3rd ever flying session, hooked!

CAtotheRescue

New member
Hey all,
I've only just got into this hobby, but I think I'm hooked! I built a Flitetest Simple Cub and although I'm still learning how to fly, I'm having a blast! Nice to have a great flying plane that's not going to break the bank if you smash it to bits! I've even managed to take off from the ground, but my landings leave a lot to be desired (I'm not an accurate enough pilot to land on the only strip of grass short enough).

Potato quality video of last nights session:
Simple Cub 3rd flight
 
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kilroy07

Legendary member
Welcome to the forums!

It’s easy to get hooked with Flite Tests great designs, pretty soon you’ll have a long list of projects.
There’s a whole lot of cool stuff here and a lot of people with years (and years) of experience who are more than willing to help out and share their experience.
 

CAtotheRescue

New member
Yes, this seems like a very helpful and positive forum. I struggled with unpredictable wind direction the night before, and I think I had the battery too far rearward as I just couldn't get to grips with it at all. My first crash had bent where the motor mounts to the swappable pod, so I rebuilt it in about 10mins and it flew well! (for a total newbie, anyway!)

Am I right in thinking that with a programmable transmitter I'd be able to set the ailerons as flaperons and slow down the landing speed? I'm not trying to solve bad technique with technology, but was curious!
 

kilroy07

Legendary member
It depends on your transmitter but that should be an option.
Check YouTube as well, sometimes you get lucky and someone has done a step by step video.

It’s great you are already recording your flights. I still get a chuckle when I watch my first flights....
If you run into problems sometimes a picture or video really is worth a thousand words.
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
The best way to make better landing is to practice them. Take a battery and see how many landings you can make.
 

CAtotheRescue

New member
Welcome here is a video I poasted a while back about how to land you might find it helpful.

https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/a-very-good-video-on-landings.57453/

Ill have to study that one, thanks! Some of it is counter intuitive to me!

The best way to make better landing is to practice them. Take a battery and see how many landings you can make.

That seems like good advice practice, practice, practice... esp if things are counter-intuitive, as my intuition near the ground is dangerous! :)
 

Bricks

Master member
If you pay attention to the video Michael recommends setting your landing speed with the elevator and then controlling then control altitude with throttle. Practice this at some altitude so you know what speed your plane will slow down to, not stall and still have control. Learn to use the rudder when landing versus ailerons if your plane has rudder.
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
Hey all,
I've only just got into this hobby, but I think I'm hooked! I built a Flitetest Simple Cub and although I'm still learning how to fly, I'm having a blast! Nice to have a great flying plane that's not going to break the bank if you smash it to bits! I've even managed to take off from the ground, but my landings leave a lot to be desired (I'm not an accurate enough pilot to land on the only strip of grass short enough).

Potato quality video of last nights session:
Simple Cub 3rd flight
For someone who is just getting into the hobby you had some really good figure 8's and loops. I would say your intuition is on point. Looks like you chose the right plane for the job. How did the build go for ya?

Welcome to the forum and the hobby
 

CAtotheRescue

New member
Learn to use the rudder when landing versus ailerons if your plane has rudder.

I'll admit I've been struggling with using rudder, found it difficult to use without inadvertantly adjusting the throttle, which does seem sensitive to input on my non-programmable Dx4e.

For someone who is just getting into the hobby you had some really good figure 8's and loops. I would say your intuition is on point. Looks like you chose the right plane for the job. How did the build go for ya?

Welcome to the forum and the hobby

Thanks for the supportive words! The Cub is really friendly to fly (not that I've flown anything else to compare!) But as long as the CG is set right or even a little noseward, it's a joy.

The build process was lots of fun, the Flitetest foam is lovely to work with. I just followed the build video, and 2 short afternoons work it was done. The biggest confusion i had was choosing a suitable motor. Id say I'm fairly technically minded, but the motor nomenclature is weird to me! Ended up with 28-26 980kv that apparently will be running at 140ish watts with a 10x4.7 prop. I don't know if that's mismatched, but the performance is great! :)
 

Vimana89

Legendary member
Nice flying for being so new, and good looking Cub! I like the straight yellow, but was worried about orientation until I saw the black stripes on the underside of the wings. Great build and flying, glad you enjoy the hobby! It was rougher for me getting in, I was stubborn and wanted to start with my own designs, which work now, but after I learned to build a kit and fly a basic trainer. You are learning fast, I still don't fly 4ch and don't blame you for feeling awkward with the rudder on the same stick as throttle.
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
I'll admit I've been struggling with using rudder, found it difficult to use without inadvertantly adjusting the throttle, which does seem sensitive to input on my non-programmable Dx4e.



Thanks for the supportive words! The Cub is really friendly to fly (not that I've flown anything else to compare!) But as long as the CG is set right or even a little noseward, it's a joy.

