First steps, or crashes...

[rcspaceflight]

I don't actually trim my planes. I set the control surfaces so they look level with the plane and then hold the sticks so the plane stays level during flight. It's all about personal preference I guess.

Nose heavy is better than tail heavy. CG can be rather picky with RC planes because of how small they are. If you try to correct it, you may over correct it and it's probably not worth it. But it is normal for the nose to drop when you cut throttle.

 

[lincolngkp]

Thanks guys,

I'm not gonna mess with the setup of my plane any further at this stage, I'm just gonna get some more air time and see what some experience does for me. I think at this point that is the main thing I need. I do trim my plane because I want to know that if I let go the controls all other things being equal the plane should fly straight and levelish.

Today would be great for flying with next to no wind but alas I am at work. Not gonna happen this evening either as I have too much other stuff on. Found out yesterday that I was flying illegally as our local council has a by-law outlawing flying aircraft on council reserves, which includes the park I was flying at. Previously I had checked on the Civil Aviation Saftey Authority's web site and going by their information I thought I was all good.

Anyway, the school I work for is a private school so there is no way it could be construed as council reserve so I shall just fly here or outside my local council area in future.

Lincoln

 

[lincolngkp]

OK so famous last words. I messed with it.

Tonight's lesson was, don't fly when you are in a hurry, at least not when you are as green as I am. i had a few spare minutes for a 'quick' fly before I had to be somewhere else so I threw her into the air. She seemed a little hard to control tonight so after I crashed her into the pavement (narrow bit of pavement through a grassed area so that's where i crashed) I decided to adjust the COG. She was a little nose heavy so I moved the battery back and the ESC forward to compensate and the COG seemed spot on to the manufacturers spec. I put her back into the air and had another go, this time I really struggled to control her and crashed into the ground on a paved basket ball court! Broken propeller and no time left meant a bad ending to the attempt. Also need to get the hot glue gun out to repair cracks in foam.

I'm thinking I might remove the undercarriage and just belly land (assuming I get to landing one day) as the undercarriage seems to cause a lot of the cracks in the foam. Either that or I may find a way to mount the undercarriage that doesn't put so much stress on the fuse.

So, don't fly in a hurry! Take your time, get it right and don't rush.

Lincoln

 

[quorneng]

Lincoln
In the early days when crashes are frequent there is a lot to be said for doing belly landings, particularly on grass. Foam 'gives' a bit so even quite a firm landing will probably do no damage.
Yes the underside will get a bit scratched but if the undercarriage is actually damaging the foam in the same situation a few marks is a better alternative.
When you get 'good' you may want to put the U/C back on so you can take off as well.
As I fly from rather rough grass I have to admit most of my planes are belly landers. I have couple that can even do a belly take off!

 

[rcspaceflight]

It's not a good idea to rush. This hobby is supposed to be relaxing.

I almost never put landing gear on any of my planes. But that's because I have no concrete to take off from or to land on. Some planes look weird without any gear, but hand launching and landing in grass is a good way to go. If anything, it's better to land in grass without landing gear. The landing gear usually gets caught in the grass and the plane flips. As a beginner, it's usually a good idea to stay away from landing onto hard surfaces. That's how planes break (more easily).

 

[lincolngkp]

At this stage I am seriously thinking of nicking the useful bits off my Tuff Trainer and shelving it. The useful bits would go into something like an FT Flyer. My problem at this stage with the Tuff Trainer is that I don't know what problems are the aircraft needing sorting, and what problems are the nut holding the sticks.

I'm thinking that a $10 sheet of foam core may give me something pretty cheap to crash that would be easy to fly and give me some satisfaction and pleasure. I've always enjoyed building stuff and as they say, if I can build it I can fix it.

Lincoln

 

[lonewolf7717]

Dude I understand the "craving" sitting at work, hanging with the family or laying in bed about to drift off to sleep. Once you get that rc bug, seems like all you can think about in the beginning is flying ever chance you can get. Word of caution though, this can lead to rather poor judgement ( i.e. Flying in less than ideal conditions...wind, poor light, poor locations and flying with a plane with some serious overlooked issues). It sound as if your tuff trainer has taken some pretty rough knocks thus far ( that's fine all part of the process) and that can lead to some wacky control surface alinement issues. Check and double check all control throws every time out, especially after a "rough landing".....stripped servos have been the bane of more than one new flyer. Also grab yourself a sharpie and when you get a good flight that feels like CG is on the money, make a reference mark inside so you are not playing a guessing game every time.....a couple cm(s) off can make a world of difference sometimes.

 

[lincolngkp]

OK so no more flying this week as I hadn't done the repairs and mods after the last attempt and I just haven't had the time or opportunity. This weekend isn't looking good either with rain on the forecast all weekend.

This morning I got to the workbench to do some repairs and mods. I think I am having some CG issues. With the batteries in the battery bay the aircraft was a touch nose heavy but on my last flight I shifted the battery into the space under the wing and moved the ESC and receiver forward to compensate. I thought the CG seemed ok but in the air the thing was pretty bad and in hindsight I think it was tail heavy. As the saying goes....

