I finished assembling the plane over the weekend and took it to training night on Tuesday. We ended up making several servo adjustments before cranking it up, and this just reinforced to me the wisdom of getting someone with a lot of experience to help you with the plane. I thought the servos were all set properly, but they showed me several things that needed adjustment. We did have trouble with the throttle linkage but finally got it where it would come back to idle.

One of the instructors took it up, and if flew just great. A couple of clicks of down elevator was all it needed for hands free at mid-throttle. When he landed the plane came back to idle, but wouldn''t shut down. Turns out there is a small amount of interference between the push rod and the engine mount, enough the the servo shifted a bit at zero throttle, and the trim would not close off the barrel. The servo had moved enough back and forth to strip the threads on the wood, and the screws will not tighten. Much to my disappointment we weren''t able to fly it again, so I didn''t get any time on the box.

I''m going to epoxy some thin wood under the servo mounting holes and remount the servo with slightly larger mounting screws. As a beginner I didn''t know to CA the holes before using them and the manual didn''t mention it. So......while I''m at it I''m going to pull all the servos and CA all the holes. I''ve also got to add a bit more offset to the pushrod between the firewall and engine to remeove the interference. Should have it ready to go again this weekend, but it looks like the weather probably won''t cooperate.

It was a kick to see it flying, though. It''s not like I built it from a kit, but I did put it together.

Bob

Welcome to the hobby and sport of R/C flying! You''ll be flying in no time.

One of the hardest things to learn is patience whether its getting a new airplane in the air or sometimes waiting for the right weather to fly. Your using instructors will certainly get you pointed in the right direction far quicker. Above all have fun!

I got RealFlite G4 about a month ago, and have become addicted to it. If I added up all the hours I''ve spent doing touch and goes with the trainer model my wife would probably strangle me.

Mitchell- what kind of plane is it and do you have any pics?

Congrats on the maiden- sorry you didn''t get to punch any sticks that day. Better to be safe than sorry!

Hanger 9 Alpha 60. See my signature.

Good going Bob. Getting an instructor is the number one thing to both learning to fly and learning correct plane set up.
My oldest student had A slight problem with our old trainer so went out and bought the Hobbico Nexstar for the new trainer. Nice little plane, well, not so little. He just bought the new engine and got that mounted and set up. Today we test fired the engine and got it broken in. I'm really quite proud of him because he is doing the assembly and set up himself instead of me just doing it for him.
He has soloed already but next week if the wind ever quits blowing we will do the maiden. I will take it up and trim it for him but after that he should be back on his own.
Trainers are always A kick to fly so you may have to remind your instructor who is the student.