Night Radian first flight...and last...

Mr.Grinch

Well-known member
So, I took out my brand new Night Radian today. First time out of the box was setting it up at the field (SAFE off). Went through the CG and trim flights without too much issue and started a few runs back and forth across the field. Found a few little thermals that kept me aloft for about 10 minutes and that’s where I stared to run into issues. The air was fairly turbulent so I tried to be patient as the plane got pushed around and kept getting pushed higher. Control was getting sluggish & the thermal was getting really strong. Finally I pegged full up and left... and not much happened. Full down and right... even less response. A couple others jumped in and tried to help, to no avail, so we all got to watch as the brand new plane, that is very stable and thermals quite well on its own, just flew off to the horizon. I’m not sure exactly what happened since the plane wasn’t all that high up or far away when I stopped having control, but even when the other guys tried everything they could, even cycling to power near the end, it just wasn’t in our control. Trying to stay in good spirits, we all made some jokes and had some laughs about it.
Just goes to prove that a properly set up Night Radian can certainly fly just fine on its own if you let it.
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
Oh man sorry to hear that.... Hopefully you had contact information on it in case someone finds it......

LB
 

Mr.Grinch

Well-known member
Thanks guys. Unfortunately no, I hadn’t even pulled it out of the box until I got to the field, I hadn’t labeled it or done the mods I wanted to do to it. I was to excited to just get it up into the air. I’m not overly upset about it, just taking it as a reminder to always do my prep work beforehand and not expect tat everything will go smoothly. Next time, every time, do all the proper prep work before hitting the field!
 

Keno

Well-known member
Lesson learned, down elevator. Well said some thermals are receptionionay strong and good by glider. I hope you have your name and address on the wayward glider so it can be returned when found.
 

Flite Risk

Well-known member
Tape for horizontal stabilizer, really?
How about this.....
 

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