DFalpha

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Hey guys I think I am going to be getting an Aerobird chalanger soon and will post my progress and dificulties here. I would love any tips availible!!!!

thanks!

Pete

ScYcS

Rules of the Air
(from Australian Aviation magazine; reprinted in Machine Design)
1. Every takeoff is optional. Every landing is mandatory.
2. If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger. If you pull the stick back, they get smaller. That is, unless you keep pulling the stick all the way back, then they get bigger again.
3. Flying isn't dangerous. Crashing is what's dangerous.
4. It's always better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here.
5. The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.
6. The propeller is just a big fan in front of the plane, used to keep the pilot cool. When it stops, you can actually watch the pilot start sweating.
7. When in doubt, hold on to your altitude. No one has ever collided with the sky.
8. A good landing is one from which you can walk away. A great landing is one after which you can use the plane again.
9. Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.
10. You know you've landed with the wheels up if it takes full power to taxi to the ramp.
11. The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival. Large angle of arrival, small probability of survival, and vice-versa.
12. Never let an aircraft take you somewhere your brain didn't get to five minutes earlier.
13. Stay out of clouds. The silver lining everyone keeps talking about might be another airplane going in the opposite direction. Reliable sources also report that mountains have been known to hide out in clouds.
14. Always try to keep the number of landings you make equal to the number of takeoffs you've made.
15. There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
16. You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck.
17. Helicopters can't fly; they're just so ugly the earth repels them.
18. If all you can see out of the window is ground that's going round and round, and all you can hear is commotion coming from the passenger compartment, things are not at all as they should be.
19. In the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminum going hundreds of miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose.
20. Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgment.
21. It's always a good idea to keep the pointy end going forward as much as possible.
22. Keep looking around. There's always something you've missed.
23. Remember, gravity is not just a good idea. It's the law. And it's not subject to repeal.
24. The three most useless things to a pilot are the altitude above you, the runway behind you, and a tenth of a second ago.

DFalpha

My Feedback: (3)

LOL THATS GREAT.... Good guidlins indefinatly!

thanks

ScYcS

On a more serious note: Take your time to prepare for your first flight. Don't go out the day you get it when it's only a little bit windy.

Make 110% sure that you chose a day without ANY wind. Then, when on the flying field, which should be about double as big as the best one you found so far, make sure to always FULLY extend the transmitter antenna, switch the Transmitter on BEFORE you switch on the plane/connect the battery in the plane.

Make sure the batteries are FULLY charged before even going out to the field.

Once your plane is airborne, try to stay calm, don't overreact, and don't be afraid when the model crashes to the ground because you made a mistake. Everyone and his greatgrandfather crashes their plane at some point.

Take some packaging tape with you to the flying field. You'll need it.

If you think you might lose control of your plane or you think it gets too far away from you, crash it. It's better to have some easy to fix broken parts on your plane than only having a Transmitter and no plane at all because you didn't want to let go. Your plane might be 25 minutes away somewhere stuck on a roof because you didn't want to crash and you will never find it again.

Hope it helps and good look!

Flying is fun and that's what it's all about.

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

Something else upon which to spend money:

Plane Locators

I have been flying since March and have now approach 200 flights. However,
during my self training I learned how hard it can be to find a plane that has
landed in the woods, tall grass and other places where you can't see it. On
my second flight, I lost my Aerobird when a huge gust of wind carried it over
deep woods and I was too inexperienced to deal with it. Even though I was
certain I knew where it went down, after 8 hours of searching, I could not
find it. I bought another Aerobird and fly it often.

When I moved on to sailplanes in July, I started flying a Great Planes Spirit
2 Meter. Again, during my early learning phase, I got into trouble and it
went down into heavy woods and brush in a very hard to search area. I went
into the woods about fifty feet, trying to decide how to proceed when I heard
Beep Beep Beep. The plane was about 200 feet away in heavy tree growth. I
could not see it, but I could hear it. I had the plane located and out in 10
minutes. Believe me, where it had landed I likely would not have found it.

The difference was a little device you put in the plane that gets attached to
the receiver. If you turn off the transmitter, the thing starts beeping
loudly and you can hear it from quite a distance.

