take off problems
 

Have been taking lessons from instrutor for some time now and benn flying great and landing ok my main problems are take offs. Has anybody else had this problem and how can I get over the nerves that seem to take over when trying,

RE: take off problems
 

knightmagic,

What exactly is the problem you are having? [sm=confused.gif] We can help but a little more info is needed.

RE: take off problems
 

What problems are you having? Most people struggle with landings. What plane are you flying?

RE: take off problems
 

yea, what is the problem you are having, you can mess up alot of things on take off, so I dont have a clue what is wrong

RE: take off problems
 

Hey knightmagic, I have not had problems with take-offs, Now on
nerves, that I can relate.. Not much you can do about that except to
just keep flying... Take some long slow deep breaths.. It will all come
along.. On take-off's just remember.. "small" moves on the stick, after
lineing up on the runway to keep you heading straight..(a little goes
a long way.. More so with the nerves working) with a slow climb
to build your speed.. It just takes time for some but with enough
practice it'll all become natural in time.. Most of all have fun!!
Hey.. One less worry... Your not in the plane, if something goes wrong:-(

RE: take off problems
 

The way I teach takeoffs is to start with just driving around the ground. Get used to stearing the plane where you want it to go. Now get on the runway, and try to go straight down it slowly. Turn around and come back. Do it as many times until you feel comfortable. Do it faster and faster. Eventually, it's quite possible that you will actually hit flying speed and simply take off with out meaning to. Don't panic, just maintain a very smooth and gentil climb.

Biggest mistakes taking off are usually related to the rudder (too much, too little, at the wrong time), or from yanking the plane off the ground and trying to climb too steaply, resulting in a stall.

The key is to go as fast as you can on the ground as smoothly as you can, then climb with as much airspeed and as little nose-up as you can get away with, don't be in a hurry to "get up there". Leave the short-roll-to-vertical-climb takeoffs to the guys with the overpowered acrobats.

RE: take off problems
 

I am flying a nexstar before ya'll ask wing droops auto pilot and air brakes are all off. I think the problem I have most is insructors are teaching me to have up elevator until I build a litlle speed and the loosen up on elevatos until speed build up for take off. Runyway is grass though and its hard to get plane going sometimes.

RE: take off problems
 

On grass, that's the correct technique. Start with up-elevator to get the plane rolling. If you don't use the elevator, there is a good chance you will nose over. Go ahead and try it, you won't hurt anything by not using up-elevator to start the roll, worse case, you nose over and break a prop. If you can't get rolling with out nosing over, then you know you need that up-elevator to start.

However, once the plane is moving much at all, you can just let go of the elevator totally. At that point, you should be able to race along the runway, and once you get to flying speed, just ease in a touch of elevator when the plane is going. Most trainers will take off with out the up-elevator, so you can even wait until you see the nosewheel come off the ground before trying to climb out. In fact, I'd suggest you wait until you notice the nosewheel coming up, at least looking "light" in the grass, if not totally clear of the grass.

RE: take off problems
 

Kirk,
He's flying a NexStar, which is a tricycle gear trainer.

Holding up elevator at the beginning of the take off roll with a trike gear plane on grass is usually done to get the weight off the nosegear. Otherwise it tends to drag too much in the grass preventing the plane from getting up to take off speed.

Still not too sure of the problem though. Are you holding up elevator too long, not long enough? I've flown some student's trainers that required me to hold full up until the plane came off the ground (which is too soon for full flight), then had to push in a lot of down for a second to keep the plane a couple feet off the ground until good flying speed was reached.

If your's is like that, not enough power in grass that is too long, then it WILL be difficult to get use to taking off. ;)
Dennis-

RE: take off problems
 

Yes I belive my tendency is to hold up elevator too much and before I know it plane want to take off also nexstar tends to dip to the right on take off.

RE: take off problems
 

I have a trike trainer that needs full up elevator on the takeoff roll. I usually relax on the elevator when I see the plane begin to bounce...meaning that it is getting light on the wheels. It's not a critical point, so don't sweat it. I've heard about NextStars wanting to turn right once they leave the ground.

RE: take off problems
 

If the plane is rolloing right the:

a) there may be to much elevator in use and it's tip stalling do to lack of airspeed upon leaving the ground
b) to much right thrust. Since nextars are know for this we had a couple of guys stick a 1mm washer between the motor mount and the firewall on the right side and now the plane tracked straight.

You can also increase the wheel size to at least 3 inches on the mains and nose gear or even a little larger if the grass is tall. That will help get to flying speed quicker. I personally use 3.25 inch wheels on the mains and 3 inch on the nose as our grass is still fairly new and the field is somewhat bumps

Just my $.02

RE: take off problems
 

I have a Nexstar which would head sharply to the right on take off also, tried shimming the motor mount but it did not make a noticable difference, What I found out is if you give it a little left rudder as soon as it left the ground it would take off nice and straight

RE: take off problems
 

I agree with both previous posts. 3 inch wheels would help, and a little left rudder right at take off should correct the problem. I had a NexStar, and IMHO it's not the easiest plane to track down the runway, either. Very touchy nosewheel on mine, even on low throw.
Joe