rcfsr

Ho, I found that most of my nose-ins came as a result of the Fuselage pod popping loose from the tail boom. That junction must be in tight and straight when viewed from the side, otherwise it acts as a permanent "down" elevator. Also, before each flight check the alignment of all components as the book says especially if you nose-in hard. Just another possibility.

Bob

bobo212

well, you remember me mentioning something about pontoons for my firebird commander......... went to my local hobby shop and picked up some for electric flight planes. since i have a large lake nearby, this ought to be a blast!

Richard39

My Feedback: (14)

I was given a Scout last week and I have been flying glow fuel engines and airplanes for two years... I can not get this Scout to turn left... on hand launch it goes up and over the right wing into the ground... The controls work on the ground as per the instructions but I give it left right after launch and it goes left into the ground within 20 feet.... Please explain the v tail setup... when I give it left ... the right v tail control surface goes to the up position and the airplanes rolls over to the right.... The trim is set up level to my eye.... Wing now in two pieces after 6 hand launchs... Thanks...

Richard39

My Feedback: (14)

CORRECTION.... I give it a left turn and it goes right every time.... immediately after launch... I give it left and it goes right...

rcfsr

Richard.....Look at posts #8 and #10 for similar problems (if you haven't already) and see how they were resolved satisfactorily.

Richard39

My Feedback: (14)

Post 8 and 10 had problems and sent the airplane for a swap.... I would like to know if on a V tail if the controls are designed to be backward? left stick pulls the Rightt control surface up and will give a right turn?

mrfixit54016

Richard39,

I believe you are correct, when you push the stick left, this will raise the right tail control surface. I have found that the tail can take some very minor adjustments and cause a much better flight. I have many times turned the adjustment screws too much, and caused a huge difference in the flight of the plane. VERY SLIGHT tweaks will yield big results.

Once I had this plane all dialed-in, or "trimmed-out", it is an absolute pleasure to fly.

Good Luck

Ho Malone

Well, I'm keeping mine in the air longer. But I am still having to keep my tail flaps at a permanent upward tension to get airborn. Of course this means that it climbs real steep and stalls out. Getting that just right amount of flaps is a challenge.

I broke a tail wing section today. Not real bad, but enogh to lose the rigidity. I mended it with a sliver of credit card and masking tape, and put the same size piece of credit card on the other side to keep the balance. Don't know how this is going to effect flight. will find out tomorrow. Of course, now I am wondering if one could make a replacement taliboom out of balsa wood.

I am just proud that I haven't had a bad crash yet. Haven't sailed it underneath a car or anything.

So far, the extent of my flights have been into the wind, make a successful turn and then ride on the wind til I can negotiate a turn back into the wind. That's about where I tend to lose it.

Redwoodflyer

I have also had problems with the tail rod disengaging from where it fits into the fuselage after a few crashes - and not even severe crashes. At this point I can't seem to get the plane properly trimmed again and so it noses in without gaining altutude, even with the tail flaps adjusted up. This is my second Scout. The first one never flew right at all but Hobby Zone replaced it with a new one - great company. The Scout seems like a touchy plane but when it's in the air its a great deal of fun.

rcfsr

I've seen a thread here in the forums somewhere on fixing the tailrod/fuse problem but I can't seem to locate it again. It seems to me that a hole was drilled through the fuse and into the tail rod and glue was forced in forming a permanent bond. I would imagine that you would have to be very careful not to damage the control lines.

Bob

Ho Malone

If you ever replace the control lines, I sugest you start with plenty of line and thread them through the flap adjustment arms first, then through the hole in the tail of the fuselage and up to the servo.

Ho Malone

Well, I got in in the air today and made several good circles. It was really flying good, then once I got above the treetops, the wind currents changed and I lost control. It took a hard dive. Busted the tail wings up into 4 pieces, broke the control lines and the prop even came off. It took me a long time to find the prop. So I scooped it all up and figured, what hav I got to lose? I went to WallyWorld and got some 25lb fishing line. I took the servo mechanism out of the fuselage and replaced the line. That was actually easier than I expected. I patched the tail wings back up with clear duct tape and slivers of old credit card to brace the broken pieces back together. And you can kiss my sister's black cats ass if it didn't fly again. Suprised me. I saw that the plastic skin over the styrofoam acts as the hinge for the flaps, so the duct tape suficed.
I'm going to go ahead and order another tail section. My configuration works, but it is a little sloppy. And your right, lining up the tail rod is critical.
Just curious. Have any of you fashioned your own wings for replacements?

Redwoodflyer

Ethiopian configuration? What is that?

Ho Malone

it's a euphamism

Redwoodflyer

Yes I know it is a euphemism, but what does it mean? Is it an airplane term?

iacolb12

I just bought a used Scout on ebay and am looking forward to giving it a run. I was into nitro planes years ago but I was young and crashed a lot. So my budget dictated I quit. then again, 15 years ago we didn't have sweet low-cost options such as this.

I remember looking sometime ago for info on the Commander and found a site, which I cant find now, but they commented they could sqeeze another 8 or 10 minutes of flight time by climbing to a good height and gliding power off till they needed to climb again.

Is that pretty true? It seems like it would be a good gliding model. I also saw early in this thread that someone mentioned maybe trying a bigger battery pack. Has anyone trie this?

