rcdude7

My Feedback: (264)

Ha ha, No thanks, I already felt as though I had a tiger by its tail.

Okay, so I'll try looping next time out. Line tension was good and I felt the control aspect was good and solid. At this point I think the pilot is the one lacking confidence. Need practice I guess..............

downunder

Just a hint when doing a loop. Be aware of the wind direction and spot the point that's directly downwind. Fly past that point by about 1/8 of the circle so the model is flying slightly into the wind then start the loop. Don't try for a tight loop so keep it fairly big, the aim being to have the finish of the loop somewhere safely above the ground . All being well the bottom of the loop will be back at the point where you started so it's all set up to go straight into another loop. But do one loop at a time until you're confident and be careful not to do too many loops in a flight or the lines will have twists that build up friction and then the model will be very hard to control.

cutaway

After about 3 inside loops in a row your lines are gonna start feeling a little stiff. After a few flights of doing inside loops, try inverted -- half a loop then level out. You might want to try some wing overs first though to get used to the idea of flying up higher if you haveln't done that already.

A good trick for doing inverted without disaster is to hold the handle horizontally with your thumb towards the direction of flight rather than vertical. I'm a lefty, so this is real easy for me. If you freeze up and just go brain dead, the rotation of the model will naturally start to pull on the down line and move the model higher away from the ground. Once you're up around 45 degrees you can just hammer half an inside loop and bail out back to level flight.

da Rock

Lazy 8's are a nice safe maneuver. No line windeup. Gives you a break from going around in circles.

rcdude7

My Feedback: (264)

Am I going to need right engine thrust to keep the lines tight for a manuever like the lazy 8. As it is I have 0 deg engine thrust and about 2 deg right rudder deflection. This keeps the lines tight when flying in a circle. Will they also stay tight when doing loops or the lazy eight?

Mike

da Rock

Engine thrust is one thing that always help keep line tension. If it's pointed out of the circle, that is. So if your CL plane is setup to fly counterclockwise, then right thrust will always help keep line tension no matter what you're doing.

downunder

A little out-thrust won't hurt if only for peace of mind. CL models fly tangent or even slightly yawed out from the circle which effectively gives slight out-thrust anyway. Use enough tip weight to balance or slightly over balance the weight of at least half the lines (your hand supports the other half). With the model hanging by the leadouts (elevator close to neutral) the nose should hang down so the fuselage is about 1.5 degrees off level with the ground. All these things will help keep line tension.

Lou Crane

rcdude, when can we start calling you CLdude?

The suggestion to do lazy eights is great!

HOW TO: Steer into an Inside loop, starting a bit past due downwind. Let this be open: sky is softer than ground. Whe you're "quite high" bring it around and start heading down. While STILL "pretty high" push in a bunch of DOWN control. (The model is on its back - DOWN is UP!)

Off the top of this partial Outside Loop, recover to upright level flight and take a big breath...

You've earned it.

Now, when you've caught your breath, do it again... (and take another breath...)

You should notice that when you do Inside Loops, you could point your index finger above the "pilot's" head, and when you're doing those odd-looking Outside Loops, you're pointing way below "his" butt. Exactly!

Lazy eights are enjoyable, and they prime your response for which is the right way to get out of the maneuver you're doing. Once you get the feel of the lazy eight, you'll notice that you do like an orchestra conductor:- You point at the shape (with an imaginary index figure) ABOVE for insides, an below for outsides. If you had the symphony orchestra conductor's baton, you'd be pointing above the "right side- up" theoretical questoin. And below to the left.

That's also a good way to win steady level flight: Move your handle hand untill you can imagine pointing at the airplane with that index finger. Now, "lock" your wrist. Point your arm above the model, and MAGIC! it flies up to where you are pointing. Too high? Keep your wrist from moving and point your arm lower.

To desensitize how the model reacts, learn large arm motions. Then add to the quickness with elbow and forearm motions. By that time, it should be natural enough that if you NEED wrist motion, you'll do it in proportion to your model's needs.

PHYSICAL! That's what my Mom and Dad didn't quite 'get'... The less input we make, the less disturbance in the model's flight - so long as we make enough to be sure it does what we need. (It is also a good technique for improving the accuracy of shapes when you go to competition - which is a natural extension of flying for fun, without anything to guide how you judge how well you're doing. It IS great fun - learn to RELAX, and enjoy!)

rcdude7

My Feedback: (264)

Thank you for explaining all of that, as you can see I'm a complete rookie c/l pilot. I was experimenting with wrist movements vs arm movement with a locked wrist while just flying circles and I have better control with the arm movement only technique. I have noticed that those who fly stunt frequently use large arm movements and seem to control the plane very smoothly.

I found this video of a guy flying a flitestreak, and noticed the arm movement while he is flying squre loops.

Anyone here know if this pilot is flying the AMA stunt pattern here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNQssjuj9l4

Thanks all for the input, I am going to apply what I've learned here and hopefully do some lazy 8's this coming weekend.

Without you folks, I would be totally lost as I have never seen any C/L flying in this area during my 14yrs here.

Maybe I should change my handle to C/LDUDE just for this forum

Mike

downunder

Actually all the control is given by wrist movement and the arm movement is just to eliminate the control input that would be given if the arm was kept still. As Lou explained, the model will try to fly where you point your arm (in upright flight at least, don't try that inverted ) so after the initial flights getting used to the way the model reacts with arm movement you then progress to using wrist movement. Then you move your arm so it's following the position of the model through manoeuvres. After a while it becomes instinctive like playing a piano and you pay no attention to the movements your hand and arm make.

Basically the arm movement is just used initially for level flight and gentle climbs and dives and getting over any dizziness. Doing a first loop is best done by wrist movement and just letting your arm follow the model. Move your wrist up, keep that angle on your wrist and just point your arm at the model until it's at the bottom of the loop then straighten your wrist.

For a lazy 8, once the model has gone over the top of the loop and is starting to come back down you have to give down control with your wrist. This goes against instinct so just prepare your mind for it and hold that down control. Don't panic and don't give too much down, use about the same wrist movement as for the first part of the 8 and the model will do the rest.