Progress Report...
 

Hey guys!!

Just to let you guys know, for those who cares :-)

I made my 4th and 5th flight today! I mostly practiced landing approaches, flew rectangulars and figure eights all day. I don't use a buddy box system because I have a JR and the club members mostly have Futaba, therefore I had to pass the radio back in forth only for take-off, trimming and landing...

My instructors were impressed by my flying skills, and they wanted me to land several times, but I'm hesitant because I would really be more comfortable to try to land with a buddy box, but I did some very low approaches, well lined up.. so maybe I will give a shot at landing the next time or so. I've already took off after the instructor trimed my plane but I didn't get to practice that today.

yesterday I also crashed, 3.2V on my cells (Rx) but it happened on take off right after I pulled up... the plane stalled and crashed nose first into the swamps... no more controls, Damage was minimal, I was extremelly lucky. Only broken prop, I cleaned the engine and bought a 1650 mah battery just in case mine was fried (because I only flew the plane once before the crash and I did charge them the night before so I thought the batteries were screwed)

After cleaning up my engine I bolted my engine on the engine mount and while adjusting the throttle push rod, that's when I noticed that the rod had friction with the head on the screw. I think that's what cause my batteries to be drained after one flight. So I fixed that and I shouldn't have a problem anymore, especially with the 1650 mah batteries... that should be good for quite a few flights

Anyways now, I check my Voltage before every flight.

I have to say, the sims is what really helped me get the hang of it, but still it doesnt replace an instructor, I really learned a lot from the guys at the club.

I will be on vacation next wednesday for 1 1/2 week, so I'll be at the field every burning gallons of glow fuel... ;)

Cheers and happy flying!

RE: Progress Report...
 

Thats good, except the crash. Just gotta release the elevator when your off the ground. Good to see your progressing. It's neat seeing people at the field progress and how much they can in one day.

RE: Progress Report...
 

If you only flew once and drained a battery, then you most likely have a servo binding somewhere. You need to figure that out before you fly again, or it's going to bite you in the butt hard next time.
You can get a cord that will allow you to buddy with a futaba box. Your radio will be the master, and the futaba will be the slave--they sell those cords for ten bucks or so. However, it is my experience that buddy boxes don't do a whole lot while you are landing. When you get that close to the ground, one of the two people have to land it--does that make sense? If I'm training you to fly, and you're landing your plane, and you're 5 feet off the deck and decide to do something stupid, or dumb thumb, the plane is most likely toast--I probably wouldn't have time to save it anyway!

RE: Progress Report...
 

Chad,

The reason I stalled on take off was because of my battery, my instructor took over and he also couldn't do anything.


After looking into the problem and trying to salvage my battery by cycling it, I came to the conclusion that it was my battery... because I saw it go from 4.8 Volts to 3.6 in a matter of seconds. But I re-adjusted my throttle push rod because the nylon clevise was touching the engine mount screws, just in case...


On the other hand, I bought a new 1650 mah battery and I'm really happy with it, my voltmeter still displays 5.2 volts after 2 flights...

RE: Progress Report...
 

ok haha good to know that it wasn't you.