You don't have to upgrade to a higher capacity (although that's not a bad idea.. ) you just have to insure that it is charged and ready to fly. One inexpensive device we've talked about quite a bit here on RCU is Voltwatch. They cost about 10 bucks or so at Tower Hobbies, work for both 4.8 and 6 volt packs, and will give you an instantaneous indication of your battery charge under load. Check it out. It plugs into either a vacant receiver channel or, with a Y cable, can connect to any channel. It is especially useful to check linkage for binding (the indicating LED's go from green to yellow to red indicating charge condition and, when moving the sticks, will show what channel is binding, if it indeed is). Binding will cause your battery life to quickly bleed off.

And, well, depending on how strong that wind is, you may or may not get it to land where you want it to in a dead stick situation, but it is best to try to get it pointed into the wind and get it down as quickly as possible. The obvious place for landing is on the runway, but often, you just don't have that opportunity. I've been there, so I can speak with experience. I've also been able to get it turned on final and landed on the runway.. maybe not in front of me, but at least on the runway. Our runway is about 3,700 feet long and about 150 feet wide so we have lots of room to land

Jet Mech,
Yeah most likely, I jumped out of alot perfectly good aircraft back then.
I checked the Chunk line position. Held the fuel tank up to the light. Looks to be okay. About 1/2 from the back side of the tank, Rest right on the bottom when holding in horiztonal. Not falling at all toward the front of the tank. Glue was good and dry this morning. I wanted to check servo ops before leaving for work. Before turning on the Tx and Rx. I went to center the front wheel. And it would not budge. I then tried moving the servo by hand and it still wouldn't budge. Turned on the Tx and Rx, moved just fine, but thought the fact that I couldn't move it by hand was pretty wierd. Anyway, all seems well. Going to strenghten up the fire wall just to be safe as well.
Other than that will do the following before next flight:
Take the lane to the Local LHS and have the servos checked.
Buy new Rx and Tx batteries
New fuel line (pressure and tank to High idle port)
Already replaced the High idle to carb line.
Buy a volt watch
Buy new fuel
Run three tanks of fuel through the engine and yes I will tilt the plane up at full throttle and see what happens.

The one thing I forgot to ask the instructor before leaving yesterday, was if he lost all control. Not sure if he just lost the rudder or ailerons too.
The guy that recycled my batteries did say that the Rx battery was not as good as the Tx. But said they were in good shape. Guess we should've charged them when we recharged the Tx batteries at the field yesterday.
Live and learn that is what is all about. I'm hooked!!!!!!!

Sometimes I think our runway is 37' long and 15' wide. Some of my planes float so much I have to turn on final 2 counties away. Will send some pictures of Big Bingo, starting to cover it. It is looking good. (I think) Have to get another heat gun, mine bit the dust. This is the 2nd one in a short period of time. The dumb fan quits working. Both of them have been Hobbico. Guess it is time to look at another brand. Anyone have any ideas on brands.

BTW just finished breakfast thick and rough Oatmeal and coffee. Gosh am I eating healthy or what.

CGr
Here is a couple of pictures of Big Bingo. Have to wait until I get another heat gun to finish the job. Maganum 180 4 stroke.

Loaded voltmeter is one that puts a synthetic load (simulates the receiver and servo loads) on the battery pack. Just hooking a regular voltmeter to the batteries, without some sort of "load", will give you an almost useless reading.

The term ESV for Expanded Scale Voltemeter, is designed for use in RC to check the Receiver and Transmitter batteries. It has an internal "load" (resistive in nature) that simulates the load or the connected components in a typical RC aircraft or other RC application.

Your local hobby shop or mail order shops, like Tower Hobbies, has them. Typical price is about $15.00.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...RCH=volt+meter

CGr

Irish.. I bought a 'commercial' type of head gun at our local Home Depot store. Only problem with it is you really have to be careful because this thing will get hot enough to light a fire!!! It has several heat settings, though, and of course, you can hold it further from the surface. But, again, you have to be careful with it. But, it most likely will not break down any time soon.

