this often ended in the plane sort of mushing it's way skyward with my instructor yelling "less elevator" in my ear. Now i have better ground handeling skills i love leaving it on the ground untill i get up a heap of speed (well fast for a 40FP) then yank back and go straight up, it makes the balsa a guys squirm when they think of the damage they would do if the engine cut out, with my SPAD DPS i'm not so worried

Just jumping in with my two cents...

Generally, I teach my students to take off only after they have mastered landings. It sounds like the original poster is doing landings, that part is covered.

Takeoffs are all about attitude. You want to use the rudder to keep the plane lined up on the center of the runway, the ailerons to keep the wings level, and the elevator is used not to control *climb*, but to control *pitch*. You don't care about speed at all. As you slowly advance the throttle, you are trying to hold the nose about 15 degrees high. When the plane is ready, it will lift off.

I use a different technique for tricycle gears than I do for taildraggers. With a taildragger, I taxi with full up elevator. At the start of the takeoff roll, I neutralize the elevator and wait for the tail to come up. When the pitch reaches the desired attitude for climbing, use whatever input is necessary to maintain that pitch. For a tricycle gear, I start the takeoff roll with full up elevator (I fly on a grass field, and I like to "unload" the nose gear as soon as possible). As the nose starts to come up, I release the up elevator until it's steady at the desired pitch. In either case, the airplane will gently start flying once it's got sufficient airspeed. Remember, you want to *slowly* advance the throttle so that these things don't happen too fast.

This technique works with *any* airplane, and in any weather conditions. Remember what each control is doing: Rudder to track straight down the runway, aileron to keep wings level, elevator to control pitch. Your inputs to the sticks may vary with different cross winds, but the technique does not.

Forget about P-Factor, torque, spriralling airflow, etc. These are all real phemonon, but they're just an explanation for *why* something happens. When you are at the sticks, you should really care about *what* to do, not so much why to do it. It really doesn't matter if you have to add right rudder because of P-Factor or because the airplane is badly out of trim. You just need to develop an instinct for doing it.

I've never understood why people do the race-down-the-runway-and-then-rotate-when-you-think-you-have-enough-speed technique. The reason that you see full scale planes doing this, is that many full scale planes are multi engine, and if one of the engines quits, you need to have enough airspeed for the rudder to compensate for the resulting asymmetrical thrust. This just doesn't apply to the vast majority of model airplanes, and it gets people into trouble because you're just guessing at the things. If you just concern yourself with attitude, then the airplane will tell you when it's ready to fly.

Hmmm. I guess that was probably more than two cents...

-Wade

Just a thought, but do you think he might be over stearing on the ground? Then when he gets airborn, he is still over using the rudder.

Well....not exactly. Single engine aircraft and multi-engine aircraft both take of at approximately 1.3 times the stalling speed in the takeoff configuration. We do this because we don't want to stall in the event of an engine failure or wind shear.

The technique that you advocate is what is known as the soft field takeoff. Getting the nose off the ground and accelerating until liftoff. That technique calls for you to lower the nose immediately after the mains come off and accelerate in ground effect to the normal rotation speed, and then climb out.