treadd
Uber N00b
Sometimes forums can be like therapy, and I have something I need to talk about.
I've been flying sub 1lbs foamies for about 4 months now, and have crashed...a lot. Sure I read stuff about how important CG was. Wait, what is CG? I learned about CG the hard (and dumb) way- Trial and error. Again and again I watched as almost every plane I built turned out to be tail heavy. Almost half the maidens I've flown have left the ground, immediately dropped the tail, gone straight up while I'm busy punching the throttle all the way forward trying to recover control, only for it to flip over, spin, stall, and otherwise hit the ground on every part other than the wheels or skid. (And don't get me started on how much I read about thrust angle...)
Fast forward a couple months- I bought the fiberglass HK FPV-168 v2. Fiberglass....balsa. For someone who can hot glue, tape, and BBQ skewer just about any deformed and mangled foam plane back into flying shape, those two words are already starting to make me sweat. Sure I'm handy and can work a #11 blade like nobodies business, but as I opened the FPV-168 box and started to pick through the parts, I knew I had taken perhaps too big a leap forward in my fledgling hobby. Sure, everything was there, you just have to put it together? I mean, the 'AR' in ARF means Almost Ready, right? Fast forward three weeks later, I'm stuffing lead bullets (just bullets, not a loaded cartridges!) into a ziplock bag and stuffing them into the nose of the plane trying to wrestle the CG just another inch forward. I'm measuring distances between wingtip and horizontal stabs to make sure I centered the main wing mount holes, and that the horiz stab is square, that the motor mount is centered. The biggest batteries I've ever owned are the 2200mha 3s turnigys I bought when I built my tricopter. (Which, side note- got me started in all this rc business, and something I haven't flown in 3 months) Now along with the lead, I have two 2200s in the nose...as far forward as they'll go. All this and I'm 1/2" behind the 'internet suggested' CG of 3 inches from the leading edge, and besides a boat anchor, I'm out of heavy objects to stick in the nose. Crap.
I'm starting to sweat again. I literally fall asleep picturing the plane, the 2 batteries, and all the lead in the nose rising up...straight up...and smashing nose first into the ground crushing fiberglass and balsa to little bits. Then I weigh the plane. AUW is...is....this cant be right....the scale says....5.5lbs. (2,5kg) The heaviest plane I've ever built was 1.1lbs. (0,5kg) I thought I was sweating before, now I'm soaking in it. Stewing in my own juices. How fast will this thing have to go to get off the ground? When it breaks the sound barrier on takeoff, will the wings just snap off? Will the landing gear collapse when I try to land? (HA! Landing? Only in my wildest fantasies would the plane be landing on the wheels!)
About two days ago, I began, in order to protect my fragile mind, to take a fatalistic view on the whole endeavour- "You know it's going to crash, stop worrying about it.", or "I hope most of the electronics will survive when this thing hits the ground at 40mph.", etc. Last night, I even took pictures of it so I could remember what it looked like, and all the work I had put into it. Ahh what fond memories those would be. Sigh. I woke up this morning, prepared for disaster. I had already written the plane off, and come to grips with it's loss. In fact, if I would have been slightly more awake at 5:30am this morning, I would have grabbed a couple of trash bags to make collecting the pieces easier.
I drove out early to the field in almost a daze. I wanted to be there early, so I would be the only witness to my walk of shame. I thought briefly of the inspection I did last night- Servos still tight, battery tray secured, servo connections all good, EZ connectors tight, motor mount tight, wheel collars tight, etc, etc, etc. I felt as if I had done everything I could...there was nothing left to check.
I arrived at the field, got the plane onto a pit table, and bolted the wing on. Crap! Is that too tight? Did I hear balsa crack? No wait, it's too loose! The wing is going to come off! Are the flight batteries charged? Is my transmitter charged? Did I bring my transmitter!? I got everything hooked together, and slowly checked each control surface, and made sure it was doing all the right stuff. At least when I crash, I know it wasn't because I didn't check my controls. I figured since I was the only one at the field, I would make some long runs down the runway to make sure the nose wheel was tracking straight, and that the prop and motor wasn't going to fly off the plane, and cut one of the wings off. Or the batteries weren't going to explode.
So I stand out at the end of the runway, and start giving it throttle...wow it's tracking straight...maybe a little more gas...wow good motor/prop choice, plenty of power...oh screw it, the suspense was killing me, so I hammered full throttle. And it flew.
Not straight up, not tail heavy, not smearing itself all over the runway in a massive fireball, but slightly pitched up , and lifted gently off the runway. I almost didn't believe it, but it happened. I managed two touch and goes, and no, the gear didn't crumple. In fact, the only part of the plane that touched the ground was the foam tire on each landing gear wheel. It flew, and it landed....twice.
I would love to hear from everyone recounting flying what they considered their first 'real' plane, or one that they had sunk a lot of time, money, or both into. I had just gotten over the nervousness of crashing foam planes, and then here it all comes again! But the best part is that when you are successful, there is a HUGE rush of satisfaction!!