The build process was lots of fun, the Flitetest foam is lovely to work with. I just followed the build video, and 2 short afternoons work it was done. The biggest confusion i had was choosing a suitable motor. Id say I'm fairly technically minded, but the motor nomenclature is weird to me! Ended up with 28-26 980kv that apparently will be running at 140ish watts with a 10x4.7 prop. I don't know if that's mismatched, but the performance is great! :)
To tell you the truth I had no idea what all the technical jargon meant when I started out not to long ago either. I was basically told what would work for my purposes. Not until watching a crap ton of vids, building a dozen or so FT planes and crashing more then half beyond repair, spending money on new parts to replace what I broke, talking to the guys at the LHS, and of coarse learning from the wealth of knowledge on these forums, am I even beginning to understand how this works. All I can say is at long as it works for you, stick with it. Anything beyond that you are curios about and wanna try chances are there is someone on here who has already done it and will give you the insight to move forward.
Nice flying for being so new, and good looking Cub! I like the straight yellow, but was worried about orientation until I saw the black stripes on the underside of the wings. Great build and flying, glad you enjoy the hobby! It was rougher for me getting in, I was stubborn and wanted to start with my own designs, which work now, but after I learned to build a kit and fly a basic trainer. You are learning fast, I still don't fly 4ch and don't blame you for feeling awkward with the rudder on the same stick as throttle.
As Vimana89 was sayin it is a sticky game playin with the rudder on the throttle side. I found that most people who fly 4 channel tend to not use the rudder much at all, tends to be more of a bank and yank situation for fun flying. If you are looking for scale flying some rudder can be manually actuated or put into a mix depending on your transmitter. As for me I am still doin the 3 channel rudder/elevator on planes that have dihedral to help correct and not be to snappy on maneuvers, still a rookie myself. Practicing a lot of landings lately getting used to glide slopes and flaring, I found that the rudder will bank your plane like ailerons will to a certain point to where it will tip stall, pretty much almost 90 degrees vertical then dive... which back pressure on the stick will help correct. The rudder helps me to level the plane on the roll axis for landings, no need for ailerons.

Have you tried the Cub as a 3 channel yet?
 

Vimana89

Legendary member
To tell you the truth I had no idea what all the technical jargon meant when I started out not to long ago either. I was basically told what would work for my purposes. Not until watching a crap ton of vids, building a dozen or so FT planes and crashing more then half beyond repair, spending money on new parts to replace what I broke, talking to the guys at the LHS, and of coarse learning from the wealth of knowledge on these forums, am I even beginning to understand how this works. All I can say is at long as it works for you, stick with it. Anything beyond that you are curios about and wanna try chances are there is someone on here who has already done it and will give you the insight to move forward.

As Vimana89 was sayin it is a sticky game playin with the rudder on the throttle side. I found that most people who fly 4 channel tend to not use the rudder much at all, tends to be more of a bank and yank situation for fun flying. If you are looking for scale flying some rudder can be manually actuated or put into a mix depending on your transmitter. As for me I am still doin the 3 channel rudder/elevator on planes that have dihedral to help correct and not be to snappy on maneuvers, still a rookie myself. Practicing a lot of landings lately getting used to glide slopes and flaring, I found that the rudder will bank your plane like ailerons will to a certain point to where it will tip stall, pretty much almost 90 degrees vertical then dive... which back pressure on the stick will help correct. The rudder helps me to level the plane on the roll axis for landings, no need for ailerons.

Have you tried the Cub as a 3 channel yet?
I'm trying to get into a little AET-ailerons elevator throttle 3ch. Elevons are a bit much on handling and build precision for me still. Like you, I mostly still enjoy RET(rudder, elevator, throttle), with dihedrals. Practically any type of plane can be flown as RET. My V Sliver slender delta design is RET and I fly a lot of Nutball variants and customized versions.
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
I'm trying to get into a little AET-ailerons elevator throttle 3ch. Elevons are a bit much on handling and build precision for me still. Like you, I mostly still enjoy RET(rudder, elevator, throttle), with dihedrals. Practically any type of plane can be flown as RET. My V Sliver slender delta design is RET and I fly a lot of Nutball variants and customized versions.
I have 2 Scouts, one Mini and the other is a Simple Scout, both on RET. Love the Mini cuz it's the first plane I have put a whole battery thru, just finished the larger one to take the same design and scale up to the larger motor package, RET as well. I do have a Spitfire and a Mini Mustang both set up as AET but i haven't flown them yet, need more confidence and testicular fortitude to make that happen. And then i have the Baby Blender and a Mini Storch as full on 4 channel planes in waiting for that time to come. Baby steps

As you can tell I love the building part and I have just recently started to enjoy the flying side of the hobby after a bunch of unplanned vertical lawn dart style landings with now scrapped planes. Problem is i gotta crash more planes to salvage out the electronics to build more planes... think I am addicted? Like a junkie.

