Marty72
Elite member
or you could set your TX low rates to 50 (or 40) and your high rate at 70 (or 60). It's an easy fix. You can leave you elevator settings alone.
An absolute beginner scratch builds an FT P-40. Now with maiden vids
- Thread starter Dunfielder
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or you could set your TX low rates to 50 (or 40) and your high rate at 70 (or 60). It's an easy fix. You can leave you elevator settings alone.
Dunfielder
Active member
You read my mind man! Thanks for the tips! There will be more video next fly day for you and everyone else to check out, and see if there is any improvement in my flying skills. I really appreciate the feedback. It's not easy going it alone and any advise from experienced fliers is an awesome resource to have. But I wont be alone soon.... My little bro is bit with the bug!!
Wow man, you did amazing for a newbie maiden!! All my first flights were way shorter...
Your repairs look really good.
It’s contagious!
That’s a really good looking build!
PaulBlack71
New member
The landing gear on this plane's design are not great. They seem like an afterthought. Even if you do put the wood in the wings, you have to be very careful to ONLY glue the landing gear to the wood and NOT the wing. If you have even the slightest hard landing or takeoff, the gear will rip the paper and possibly foam right off the underside of the wing. I wood not recommend just gluing these to the wing, it will shear the paper and foam off on your first landing for sure making a mess of your wing. You need a hardpoint. You could possibly carefully cut a hatch in the wing bottom and surgically install the hardpoints after the wing is built, then just close and glue it up after. Or just throw together another wing, they are not hard to build from the plans.
Dunfielder
Active member
Got another break in the weather today. So we loaded up and went to a different location closer to home. Before flying again I set the low rate to 50% rate 50% expo. High is 70% rate 30% expo. All flying is again done on low rates. Ailerons much more controllable. My flight times are getting a wee bit longer each time. I keep forgetting to stay high lol. Both crashes were me getting confused coming towards myself I'm pretty sure but I did slow the throttle on the last one maybe a bit too much. A busted prop was the only damage today. The General just seems to enjoy punishment. I should have called her Timex. Enjoy the vids and give me your thoughts. They are appreciated as always. 4 props on the way so flying again soon.
PaulBlack71
New member
Looking pretty good. Seems to turn very quick. Maybe rates still a little high. Also, altitude. Fly 2 or 3 mistakes high as they say. Fast hard turns 20ft up are asking for trouble. I find with mine,once rolled on its side to turn, it really sinks and gains speed fast and seems to want to keep rolling probably due to low wing architeture and body weight being above the wing. I had to get used to quickly levelling it or it would nearly get away from me, especially turning toward me when orientation becomes an issue. A pull of the ailerons the wrong way on a steep, low turn and she will auger in for sure. Nice vids. I assume it survived those crashes? Long grass sure helps cushion the blow.
Cheers.
Cheers.
Marty72
Elite member
Alright! Your first flight today, #4, was your best effort. You were up high and you were trying to figure things out. You've got to keep elevation. You also got very luck on #4, if you hit the road at the angle you hit that tall grass, today would have ended early for sure.
Here's my thoughts, my opinions. I think you can get a full 8 minutes of flight with the skills you have right now, but you are going to need a "flight" plan. And if I were there, this is what I'd tell you to do. 1. Get the plane up high, 2. fly a very simple figure 8 pattern, where you are always turning away from yourself (do you see where I'm going?). 3. while your doing this (if you get comfortable), pay attention to any bias the plane has, rolling left, or pitching up, ect (maybe say it out loud to your brother). At some point, it would be good to trim the plane, as a trimmed out plane is much easier to fly. But it's difficult for a beginner to trim if you are in survival mode (which is where you are).
Now, I realize you need to learn to turn the plane when it's coming towards you but right now, my thought is to get you flight time, any flight time, even if it's a simple, repetitive pattern.
BTW, in flight #4, was that roll an accident or did you intend to do that?
Where you having orientation problems today?
Here's my thoughts, my opinions. I think you can get a full 8 minutes of flight with the skills you have right now, but you are going to need a "flight" plan. And if I were there, this is what I'd tell you to do. 1. Get the plane up high, 2. fly a very simple figure 8 pattern, where you are always turning away from yourself (do you see where I'm going?). 3. while your doing this (if you get comfortable), pay attention to any bias the plane has, rolling left, or pitching up, ect (maybe say it out loud to your brother). At some point, it would be good to trim the plane, as a trimmed out plane is much easier to fly. But it's difficult for a beginner to trim if you are in survival mode (which is where you are).
Now, I realize you need to learn to turn the plane when it's coming towards you but right now, my thought is to get you flight time, any flight time, even if it's a simple, repetitive pattern.
BTW, in flight #4, was that roll an accident or did you intend to do that?
Where you having orientation problems today?
Dunfielder
Active member
I just was trying to fly circular patterns around the area. Found I needed a little more throttle for level flight, little nose heavy. The plane started to roll on #4 and I just did my best to ride it out. I'm still a bit of a caveman on the sticks lol. I definitely had some trouble today flying towards myself. Pretty sure that was the main reason for my crashes. No wind today to blame lol. Yeah I really forgot about staying high. Did you see where I flew through the bushes hahaha. I thought she was toast!!. Thanks for the vote of confidence, next time I'm going way way up there so I don't hit the ground on my steep turns
danskis
Master member
I agree with @Marty72. You mentioned that you lost orientation which may have caused your crash. I think it takes a while for your brain to get accustomed to a new plane as far as orientation goes....and even harder for a new pilot. Yes its boring but you'll progress faster by going up high and flying circles in both directions - get a feel for the sticks - then start flying figure 8s. Then loops. Also, you'd think with it being orange it would be easy to maintain orientation. Your best orientation comes from the bottom of the wings in a bank. If the bottom is also solid orange you might try changing it. Perhaps some black and white (wide) invasion stripes on the bottom of the wings would help.
