Hello!

Yesterday i tried my new Ninja glider. I'm the fist to have one of this at my club and i'm not quite sure how this plane is supposed to fly. I balanced as per instructions (4.5 inches from the leading edge for aerobatics) I have to adimit i gave it a bit more travel than recomended but still it would have a bad atitude with small stick movements. Ok First launch and the plane seemed very tail heavy almost uncontrlable...Added a few nose weighs and it flew better. Quite fast i might add! But the plane seems to stall very easyly and sometimes doesn't react to controls even though it has airspeed. And sometime it does this extremely nervewraking tipstall that almost brings it to a spin. Controls are extremely touchy too. Can anyone give me some pointers on good settings for this plane, what are the aerobatic posibilities and what are the flying carasteristics of this glider? Thanks in advance guys!



Dan

Cut down on the surface travel. If your transmitter has "EXP", try about 30%.
This will smooth out the small deflections..
The Ninja is VERY aerobatic..

PR,
It's hard to gauge what's happening to a slope glider when the conditions are unknown. If the winds are strong, ballast might be the answer instead of nose weight. Too much nose weight could cause a loss of control response.
I agree with tall Paul on shortening up the control settings. I set mine up per instructions and have plenty of response.
The Ninja is very fast and very aerobatic. Keep the speed up, though. It's no slow flyer. Keep experimenting and you'll wind up with a really fun airplane. Hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine!
papermache

I also agree on setting it up as per instructions. If you like more and have dual rates and expo, definitely use them. Mine doesn't tip stall much, I think I did add a tad of nose weight, not much, and ballast for strong wind days definitely. It's a very aerobatic, fun plane, and where i fly, it does everything I ask. gl

Guys i hate to admit but i gave up on my ninja...I tried everything from adding lots of nose weight to negative insidence on the wing..thats how it would work best....the problem with mine is that the ailerons do not produce any response at all! You could hit full ailerons an it would not respond. I have to admit with the right set up it must be an awsome machine the few times i got it to fly good i did some extremely fat low passes that were too cool! but in over all handling is a mess...I have only heard good thing bout this glider i keep wondering what could it be..everything seems right..

Dan

It almost sounds like you're flying the plane around at the verge of stalling. What other types of planes do you fly on your slopes?

I've flown zagi's and gentle ladys on the slope...yeah that seemed to be the problem but even at a descent speed they do not respond. I've flown talon's too and they were responsive at almost any speed...

A Ninja that can't roll?
YGBSM!
You have a major blunder on your airplane!

If I had to guess, I'd say there just isn't enough lift for the Ninja.

We have maybe found why the ninja is not flying as it should!
Today when i came home me and a buddy were discussing the ninja. He said he has seen them fly and that theyre' great flyers (i honestly don't doubt it one bit i just wonder(ed) why mine doesn't want to fly right. Insidence might be the problem. It seems that when i made the hole fo the nylon screw i pushed the wing forward and the leading edge of the wing is resting in the higher part of the wing saddle thus giving positive insidence...I think i fmove the wing to the propper location all DFP's should go away! Do you guys thing this could be it?? I did give the plane a few cool low passes and the thing had major speed and yes it rolls like a jet! but that was at a very fast speed.

I suppose if it really had a lot of incidence that could do it. You'd be tricked into flying around with the fuselage nose level, but with the wing at a high angle of attack that could make it easier to stall.

I've got a Firebird, which is a Hobby Shack (now Hobby People) RTF clone of the Ninja that was sold a few years back. Overall my plane flies just fine--but I have found the elevator to be quite sensitive. Less travel is definitely more, I'd recommend the least you can comfortably fly with.

As for rolls, mine is OK, but I can't seem to get enough travel on the ailerons to really get it rolling as fast as I'd like. I'm more used to the "blink of an eye" 720*/sec. roll rate of my other planes (which is actually almost too much sometimes) and the slow--albeight still nice--roll of my Firebird leaves something to be desired.

However, I've never flown my Ninja all that much. My other planes are much more responsive and exciting to fly, plus they're EPP The Firebird now occupies a place on top of my shelving. I'll probably get it flying again someday but for now it's all in one piece and I guess I'm happy about that.

Definitely try flying it again when you get the incidence flattened out correctly. The Ninja has always been a nice flyer, and with some more tweaking yours should be fine. Just use the default CG, and reign in your elevator rates, and fly it fast. Should be a great, easy-to-fly airplane (mine is as gentle as a trainer)

We fly them a lot. They like to be fast, but can fly slow as well, not as good though. I set them up pretty sensitive. I think you may have it with the incidence. Hope that works. It is a very fun plane when set up right.

I just finished my Ninja and have been flying it from a hi start as we don't have a lot of slope locations here in Oklahoma. If the wind is 10 mph or better it flies great. Even thermalled it a little. Very strong thermals that day. I find the roll rate a little slow but I don't have any differential in the ailerons. Found I couldn't get the throws recommended in the manual with the servo wheel I had. Differential may help. Any thoughts? Also I find that 40% expo is not too much. JR xp662 radio. Smoothed it right out. Was way too sensitive before expo. Also if any of you decide to fly one off a hi start it can handle a hard launch but you have to have a stiff wind 10mph+. And don't feed in too much up elevator or you will find it on the hook but pointing straight down. Almost lost mine trying to feed too much elevator. Also you need to build it with the rudder and fly the rudder on the way up and you will get a good smooth launch. Still looking for that slope in OK.
Any thoughts?

Hi guys , I just finished my new ninja and test flew it the other week. I set it up the ailerons and C.G. as per instructions ,it flew fast and straight once trimmed out . Good inverted flight and tight turns, the only problem I do have is it will not do a clean loop ,it wants to roll over . Almost like a partial barrel roll ,I'm thinking I may have too much elevator travel. Any ideas?? otherwise the Ninja flys nice and it is predictable . Thanks Jim

Yep, sounds like too much elevator.

Thanks........... I'm going to try it with less elevator as soon as we get some wind ......... Jim

I guess I should've asked another question: Is the plane looping straight, then snapping out on or near the top of the loop or is it looping fairly smoothly, but just not quite straight?

If it's the later, it may not be due to too much elevator. It could be a warp in the wing, or perhaps a weight inbalance between the wingtips

Hi ,it definetly snaps out at the top ,otherwise it flies great at all speeds. Thanks Jim

Okay, that's good then.