As I noted above the landing gear was creating a stress point which was a frequent site of cracking of the fuselage. The foam at front and rear of the battery bay was also prone to cracking and I felt there was need to strengthen the area. So in an effort to address these weaknesses and to give more flexibility for adjusting the CG I have made the following mods as seen in the photos:

I extended the battery bay back to the landing gear mount. I then reinforced the fuselage by running a BBQ skewer from the motor mount down each side of the battery bay opening and past the landing gear mount. I glued the landing gear back in (I decided against belly landing for the time being because I want to try to avoid breaking more props than I need to). I also added a piece of skewer to retain the battery.

With these mods done I moved the receiver and ESC back to their original locations, installed the wing and put in a 1300mAh pack to test the CG. Better but possibly still just a touch nose heavy. With a 1000mAh pack in place the CG seems to be spot on balancing using the recommended 65-70mm both under the wing and with the plane inverted and balancing on the wing top.

So I think I'm ready to give it another shot when the weather suits. Looking at the forecast that won't be any time soon but at least I'm ready to go when the weather is co-operative.

Cheers

Lincoln

 

[quorneng]

I see you are using a 'prop saver' so apart from the take off I can't see how your undercarriage will save that many props.
If you are coming down hard enough for the undercarriage mounting to damage the fuselage I am sure the prop is hitting the ground pretty hard as well.
Its not your undercarriage that is protecting the prop rather the prop saver.

 

[lincolngkp]

I'm hoping to stop coming down so hard in the near future

My thinking is that if I can start landing rather than crashing then landing on the undercarriage rather than the belly will help to keep the prop from striking the ground. Of course there's always the possibility of nosing over on landing but if I can mange to waste enough energy then the force of that will hopefully be quite minor.

Either way, if I continue hitting the ground as hard as I have been, stuff is going to break sometimes.

Lincoln

 

[lincolngkp]

Ok so it's been quite a while since my last post but here is the state of play. After further attempts at flying my Tuff Trainer which went pretty badly, I decided that given all the known problems with this aircraft, I was going to give up on it. So I decided to build an FT Flyer from scratch. Tonight I have gutted the TT for all the useful bits, motor, ESC, servos, control wire, linkages etc and cut out the parts for the FT Flyer.

Some time in the next few days I should be able to build the Flyer and then look for an opportunity to maiden her.

Fingers crossed.

Lincoln

 

[Ron B]

Let us know how the flyer works for you as compared to the tuffy.

 

[lincolngkp]

Thanks, well so far I've enjoyed building it.



I decided to build it without landing gear and mount the battery inside the power pod. It balances out perfectly with a 1000mah battery mounted directly behind the motor. It weighs in at 694 grams without battery, about 70 grams heavier than the spec from FT but the foam board I have used (because it is what I can get here in Aussie) is about 50% heavier than $tree or Adams or whatever it is that you US guys use.



The servos, motor, ESC, control horns and rods are from the Tuff Trainer. It is basically ready to maiden now, I just have to look for an opportunity. So next report will be how it went.

Cheers

Lincoln

 

[lincolngkp]

So I took her out to attempt a maiden flight the other morning at sunrise. Conditions were perfect with just the gentlest of breezes.

I ran into problems with my prop saver. The rubber bands I was using were not really suitable and this led to the prop flying off once before I had managed to launch and twice within a couple of seconds of launching. At that point I decided to postpone until I had something more suitable. I now have some bands that I think will work so now I'm looking out for the next opportunity. I'm also rethinking my decision not to mount landing gear. I think hand launching when you don't have any experience at actual flying (SIM only) may cause me to have more issues than I really need.

Updates as they happen.

Lincoln

 

[Bolvon72]

So I took her out to attempt a maiden flight the other morning at sunrise. Conditions were perfect with just the gentlest of breezes.

I ran into problems with my prop saver. The rubber bands I was using were not really suitable and this led to the prop flying off once before I had managed to launch and twice within a couple of seconds of launching. At that point I decided to postpone until I had something more suitable. I now have some bands that I think will work so now I'm looking out for the next opportunity. I'm also rethinking my decision not to mount landing gear. I think hand launching when you don't have any experience at actual flying (SIM only) may cause me to have more issues than I really need.

Updates as they happen.

Lincoln

O-rings, #14 size here in the U.S. Not sure if that translates down under, but they're 3/4 inch. They never fail me until they get old and brittle.

 

[Ron B]

I am known to build heavy but mine came out at 369 grams and that is with landing gear with rubber wheels and a 1300 3 cell.
I had not seen any specs as to what it should weigh so I guess I am pretty well in the ball park.

 

[daniel_t]

The plans spec the FT Flyer out to be 238 grams without the battery.

 

[rcspaceflight]

I had a prop and prop adapter fly off of my plane once.... true story.