Hobby Newbie Learning Diary; Family Included!

[Hai-Lee]

There is a single tip that may help you understand the whole idea of RC flight. It is that the planes are designed to fly by themselves. Your only real role is to direct it through the sky. So let it fly and just gently apply the controls to get it to fly where you want ti to go. You do not drive a car using the steering wheel swinging wildly from side to side because if you do the car will soon lose control. The same thing goes for RC aircraft!

As for the wind, if you would not open an umbrella for fear of losing it then I would not fly your models. OR if you could fly a kite it would be better if you did!

I do not remember a video but there were photod of a school gym where students were launching the TT gliders, (without radio control and they were flying from one end of the building to the other. Do a search of the original release articles.

As for the above replacement fuselage and the like there have been a large number of alternate builds and arrangements but consider that beginners crash. As beginners crash then the original design just requires the build of a replacement nose or 2 whereas other replacement designs tend to claim simplicity BUT a crash requires a complete replacement fuselage. Also most replacements also claim to be more robust which can mean being heavier and therefore a bigger hold and more damage done in a crash.

There are a large number of TT improvements(?) posted on a variety of threads and I have tried most of them but with experience I return to the original design for my students as the repairs are far simpler and with a few spare parts, (nose, powerpod Etc), I am able ot effect field repairs and get a trainee back into the air within 5 minutes of most crashes but with the other designs they tend to put an end to the flying when they crash.

Just a final thought! better to struggle to learn to fly one design than to not be able to fly 2 different designs which is more than doubly frustrating. (Well it was for me!).

Just my opinions though!

Have fun!

 

[cranialrectosis]

Having watched your videos, I gotta ask. Are your elevators reversed?

 

[Arcfyre]

Having watched your videos, I gotta ask. Are your elevators reversed?

Funny that you mention this. I watched the videos too and I was thinking the same exact thing!

A few times I see the model start to dive, and as I'm willing it to nose up in response to up elevator, instead the opposite happens and the nose drops lower, steepening the dive.

If the aircraft begins to dive, the control input on the right stick should be to pull it backwards towards you. "Pull up", so to speak. The corresponding movement on the model should be that the elevator deflects upwards. This upwards deflection pushes the tail down, and thereby raises the nose.

 

[donalson]

Donalson Thanks a million for all that interesting information. I'll get the updated plans for Tiny Trainer printed out today when I am at work, it's defiantly easier to work with those plans. I also like to see how you updated Calin Schepler design for an open fuselage. How do make sure the electronics don't just fall out during flight? Also thank you for the advice about the sparrow wings. I got a whole day with the kids tomorrow and will try to have the pieces cut out for them to be able build together with me like in this video:

Quick question... When you paste the plans onto poster boards, how many grams poster boards do you use? I tried something called "American Poster board" which was 300 grams or so and it seemed way to thick and was super hard to cut through... Nether the less I am surely not going to be able to roll it up and put under my bed

Thanks in advance...

for the poster board bit... I'm not sure how heavy it is... but it is fairy thick, for cutting it takes a sharp knife and/or good scissors... like I said some have been using card stock which is a bit lighter weight and eliminates the step of pasting.

the open fuse thing isn't an issue and common with a lot of other FT plans, watch the FT bloody baron build... you just need to glue or tape things in... my ESC and RX have a little hot glue on them and just mounted down, the wires I was able to run under the skewers (between the skewers and foam board and the antenna is taped down.

 

[mayan]

Having watched your videos, I gotta ask. Are your elevators reversed?

Honestly I can’t remember. I think I had them reverse when switched them around. I got to rebuild the fuselage and then go practice again. Don’t find much time these crazy days .

Again thank you all for the support and much good advice I promise to keep posting as I learn the hobby more and how to fly. Hope to be able to post more about the fixes I am doing to the TT before the next flight.

 

[cranialrectosis]

One of the hardest things for a newbie to learn is the pre-flight exam.

I destroyed two planes before I learned to check the direction of my control surfaces at the field before I attempt to fly. I don't know how/why they get reversed, they just do. It happens to everyone. Nothing ends your flight faster than a reversed elevator or aileron.

Pre-flight check CG, direction of flight control surfaces, lipo charge, direction of prop and motor.

If you don't, be sure to bring a big plastic bag to put the carcass in.

 

[Javiester]

yesterday I destroyed my third powerpod¡¡¡¡
but I advance little by little
a question
because if I have the CG well according to the plans and I throw it without giving it power it tends to land hitting on the nose?
I leave a little the heavy tail?
"Google Translate" I'm sorry

ayer destrui mi tercer powerpod¡¡¡¡
pero avanzo poco a poco
una pregunta
por que si tengo bien el CG segun los planos y lo lanzo sin darle potencia tiende a aterrizar golpeando en el morro?
le dejo un poco la cola pesada?

 

[jaredstrees]

yesterday I destroyed my third powerpod¡¡¡¡
but I advance little by little
a question
because if I have the CG well according to the plans and I throw it without giving it power it tends to land hitting on the nose?
I leave a little the heavy tail?
"Google Translate" I'm sorry

ayer destrui mi tercer powerpod¡¡¡¡
pero avanzo poco a poco
una pregunta
por que si tengo bien el CG segun los planos y lo lanzo sin darle potencia tiende a aterrizar golpeando en el morro?
le dejo un poco la cola pesada?

It could be a couple things. You may be a little nose heavy if it is diving under no power. You may also need to add some trim to the elevator. Make sure that the elevator is level with the back of the stabilizer or slightly up. I would try this first then rebalance the plane on its cg.

 

[Javiester]

Is it possible that I throw it with fear, too loose?
its well balanced

 

[Hai-Lee]

MAt I suggest that you throw it like a spear towards the horizon but with a LITTLE throttle applied and a just use the elevator to keep it level. If it puts its nose up then push it back to level with the elevator gently.