When its coming towards you "STICK TO THE LOW WING" will level it out. But you already knew that.
Oh and I forgot....man you are doing great!. My first plane was in the trash after the 4th flight.
When its coming towards you "STICK TO THE LOW WING" will level it out. But you already knew that.
Oh and I forgot....man you are doing great!. My first plane was in the trash after the 4th flight.
Dunfielder
Active member
Marty72
Elite member
Yep, I agree 100 % with Danskis, that's why I asked about orientation. Since the plane is all orange, the easiest thing to do is put a wide black stripe either on the top or the bottom of the wing, either will work. 2-3 inches wide, it will help contrast the orange. Invasion stripes would be great but it's going to be tough to paint white over orange. White against black is the best I've found, yellow against black is also excellent.
Going forward, make the top of your wings a very different color than the top. I prefer a stripe on the top but I've done both and they both work. Orientation was and still is an issue for me. I'm much, much better. Oh and if you lose orientation, if you are very high, you don't have to panic. If you are low and lose orientation, you've have to gamble, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
OH another tip, if it's foggy, or really cloudy, it's best not to go up. You can, I have and I've crashed, you lose orientation much easier on a cloudy day than a clear sky day.....huge difference.
Tips from a beginner to a beginner.......these are the things I went through only a few months ago, so I remember them well.
Going forward, make the top of your wings a very different color than the top. I prefer a stripe on the top but I've done both and they both work. Orientation was and still is an issue for me. I'm much, much better. Oh and if you lose orientation, if you are very high, you don't have to panic. If you are low and lose orientation, you've have to gamble, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
OH another tip, if it's foggy, or really cloudy, it's best not to go up. You can, I have and I've crashed, you lose orientation much easier on a cloudy day than a clear sky day.....huge difference.
Tips from a beginner to a beginner.......these are the things I went through only a few months ago, so I remember them well.
daniZZ
Active member
Congrats for your maiden, looks like you're way more lucky, or skilled, than me.
I just finished the build of my second P40, and as you may know, the first didn't did it to actually fly.
Don't know if this will, because I just measured the AUW and it scared me.
So first of all please excuse me for kidnaping your thread but I really need an advice from the most knowledgeable colleagues from here, can you please take a look at the P40 build thread....
Congrats again
I just finished the build of my second P40, and as you may know, the first didn't did it to actually fly.
Don't know if this will, because I just measured the AUW and it scared me.
So first of all please excuse me for kidnaping your thread but I really need an advice from the most knowledgeable colleagues from here, can you please take a look at the P40 build thread....
Congrats again
Dunfielder
Active member
I haven't weighed mine yet let me get back to ya @daniZZ. It will be a bit high as I did make some repairs to the plane.
Dunfielder
Active member
Looks like I don't have any way to get the weight. All I have is my digital bathroom scale and with a the plane, (minus prop), and battery it shows 0. less than 1 pound or under 454 gr. In all honesty it feels about a pound maybe just over. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful
PaulBlack71
New member
I just weighed mine on an accurate kitchen scale and AUW ready to fly is: 1 lb 15.2oz so just under 2lbs. (with 2200 3s lipo) Mind you, it has the landing gear, a spinner, 2 cameras (1 aio for fpv with transmitter and antenna) and 1 runcam2 for hd recording. I also use the frsky battery telemetry sensor along with my receiver. I've replaced my motor mount self tappers with larger nuts and bolts with washers used for thrust angle and I've bolstered the body and wing up with some extra skewers at the under-cambered wing tips and have lots (probably too much) glue throughout. It flies fine though, not heavy feeling at all, though I have not had the chance to fly it with the 2 cameras yet so who knows.
Dunfielder
Active member
Man the rotten luck. I just received notice that the place I ordered the props from doesn't actually have them and their site was messed up when I ordered. They showed in stock but they are not. So I got a refund and immediately checked the hobby shops south of the border. Seriously I cannot get the props I want in Canada unless I buy multirotor props and get a bunch of CW props I don't want. Amain Hobbies to the rescue. Just ordered 4 packs of the exact same 2packs of 1045 props that came in my power pack C for the same money. 8 props instead of 4 for the same money and actually in stock. Hopefully they aren't too long getting here.
PaulBlack71
New member
Isn't it fun? I'm in Canada as well and finding properly priced hobby gear can be a challenge especially for lipos.
I've never used hobbyking due to horror stories about their China shipping. I've used the US based Banggood site a couple of times but would rather support a Canadian shop if I can.
I actually kind of lucked out on my P40 because I also have a 10 inch quadcopter that uses the same 10x45 props as my plane so I've got 5 years worth of extra props lying around.
I'm near Windsor so have mostly dealt with BuddyRc in Ohio (mostly multirotor stuff but great to deal with if they have what you want.) and Flite Test (also in Ohio) is good too.
In Canada I use Great Hobbies or RotorGeeks based in Toronto. All have kept me well equipped. I've also gotten lipos from amazon.ca with good success, just watch out for insanely inflated prices from 3rd party sellers. I've seen lipos on there from $33 to $300 for the exact same lipo pack. You have to dig, but the stuff is there.
Dunfielder
Active member
I use Hobby Wholesale in Edmonton for my lipos. Decent price and I get stuff fast from them. I have used Great Hobbies as well but I noticed the mark up with them is high. I am kinda disappointed of all the props both of these places carry that I cannot get 1045 or 1047 ccw props. Some options had no adapter rings. I mean come on I need the adapter rings. I'll have to check out RotorGeeks sometime. Yep I definitely try to buy Canadian when I can.
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