KJ4DCE
New member
Test Flight #1: I add ¾ throttle and hand launch the Arrow. Right a way I hear the sound of the prop hitting something. I cut the throttle and it noses into the ground. Not much damage up front, but the back is chewed up a little bit. The engine mount had pushed forward causing the prop to come in contact with the back. I hadn’t put skewers through the engine mount because I thought the friction fit would be fine. I didn’t bring any skewers with me, so I found a stick on the ground, cut a point on it, passed it through the engine mount, and trimmed the extra off.
Test Flight #2: I add ¾ throttle and hand launch the Arrow. It pitched nose down very quickly, but was able to pull the nose up and start to climb. I had the CG right on the marks from the plans with just a touch nose heavy. But I used all my trim adjustment and the nose still wanted the drop. I had set the elevens according to the glide with the plans also.
But I was flying. I turned down wind and pulled the throttle back to 1/3. It was twitchy, but flying level.
I barely move the stick to make a right turn, not too bad, nice and smooth. Coming back into the wind, I add a little more throttle, everything is good.
Setup to make a left turn, not bad again.
I flew around getting more comfort and realizing that my time flying the FT Tiny Trainer was time well spent. I didn’t feel overwhelmed by the Arrow like I thought I would. But I certainly had to “fly” the Arrow much more than the Tiny Trainer.
Ok, let’s put the spurs to her. WOW…that little A Pack motor really screams. I pull back the throttle and turn into the wind. Full throttle, what wind. WOW, this is awesome.
Feeling brave, let’s go for a loop. Well that was easy.
Try a slow pass. That’s amazing.
Never done a barrel roll, let me get up some speed and altitude. That was easy too. WOW. This is fun. Couple more.
Hang on a minute….it’s flying different, very wobbly and not responding to inputs well. I cut the throttle and do my best to glide it down. After a long walk to get the Arrow, I find that the top part of the wing had separated from the fuselage. This was why it was wobbly.
Oh well, nothing a little hot glue can’t fix.
Questions:
Test Flight #2: I add ¾ throttle and hand launch the Arrow. It pitched nose down very quickly, but was able to pull the nose up and start to climb. I had the CG right on the marks from the plans with just a touch nose heavy. But I used all my trim adjustment and the nose still wanted the drop. I had set the elevens according to the glide with the plans also.
But I was flying. I turned down wind and pulled the throttle back to 1/3. It was twitchy, but flying level.
I barely move the stick to make a right turn, not too bad, nice and smooth. Coming back into the wind, I add a little more throttle, everything is good.
Setup to make a left turn, not bad again.
I flew around getting more comfort and realizing that my time flying the FT Tiny Trainer was time well spent. I didn’t feel overwhelmed by the Arrow like I thought I would. But I certainly had to “fly” the Arrow much more than the Tiny Trainer.
Ok, let’s put the spurs to her. WOW…that little A Pack motor really screams. I pull back the throttle and turn into the wind. Full throttle, what wind. WOW, this is awesome.
Feeling brave, let’s go for a loop. Well that was easy.
Try a slow pass. That’s amazing.
Never done a barrel roll, let me get up some speed and altitude. That was easy too. WOW. This is fun. Couple more.
Hang on a minute….it’s flying different, very wobbly and not responding to inputs well. I cut the throttle and do my best to glide it down. After a long walk to get the Arrow, I find that the top part of the wing had separated from the fuselage. This was why it was wobbly.
Oh well, nothing a little hot glue can’t fix.
Questions:
- What did I do wrong setup the CG?
- Was me having the “fly” the Arrow more so than the mostly “hand off” way I flew the Tiny Trainer common?
- Are there ways to strengthen the joint between the top part of the wing and the fuselage?