I've been flying sub 1lbs foamies for about 4 months now, and have crashed...a lot. Sure I read stuff about how important CG was. Wait, what is CG? I learned about CG the hard (and dumb) way- Trial and error. Again and again I watched as almost every plane I built turned out to be tail heavy. Almost half the maidens I've flown have left the ground, immediately dropped the tail, gone straight up while I'm busy punching the throttle all the way forward trying to recover control, only for it to flip over, spin, stall, and otherwise hit the ground on every part other than the wheels or skid. (And don't get me started on how much I read about thrust angle...)
Fast forward a couple months- I bought the fiberglass HK FPV-168 v2. Fiberglass....balsa. For someone who can hot glue, tape, and BBQ skewer just about any deformed and mangled foam plane back into flying shape, those two words are already starting to make me sweat. Sure I'm handy and can work a #11 blade like nobodies business, but as I opened the FPV-168 box and started to pick through the parts, I knew I had taken perhaps too big a leap forward in my fledgling hobby. Sure, everything was there, you just have to put it together? I mean, the 'AR' in ARF means Almost Ready, right? Fast forward three weeks later, I'm stuffing lead bullets (just bullets, not a loaded cartridges!) into a ziplock bag and stuffing them into the nose of the plane trying to wrestle the CG just another inch forward. I'm measuring distances between wingtip and horizontal stabs to make sure I centered the main wing mount holes, and that the horiz stab is square, that the motor mount is centered. The biggest batteries I've ever owned are the 2200mha 3s turnigys I bought when I built my tricopter. (Which, side note- got me started in all this rc business, and something I haven't flown in 3 months) Now along with the lead, I have two 2200s in the nose...as far forward as they'll go. All this and I'm 1/2" behind the 'internet suggested' CG of 3 inches from the leading edge, and besides a boat anchor, I'm out of heavy objects to stick in the nose. Crap.
I'm starting to sweat again. I literally fall asleep picturing the plane, the 2 batteries, and all the lead in the nose rising up...straight up...and smashing nose first into the ground crushing fiberglass and balsa to little bits. Then I weigh the plane. AUW is...is....this cant be right....the scale says....5.5lbs. (2,5kg) The heaviest plane I've ever built was 1.1lbs. (0,5kg) I thought I was sweating before, now I'm soaking in it. Stewing in my own juices. How fast will this thing have to go to get off the ground? When it breaks the sound barrier on takeoff, will the wings just snap off? Will the landing gear collapse when I try to land? (HA! Landing? Only in my wildest fantasies would the plane be landing on the wheels!)
About two days ago, I began, in order to protect my fragile mind, to take a fatalistic view on the whole endeavour- "You know it's going to crash, stop worrying about it.", or "I hope most of the electronics will survive when this thing hits the ground at 40mph.", etc. Last night, I even took pictures of it so I could remember what it looked like, and all the work I had put into it. Ahh what fond memories those would be. Sigh. I woke up this morning, prepared for disaster. I had already written the plane off, and come to grips with it's loss. In fact, if I would have been slightly more awake at 5:30am this morning, I would have grabbed a couple of trash bags to make collecting the pieces easier.
I drove out early to the field in almost a daze. I wanted to be there early, so I would be the only witness to my walk of shame. I thought briefly of the inspection I did last night- Servos still tight, battery tray secured, servo connections all good, EZ connectors tight, motor mount tight, wheel collars tight, etc, etc, etc. I felt as if I had done everything I could...there was nothing left to check.
I arrived at the field, got the plane onto a pit table, and bolted the wing on. Crap! Is that too tight? Did I hear balsa crack? No wait, it's too loose! The wing is going to come off! Are the flight batteries charged? Is my transmitter charged? Did I bring my transmitter!? I got everything hooked together, and slowly checked each control surface, and made sure it was doing all the right stuff. At least when I crash, I know it wasn't because I didn't check my controls. I figured since I was the only one at the field, I would make some long runs down the runway to make sure the nose wheel was tracking straight, and that the prop and motor wasn't going to fly off the plane, and cut one of the wings off. Or the batteries weren't going to explode.
So I stand out at the end of the runway, and start giving it throttle...wow it's tracking straight...maybe a little more gas...wow good motor/prop choice, plenty of power...oh screw it, the suspense was killing me, so I hammered full throttle. And it flew.
Not straight up, not tail heavy, not smearing itself all over the runway in a massive fireball, but slightly pitched up , and lifted gently off the runway. I almost didn't believe it, but it happened. I managed two touch and goes, and no, the gear didn't crumple. In fact, the only part of the plane that touched the ground was the foam tire on each landing gear wheel. It flew, and it landed....twice.
I would love to hear from everyone recounting flying what they considered their first 'real' plane, or one that they had sunk a lot of time, money, or both into. I had just gotten over the nervousness of crashing foam planes, and then here it all comes again! But the best part is that when you are successful, there is a HUGE rush of satisfaction!!