Help! I can't get any of my planes to fly...

[Harry Joelsson]

I just recently discovered Flite Test and bought the Tiny Tutor starter bundle as my first ever RC plane. I spent a lot of time building it and making sure everything was correct. I went out to fly for the first time and it flew for about 10 seconds before I lost control and a nosedive broke the propeller.

After fixing it with tape and glue I tried again only to crash again. I figured that the plane may be too difficult to fly so I scratch built the FT Flyer. Same result. It barely works and doesn't fly for more than a few seconds.

I'm getting frustrated because I really want to get into this hobby and fly a plane but they keep falling out of the sky. I don't know if it is the plane or the pilot, but I need suggestions for what to do. I'm following the video tutorials word for word and using the correct recommended electronics so I feel like it is me who is messing up, but I really don't know. Can you guys help?

 

[CrshNBrn]

When I first started I didn't know much about center of gravity. My lack of proper CG cost me a few planes in the beginning. If you're doing everything right, be sure you've got your plane balanced correctly. You may also want to look at a simulator, which would allow you to practice your controls much more cheaply than replacing planes and propellers. For other ideas, scan the forums for similar requests to yours- they are pretty common here.

Above all, try not to become frustrated. All of us on this forum have crashed in the past, crashed in the present, and will crash again in the future. Its part of the hobby. Build, Fly, Crash, Repeat. Good luck!

 

[Foamforce]

It can be super helpful to find somebody local to help through the first few flights. I’m in Madison, WI and would be happy to help if you’re nearby.

Can describe what happened when you lost control? Better yet, can you post a video of a flight attempt and pictures of the plane? We may be able to help diagnose.

 

[Merv]

+1 on proper CG.
+1 on having an local experienced pilot help.
+1 on posting a video of the flight.

Another common mistake is setting the control surface backwards. That is you want the plane to go right & it goes left.
I would recommend the Tiny Trainer as you next attempt. In my opinion the TT is the easiest FT plane to build & fly.

 

[Mr NCT]

I agree with all the above and...... Small planes like the tiny tutor are harder to fly than larger planes - they react to control inputs faster and they're harder to see. The tiny trainer is a good starter, it was my first successful plane. The explorer is also excellent to learn on, it's bigger so it's more docile and a pusher so no broken props. It also has a trainer wing with polihedral to make it stable and a sport wing with ailerons as your abilities increase.

Kit:

FT Explorer MKR2

The FT Explorer is designed like most other training RC planes, but with swappable parts, it can be modified to grow with the pilot.

store.flitetest.com

Free plans:

SP0NZ - Plans Index

Printing Tips: https://www.flitetest.com/articles/printing-flite-test-plans AIO = All-In-One: Includes Full-Size, A-Size (7.5 x 10.5), and B-Size (10.5 x 15) plans in one file FS = Full-Size: 34 x 22 non-tiled plans (fits ANSI D and ISO A1, requires a large format plotter) * TA = Tiled...

forum.flitetest.com

 

[bisco]

i started during covid when the clubs were closed so no tutor available.
i trained my brain to the difference between flying away vs flying toward with a cheap rc car.
then i started flying with something like this: ref=sr_1_45
once i was comfortable, i stumbled onto flite test and started building and flying with josh's videos.

 

[Harry Joelsson]

It can be super helpful to find somebody local to help through the first few flights. I’m in Madison, WI and would be happy to help if you’re nearby.

Can describe what happened when you lost control? Better yet, can you post a video of a flight attempt and pictures of the plane? We may be able to help diagnose.

Thanks for the response. I'm amazed at how quick you guys are on this forum! I'm in NJ unfortunately. The best way i can describe what happened was I took off from the grass, and the plane climbed slowly before something caused a dramatic loss of control, maybe I stalled it somehow. How much power do you need at takeoff? Too bad I didn't record and what was my tiny tutor is now scrap foam lol.

 

[Harry Joelsson]

+1 on proper CG.
+1 on having an local experienced pilot help.
+1 on posting a video of the flight.

Another common mistake is setting the control surface backwards. That is you want the plane to go right & it goes left.
I would recommend the Tiny Trainer as you next attempt. In my opinion the TT is the easiest FT plane to build & fly.

