Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

This odd ball loves landings, and I dread the
take offs. I soloed last fall, and ever since my first take off on the box I have struggeld
getting my plane to "climb out" strong, at a reasonable angle, AND straight in line with the runway. :eek: I first attributed it to a weak OS .40 LA off a grass field so I installed a Saito .56 (12x6 prop) in my Superstar 40 trainer!! I also had the same problem with a Cessna 40 with an OS .46FX with an 11x6 prop. It is something I am doing wrong on the sticks, or ??
I will try to give you as much info as I can.
Both planes had the engine offset as noted by the manufacturer.
Both planes were painstakinly balanced. (laterally too). Not being real experienced, both planes are balanced at the "most forward-gentle", RECOMENDED, CG on both planes. (tank empty and given a VERY, slight nose down attitude, a degree or two.)
Radio is not computerized. So I have the sticks adjusted to their longest length and I also put in stronger springs on the sticks and adjusted them to maximum tension. (the sticks were real mushy and I could not "feel them"). I also use a transmitter tray and thumb and finger on the sticks. I just couldn't make small moves on the sticks with just the thumbs only, even with soft springs. I have watched guys rotate and climb out at 30 to 45 degrees with "authority", and not GO LEFT OR RIGHT. I really just want to fly off the wing, and make a more shallow climb out. BUT.... I end up at a steep angle, with no "authority", and half-*** tip stall and
struggle to get the wings level. Most times I have to use the rudder to level the wings. The ailerons seem useless....creating adverse yaw ?? Also... I am at the low rate recommended control throws. My only thoughts are I must be hanging on "up elevator" too much and losing air speed. (yet these other guys are nearly climbing 45 degrees right from rotation!!!??) :confused: Do you guys ever let the elevator go back to center just as you rotate and lift off? Hope you guys can come up with an answer to my problems...thanks..lownslo

Bob

Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

sounds like you are pulling up too soon.... you need to get enough speed on the ground before you try bringing the plane up ... if you just have to get in the air you can lift the gear off the ground and stay almost level for a short while letting the plane accelerate then start the climb.

but then again im still a begginer my self so dont take what I say as gospel :P (it also doesnt hurt that my cub can pull unlimited vert)

Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

I'm pretty new as well, but I've found that one of the most critical aspects to takeoff is gaining sufficient speed on the ground before getting the wheels off the ground. Although both of my planes can get airborne within 20 or so feet, I usually keep the wheels on the ground twice that distance, constantly making little rudder corrections as necessary to go perfectly straight. I'm then able to just touch the elevator and the plane picks up a couple of feet. I usually release the elevator to get the plane to pickup some more speed for 20-40 more feet before climbing out at a 30-60 degree angle straight out. I've noticed that many flyer get airbone as soon as possible and try to climb out as quickly as possible. Most risk stall as they do this and are not in control of the plane until the angle of attack is reduced. I started this practice simply to gain some ground handling experience with my first taildragger, but I've found it so effective, I do it on both my sport plane and trike trainer.

Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

Hey guys.
I'm a learner to. I've been flying for about two years and in that time I've found it's best to get your plane up to speed and in the air as soon as possible.
The field I fly from is not very large, and in certain wind directions it is nessesary to get off the ground quickly or you hit random fences (that are only about 6m long) that seem to have been put in purely to wind up us flyers!

I find that if you hit full speed and apply a little up elevator you can easily enter a steep climb and do a few circuits of the field to gain height!
Then you can work on not crashing on your landings!

Take Offs
 

Get a Hobbico Aircraft Gyro and install on your ailerons.

You will then be able to take off in a crosswind or whatever and the wingtips will never dip.

Straight as an arrow.

Smoothes out all of the wind induced dipping of the wings also.

Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

Hi being a newbie myself but never had any problem taking off...be sure your rudder works for minor corrections. Here the best way as i see it.
Ask somebodoy to hold the plane and maximise the throttle in fact i can do this without anybodies help by holding the plane betn my feet :). Anyway imp thing is to take off in the wind and land similarly. once your palne moves you can increase the elevator max till it lifts off and then ease the elevator back for a steady climb.. or as most experinced modellers turn the plane into the wind so that it climbs best.

