Mistakes During My First Flight.

[Belial2801]

Today, I went to fly my plane (piper cub) with the following specifications:

• 600g
• A2212 1000KV motor, 1045 propeller
• 3S 1500mAh battery
• 1m wingspan

The wind was 8 km/h with no gusts. While takeoff was relatively difficult, it managed to lift off. However, I noticed it quickly veered to the right, so I adjusted the ailerons slightly to stabilize it (I think there was a change in wind direction that caused this). I then reduced the speed slightly (60% throttle), and the plane went down. The video isn't very clear, but I'm sharing a photo of the damage and the motor setup I used.

The control surface travel was approximately 1 cm, with 30% expo. During the construction, I added a bit of incidence to the motor (as seen in the photos). I’m not sure if this could have been a factor or not.

Do you think this was a rookie mistake or something else?

Thank you very much.

 

[Foamforce]

It looks like you tilted the motor down and to the right, which is correct for a high wing trainer.

It’s difficult to say much based on the description. If it rolled to the right, then you likely need either left aileron trim or left rudder trim. Plug in your battery and turn on your transmitter. Look very carefully at all of your control surfaces and see if either the ailerons or rudder are not lined up with the wing or stabilizer. If it was an aileron trim issue, then you’d likely see your right aileron slightly higher than the left. If it was a rudder issue, you would see it slightly misaligned to the right. It could also be a warped wing. Look carefully from the back and see if the rear of the wing is lower on one side or the other. Even a very minor warp of 1mm can have a pretty big impact, because then the entire wing is acting like an aileron.

Regarding crashing when you reduced throttle, that may have been stalling. If you were already going slowly and you reduced throttle, a stall would cause it to just fall to the ground. It might fall left, it might fall right, it might fall nose forward. Hopefully it doesn’t fall tail first (that would indicate that it was very tail heavy).

Post the video! Even if it’s blurry, we can tell a lot more than from your description. I hope we can help!

 

[Belial2801]

It looks like you tilted the motor down and to the right, which is correct for a high wing trainer.

It’s difficult to say much based on the description. If it rolled to the right, then you likely need either left aileron trim or left rudder trim. Plug in your battery and turn on your transmitter. Look very carefully at all of your control surfaces and see if either the ailerons or rudder are not lined up with the wing or stabilizer. If it was an aileron trim issue, then you’d likely see your right aileron slightly higher than the left. If it was a rudder issue, you would see it slightly misaligned to the right. It could also be a warped wing. Look carefully from the back and see if the rear of the wing is lower on one side or the other. Even a very minor warp of 1mm can have a pretty big impact, because then the entire wing is acting like an aileron.

Regarding crashing when you reduced throttle, that may have been stalling. If you were already going slowly and you reduced throttle, a stall would cause it to just fall to the ground. It might fall left, it might fall right, it might fall nose forward. Hopefully it doesn’t fall tail first (that would indicate that it was very tail heavy).

Post the video! Even if it’s blurry, we can tell a lot more than from your description. I hope we can help!

The CG was fine, although I purposely set it nose-heavy. When checking the wings, they are aligned, but where they are mounted on the fuselage, there is a slight variation of a few millimeters. However, they are still at 90°.

After analyzing what happened, I think the wind and reducing speed worked against me. Previously, I had thrown my plane from a height with all the electronics installed, and it flew straight.

I will try to get the video and see what I can recover from it.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Burnhard]

The damage looks like just a bit of hot glue. I don‘t think the wind is your issue. It’s probably the low speed and the nose heavy (maybe you have it too nose heavy). Are you flying from a gras field or any sort of hard ground?

 

[quorneng]

. You mentioned the take off was relatively difficult so there is a good chance you lifted off close to the stall. To make matters worse you applied aileron and reduced throttle. Such actions when close to the stall are, as you found out, a receipt for disaster.
600g for a 1m span and a 1000kV a2212 is maybe a touch heavy but it should still have power to take off readily (unless the ground is very rough) and climb away positively. Reducing the throttle on a maiden flight should only take place once the plane is in table flight and is at least 1 mistake high (100 feet?).
It all looks easily repairable. What surface are you taking off from?

A video showing the sort of performance that can be achieved with a 1m (40") span at 550g using a 2212 1500kV with a 7x6 prop and a 1500mAh 3s. It is hand launched.

Note towards the end of the video it demonstrates it has sufficient the thrust to do a "slide" take off!

Keep trying. You will get there.

 

[Mr Man]

The damage looks like just a bit of hot glue. I don‘t think the wind is your issue. It’s probably the low speed and the nose heavy (maybe you have it too nose heavy). Are you flying from a gras field or any sort of hard ground?

Yes, as long as it’s not too hot!

 

[bisco]

your first flight, or your first flight with this plane?

 

[Belial2801]

. You mentioned the take off was relatively difficult so there is a good chance you lifted off close to the stall. To make matters worse you applied aileron and reduced throttle. Such actions when close to the stall are, as you found out, a receipt for disaster.
600g for a 1m span and a 1000kV a2212 is maybe a touch heavy but it should still have power to take off readily (unless the ground is very rough) and climb away positively. Reducing the throttle on a maiden flight should only take place once the plane is in table flight and is at least 1 mistake high (100 feet?).
It all looks easily repairable. What surface are you taking off from?

A video showing the sort of performance that can be achieved with a 1m (40") span at 550g using a 2212 1500kV with a 7x6 prop and a 1500mAh 3s. It is hand launched.

Note towards the end of the video it demonstrates it has sufficient the thrust to do a "slide" take off!

Keep trying. You will get there.

The landing gear bent, so I’m not sure if it will be easy to repair. I have the fuselage of an FT Simple Cub, do you think I could use it with the wings from this plane?

That Simple Cub didn’t fly because the foamboard in my country is heavier, but with the new wings, it stays at 650g. I took off from rough terrain (just dirt), but next time, I’ll look for asphalt or a more stable surface.

I’m still unsure whether to build a new fuselage from scratch or reuse the Simple Cub’s. What do you think?

 

[Belial2801]

your first flight, or your first flight with this plane?

First flight with this plane, I had previously tried a simple FT Cub, although due to the weight (foamboard from my country) I was unable to raise it more than 1 meter high.

 

[Belial2801]

The damage looks like just a bit of hot glue. I don‘t think the wind is your issue. It’s probably the low speed and the nose heavy (maybe you have it too nose heavy). Are you flying from a gras field or any sort of hard ground?

It's rough terrain (specifically a baseball field). It looks easy to repair, but the landing gear bent, so I'm unsure whether to start over with the fuselage or reuse the fuselage of an FT Simple Cub I have sitting around.

It's slightly nose heavy, but I don't think it's too much. I can still adjust the CG, so next time, I'll try to have it more "balanced."

 

[bisco]

maybe try building one of the easy to fly planes. there are threads here with good ideas.
heavy foamboard will make things more difficult for sure

 

[Mr Man]

Tiny Trainer.