Need advise please

[John S]

I am brand new to the hobby. I tried to maiden my FT Simple Cub. The plane banked hard to the left both times causing my props to brake each time. I have attempted to adjust my trims and sub trims as well to compensate. When checking the plane for complete levelness, I did notice that the tale elevator when looking at the plane from the nose back is slightly elevated on the left side. Would this cause the plane to have such a hard left bank? Please advise. This noob would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Merv]

It’s possible the elevator could cause a left bank, but I doubt the bank would be as severe as you described. A more likely cause, you have built a twist into the wing, which is very easy to do. The solution either trim out the bank or build a new wing.

I always check the wings I build for twist. I take 2 yard sticks and set them on the wing, then look down the wing to see if the stick line up or if one is at a twist to the other. The stick just exaggerate the twist and make it easier to see. I have never built a perfectly straight wing, as long as the twist is less than an inch, that’s good enough for me. Woodworkers use this technique to check the flatness a board, they call them winding sticks.

 

[John S]

Thank you very much for the advise. I will check it out and see if I can this. I truly appreciate it.

J

 

[Hai-Lee]

One other thing to try is to let the bird run very fast along the ground before trying to lift off. Lifting off when travelling too slow will always cause the plane to roll left and your controls will be virtually ineffectual at low air speed.

Have fun!

 

[The Hangar]

One other thing to try is to let the bird run very fast along the ground before trying to lift off. Lifting off when travelling too slow will always cause the plane to roll left and your controls will be virtually ineffectual at low air speed.

Have fun!

Flying my cub today I took off from the ground and went straight up! Thankfully it has unlimited vertical and so it didn’t stall. I’m going to try the higher speed and smoother take off tomorrow.

 

[Piotrsko]

Stab tilt (elevator tilt) just causes the plane to slowly turn to the low side. Fast turns are typically motor torque caused

 

[keepitup]

I always power her up and toss at a low angle up without power, like a glider, to see what she does. If it glides ok then I give her a go with power. Hope you sort her out, I did precisely the same thing with my Simple Cub, now waiting for lots of Chinese props. Maiden and second flight caused one blade props. She seems quite touchy to keep her level. I'm thinking digging into my radio manual and changing the rates might make her a bit more stable. Good luck.

 

[John S]

Thank you everyone for the great feedback and guidance. I tried to fly the Simple Cub again this last weekend. I hand launched her but noticed I launched the plane with a really high angle. Which caused her to stall. I immediately chickened out and cut the throttle. She came down and the hot glue to the powerpack came lose. She is repaired and ready to go in the air. Given that this plane will require a more knowledgeble flyer to get working, I have decided to gain this experience and knowledge of flight controls with more practice on my Hobbyzone Aeroscout. I will attempt to get this plane in the air, hopefully soon. Thank you again to everyone who provided feedback and guidance. Hope everyone has a great holidays!

 

[FDS]

Add some incidence to the wing, put a 1mm or so spacer under the leading edge. This will help with stalling as well. If you go too steep on launch it’s always better to just keep climbing, ease off any elevator not throttle, until you are at least 40 ft up, then you have room to react better, since you are higher. Throttle is your friend provided you are not getting too much torque roll.
I always take at least two made up spare power pods with me to the field, they break easily. I got through 27 power pods and firewalls in my first 10 months of TT flying!