Thanks for the response. I know as a fact the controls weren't switched; I thought flying would be intuitive for me since I've done years of flight simulators (not RC simulators) and have flown a plane in real life. Where can I find locals?

 

[Merv]

...Where can I find locals?

Here is a map of all of the FRIAs in the USA. https://faa.maps.arcgis.com
Generally, there is a rc club in the area of a FRIA

I'm not a full scale pilot, but I have been told by those who are that rc planes are more difficult to learn. With rc you have far less feed back, your not sitting in it and can't "feel" what the plane is doing.

Likewise, pc sims are flown from inside the plane. RC sims are flown from the perspective of standing on the ground.

 

[Tench745]

Thanks for the response. I'm amazed at how quick you guys are on this forum! I'm in NJ unfortunately. The best way i can describe what happened was I took off from the grass, and the plane climbed slowly before something caused a dramatic loss of control, maybe I stalled it somehow. How much power do you need at takeoff? Too bad I didn't record and what was my tiny tutor is now scrap foam lol.

Based on what you described, I would guess that your plane stalled.
I haven't flown the Tiny Tutor, and my FT flyer didn't use the stock motor, so I can't speak to how yours should fly with the recommended setups; but on most of my planes I takeoff and fly at around 3/4 throttle.

If you're looking for people to help you learn to fly, the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) has a club finder on their website. https://www.modelaircraft.org/club-finder

And you can always check out the Flite Test member map to see if there's someone from this community who's local to you. https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/flite-test-member-map.5766/

 

[Foamforce]

I agree that a stall was most likely. Most new flyers are in a hurry to get the plane away from the ground so they pick the nose up before it has enough speed. In a stall, a properly balanced or nose heavy plane will dip abruptly and it will feel like your controls aren’t working. You might wonder if you lost signal. If that sounds like your scenario, it was probably a stall. Also, first time builders usually build too heavy, which makes stalls much more frequent.

Next time try to climb out gradually, like 10 degrees, until you’ve built up some speed. Rebuild, fly, good luck!

 

[Piotrsko]

Best to set the plane up so it flies on its own, climb and descends by only using a bit more or less thrust/power, turns by adding rudder for a second then let the stick loose to re center. When the nose is headed at you, I discovered that you need to turn the plane the direction its going, in other words, when the plane turns towards your right, you add right stick. When it gets good and high do whatever you want for control stick bashing. No one has ever collided with a sky full of clouds. You're not flying a beach v tail so therefore there's no invisible embedded cumulous granitus

 

[Merv]

... I took off from the grass, and the plane climbed slowly...

How far off the ground did the plane get?

There is something called ground effect that you should be aware of. During a takeoff or landing, when a plane is within 3-4 feet of the ground, the lift produced pushes off the ground. Making the lift more effective than pushing against air alone at higher altitudes. Is it possible your plane was losing the ground effect when it crashed?

 

[L Edge]

If I can suggest something to you, make a camera hat that allows you to video the flight in question. That way, it allows others to explain what you are doing wrong. All I got was you flew 10 seconds and then lost control/crashed. Was it in a turn?, flying straight or coming at you, flying to slow? etc.

You can see the variety of answers that not enough input from you to determine what was actually going on. We also use video to prove if we don't see it, it didn't happen. It simplifies the problems by presenting a video.

 

[MZ250Ben]

I've been flying rc for decades and this happened to me recently while trying out the ft slow stick. Definite tip stall caused by extreme rudder throw and *maybe* not enough washout. I haven't flown a slow-ish plane for years and I did not adapt my style accordingly. Flew fine for over 20 minutes after I went easy on the sticks. Dial down your throws or just tap-tap the sticks til you get the feel, hard rudder turns can send even a well-designed polyhedral slow flyer into a death spin from which a new pilot will not recover. BUT first and foremost, I repeat the universal wisdom of others, BALANCE! Flat bottom or undercambered airfoils do not like tail heavy even in the slightest, give them some nose down. "A nose-heavy plane may fly poorly, a tail-heavy plane will fly once."

And don't give up. Many of us came up in the days of stick and tissue, a crash of a brand-new plane was common and vaporized weeks of labor. Crashing FT planes is so minimally consequential that we do it on purpose for 4 days in Malvern once a year.

 

[bisco]

op must have figured it out: index.php