The take off is eay... Landings are critical

Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

Well Im not a begginer and takeoffs are mostly automatic for me so I have been trying to recreate what I do on takeoff.....
1-Taxi out and turn into the wind at least halfway accross the field and at the end of the runway,so as to get the plane out in safe territory and so that you can clearly see its reaction to your inputs.
2-Stop then run through a last check for proper direction of each control and visualize what you are about to do.
3-Advance throttle SLOWLY,keeping the run straight with the rudder and using only enough elevator to keep steering control early in the takeoff run,then EASE it to neutral
4-Let the plane run keeping direction with the rudder until it signals to you it wants to fly.If a taildragger it may lift the tail on its own.If not touch down elevator to lift the tail.
5-Rotate with up elevator then go to neutral elevator and keeping right rudder in,allow a flat low takeoff and initial climbout.
6-Depending on your field setup turn 180,and fly downwind,fly straight out ,or turn 90o and do a procedure turn.You may ease out the rudder at any time in the initial climbout when engine torque will allow you to do so........
7-Follow the same procedure every time until it becomes automatic,and practice,practice,practice.

The above is IMO and Im sure will be corrected,embellished ,and detailed by others but I think forms a fair basis for the discussion...

Good Luck and dont give up...I enjoy landings and takeoffs and often just do circuits for the enjoyment of it.....

Thanks!!
 

I want to thank EVERYONE for their help. I have taken the answers here and from a different site, and have come to these conclusions........ The biggest problem is "pilot error":o I may not realize I am giving too much elevator. The next could be the ground speed, although guys have told me I am going fast enough. Our grass field is not real smooth. I use 3" rubber tires and no wheel pants on the gear. I look back now to last summer. I did not "officially" solo at our club's field yet. I went to a field in the next county that is part of their park system. The county maintains this VERY NICE 600" blacktop strip! All you need to fly there is your AMA card. I only had 6 landings on the box, and no solo status, when I decided to fly on my own at this blacktop strip. Over the next 6 weeks I made about 50 flights there. Most take offs there were OK. The "fast and smooth" blacktop spoiled me!!!(NOTE: at the time I did this I had 40 buddy box flights with our club's instructors, and I felt confident I would not be unsafe. I needed "stick time" and our student nights were
so limited on time in the air). I did go back and get my wings at our club's field last Oct.... thanks again.... lownslo

Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

Good posts everyone, That's what this site is all about.

Craig

Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

lownslo,

The only thing I have to add is, Is your nose wheel too short? It makes it real hard to rotate if it is. And the nose wants to stay on the ground. When you pull up, the plane "JUMPS or JERKS" into the air. It makes it real nice for landings because it makes the nose glue to the ground. but on take off it's a bummer.

RON in NEVADA

Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

Lownslo,

Take offs are more difficult on grass especially sort of rough like I learned on. One good thing is once you've mastered grass, You'll do great on a paved field (taking off anyway :eek: )

You're problem is speed. When you take off in an airliner do you know why they plant you back in your seat like a Top fuel dragster? Cause the faster they can get going, the safer the take-off! Start somewhere into the wind where you will have a long run-out, try to keep it as straight as you can with slight rudder inputs. (I push the control back and forth with the side of my thumb rather than holding the stick). You'll know when its ready, SLOWLY pull back on the stick. Happy flying! :p

Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

I've been flying for about 18 months and finally I'm learning to have smoother take offs. All my planes are tail traggers and I was taught to hold up elevator or it would nose over, when speed built up the plane would shoot into the air and be close to stall, a few did. Now I hold up elevator till speed builds up then slowly return to nuetral, let the tail come up then apply just a bit of up. It's the prettiest take off you ever saw, my planes climb out at about 10 degrees, a slow bank away from the field and away she goes. There's nothing sweeter, Ahhhhhhhhhh.

Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

The thing that I find most important on the takeoff is to have the airplane tracking straight down the runway. You will can practice driving the plane by taking the wing off and taxing around your house or an open area of land. Just make sure you cover up where the wing is supposed to go because you do not want fuel to get into your radio equipment.

Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

Mike, you did mean taxing around outside your house didnt you? :p

Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

No wonder the wife is always complaining! Doh!

And another thing....
 

I just had a thought. Make sure your nose wheel and rudder are aligned. If you're driving down the runway using the nose wheel to keep her straight, as soon as you lift off the rudder takes over and could cause adverse yaw. Not important with a tail dragger but something to think about with a nose flopper. Also spend some time with your trim making sure the ailerons aren't trimmed to one side to compensate for the rudder being out of trim to the other side. I know this is a hard one to spot so get some help from an experienced pilot.

Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

If you have a nose gear airplane make sure the nose gear is backward angle


The wheel is furthe back than the point at which the wire enters the airplane

It is like dihedral for the gear

my dura plane was terrible on take offs before I did this

Overcontrol on the rudder...
 

BTW, I've noticed this on my taildraggers... When you get the plane started, it requires a lot of rudder to track straight, after the plane picks up some speed, your input on the rudder will need to decrease dramatically. At around takeoff speeds, you'll only need to nudge the rudder to keep the plane going straight. The control needed on the rudder decreases as the planes speed increases... I was at the field the other day and saw a novice with a taildragging duraplane... He literally zig-zagged across our grass strip before noseplanting the plane... He kept too much rudder after the plane started rolling and overcontrolled back and forth to compensate.

Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

personaly i cant get to grips ( so to speak ) with that finger thumb thing. when your saying about small and precise finger movements, and you got everything on low rates you have no where near enough control.
i've been racing cars for many years and i've got a good feel for what my thumbs are doing, even tho its instinct and i have no idea what they do down there, and if i think i bet i'll crash :D
the tranny sticks have a little tension but not much, and i hate test flying peoples planes with weird sticks. it feels all wrong, i dont want to feel the stick, i want to feel the plane, ( yes i know its weird to say that, maybe some others know what i mean )
my setups are normally high rates, very little negitive expo, just to help with low level.
The help so far is very sound, my first take offs were staggers into the air then i would point it down and fly, much easier to have a ground bullet and pull up :D
As far as set up go, i would move the CofG back, tank empty it should be level, only nose down tank 1/2 to full. this is making your planes responce less when you take off heavy.
Take some of the tension off the sticks, your thinking about the tranny and fighting it, and maybe just thumb flying will help. you want to forget you have that thing in your hands.
Add some more rates so you can correct the yaw and have ailerons that work closer to stalling speed.
Some planes need rudder and aileron comb to turn nice, i test flew a cub the other week and i made that climb out look so untidy, damn thing was just going sideways on ailerons till i played with rudder too.

I agree with everything that has been said, but just wanted to add a little more responsive plane might help. mine are set up like this, i dont normally use all the stick during flight, and use my own built in expo.

Problems with Takeoffs
 

Lownslow,

Ron in Nevada has a great point that escapes many new flyers. Make sure that your nose gear (if it is tricycle gear) is adjusted to allow a level or preferably positive angle of the wing in relation to the ground. This will allow the plane to takeoff naturally when flying speed has been reached. Only a slight up elevator movement may be necessary.
Also, check the nosewheel alignment with the rudder, which has also been mentioned. The amount of nosewheel stearing travel that is necessary at takeoff speed is a lot less than we usually have set up. If you are setup with an excess of travel here, you are also setting yourself up for a wild takeoff roll, as you will be constantly overcompensating on the rudder as the plane increases speed on the takeoff roll.
If your runway surface is rough and causes the plane to lurch about on takeoff, try larger wheels (1/2" at a time) until this isn't a problem.
From your description, you have more than enough power, so I will share one other trick that I have discovered to smoother takeoffs. As you advance the throttle on the rollout, don't advance past 1/2 to 3/4 until your plane has cleared the ground. Also, as you see the plane rotating into the air, ease off of the up elevator as it clears..............this will establish the gentle, smooth climbout and virtually eliminate any possibility of a snap roll on takeoff. Then, after the climbout angle has been made, go ahead to full throttle.
I used this technique in pattern contest flying, and found not only were the takeoffs easier to make, but my takeoff scores also increased. Of course, I had an occasional onlooker to ask me later if I was having engine trouble. When I explained what I was doing, I had others trying the same thing.
Good luck, and let me know how everything turns out. Happy takeoffs!! :)

Advice needed for better take offs!!
 

Been wanting to mention that a paved strip is not necessarily easier for landings and takeoffs.Newcomers always initally overcontrol and the model is much more sensitive to inputs.Also if your idle is not totally reliable you may not be able to bring the model to a complete stop.Taildraggers are particularly unhappy on pavement IMO,and a WW1 type with no tailwheel is almost uncontrollable at taxi and low speeds.Paved strips are often much narrower than the traditional grass field so accuracy as regards the centre line on both landings and takeoffs is paramount particularly in a side wind.You can always tell a model that is flown on pavement ,the bottom of the wing tips will be sanded very smooth!