FT Flyer FAIL

[Ummon]

Hey all

I am a newbie, Just finished my first FT flyer and finally had a nice day to take it out and go flying. Well flying is somewhat of a misnomer since all the plane would to is roll over inverted and crash repeatedly into the ground eventually smashing the firewall.

Any idea what I did wrong? The plane will simply not fly right-side up.

The nice thing is I have another powerpod all finished. Whee!

 

[zev]

CG?

 

[Ummon]

cg is about 1/3 back. why would cg cause it to want to fly inverted?

 

[aiidanwings]

"Check your crap"- Josh Scott
C- control surfaces. Are they intact and moving the right way?
R- rips and tears. Will the plane explode in flight?
A- angles. Are the surfaces trimmed and true?
P- power system. Will it be able to lift itself?

That, and the center of gravity. I would venture it's too far aft.

 

[Liemavick]

A picture of your build may help.

 

[pgerts]

To little V-form?

 

[aiidanwings]

cg is about 1/3 back. why would cg cause it to want to fly inverted?

Because, the possible high angle of attack plus potential low airspeed caused a wing tip stall and as a result of the excessive leverage from the rear control surfaces resulting from the rearward cg made, made the aircraft roll faster than normal= unintentional inverted flight

Or, in other words... all kinds of crazy stuff can happen with an aft cg.

 

[Ummon]

Understood, Thank you guys. I will try to put up a picture of the build tonight. I am going to try a delta wing build next. I must say I love these foam builds. Crash them and you are out less than a buck and maybe a couple of hours.

 

[jhitesma]

I'd really suggest getting the hang of the Flyer before trying the Delta. The delta is a lot harder to get setup right and control IMHO. I've built the Nutball, Flyer, Delta, Fogey, BB2, Bloody Wonder, and Spitfire and of all of them the Delta is IMHO the hardest to fly well. If you really want to step up to Ailerons I'd say try the BW next, it's a bit more forgiving than the Delta and simpler to setup with the separate elevator.

But even better I'd really suggest doing another Flyer or Nutball or Fogey and getting the hang of them first. The Fogey and Flyer both practically fly themselves if they're setup right. The nutball isn't much harder...but I find it kind of tricky just because I have a hard time keeping my orientation with it being just a big circle up in the sky The Flyer feels a lot like the nutball but is a bit more forgiving and much easier to see what it's doing. The Fogey is easier still to fly and see what it's doing...but is a bit trickier to build.

Delta is easier to build than the Flyer...but really is a bit tricky to get setup well and kind of a handfull in the air if you're just getting started.

 

[earthsciteach]

Could also be caused by prop torque. Does this occur as soon as it lifts off? If this is your first time flying RC, you may be too heavy on the controls. Try using small stick movements.

 

[tramsgar]

I've had problems with my control horns eating into the foam making the control surfaces seem fine on the ground, but once the air speed start pushing against them they just move the paper and foam next to the horn.

 

[schuttkerk@yahoo.com]

Difficulty of control ranking

I'd really suggest getting the hang of the Flyer before trying the Delta. The delta is a lot harder to get setup right and control IMHO. I've built the Nutball, Flyer, Delta, Fogey, BB2, Bloody Wonder, and Spitfire and of all of them the Delta is IMHO the hardest to fly well. If you really want to step up to Ailerons I'd say try the BW next, it's a bit more forgiving than the Delta and simpler to setup with the separate elevator.

But even better I'd really suggest doing another Flyer or Nutball or Fogey and getting the hang of them first. The Fogey and Flyer both practically fly themselves if they're setup right. The nutball isn't much harder...but I find it kind of tricky just because I have a hard time keeping my orientation with it being just a big circle up in the sky The Flyer feels a lot like the nutball but is a bit more forgiving and much easier to see what it's doing. The Fogey is easier still to fly and see what it's doing...but is a bit trickier to build.

Delta is easier to build than the Flyer...but really is a bit tricky to get setup well and kind of a handfull in the air if you're just getting started.

Great info. I am a newbie. I've built a Flyer, Nutball, two Fogeys and two FT-22's all in Deccember 2015. My wife is concerned, but she seems willing to wait and see where this goes I have only flown the Flyer about 30 minutes. The plane rocks a bit, but flys well. Stalls like it is bored. I'm very happy with it. First set of flights, about 28 minutes, went well, but I stayed 3 mistakes high and needed it. Second time out about 2 minutes, I wanted to keep the Flyer lower, dove in hard, and only broke the firewall. Amazing.

I was going to step up to my FT Delt before moving on to my Fogey. Now, I'm thinking I should move to Fogey next. What do you think? After that step, do I go next to the Delta? Or, the FT-22?

Appreciate all opinions!

I built my second Fogey in a hospital room with my 94 year old Dad using Power Grab construction adhesive. He loves it and that is priceless. I'll update on that one when I fly it.

Tom