Help! FT Racer not flying

[Hex23]

Hello guys. Newbie here. I recently build ft racer from scratch. Had problems with the servo but fixed it. I maidened the other day but it was not going up when i pull elevator. Cg was correct with battery that i used. It goes straight forward but cant climb. I am not sure if its too heavy or underpowered or both.

Here are the details
Ft racer at 100% size
2212 1400kv
40a esc
3s battery 2200mah
4x 9g servo
Flysky 6ch rx with byme a
Auw 750g
8060 prop and 9045prop (later tests)

According to plans it requires park425 1200kv. 18 to 30a esc. 1800 to 3000mah 3s or 4s.
Thanks in advance🫡👍

 

[Mr Man]

Hello guys. Newbie here. I recently build ft racer from scratch. Had problems with the servo but fixed it. I maidened the other day but it was not going up when i pull elevator. Cg was correct with battery that i used. It goes straight forward but cant climb. I am not sure if its too heavy or underpowered or both.

Here are the details
Ft racer at 100% size
2212 1400kv
40a esc
3s battery 2200mah
4x 9g servo
Flysky 6ch rx with byme a
Auw 750g
8060 prop and 9045prop (later tests)

According to plans it requires park425 1200kv. 18 to 30a esc. 1800 to 3000mah 3s or 4s.
Thanks in advance🫡👍

Sounds nose heavy.

How much throw do you have on the elevator?

 

[Foamforce]

Can you describe the attempt in more detail? Was this just when you initially tried to launch it? Were you launching from the ground, or a throw?

 

[Mr Man]

@AIRFORGE this thread is in the wrong spot.

 

[AIRFORGE]

@AIRFORGE this thread is in the wrong spot.

Yeppers! Danke!

 

[Mr Man]

Yeppers! Danke!

Would it be the: Hey you new guy or girl post here! Section?

 

[AIRFORGE]

Moved to The Workbench, Repairs: Questions, Tips and Shares.

 

[Mr Man]

Moved to The Workbench, Repairs: Questions, Tips and Shares.

You’re right, that’s where it goes.👍

 

[Hex23]

Sounds nose heavy.

How much throw do you have on the elevator?

25° and 30expo. It kind of flies straight tho. When it goes down, it almost looks like belly landing

 

[Hex23]

Can you describe the attempt in more detail? Was this just when you initially tried to launch it? Were you launching from the ground, or a throw?

I tried for around 6x. All throws. I hold it from the top part on the back end of the canopy. Then launch it from a low angle to high going forward. The farthest it flew was around 25m on a height of 5m. It just goes down. Not nose first. Yknow how those paper planes fly, it floats but surely goes down😅

 

[Mr Man]

What’s your all up weight?

 

[Hex23]

What’s your all up weight?

750g. I spray painted it.

 

[Mr Man]

I’d say it’s nose heavy.

 

[Hex23]

I’d say it’s nose heavy.

Hmm. Okay. I will try and adjust the battery later. I will report back to you guys. Thanks as always👍

 

[Foamforce]

Have you checked the COG? That should verify if it’s nose heavy or not. It would have to be very nose heavy to cause it to not be able to go up at all, but certainly possible.

Is the elevator lined up straight with the horizontal stabilizer with the stick in the middle? Could just need to be trimmed up before flight.

Does it seem to have enough power? If you hold up upright and have someone else carefully increase the throttle, it should have enough power to almost lift straight up out of your hand, or more. If it feels weak, check if the prop is on backwards and calibrate your ESC. If you don’t have enough power, it will act like you described.

It the horizontal stabilizer lined up with the bottom of the wing? If the wing was installed with the leading edge lower than the trailing edge, it might do this.

When you fly it, were you pulling full up elevator the entire time? Did it seem to respond? Try lightly holding the elevator in place with one hand and move the stick with the other. Does it fail to move? Could be a flexing control rod, loose servo arm, servo coming unglued from fuselage, etc. You might not see this in a normal static ground test because there’s no pressure on the elevator.

If none of those things are it, take some pictures of your plane for us and also a video of a flight attempt. Then we can do a much better of job helping!

 

[AIRFORGE]

It might help to post images of the plane. Include the battery & location when balanced on proper CG. Pic with elevator full up. And video of the movement could help too.

 

[Hex23]

Have you checked the COG? That should verify if it’s nose heavy or not. It would have to be very nose heavy to cause it to not be able to go up at all, but certainly possible.

Is the elevator lined up straight with the horizontal stabilizer with the stick in the middle? Could just need to be trimmed up before flight.

Does it seem to have enough power? If you hold up upright and have someone else carefully increase the throttle, it should have enough power to almost lift straight up out of your hand, or more. If it feels weak, check if the prop is on backwards and calibrate your ESC. If you don’t have enough power, it will act like you described.

It the horizontal stabilizer lined up with the bottom of the wing? If the wing was installed with the leading edge lower than the trailing edge, it might do this.

When you fly it, were you pulling full up elevator the entire time? Did it seem to respond? Try lightly holding the elevator in place with one hand and move the stick with the other. Does it fail to move? Could be a flexing control rod, loose servo arm, servo coming unglued from fuselage, etc. You might not see this in a normal static ground test because there’s no pressure on the elevator.

If none of those things are it, take some pictures of your plane for us and also a video of a flight attempt. Then we can do a much better of job helping!

Yes. I checked cg. It balanced itself when i checked. I will try later on to adjust battery backwards to see if theres a change.

The elevator is lined up as well.

I tried this as well. it does try to lift but i think not enough. The prop is installed correctly with the marking facing forward. And i can feel the air going back to the tail while doing this experiment. I need to check esc calibration cuz i didnt try it yet.

The horz stab is slightly higher than the wing. And the leading edge is the same height with trailing edge. Im not sure if this is what u meant sorry😅 This is the ft racer for extra info.

Yes. It does seem to respond. When i pull back elevator it does go farther than when i dont pull. But it still goes down. The servos are ok and the control surface is responding well. No cracking sound as well.

Does motor size matter? I did some research on the ft racer recommended motor, park 424 at 1250kv. Some forum said its around 2217 size. While mine is 2212 at 1400kv.
Btw. My flysky i6x tx tells me that my rx battery (3s 2200) is at 5v even tho its fully charged. Im not sure if that is normal but i think its worth mentioning. Sorry for being noob😅

Thanks a lot. I will make a video when i try it some time later. I had some work matters to attend to this week. I hope i get this to fly. It really has some cool design!

Thanks again guys. I will report on the progress later. Stay safe! 🫡👍

 

[Mr Man]

5v stands for receiver input.

 

[Mr Man]

Your BEC.

 

[Hex23]

5v stands for receiver input.

Is it still ok? Its not supposed to be 11v?