Madd_Maxx

I finally got a chance to fly the dominator last weekend and all I can say is that it's a real handful to fly. Believe it or not the spa3dt or pqhor I've got seem to fly better (more predictable) but that could be due to the fact of all the flight time I've got on them. I figured this would be the best place to ask for help in sorting this thing out since there are so many original spadders in here.

The problem I seem to be having with the dominator is that the elevator seems to be very touchy....as in a little goes a LONG WAY with control throws. I have the CG set right on the wing spar per plans. The radio I'm using is a non-computer radio (airtronics vg400 with jr507 servos) so adjusting the throws via the radio isn't an option. What I've tried so far to fix it's darting up and down problem is to add a 1/2" foam shim under the back of the wing to set the front edge flat against the gutterpipe fuse. Since I kind of screwed up when I built the wing and it didn't turn out completely flat on the bottom (it's cupped a little so the wing rocks on the fuse without the foam) the foam fixed the rocking pretty much. I am using 10-12 rubber bands to hold the wing on to prevent wing movement on the fuse. I built a coro servo tray to put in the back of the gutter pipe fuse that seemed to be flexing a bit with elevator movement so I fixed that with bamboo skewers and some ca glue. The servo tray is now real solid and doesn't move but it didn't correct the problems I was having with the elevator controls. I'm wondeing if the rons need to be reflexed like the spa3dt or if I have them set to far out of wack now which results in the darting up and down. It's like you barely touch the elevator controls and it either dives for the dirt or heads for the sun....darts around almost uncontrolable. It definatelly isn't smooth in anything other than flat and level flight....which it does very well. Would making the tailfeathers bigger or control surfaces bigger help in fixing this or would that just make things worse?

The dominator flies like a rocketship with a well broken in MDS 40 and a 10x7 apc prop. Now just if I could get the elevator sorted out I would have an excellent flyer.

Any suggestions to fix my little dominator problem will greatly appreciated.

Madd_Maxx

Tattoo

CG sensitivity can sometimes change depending on how the wing is folded and glued, so the balance on the spar, although a good starting point, may not be perfect. Also, the ailerons have to be level with the fuselage or slightly reflexed. What you describe is directly related to aerodynamically drooping ailerons or tail heavy or a combo of both. Bring the ailerons up and try it, if that doesen't help, move the CG forward, and I'll bet you'll have a whole new airplane.

DipStick

Madd_Maxx,

The first dominator I build had the same type of problems. Did what Tatto said above and it flies great still my favority all around plane.

Steve

Madd_Maxx

I finally got a chance to check out the dominator tonight. Well the first thing I noticed was that the rons were drooping (guess I never noticed that before) a little bit...less than a 1/8" below level. I moved the battery forward about 3" to help out with the CG and reflexed the rons to roughly a 1/4" above level. Hopefully if the weather cooperates this weekend I can give it another shot to see if that fixed it. I'm hoping that cures the problems I've been having with this little SPAD rocketship.

Thanks Tattoo & DipStick for all the help !!

I've got a couple videos of my spads from last weekend.....the dominator (twitchy as ever) and the pqhor-t. Hopefully I can get them uploaded so I can share some of the spad craziness that goes on at our field....well a 60' x 5000' paved runway is hardly a field

Madd_Maxx

Madd_Maxx

The weather here in Ohio was simply amazing last weekend...was in the upper 50's both days and we took advantage of it at the flying field. Two big days of flying and having a blast shooting some video footage of all the planes and heli's. Well I got the SPAD video's uploaded to a server (probably won't be lightning fast) but the file sizes aren't to big so it shouldn't be a big deal. Both video's are in windows media format and are less than 2MB in file size (helps out the dial-up crowd like myself) that way everyone can check them out.

Big thanks to Brad and Speedy for shooting the two spad video's....it's hard to keep up with these twitchy little rocketships. The Dominator was only on the second time it had ever been in the air so it wasn't sorted out to well yet. The pqhor-t is dialed in pretty good and flies more like a balsa sport plane than anything with the 46LA and an APC 10x6 prop.

Here's the video links:

[link=http://www.q1.net/~dragonslayer129/spad_vidz/SPAD_highwing.wmv]Dominator Video[/link]

[link=http://www.q1.net/~dragonslayer129/spad_vidz/SPAD_pqhor2.wmv]PQHOR-T Video[/link]

The video quality isn't perfect but you get the idea of how much fun these things really are........ENJOY !!

Madd_Maxx

DipStick

Madd_Max,

Nice video but I think your engines need tuning their making a heck of a lot of noise[sm=thumbup.gif]....hard to tell...but it did look like the dominator tucked a couple times in the video a classic sign of dropping rons (flex them up). You might have a little to much elevator respone (maybe a little less throw)? Could you be getting any binding on the elevator? I would change the flex first and the weight like you doing, but I think you should also take a closer look at the elevotor/control set ups.

Steve

Madd_Maxx

DipStick:

The motor that is in my dominator was actually pulling duty in my old balsa trainer that has more epoxy and plywood in it than balsa. It is dialed in pretty good and runs like a rocketship....granted it isn't that quiet. I am currently running an exhaust deflector (made out of an aerotrends exhaust stack) that is roughly 6" long so the oily mess runs under the wing instead of all over the top. I seem to be doing alright getting my nitro's to run fine without burning them up with any lean runs. I've been into nitro planes for roughly 2 1/2 years now and nitro trucks for almost twice that long. I do like to adjust my motors so they are a touch rich but still deliver some decent performance.

If you think that MDS motor is loud you need to check out the other trainer plane (the teal/green one) that lands during the dominator video. That plane has an old classic fox motor in it and screams both in performance and sound.

I did check to make sure the elevator wasn't binding and it isn't. The throws on the elevator aren't that radical either (no more than my old trainer). I'm just guessing that the main problem I was having is that the rons were drooping a bit causing the severe darting. Hopefully tomorrow I can take her out and give it another shot to see if it has improved.

Madd_Maxx

ChrisSpad

listen to whats been said already. Its tailheavy, and chances are the ailerons need to be raised up about 1/8" above parallel to the fuse, at the trailing edge. Move the wing back 1/2" as well, and i bet it flies like a totally new plane.

DipStick

Madd_Maxx

The engine tuning thing was suppose to be a joke... all I heard was some heavy metal type tunes....thought it was something you added to the video...oops...I quess it is something with the player.

Steve

Capn America

My Feedback: (3)

I just finished and test flew mine with the v-tail. After reading about v tails being less responsive i set the controll horns for neck break. The first take off it pulled up and over and came right back at me. It is very responsive and the only time i felt it was darty was when one of the two v-tail servos started to loosen up and let the one tail surface flop. I set both the alerons and elevator with a straight edge and it seems to be great. My battery pack has to be about 3 in from the back to balance it with the K&B 65 on it but it really goes. Talk about loud, it has a j'tec box muffler on it that screams. Was a lot of fun at the last club outing.