This is what I use in my Spirit Sailplane and my Electrajet park flyer. It is
called a Digi-Alarm
http://www.foamfly.com/customer/prod...&page=1&XCARTS
or
http://www.californiasailplanes.com/...l%20alarm.html

It hooks to any channel or it can share a channel with one of your servos. It
has the connector to pass through to the servo. This will work in any plane
with a 72 MHZ receiver. I have also tried the Hobbico Air Alert. It works
fine, but this is the one I recommend to everyone.

Low Voltage Watch

In addition to helping me find the plane, the Digi Alarm also monitors my
battery pack voltage and sounds an alarm if the pack voltage gets below a safe
level. This is especially valuable on my glider. If I catch a good thermal,
I could be in the air for over an hour, so a pack that tested good on the
ground could run low during the flight. The digi-alarm would warn me during
the flight.

Channel Conflict Test!

As a test to make sure no one is flying on my channel I turn on the receiver
only. If the device does not go into lost plane mode then someone else is on
my frequency. I may have just saved my plane, or someone else's.

Here is a review of another Emergency Locator Beacon that illustrates its
value (this site is somewhat unreliable)
http://webhome.idirect.com/~arrowmfg...s/elb-revi.htm


For 27mHZ planes like the Aerobird, Firebirds, e-Gull, etc

My Aerobird does not have a conventional receiver. The electronics and servos
are one integrated circuit board. There is no place to connect one of the
above locators. On the Aerobird I use a key ringer. www.keyringer.com One of
these goes on the plane and one stays in my pocket. If I am looking for the
plane, I click the one in my hand and the one on the plane
answers. It has an effective range of between 50 and 150 feet depending on
conditions. I have attached a photo so you can see how I mount it. It does
not seem to hurt the plane's performance. I use it mainly when it is windy
now, but I used to put it on for every flight.

Every plane I ever own will have some kind of locator and/or a battery monitor
from now on. Of course I could move it from plane to plane, but at $15-30
they are
cheap enough I can put one in every plane and forget it!

Many new pilots don't know about these devices. Perhaps you could include a
report in one of your columns, or consider this a letter to the editor and
include it in the letters section.

jatoo

I've been flying my aerobird for a while now and I've never had a locator. As long as you fly in NO wind (early morning is usuallt the best) and you keep it in site, you shouldn't need one. But I'm not saying dont, the safer the better.
A few tips from my experience:
Tape the back of the wing, it can get in the way of the prop (I learned that the hard way... twice )
Fly in NO wind, if you get a bit of tail wind with the aerobird it is extremely hard to turn, somehow it's even harder with a tree infront of you.
Always keep a cool head
If you find yourself heading towards a tree etc, MORE throttle will make you turn sharper (I made that mistake too)
If your within 4 feet of the ground, it's time to cut the throttle and land, or you could end up with a hole cut from your prop in your wing. Always cut the throttle when close to the ground.
I have the original aerobird, but, make sure you know how to fly before you start using your drop module, and sonar.
Keep away from water.
And every time I invite my friends to come and watch me fly (yes, I like to show off) it either starts raining or get's real windy.
Have fun!

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

All good advice, but if I followed this one, instead of exceeding 200 flights and having grown to 6 planes, I would have about 30 flights and given up.

This is true for beginners, but you must learn to master all of the other things you stated as part of your progression. There were days when the wind was over 15 mph when I intentionally went to fly to learn how to fly in the wind. Unfortunately I did it sooner than I should and accumulated many crashes on my Aerobird.

If your bird doesn't turn, you need to adjust the tail and you need to lean to anticipate your turns sooner to give the plane time to react. The slower the speed, the less air moving over the tail and the slower it will respond. And yes, if you give it a burst of throttle, you can get a sudden sharp turn.

Keep going and you will grow past the early morning calm air flying to flying in 15 MPH wind with confidence.

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

Is a plane locator compatible with the Aerobird?

aeajr

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The one I reference in my post and that is shown in the photo of the Aerobird works.

DFalpha

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thanks for the help so far.................so do u thing the Aerobird would be better or the slowstick? hehe getting the plane this weekend..

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

I have never flown a slow stick, but I hear good things about it.

If you get a Slow Stick you will have to read the instructions, build it, buy a radio, receiver, servos, battery, charger, balance the plane, charge the battery, set the linkages then test it to make sure it is set up correctly. When you get to the field, you range check the radio and then you fly.

My guestimate of set-up time, not counting the shopping, would be 5-10 hours for a truely new modeler, not counting charging the battery.