Until you fly it with power it will always head towards the ground rather quickly because it has a motor and a big battery fitted and therefore a little too heavy to be a glider.

Have fun!

 

[Javiester]

tiny in workshop again
today it went pretty well, at least I had time to fly to realize a new problem
I've been doing 3 or 4 minutes making circles in a clockwise direction and when I tried to turn left as much as I was straight (correct check of control surfaces and CG before the flight)
I used the dual rate of my radio HK-T6A V2 and throwgaugue of the planes to adjust the control surfaces and I flew with the one that says L (low)
then the plane is twisted (not appreciated) or I have a lot of angle in the powerpod
suggestions ?
Thanks for your patience

 

[Javiester]

I am stupid
I have the powerpod of the reverse
so the push angle also
I mention it in case it helps another newbie

 

[Javiester]

I correct
I have seen the video and it is well placed
I will continue reading and testing

 

[mayan]

So after a tough week I’m finally getting a chance to go flying again today in a few hours. Still struggling with putting in the electronics into the fuselage and different noses and find myself wasting a lot of energy on that. I got the glider nose and power pod nose setup so that I can try both. I am not planning on taking a large repair kit because if I crash the plane completely (hopefully I won’t) I plan on building a brand new one avoiding all the mistakes I found myself doing on this one. Hoping for some luck today.

 

[mayan]

After a lot of few hours I ended up going to fly the plane again. I gave up on the glider nose and decided to straight up with the power pod nose. Here is a link to videos of today's practice session: 03/09/18

This is the damage:

All feedback is welcome since I plan on getting better and better each time, and tomorrow I hope to go flying again after I fix the pieces that need fixing.

 

[cranialrectosis]

It seems to me that your successes involve flying straight into the breeze while your failures involve turning right and 'running with' the wind toward the houses and wall.

When you turn you are exposing too much of the bottom of the wing to too much breeze. This is causing your plane to speed up, dive, get behind you and then you lose control.

I suggest flying on a calmer day while you learn. I think you need to be able to make wider turns and that breeze is pushing you into the wall so you are making too hard of an adjustment on the controls to compensate.

The TT is a gentle flyer for gentle days. You want to make wide, sweeping turns spending as little time as possible with a tail wind and as much time as possible facing into the wind. Think like a sailboat pilot, tacking into the wind. With the wings on the TT, air current is EVERYTHING.

Keep the plane in front of you. That hard right turn will take the plane in a circle behind you. Instead, make figure eights, into the wind in front of you and don't let the plane get behind you.

Love the happy dance at the end.

 

[mayan]

Cranialrectosis thank you for the quick inputs I plan on fixing up the plane today and hope to find time to go practicing again tomorrow. After all practice makes prefects . Indeed I need more space to fly in, but find it hard to find such a place near by without going into crop fields that are private property of which I don’t know the owners. Not sure how they’ll they will feel about that.

 

[Arcfyre]

I've never flown a TT, but I do have the FT simple soarer, which is a larger version of the same type airplane (3 channel motorglider). Based on your most recent videos, I have two suggestions/questions for you:

What prop and motor are you using, and what power setting are you using on take off? The reason I ask is because your TT seems very anemic. By that I mean underpowered. I understand it's a motorglider and not a sport plane, but I would expect a much healthier climb after a good hand launch, as yours appear to be. It looked like to me that your TT loses airspeed quite quickly, followed by a right wing stall, and subsequent right bank. Assuming your motor and prop are of recommended size, is it still in good condition? Shaft straight, no vibration at high throttle? These things will seriously impact performance and it looks like yours took more than one hit on the nose.

Assuming all that is correct, are you giving it enough power to fly properly? It looks like it's on the edge of a stall almost all the time. By that I mean the turns (banks) are very "swooping" meaning you're losing a lot of altitude each time you turn. Try flying a bit faster and conserving your altitude before trying a bank. When you turn, a portion of your lift is diverted to pull the aircraft around a corner. If you don't have enough lift in reserve (by that I mean speed, in this case) the aircraft will stall. Alternatively you could try a shallower rate of climb, building speed a little bit before climbing more steeply or turning.

 

[mayan]

I've never flown a TT, but I do have the FT simple soarer, which is a larger version of the same type airplane (3 channel motorglider). Based on your most recent videos, I have two suggestions/questions for you:

What prop and motor are you using, and what power setting are you using on take off? prop 6x4, motor eMax MT1806, 2/3 throttle The reason I ask is because your TT seems very anemic. By that I mean underpowered. I understand it's a motorglider and not a sport plane, but I would expect a much healthier climb after a good hand launch, as yours appear to be. It looked like to me that your TT loses airspeed quite quickly, followed by a right wing stall, and subsequent right bank. Assuming your motor and prop are of recommended size, is it still in good condition? motor and prop look good to me Shaft straight, no vibration at high throttle? how do I check? These things will seriously impact performance and it looks like yours took more than one hit on the nose.

Assuming all that is correct, are you giving it enough power to fly properly? What do you mean? It looks like it's on the edge of a stall almost all the time. By that I mean the turns (banks) are very "swooping" meaning you're losing a lot of altitude each time you turn. Try flying a bit faster and conserving your altitude before trying a bank. When you turn, a portion of your lift is diverted to pull the aircraft around a corner. If you don't have enough lift in reserve (by that I mean speed, in this case) the aircraft will stall. Alternatively you could try a shallower rate of climb, building speed a little bit before climbing more steeply or turning.

 

[mayan]

BTW finished rebuilding the plane power pod nose and strengthed it and the fuselage out so that it might stick around longer . Hoping to find time to go practice again today .

Wish me luck...