cadd

Have two aerobirds one I learned on and one I am flying now. Plane was doing great but not sure what happened. Just went out flying and no matter how much I adjusted the rear screws like it says in manual the plane kept climbing and stalling. I used the trim on control all the way and was just able to control it enough to land it. Have tried several adjustments now I am just going nuts. Flew great the other day cant understand the sudden poor flight? Everything looks ok far as I can tell. I did notice on my new aerobird the propeller runs real close to the tail boom compared to my old one. Thought that just might be due to the beating the old one took learning how to fly!

Cadd

jatoo

Firstly, I would chech the CG. I'm not sure where it's meant to be, but you can compare it to the other plane. Check that the tail is properly in line and securely attached securely in its place. Compare this to the other plane as well. You could be right about the prop, if it is moved up or down or is angled incorrectly it change the thrust-drag link and cause a problem. Try flying it in a glide with no power, and if it still stalls then it is not the prop (or is something else as well) if it is ok, the it will probably be the prop causing the prob. Check the overall appearance, look for major mishapes (bent tail etc.) and things that could be causeing drag (particularly above the CG). Check the contols and radio like you do (well should) before each flight to check for and radio glitches and incorect movement.
Hope that helps. Tell me how it goes and if you have any questions, just ask.
Alex

cadd

Thanks for the tips, still working on the problem. Hard to compare the prop angle with the other ABC because that one has been through so much abuse. But it still fly's. This new plane does not even have a scratch. I am using a taped old wing but dont think thats an issue. I only had enough time to try one thing so I move the rubber band on the tail closer to the tail surface (there are two spots it can go) did seem to help a little. The gap between the prop and tail boom is about a 1/4 inch I would estimate and about a 1/2 inch on the old ABC. I dont understand what would have moved motor mount seeing it has not taken any real impacts. Could be I just got the tail alignment out of wack while moving it and just need to keep adjusting those screws, Well I will keep plugging away at it thanks again for the advice. CO

jatoo

Well, good luck, keep trying. Have any pics?

cadd

AH HAH,

I think I at least figured why all of a sudden my plane was giving my this porpoising problem. I could not figure out why it all of a sudden started handling bad. I think it has to do with the tail wheel and doing ground take offs instead of my usual hand launch. I think that wheel was catching on rough parts in the road and maybe bringing that front side of the tail down a little bit. That would be the pressure point it the wheel was catching and pulling down on that front tail wheel (and tail adjustment) screw. So now I am using a smoother take off spot and seem to have that problem under control.

Cadd

cadd

I will work on some pictures for you I am not very computer savy but maybe my kids can help me .

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

I have an Aerobird with over 150 flights. I have taught several people to fly
their Aerobirds. Here is the procedure I tell people to follow to get the
plane to fly straight. I can't be sure how much damage you have done to the
plane due to crashes, so let me just offer this as a starter.

Unless you have removed the white foam that sits between the battery and the
electronics, ignore CG for the moment. Do all of your flight testing with the
6 cell battery. The 7 cell makes it nose heavy and will change the way it
flies. When we are trying to fix it, I would use the 6 cell only.

1) With your transmitter on and all trims centered, and your battery connected
in the plane, but with the motor off, look at the control surfaces on the tail
from the back. Are the movable parts exactly even with the fixed parts? If
not then you are going into a turn the moment you launch assuming the motor is
straight and the tail is straight. More on that later. Normally, these
surfaces have to be
perfectly aligned.

2) The boom between the pod an the tail - is it solidly anchored or can you
move it around inside the plane. If it moves, it has broken lose. This must be
fixed. It will either sag causing the nose to go down or it is twisted causing
the plane to turn right or left.

3) Check the tail, especially by the rigid plastic near the boom. Are there
any creases? I had a problem with my Aerobird that caused it to turn to the
right so badly that it crashed because it would go into a spiral. I tried
everything. Turned out there was a crease in the tail that caused the tail to
flex under pressure. On launch, this could take you into the ground.

4) It is possible for the tail to shift from a severe nose crash. There are
trim instructions in the owner's manual. AFTER you have checked the other
items and
fixed or found them to be OK, try trimming the tail for more up or down force.


Other points to be aware of:

When the motor is running, more air moves across the tail so that you get a
faster response for turns. The slower the motor is running, the slower the
plane will respond. When gliding, response can be very soft.

Make sure you are launching into the wind - directly into the wind, or the
plane will be turned by the wind when you launch. Same for landing.

Let me know how it goes.

If this doesn't help, I invite you to post photos.

These are what I would
want to see: All shots are with battery in and transmitter on, motor off.
All trims to center and not touching the stick unless I tell you to. All
tests are in Sport mode.

view from nose to tail - level with the top of the plane - to check allignmets
view from tail to nose - same reason

Remove the wing, lay the plane on a table on its side with the tail hanging
off the end. Place a ruler or a suitable straight edge under the body
extending to the tail. I want to see if the boom
is straight

surface allignment - battery connected, transmitter on - make sure your trims
are centered

For the shots from tail, I want you to center the motor in the frame so that
you are shooting STRAIGHT down the shaft.

view from the tail at tail height - full left command
view from the tail at tail height - full right
same - full up
same - full down
sticks centered and hands off shot.
Finally view from under the tail.

Co Fly

I had a simulad problem with an old learner. One of the plastic joints in the board frame came unglued. Because of this the plane would fly differently at slow and fast speeds, due to the tension put on the control surfaces. make sure they are attached. If it moves it messes with the fishing line length.