My FT Bushwhacker

Timmy

Legendary member
I don't really want to spent extra money and it will probably take months bofore it finaly arrives in the mail, and I can't go to a hobby shop to get one either. At least not right now
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
Here's what I can tell you about thinking about using rudder (and this is very rudimentary, and not EXACTLY how it works, but it'll put you into the mindset):

Think of using the rudder as making a left or right turn on a flat plane. Like, if you were in a car, and you turned left or right, that's how it would turn, right? Well, that's kind of how rudder does it. The aileron ROLLS the plane, so if you were looking out of the cockpit and you gave it a bit of left on the aileron stick, the left wing would drop and it would turn left, in a bit of a roll. Do a hard left, and it'll do a barrel roll.

What I would suggest for practicing it is just take it up a bit where there's no trees or anything, and give it a bit of left or right on the rudder. Just see how it turns. Don't go hard left or hard right; you just want a little bit to see how it interacts. If you just give a little bit of stick and the thing is turning violently to the left or right, you may need to put some expo into it.

Just do some simple, easy turns at first; feel it out and see how it reacts, so you know you can recover from it. Maybe spend a battery just trying simple, easy, large circle turns. Once you have a feel for it, start trying harder, full stick turns so you know what it'll do. Then put a little bit of aileron in and rudder (but not much, because you'll find it will turn pretty sharp when doing both, and it might be uncontrollable if you're not expecting it). Again, just kind of get the feel of it.

Rudder is, I think, more of a "feel" than the bank n' yank that many pilots fly with. I managed to jump into it fairly quickly for fixed wing flying, but that was because I started with a racing quad and then went to a plane - don't do that LOL. My opinion (and again, just an opinion) is that putting in a mix is detrimental, and doesn't really teach you how to turn with the rudder, so I suggest trying it without.
 

K3V0

Elite member
Any advice for take off/ landing in grass specifically?
I gave my BW a more stout tail skid. It helps to keep the rudder clear of the grass when taking off. I’ve also reinforced my LG. And I’ve replaced the wheels a few times.
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All the good advice has probably been given. Some bad advice might be to drop the flaps and hit the gas! (While coordinating your rudder, obviously 😉)
Here’s the current state. The nose is battered and glued and the LG fairings are brittle patches foam held together by its paper. Still flying though!
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Keep going at it and don’t get discouraged!
Oh, and post a picture of your plane! We want to see it 😁
 

K3V0

Elite member
Lol, ok no problem. But I bet you could give a great showing too!
That wing ding will buff right out! Both the leading edge tips of mine have been crunched, I just got glued em back into position.
 

Timmy

Legendary member
All this Bushwacker talk made me pull out my BW wing and one of these days I'll rebuild the fuse! It was such a sweet flyer that I want to bring it back.
Hehe. It's funny how the wing in most planes ends up being the part that survives to most crashes. I've built over 5 fuselages for my tiny trainer but I still use my original wing. The paper on the edges kinda peels away but I just tape over it and it still flies great!
 

K3V0

Elite member
That’s a cool one too! Think about what you like, how it will look in the sky and how easy will it be to see orientation. The spring in California is really green so I made my BW yellow to contrast. But I made my storch blue/white to contrast better in the summer when everything turns yellow gold. My mig is the classic white/ light blue of the winter livery but it’s really hard to see at distance in the early morning or overcast days. Decorating my builds is a really fun part for me. I like to take inspiration from real life and my favorite fictional vehicles. Enjoy the process and make it practical for you too!
 

Timmy

Legendary member
I find that black, yellow and white don't work, especially yellow and white.
If theres more black than yellow like your plane, it works better.