59 year old newbie - adding more planes

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
when I checked where the balance was it was about 3/8 to 1/2 an inch behind the holes.
This plane is proving a challenge, to be sure. I've noticed with the couple FT speed build kits I've had, that the CG seems to change after the first hard crash or two. Either from my repairs or something else, I don't know. That's when I started learning to recognize if my plane was tail or nose heavy, and I change the nose weight in the field until I think I've got it right. Before the final demise of my TT, I was actually taping coins to the tail to get it to fly!

If you've got it so it will glide well with the battery and everything installed, then it sounds like you're on the right track. That's an obvious indicator that you've got it balanced out.

As frustrating as this plane has been, you've already learned far more about pushers than I have. First time I build one, I'll be coming to YOU for advice!

Good luck on the next flight! :)
 

Jimun

Elite member
Here I go again with the Explorer:D. It flew better but seemed under powered still with the sport wing.

I actually did not video the first flights of the Explorer and Tiny Trainer.


Switched to the glider wing and did better. It has a good glide to it. I cut the power a couple of times and it did real well. Still seemed under powered. The motor doesn't sound right to me. How can you check a motor?


Also flew the Tiny Trainer with a new fuse and nose. I change the shape on the nose to give my 3s battery a little more protection and it seemed to work. A couple of soft crashes and the battery stayed in place:D.



Last flight of the day. It was a good and beautiful day. I must have went through about 6 or more batteries. I had my charger going after draining the 1st battery. Felt real good today.


Planes are still in one piece and ready to fly again:LOL:.
 

Wildthing

Legendary member
Here I go again with the Explorer:D. It flew better but seemed under powered still with the sport wing.

I actually did not video the first flights of the Explorer and Tiny Trainer.


Switched to the glider wing and did better. It has a good glide to it. I cut the power a couple of times and it did real well. Still seemed under powered. The motor doesn't sound right to me. How can you check a motor?


Also flew the Tiny Trainer with a new fuse and nose. I change the shape on the nose to give my 3s battery a little more protection and it seemed to work. A couple of soft crashes and the battery stayed in place:D.



Last flight of the day. It was a good and beautiful day. I must have went through about 6 or more batteries. I had my charger going after draining the 1st battery. Felt real good today.


Planes are still in one piece and ready to fly again:LOL:.

You had a busy day :) . It's so nice when they all come home in one piece.
 

Wildthing

Legendary member
With the Explorer I think you almost flew smoother the first time but way to close to the ground. Both flights you were porpoising quite a bit. You could be a tad tail heavy but I would try lowering your rates for elevator by 10% to start with and raise the expo 10 or 15%, this will help calm you thumb down by over correcting the plane. Roll looked nice and smooth, don't touch it.
 

mayan

Legendary member
@Jimun your flying is great man. You seem to be controlling the plane and getting it to do what you want it to do. From your second explorer video I don’t think you are under powered. The best feeling in the world is coming home with the planes intact like when they got to the field :). You should really be proud of yourself.
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
Wow, are you stepping up your game, or what?! First, gliding the Explorer (nice landing btw) and then some craziness with the TT! Then some nice smooth circuits and even some close flybys. In the last video, your confidence level was so obvious. It's such a great feeling when you can throw it into the air and then just have fun with it. It's even better when you bring it in for a great landing.

For me, the days like you just had easily make any frustration well worth the journey. Congratulations on some great flying, @Jimun!
 

Jimun

Elite member
Got the Tiny Trainer out today and I flew the Corsair on its maiden.

I warmed up with the TT. It was a beautiful morning. She flew real good again.


Here is the Corsair

Corsair 17.JPG


Here is how she ended up.

Corsair 18.JPG


Check out the Baa Baa Black Sheep, Have you any wool? Yes Sir, Yes Sir three Planes full! thread to see the video of the maiden.

I did fly the TT 1 more time and I tried inverted for a moment, looked good at 1st then the quote "Down is up and Up is Expensive" came into play.

IMG_4634.JPG


I think the wing is the only thing that suffered. I will find out later
 

mayan

Legendary member
@Jimun great flying man! You really are showing great control over the Tiny Trainer. When flying inverted make sure you very up high until you get the hang of it. It takes some practice to remember that down is up. I still can’t say that I mastered inverted yet :). Again great flying buddy keep it up :).
 

Jimun

Elite member
Got to go to the field today and I warmed up with the Tiny Trainer. It is a beautiful but hot and humid day. So I got out there before it got to hot. The TT is flying good again It is fun to get this in the air. I still have some hard landings but I am doing better. Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement.:D


I also took the Corsair out for a try again - Success - it flew great - until:eek:. Check it out here Baa Baa Black Sheep
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
Got to go to the field today and I warmed up with the Tiny Trainer. It is a beautiful but hot and humid day. So I got out there before it got to hot. The TT is flying good again It is fun to get this in the air. I still have some hard landings but I am doing better. Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement.:D


I also took the Corsair out for a try again - Success - it flew great - until:eek:. Check it out here Baa Baa Black Sheep
Just some nice smooth flying (until the end.) Nice landing at the beginning, too. It was pretty much perfect in my book. Good flying! Is the TT OK?
 

mayan

Legendary member
Got to go to the field today and I warmed up with the Tiny Trainer. It is a beautiful but hot and humid day. So I got out there before it got to hot. The TT is flying good again It is fun to get this in the air. I still have some hard landings but I am doing better. Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement.:D


I also took the Corsair out for a try again - Success - it flew great - until:eek:. Check it out here Baa Baa Black Sheep
It seems like you mastered it. I just recommend making the TT a test dummy for any manuver that you want to try considering it's easy to re-build / repair.
 

Wildthing

Legendary member
Tiny Trainer repaired and ready. Explorer repaired and ready. Batteries charged. Going to try to go to the field tomorrow morning.
Just about done with the Spitfire. Getting some paint today. My first try at camouflage:unsure:.
Have fun
 

tones

New member
I have been wanting to fly rc since I was a teenager and I am just getting started now.
Sounds familiar and we're really close in age... Feb. '61 myself. I did a little 12th scale R/C car racing back in the 80's. Used to run a pretty hot Bolink Bandito. I always have been fascinated with flight, but I kept being told it's not something you want to get into if you don't have a mentor. Almost 2 years ago now, I picked up a toy multicopter, a cheerson cx-33c, well, actually 3 of them because they were like $25 each at a local grocery store and I figured spare parts weren't likely to come cheaper. The whole thing turned has turned into the best thing to happen to me in a couple of decades. I'm currently trying to learn how to fly a race quad at a race pace in the simulator. I have a few flying quads and parts to build more, but I'm very interested in winged flight as well. There's something about that ability to hover that's always appealed to me 'though. This is actually my first post on here, so hello everybody. 😁👍 I've been watching Flite Test videos for a lot of the time since I discovered what's out there on YouTube etc. and have been really enjoying a lot of that as well. I just figured I would say hello since I spotted a kid about my age. 😉

Good to meet y'all, and I'm looking forward to digging around up in here a bit.