New Builder & Flier

hovseps

New member
Thank you Flite Test for the amazing videos and products you offer to get a Dad and Son in the hobby for a fairly reasonable prices. My Son and I are still learning to build and fly RC airplanes for the first time. The build process were fairly easy following the build videos. Flying on the other hand was not. I currently built a FT Simple Cub with 3 Channels using power pack B with a 3s 1300mAh using Spektrum Ar620 Receiver with Spektrum DXE Transmitter. My Son & I tried to practice using Phoenix RC Flight Sim 5.5 to get comfortable flying. Using the Sim it seems fairly easy to fly. Our first maiden flight was at a local park. Unfortunately it was a very short flight. The Airplane tends to roll left and noise dive after a short take off. I'm currently making repairs on the Airplane and switching to a 2200mah 3s battery to balance the plane to be slightly more noise heavy.
I would like some pointers regarding diagnosing flight characteristics during take off or during flight time to pin point my errors in my build. Not sure if my Dihedral is correct. Not sure if the wing is squared with the fuselage. Not sure if my Rudder and Elevators are square. Not sure if my thrust angle is correct. I tired to eye ball everything and using a triangle ruler but i want to be able to measure and correct the issue based on the flight characteristics.
I would appreciate all the pointers. Once the weather clears i will try the second flight after repairs.
Thank You
Hovsep
 

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FastCrash45

Elite member
Sounds to me like you needed a couple clicks right on the rudder and the nosedive could be a couple things. I)the plane may already be nose heavy and 2) the elevator needs a few up clicks. Just a quick guestimate on my part. These little planes are very particular when it comes to it's center of gravity.
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
Firstly welcome to the FT forums.

As for the roll and dive on take off it can be considered as a quite common issue for the inexperienced, (and a number of the more experienced). Simply put the best way to avoid the effect is to take off with a longer ground run and slower acceleration. You should aim to take off with more than sufficient airspeed for all of the control surfaces to be fully functional. At slow speed the control surfaces will be weak in effect and possibly insufficient for any real control. Do a search on "P" factor to better understand the phenomena.

As for the simple cub itself if the build is a little inaccurate or even a little heavy the cub can become a little hard to get flying exactly right. My build is very heavy and I use a icy-pole stick under the wing LE to increase the wing incidence angle. Before the increase in incidence my cub would really swing wildly on take off and was a high speed and almost uncontrollable lump of flying FB. After the incidence angle increase it lifts off very calmly climbs nice and steady and can fly quite slowly, (It can even appear to be hovering in a moderate breeze).

The cub is a great design but it needs to be "Tweaked" in response to weight and build issues.

Have fun!
 

FastCrash45

Elite member
Looks like a nice build for you and your little flying partner.
Thank you Flite Test for the amazing videos and products you offer to get a Dad and Son in the hobby for a fairly reasonable prices. My Son and I are still learning to build and fly RC airplanes for the first time. The build process were fairly easy following the build videos. Flying on the other hand was not. I currently built a FT Simple Cub with 3 Channels using power pack B with a 3s 1300mAh using Spektrum Ar620 Receiver with Spektrum DXE Transmitter. My Son & I tried to practice using Phoenix RC Flight Sim 5.5 to get comfortable flying. Using the Sim it seems fairly easy to fly. Our first maiden flight was at a local park. Unfortunately it was a very short flight. The Airplane tends to roll left and noise dive after a short take off. I'm currently making repairs on the Airplane and switching to a 2200mah 3s battery to balance the plane to be slightly more noise heavy.
I would like some pointers regarding diagnosing flight characteristics during take off or during flight time to pin point my errors in my build. Not sure if my Dihedral is correct. Not sure if the wing is squared with the fuselage. Not sure if my Rudder and Elevators are square. Not sure if my thrust angle is correct. I tired to eye ball everything and using a triangle ruler but i want to be able to measure and correct the issue based on the flight characteristics.
I would appreciate all the pointers. Once the weather clears i will try the second flight after repairs.
Thank You
Hovsep
 

Kendalf

Well-known member
Wow, that is an incredible build for your first plane! You really went all out with the skin and everything! I also started with RC flight sims to practice before going to the real thing, but quickly learned that software doesn't simulate improper balance or uneven wings and tail, which I had in my first Tiny Trainer build. There's also the myriad of others considerations such as radio range, electrical connections, correct motor and prop combination, etc. It's overwhelming at first! With foam board planes it's about the progress. First plane probably won't fly as well as the ones you see in posted videos, but with the help from the community you learn from the mistakes and get better (both building and flying).