Nothing wrong with any of this. Estimated cost for the package would be $180-$300 depending on what radio, receiver, servos, battery, charger you get and where you buy them.

If you get the Aerobird challenger, you open the box, put the battery on the included charger, watch the video that shows you how to set the plane up and fly it. Go to the field, strap on the wing insert the battery, do your range check, then fly.

Estimated time to do this, including watching the video, 1 hour or less. Cost? $115-$160.

After you are comfortable flying the Aerobird, say 25-50 flights, you go back to the hobby store and get the sonic combat module for air to air combat. Also get the bomb drop and parachute drop module. You bring your buddy with you. He gets an Aerobird on a different channel.

You teach him to fly, he gets the sonic combat module and you spend hours trying to shoot each other out of the sky, doing bombing runs or trying to drop your parachute jumper in the bucket.

Either plane will get you in the air. They are both 3 channel planes so either will do three channel rudder/elevator type stunts. Either will prepare you for the next step, whatever that is.

Time for you to make a decision here buddy! No more asking.

DFalpha

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I CHOOSE THE CHALANGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

aeajr

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We expect field reports and pictures! Good luck pilot!

DFalpha

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thank you sir! Ill get some pics and give a field report of how my first flight gos!!

DFalpha

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TODAY I GOT IT>!

john 8750

If you have the aorobird then your stuck with that plane only. And I would like to see it in a 15 MPH wind, or any park flyer. I would get the SS. Everything can be used in other planes.

DFalpha

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it was cheaper then SS and looks good cause u dont have to build it........ SS will be my second plane......... for those of u waiting field reports..they will be here soon!!

aeajr

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John8750,

If you are ever in NY, Long Island to be more specific, I would be happy to give you a demo of the Aerobird in 15 MPH winds, perhaps higher. Just let me know.

Forgive me, but I am so tired of this issue of "you can't move the stuff". Who cares? Keep that Aerobird flying. It is so much fun, and so inexpensive. I have a bunch of planes but the aerobird comes to the field every time and I fly it almost every time.

Mine is always ready to intro other people to flying. I put it up about 200 feet. I give them some basic instruction and then I let them fly it while I ready one of my other planes, working right beside them. No one has ever crashed or had a problem.

It really is that easy to fly. You should try it. Really!

john 8750

I will try one and get back to you. I stand corrected about the 15 MPH wind.

DFalpha

My Feedback: (3)

hehe.............CANT WAIT TO GET IN THE AIR!!!! to much snow [&:] about 2 1/2 feet.........

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

No problem.

A few tips on flying in high winds.

1) Don't use a damaged wing - I crashed mine because I went up with a creased wing that I taped. Strong winds put lots of stress on any wing. Make sure you have a good wing on the plane

2) The undercambered wing, by design, creates a lot of lift, so in high winds the plane will tend to climb more into the wind. A little down trim works well. If you try over 15 MPH, I have been told a small shim, like a popsicle stick, under the rear of the wing allows the plane to penetrate the wind better.

3) Remeber the plane is light, so strong gusts near the ground toss it around. Normally I glide mine in for landing but in strong winds, it is better to come in under power.

4) If you have the optional 7 cell battery, that is what I like to use in strong wind. Gives you a little more power and moves the CG forward slightly, again giving the plane a little bit better penetration.

Enjoy

Oh, btw, the Aerobird is reviewed in the December issue of RCM, RC Modeler magaxine. Theyliked it a lot but the review must have been written a while ago as it is about the Aerbird, not the Aerobird Challenger. They stopped shipping the Aerobird in August, I think.

DFalpha

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ya I just got the RCM last week..........they liked it........gonna fly sat at around 11.......Im so excited! made a wall transformer for peak charger....

aeajr

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I run my 12V chargers in the house using one of the Car Jump Start packs with the jumper cables on it. Cost about $35 at the warehouse store. Also works at the field if you can't bring your car right up to the flight area.

I put a post out for kids who fly electrics on how to charge at the field when you can't bring your car. There are several different types of packs that can be carried on a bike or in a back pack.

DFalpha

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ah...............Just took a 25 amp transformer and a 9200 micro fared cap.. dosent get to hot and cost me nothing ,and yes I am a kid . Im 13 going on 14 this may..lol

DFalpha

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Got any tips on launching the bird aejr?......need all the advice I can get!