Have you been at it for awhile?
 

Vimana89

Legendary member
I have 2 Scouts, one Mini and the other is a Simple Scout, both on RET. Love the Mini cuz it's the first plane I have put a whole battery thru, just finished the larger one to take the same design and scale up to the larger motor package, RET as well. I do have a Spitfire and a Mini Mustang both set up as AET but i haven't flown them yet, need more confidence and testicular fortitude to make that happen. And then i have the Baby Blender and a Mini Storch as full on 4 channel planes in waiting for that time to come. Baby steps

As you can tell I love the building part and I have just recently started to enjoy the flying side of the hobby after a bunch of unplanned vertical lawn dart style landings with now scrapped planes. Problem is i gotta crash more planes to salvage out the electronics to build more planes... think I am addicted? Like a junkie.

Have you been at it for awhile?

Only since late 2018, probably September or November. The mini scout was my first kit. It didn't last long but flew decent while it did and taught me some things. Took a Hobby Zone Champ RTF to really get me comfortable flying. The whole time I never gave up developing my own designs and kept coming back to them and applying new stuff I learned to building and flying until they started working. I also fly quads occasionally but I don't build them and don't get as much wind free time to really set up and plan FPV flights and stuff.

My slender delta is my pride and joy, cuts a great profile in flight, banks clean, nice straight fast passes, but its the slow high alpha that's really out of this world. I fly some versions and variants of the Nutball and they can crack a good high alpha but can't maneuver and turn in it like the slender delta, but they turn and flip a bit more nimbly. I'm going to be taking a crack at some mutli- wing soon here, biplane and triplane stuff, and possibly another good straight wing design for basic training and casual flying. From there, who knows, lots more to try.
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
Only since late 2018, probably September or November. The mini scout was my first kit. It didn't last long but flew decent while it did and taught me some things. Took a Hobby Zone Champ RTF to really get me comfortable flying. The whole time I never gave up developing my own designs and kept coming back to them and applying new stuff I learned to building and flying until they started working. I also fly quads occasionally but I don't build them and don't get as much wind free time to really set up and plan FPV flights and stuff.

My slender delta is my pride and joy, cuts a great profile in flight, banks clean, nice straight fast passes, but its the slow high alpha that's really out of this world. I fly some versions and variants of the Nutball and they can crack a good high alpha but can't maneuver and turn in it like the slender delta, but they turn and flip a bit more nimbly. I'm going to be taking a crack at some mutli- wing soon here, biplane and triplane stuff, and possibly another good straight wing design for basic training and casual flying. From there, who knows, lots more to try.
Speaking of multi wing, biplane stuff which i think look so cool, I have a Baby Blender I modified the tail section and wings on that I have yet to try. To scared to though, I don't want to wreck it, it's to pretty lol. I tried the SE5 and demolished that one. Soon I'm sure I will maiden it.
Lol - me too. I consider myself a pretty decent pilot, but still struggle with using rudder and flying large right circles. I’m working on it though and definitely improving. 👍
My problem is orientation sometimes, being able to tell which way the plane is going, (to me or away from me), or whether it's right side up sometimes. Still fairly new to the flying the planes thing as I wasn't having any luck in the beginning with the sticks lol. Any tips
 

Vimana89

Legendary member
Speaking of multi wing, biplane stuff which i think look so cool, I have a Baby Blender I modified the tail section and wings on that I have yet to try. To scared to though, I don't want to wreck it, it's to pretty lol. I tried the SE5 and demolished that one. Soon I'm sure I will maiden it.

My problem is orientation sometimes, being able to tell which way the plane is going, (to me or away from me), or whether it's right side up sometimes. Still fairly new to the flying the planes thing as I wasn't having any luck in the beginning with the sticks lol. Any tips
The only real way I know how to address orientation issues is your color scheme. The colors aren't so important as that they contrast enough, even black and white is good. The main thing is telling the bottom side from the top(inversion). My spines or belly boxes are always a different color than my wing, and lately I'm using foam where the paper is colored on one side and white on the other. Even maybe a couple stripes or something could help you.
 

Bricks

Master member
As everyone said above color scheme helps, another help with orientation is try and not let your plane get so far away the closer you can keep it the easier orientation is.
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
As everyone said above color scheme helps, another help with orientation is try and not let your plane get so far away the closer you can keep it the easier orientation is.
I have been playing with the contrasting colors and it seems to work well closer in. Flying the minis they get small quick at a distance, This standard size scout I have yet to maiden might help some. I will put some markings on the bottom to help. Or I could just remember which way I flipped ot looped the plane lol. Gettin better at this flying thing takes some patience, others may have given up.

Thx for the tips, appreciate it