dgross1999

I put my slow stick together exactly the way it says to in the directions but when i launch the tail seems to drag lower then the rest, i did balance it at 4 1/8 from the front of the wing and it seems to be nose heavy. can anyone tell me why this could be. It cause the plane to be kind of irratic in the air first its tail will drag and then the nose will dip down making me have to try and correct it and all it leads into is a nose dive and a broken prop. Also does anyone know of a good instructional website for how to teach yourself how to fly an r/c airplane. thanks so much

Time Pilot

If the tail dips down upon launch, that would indicate that you are tail heavy or in need of some downthrust on the motor. The Slow Stick is not designed with downthrust--and don't try just bending the aluminum down as it will severely weaken the structure and likely break where you bent it. If you have access to a disk sander and want to make a downthrust modification, let me know and I'll let you know how you could easily corrrect this.

Other than that, it's hard to tell without seeing you fly what could be the problem. If the plane is trimmed right and launched right, it should fly straight out level and away from you.

Be gentle with your corrections. You don't need a lot of stick input to make the plane do what it needs to do. Give it a bit of stick and give the plane time to react.

dgross1999

thanks it helped alot, i finally got it to fly and it went pretty good but for a few things. Is there a trick to making sure the rudder and the tail flaps are at the right straightness i have tried the fine adjustments on my controler but think the fusalage might be warped a little. The plane when launched now always wants to go up at about a 40 degree angle so i adjust it so it doesn't stall so i get a dipping effect and not much hieght due to that. so is there a way to make sure it is striaght with the rest of the plane so that it doesn't want to always go up wards. And it always wants to turn right. Not sure if the plane is warped or not with out eyeballing it is there a sure fire way to tell if it is. i got a good 5 min flight out of it today and was pretty happy, it was nice to know all my crashes are paying off . any help that you guys can give me about my problems is always appreciated.

Time Pilot

If it always want to turn right, you have to add left trim or 'build the trim in' by having the rudder deflected to the left a bit when the servos are centered.

Normally, you fly the plane, trim it for straight and level flight using the trim tabs on the Tx. then, when you land, you note the deflection of the surfaces, center the servos and readjust the pushrods so they have that amount of deflection as when you landed.

And yes, it is possible something is bent. You should be able to see it though. As for the control surfaces, eyeing them from the front, down the fuse, should give you a pretty good indication if they are straight.

The Slow Stick does want to pitch up a lot when power is applied. Sometimes this can be a good thing. When you get used to flying the plane, you'll naturally apply some down elevator when you apply full power if your intent was not to climb but to get some speed. It may seem like a challenge at first, but after you've been flying for a while, it will all come second nature.

If you want to get rid of that pitching up tendancy, you have to build yourself an insert that fits inside the front of the fuse that has a 3 degree down angle to it.

dgross1999

thanks alot time pilot all of you replies help me so much. I do have one more question i just bought an eps 400c power syatem an i noticed that the shaft takes a bigger prop then the 300 that came with the plane. i bought it because for one i cracked the hell out of the plastic on the 300 and couldn't find the replacement at the hobby shop. so can i get a stronger prop or will the weight be to much for the plane, because learning to fly i break alot of the gws props. and it came with just 2 wires to connect the system to thespeed controler can i just cut the wires off of my 100 power sytem i have here and hook them up the the power system so i can connect it . and also i have noticed looking throught the forums that some people have the power system upside down does that make a difference or should i ut it on like the manual says to.

Time Pilot

The nice thing about the slow Stick is that it can handle some extra weight, but as I've found, as it gets heavier, it starts to lose some performance. The 400 system is about an ounce more, so depending on your batteries, you might be okay. You'll definitely need to recheck the CG again, once you are up and running

Try another prop and see if you like it. If you go to www.gws.com.tw and look up the power system you have, it will give you a list of props and other specs that will help you compare performance to stock. If you need some more help with this, let me know and I'll do my best to get back to you on it.

What kind of speed control are you using? Depending on your setup, it is possible that the 400 will draw too much power for it.

You could drill out or ream another prop so it will fit, or buy the prop that will fit. It sounds like the hobby store sold you the power system but no prop?

As far as the original props, yes, they are fragile, but once you learn to fly, the props will last a long time because you learn to put the wheels on the ground first and use friction to stop the plane rather than the prop.. The reality is that if the prop doesn't break, there is a good chance that you'll bend a prop shaft instead. These are equally fragile. In essence, when you crash, something eventually has to give.