hreehoorn
New member
This is my first official post here other than my intro post, I hope to be a member that can learn a lot from the forum and over time also add where I can.
After deciding to reenter the hobby and having a natural inclination to build things, I chose to build The Simple Storch. Shame on me that I didn't document the build process but I was just too excited to get it built. This same excitement would give me problems, mainly with the landing gear, more on that later. I also used the Power pack C which so far seems to be perfect, provides a very large envelope for flight and all the servos to add flaps. I know that for a first new plane this isn't the best idea, but I wanted them.
Building up to and during my first flight I made huge mistakes, I built the plane over two afternoons, at the end of the second afternoon, and losing daylight I drove 20 minutes north to the local flying field. It was too windy, but I thought "its a big plane, it can handle it" I wish I would have known the windspeed but the weather station at the field was not working. Having a proper place to take off from I took off via landing gear. "IT FLIES!" I thought, whilst the plane was banking to the left, having not flown a 4 channel plane in almost 10 years
I panicked and 'forgot' how to trim the plane, in an awkward fashion I bashed the plane into the runway and ripped the landing gear clean off. this was probably due to me not being able to bend the wires very well and starting to rush. I also think the design while more accurate to the actual Storch is slightly over designed. (Sorry Bixler, still love the plane!) I attempted to fly one more time but the wind wasnt going to let that happen and I dove the plane into the ground. This ripped the front barbecue skewer for the wings off and it was done for the day.
A week later after work decided to get out of the way I had a chance to fly again, this time I was going to take my time and do things right. I spent the morning repairing the plane from the past crashes, reinforcing areas I saw as weak points, and setting up my plane properly. There is a huge hay field behind my house and the only reason didnt use it before was the landing gear. When I fixed the plane I decided not to reinstall the landing gear, just hand launch and belly land. After checking the plane one more time, I launched it, very little wind. Man does this plane fly great, 1/3 throttle and it just wants to cruise! I brought it up, trimmed it out, flew a few circles and then landed and took off a few times. After about 5 minutes I took a turn and I see the battery come out. The plane just leveled out, and established a glide slope, right into a tree. Retrieved the plane, it was beat up more but still fine, but I had to address the battery issue, I went into my flight box kit and had a spare barbecue skewer. I used this as a wedge for the battery to hold it agains the velcro. The velcro keeps it from sliding fore and after while the skewer keep it tight up against the power pod.
I got 'one more flight syndrome' after circling around for another 7 Minutes and then dove the nose right into the ground. Not sure what caused the crash other than lack of experience. This ripped off the front power pod support, separated the power pod firewall, crunched the power pod, and damaged the dihedral to the wings.
As i progress through this I hobby I am really starting to enjoying the problem solving of fixing after a crash. While it is unfortunate the problem solving aspect gets me excited. I will probably continue to document on this thread if it seems fit, I also welcome all pointers and tips for building, flying, etc. Thanks once more for all the great threads on this forum and I look forward to learning together.
After deciding to reenter the hobby and having a natural inclination to build things, I chose to build The Simple Storch. Shame on me that I didn't document the build process but I was just too excited to get it built. This same excitement would give me problems, mainly with the landing gear, more on that later. I also used the Power pack C which so far seems to be perfect, provides a very large envelope for flight and all the servos to add flaps. I know that for a first new plane this isn't the best idea, but I wanted them.
Building up to and during my first flight I made huge mistakes, I built the plane over two afternoons, at the end of the second afternoon, and losing daylight I drove 20 minutes north to the local flying field. It was too windy, but I thought "its a big plane, it can handle it" I wish I would have known the windspeed but the weather station at the field was not working. Having a proper place to take off from I took off via landing gear. "IT FLIES!" I thought, whilst the plane was banking to the left, having not flown a 4 channel plane in almost 10 years
I panicked and 'forgot' how to trim the plane, in an awkward fashion I bashed the plane into the runway and ripped the landing gear clean off. this was probably due to me not being able to bend the wires very well and starting to rush. I also think the design while more accurate to the actual Storch is slightly over designed. (Sorry Bixler, still love the plane!) I attempted to fly one more time but the wind wasnt going to let that happen and I dove the plane into the ground. This ripped the front barbecue skewer for the wings off and it was done for the day.
A week later after work decided to get out of the way I had a chance to fly again, this time I was going to take my time and do things right. I spent the morning repairing the plane from the past crashes, reinforcing areas I saw as weak points, and setting up my plane properly. There is a huge hay field behind my house and the only reason didnt use it before was the landing gear. When I fixed the plane I decided not to reinstall the landing gear, just hand launch and belly land. After checking the plane one more time, I launched it, very little wind. Man does this plane fly great, 1/3 throttle and it just wants to cruise! I brought it up, trimmed it out, flew a few circles and then landed and took off a few times. After about 5 minutes I took a turn and I see the battery come out. The plane just leveled out, and established a glide slope, right into a tree. Retrieved the plane, it was beat up more but still fine, but I had to address the battery issue, I went into my flight box kit and had a spare barbecue skewer. I used this as a wedge for the battery to hold it agains the velcro. The velcro keeps it from sliding fore and after while the skewer keep it tight up against the power pod.
As i progress through this I hobby I am really starting to enjoying the problem solving of fixing after a crash. While it is unfortunate the problem solving aspect gets me excited. I will probably continue to document on this thread if it seems fit, I also welcome all pointers and tips for building, flying, etc. Thanks once more for all the great threads on this forum and I look forward to learning together.