Thanks.

Ho Malone

Perhaps I should not have used it. The original version is just not politically correct. a (sloppy) rig ? an (ethnic) rig? rhymes with bigger.

It's kind of like saying "Excrement on an incline suffers the effects of gravity." We all know it rolls down hill.

Ho Malone

For the short time I have kept mine in the air, there have been a few instances when simply let off the throttle completely and negotiated several turns, away and back into the wind. I think when we get amore experienced with it we can ride the thermals.

Today I was flying mine with the patched up tail section. It flew, but, I never did go back and get my control lines hooked up right, so I got confused, and nosed in again. This time I broke the propeller. It was already weak from a couple of other times when the wing got pushed around into it in a crash. I'm suprised my wing is still in pretty good shape. Just a couple of minor chunks.
Anyway, since I gotta wait for a propeller, I decided to try making my own tail section. If you look closely at it, it is one solid piece, creased in the middle where it fits into the mounting v-clamp onto the tail rod. I took it completely off, laid it out on a piece of 3/16" styrofoam sheet I got at Hobby Lobby. (a 3 foot square for $.97) I traced it out, cut it out with an exacto blade, took the little grey flap adjustment arms off the original tail, and mounted it back onto the tail rod. I see no reqason why it won't fly. The original tail wing looks to be about 1/8" thick. I guess I will find out when I get a propeller.

Redwoodflyer

Thanks for letting me know that, Ho, and I suspected as much - but OUCH. I do find your reference offensive and don't think it has any place here on the RCU boards where the umbrella is cast wide to folks of all ethnicities. I'm not pretending to be the moderator here but I suggest that you look at the RCU Policies regarding "Inappropriate Language", and please leave your veiled ethnic slurs at home. The RCU community is an amazingly friendly and helpful place - let's all do our part to keep it that way.

Ho Malone

Hey, my original comment was a simple little twist on an old phrase. If you hadn't asked, it would not have been anything more than that. I think you can see from the content of my posts that I am not intentionally trying to slur anyone; just common folk using comon language, and sharing my experience with the plane. I won't make any references like that again.
thanks

kurzplayr

BO,

I have to say that I chuckled when I saw the commander with the Pontoons. Have you flown it and landed on water yet?? I started with a commander too.....I went a little mad scientist with mine. It flies fast with 10 cells, but not for very long. I had fun learning on it though.

John

Ho Malone

OK

I finally found a local dealer (35 miles away) who carries the Firebird series. I took my little Scout to him for advice. ( Mine does nothing but nose into the ground on take off. I have only been able to get it in the air on fairly windy days) As soon as I laid it down on his counter he saw the problem. Now others in this forum had been advising my problem was that the tail section probably bent down causing it to nose in. I assumed you all were talking about the black rod that runs from the moled body to the tail, or the tail section itself. Try as I might, I could never see any bent in the rod or flaw in the tail wing section. But when the shop owner laid a new Scout on the counter next to mine, it could not have been more obvious. The entire molded fuselage section of his set flat on the counter and the tail rod projectd a straight line right back to the tail wing. Mine touched the counter at the nose, arched upward and then back down to where the tail rod inserted into ti, and yes the tail section sits down well below the fuselage. This is obviously a defect in the fuselage from the outset. With all the flowing, arching curves of the top and nose of the fuselage, I had always thought that this was the intentional design of the plane. I don't feel like such a flop of a pilot now.
I will be shipping this back next week and, third time is a charm I hope (my first plane came with severed control lines before I ever got it out of the box) hopefully after 3 months from the original order, I will get to start flying.

Redwoodflyer

Yes this seems to be a common problem with the Scout, and I had my first one replaced for exactly the same reason. The replacement they sent me was fine until it crashed a few times and now the rod disengages from where it fits inside the fuselage with just about every landing and ends up at that angle that you are talking about, so I have to snap it back into place. I called the company and they suggested drilling a hole through the fuse and the rod and putting a screw through both sides (avoiding the control lines, of course!). This is clearly a quality control / design fault which I hope they address for the sake of future Scout owners. By the way if you want a fun little plane I can recommend the Skysprite RTF from FMA Direct. It is small and zippy and very maneuverable and only $39.95 (a bit fragile though, until you reinforce the leading edges with some Scotch tape). Anyway, good luck.

rcfsr

Both the first and second Scouts that I have had have developed this "twig snap" problem between the boom and fuselage pod. The last time out I had a hard landing on a dirt field and the boom not only was displaced but the fuselage cracked about 3/4 way around the boom. I've tried drilling a hole in the bottom of the plane so that I could see the boom inside the pod, then injecting epoxy through the hole and snapping the boom back in place...hoping that it would hold. But alas, on the first flight/landing, it broke again. My next step will be making a splint similar to a leg splint and hope that that works.

I just wonder if this problem is indicative to ALL pod and boom planes....especially in the Firebird line. Has anyone had similar experiences with the other Firebirds?

Bob

kurzplayr

Ive crashed mine(commander) many times, and broken everything except the boom. I would have thought the Epoxy would have held things back securely . Is there some way to stuff some fiberous material i.e. cottonball into the fuselage where the boom goes in?? Then coat that in Epoxy?? Just an idea.....

John