Dick.

Not sure I am that careful probably have the whole thing in flames. Maybe I could make a video of how not to shrink covering.

Gene: Nice. This is not intended as an insult, but just a question. Is that an ARF or a kit? Nice covering job, either way.

Bill: That's a Clunk, not a Chunk. It's a weighted fuel pickup that goes on the end of the tubing in the fuel tank. It follows gravity and stays on the "bottom" of the tank, whatever orientaion the plane may be, so that it picks up fuel even when inverted (when the top of the tank becomes the "bottom" of the tank. I explain this because if you went to a mail order house looking for a chunk, yuou may have problems locating them. I buy the type that is both weighted, and looks like it was made from a bunch of small ball bearings that have been epoxied together. This type helps eliminate bubbles or foaming in the tank from vibration.

Dick.

Kit, and thank you

Bill,

Loaded means the volt meter puts a load on the
battery that simulates the load the servos put on the
battery while flying.

Here is what I use,

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXEYM6&P=SM

Hope that helps,

Bob

75-79

CG,
Thanks, Clunk! got it. Can't read or type! HA! and suffer from "CRS". Anyway from what I can see of it, looks fine.

Bob,
Thanks, will pick one up this week

Bill, I'm fairly certain the clunk itself is fine. Save your money.

Mike,
Thanks, not planning on replacing the clunk. But the Pressure line and fuel feed line from the outside of the tank to high idle screw port, think I'll replace these. They just feel a little soft to me.

ply2win,
His words were "it won't steer". He did somehow manage to keep it from hitting a car. Couled've been much worse. Just another three inches of elevation and it would've cleared the table and might have landed safely in the field behind the pits. I never asked him if he lost all control or just rudder. I emailed him this morning to ask. All I did was pick the plane up and took it to the truck, while joking about not having to worry about it rolling around in the truck for the ride home.

Hey CG
I tried one. My wife held the wing in the kitchen and I went to the Living Room. Turned that sucker on and finished shrinking the covering

This is the voltmeter that I use. I quit flying when the RX battery gets near 70%. On summer days, I check after 2-3 flights, and then every flight. In the winter, I check every flight.

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=EXRA502

Hey Irish.. yeah.. glad you did the separation.. if it wasn't electric powered, I would have started looking for the after-burner on that sucker!!! [X(]

As you said in the next post (I think it was the next one), you are going to, or have already, replace the fuel tubing. Just remember that there are two types of tubing.. one for glow fuel and one for gasoline. Make sure that you get the glow fuel tubing for your glow engine.

But, as you said, you are not exactly sure about the "steering" part of the original post. I can understand the rudder, but that can be overcome easily with aileron, but that depends on the airspeed the thing has at that point. With a brisk crosswind, getting aligned with the runway centerline during a dead-stick can be a challenge. It's one thing that I teach and preach to all new pilots is to practice your emergency procedures ( sound familiar?? ). It was drilled into me when I was in training, and I followed up with the practice each time I flew after that. Usually, the first flight of the day was spent getting my muscle memory back to flying then to do a few emergency landings from various locations and into varying wind conditions.

Aaaanyway, you're getting the idea. There is a lot to learn, but it comes easy if you practice and ask questions. One thing my instructor kept telling me is the only real way to gain experience is to burn fuel...

CGr.

Once a Plane gets to slow but not quite to stall speed or in certain cross wind conditons...the aelirons can become almost useless. Thats where knowing how to use rudder comes into play. The rudder will always maintain some authority regardless of the Planes speed or wind conditions. I am not saying for fact this was the problem, and perhaps there was some type of reciever lockout if the reciever battery voltage fell to low under a load. I am just saying it could have happened that way, and not that it did happen that way.

