FT Delta gone Wacko!

RCBaer

Junior Member
Hello,

I did my first flight with my FT Delta today. I got it trimmed and flying fine, then it would go wacko and do a spinning spiral of death into the ground! I did it twice, and I have no idea what caused it. It seemed like I still had control (not a radio lockout) but I couldn't recover.

Are there any techniques that I should do? It seems like any inputs made it spin faster.

Oh, Why type of wire do I need new landing gear. My last spiral of death mangled the gear on a fence.

RCBaer
 

RCBaer

Junior Member
Tactic radio and receiver, the motor and battery form lazertoys that came with the kit. Is that what you needed?

Oh, I did have it ballanced to the laser marks on the wings....
 

Bolvon72

Senior Member
Mentor
It's hard to say, could be interference, maybe your throws are set too high. Does the speed build kit come with throw gauges? Flying slow from takeoff could seem like they are good but it can get twitchy with speed. I had it happen on my Viggen maiden, I forgot to change my radio from an experimental setting I had for another plane and the smallest input rolled it fast, I barely landed it.
 

RCBaer

Junior Member
I just talked to my local hobby store, (Vortex hobbies,Shameless Plug) and they said that it sounded like I stalled it and one wing had much less lift than the other and caused the spin to go nuts. I should have used opposite rudder, or whatever it is called with elevons, no elevator, and waited for it to calm down.

Bolvon72, I didn't get a throws gauge, or lost it. I will check it to what it said on the Flite Test paper that came with the kit, That is an awesome thing to look at! Thank you.
 

ofiesens2

Professional noob
I just talked to my local hobby store, (Vortex hobbies,Shameless Plug) and they said that it sounded like I stalled it and one wing had much less lift than the other and caused the spin to go nuts. I should have used opposite rudder, or whatever it is called with elevons, no elevator, and waited for it to calm down.

Bolvon72, I didn't get a throws gauge, or lost it. I will check it to what it said on the Flite Test paper that came with the kit, That is an awesome thing to look at! Thank you.

I got the swappable 3 pack speed build kit and it didn't have a throw gauge in it, so (according to the sheets with the plane specs and recommended equipment) I just used a protractor to make my own(19 degrees)
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
If you were flying pretty slow, it might be a tip stall like the LHS described. Unfortunately, as you know, the delta has no rudder. Best thing to do is give opposite aileron to the direction of the spin (spinning right, give left aileron) along with a touch of down and some throttle. If you are too close to the ground, don't bother trying to save it, just chop the throttle and pull full up. A spin takes some altitude to recover from and varies from plane to plane on just how much altitude you need.
A good thing to do is to take it up a hundred feet or more and slow it down to a stall so you know what to expect when it happens. Doing it high up gives you time to recover safely and is something full scale pilots do as well. Spin recovery is serious business when you're in the plane that's spinning!
 

RCBaer

Junior Member
Thanks for all the input! I wish it wasn't dark and stormy so I can take the FT Delta out again!
 

RCBaer

Junior Member
So I have had some great flights with the FT Delta, Had some really remarkable flights, and then 3 huge tip stalls in the same night, 3 busted props, and I broke the power pod on the last crash and I'm really confused.

Why would I have some great flights, without any issues and then BAM (literally) it go crazy? Is there something in the airframe that could be bad? I'm using the same props, they are balanced, and in 2 of my flights tonight, they had never been in the air yet.

Grrr... This is a maddening but awesome and fun hobby
 

CrashRecovery

I'm a care bear...Really?
Mentor
It really sounds like a radio issue. Ive got a feeling to receiver is loosing signal causing the problem. Check your antenna on the receiver and make sure its not in contact with any other electrical part.

Edit..... The way it looks like you were pulling out of the dive and it starts the spiral. I'm guessing a servo is getting stuck. that's my other idea
 
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FlyingMonkey

Bought Another Trailer
Staff member
Admin
I think Ryan is on it. You could have a stripped servo, a loose push rod connector that slipped, a control horn is letting go. It looked like a control surface issue.
 

RCBaer

Junior Member
I think I finally figured out my Delta. I'm sure this would be easy for others to figure out, but I moved the CG forward about .5 inches and it flew great! I then moved it back to the original CG and it did the spin of death. I'm not sure why it wants it forward compared to the standard build. Probably something I did

If you get the spiral of death, try moving the CG.
 
I had similar challenges with the first few flights of a Bloody Wonder. Occasionally, it would start rolling out of control, but when I got it off the the ground, all the controls worked fine. I eventually found that the aileron servo would occasionally "freeze" in place... no growling or other noise, but a light tap would make it responsive, again (which explained why it was working when I recovered the plane after a crash). Replaced the servo and all is well.

I am also finding that moving the c/g forward can help tame a plane. Better to be a bit nose heavy than tail heavy. Perhaps the c/g marks are starting points?


Glad you solved your issues with your Delta.