First Glow Flight!!
 

I was finally able to get out to a field tonight to fly my new Superstar 40. A club member met me there and helped to get the plane set up properly and give me some pointers. After spending some time trimmimng the motor (I had run it in previously) and checking the radio etc, Itaxied out to the runway and throttled up!

The plane took off pretty easy and I flew it around in an oval for a while, trimming it out and getting a feel for it. Then I did a couple loops, stall turns, Immelmans and rolls that I learned from flying electric and using the sim. The Superstar 40 handles very well, I was impressed.

When Ilined up for a landing it came in pretty fast, and the gear bounced like a spring! I bounced over the runway and rolled it into the edge of a wheet field, but no real harm...a couple small tears in the wing covering. I had to straighten the front gear when I got home, but all in all a successful maiden flight!!

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RE: First Glow Flight!!
 

:D Feels good, doesn't it!!!

Sounds like a typical first landing to me. We've all done that, usually breaking a prop at the same time. Buy a bunch of spares, you'll no doubt go through several before you get it down softly.

Suggestion would be to come in long and work the throttle, leave the elevator alone until the last moment. Use the rudder to line it up right and then let it glide down at it's own rate of descent. After you fly it a while, you'll figure out what that is.

Make your approaches as a box. Downwind as you lower the altitude, straight across in front of you. Make the base leg turn, nice and clean, maintaining altitude, which is a short leg, then make another turn to final, straighten it out, point it directly toward you. From way far out, it will look like it's headed toward you, but it will more likely be lining up on the centerline. Work the throttle, keeping in mind that if you wish to lengthen the approach, add a click or two of throttle... LEAVE THE ELEVATOR ALONE. To shorten the approach, lessen the throttle a click or two. It will settle in nicely and drop altitude.

Eventually, you will get the cadence right and, by properly adjusting the throttle, you will find that, sooner or later, you will have the right settings for your approach, and at some point, you will be at idle, and it will be right in front of you. Just tap the elevator a bit and the nose will rise slightly and it will settle in nice and soft.

It takes a lot of practice, but that's what it takes.. practice.

Do a lot of practice approaches without landing... just approach properly, and when you are lined up and dropping altitude nicely, push the throttle to full and go around. Keep doing this several times per flight. Eventually, do touch-and-go landings.

That's exactly what I do, even now, I do as many as a half dozen touch and go's, usually on the first flight of the day, to get the feel of the wind and that day's environmental conditions, and to practice landings. I get a lot of complements on my landings, mainly because I practice them.

It's like algebra... you gotta do it over and over and over again.. :eek: [&o] :D

CGr

RE: First Glow Flight!!
 

Good for you. Having someone with some R/C experience trim and check over the model and tune the engine probably saved you hours and days (as well as potentially hundreds of $$$) and got you off to a good start. Trainers have springhy gear - by no accident. When you get so they come in smooth and stick you have done a good landing. In the mean time they save the airframe. If the gear didn't absorb a hard impact the balsa would . . . to a point.

RE: First Glow Flight!!
 

Thanks for the advice, folks!!