As far as your engine goes...the pinch test is something pretty simple that a new guy can remember, or tuning with a tach is simple as well if one is available. For the pinch test you will run the engine up to full throttle and set the high side needle with the engine running wide open. First turn the needle clockwise for maximum RPM and then back it off a 1/4 turn. With the engine running wide open...then pinch the fuel line at the carb. You should here the engine RPM.s rise when you pinch the line quickly. Or if you have a tach available...then back the engine off about 500 RPM from its highest RPM number. Either way this tells you the engine is running a bit rich, and that is what you want.

Now check the low side needle the same way except at idle this time. Pinch the line, and you should have about a 5 second delay and the engine will begin to increase RPM's gradually. If not then either richen or lean the needle until you get that result. Now check the transition from idel to full speed. You may get a small hesitation in the mid range, but you should be able to throttle up and down without the engine dying if everything else is right including plumbing, glow plug, etc. If the engine stays running then have someone hold your Plane while it is running. HAve the holder hold the Plane nose straight up like in a hover, and then transition the throttle to make sure it will stay running. Now point the Plane to the ground and do the same. If it has stayed running thru all of this...then I would put it in the air.

Now if the engine died..here are a few things to check. What percentage of Nitro are you using? If you are using 5% then you may not be using a hot enough plug, and you may wanna try an O.S A3 HOT Plug. If you are using anything over that like 10% or 15%...I would recommend an O.S #8. If you are using 15% and an A3...that may be to hot and causing predetination. Also remember that normaly you want the dead center of your fuel tank just slightly below the center of your carb inlet. To low or to high will have a negative effect in alot of planes. Normaly Trainers have the tank floor close to the right hight, but sometimes to much extra padding can lift the tank to high causing fuel to syphon and thus flood an engine. One other thing I might suggest after you are sure your tank or lines have no pin holes is to take out your main needle valve and slip a 1/4" long piece of silicone tubing over it and then screw it back in. The reason for this is if your O ring is a bit dried up from the engine sitting new in a box for a long time it may not be sealing good and thus getting air. The silicone tubing trick just adds a bit of extra seal on the outside, and also helps to keep a needle snug and in place, and not moving in flight. Of course you will also want to make sure your carb has been seated good when you installed it or make sure it was installed right at the factory if it came RTF.

Of course I am just throwing you out some things here that you can bring up to your instructor, and chances are he may allready know everything I have said and more. However it can be frustrating when just starting out and just thought I would throw a few tips out there for you to try or things to look for. Good Luck!

I also wanted to mention that as far as batteries go...IMO them stock Nicd Batteries that come with your Radio system are fine. They can go bad, but so can other types as well. I use mostly Nimh batteries anymore, but I never had much trouble with them stock packs either when I used them. My rule of thumb was three flights, and put them on the quick charger. I never had any problems using that system.

The absolute most important thing to remember about working on RC Planes is that its alot like love making. Everybody has there own technique and everybody thinks they are the best at it.

No one else has addressed one thing you said so I guess I'll chime in on it. You mentioned the orientation of the fuel lines on the tank should be vertical and this is incorrect. They should be horizontal. Depending on the motor and its orientation, the exaust pressure line is usually on the right side of the plane and tank as the muffler is usually on this side also (left side if you are looking at it from the front of the plane). The fuel pick up line and clunk is usually on the left side as the needle valve and carb inlet are usually on this side of the plane. The exaust tubing inside the tank should bend upwards at about a 70 degree angle and be near but not touching the top of the tank. This enables the tank to be filled properly and also prevents the clunk from getting hung on it. The pick up line and clunk need to be free to move up and down so it can still pick up fuel when you fly inverted. The clunk should be near but not touching the back of the tank. If it touches anything during its travel up and down, it may not pick up fuel properly, thus the lines need to be side by side(horizontal) and not vertical. You should also take care when installing the silicon fuel lines not to push the metal lines too far into the tank or you could cause the clunk to hit the rear of the tank . Hope this helps.