i glide test all my planes
This is how I've been doing mine, 3 channel first, trimmed out, then add the ailerons if wanted/needed. Having it trimmed and flying level on 3 channels, after adding ailerons and it starts turning, you know it's aileron as opposed to guessing if it's rudder or aileron.
I test glide for .5 seconds on hand launch.
I test glide for sometimes a full second if I cut the power @ landing.I test glide for .5 seconds on hand launch.
Half of the bricks I build need thrust in order to fly. The last thing I glide tested was my mini turbo kaddy, it made it about 20 feet before lawn darting and scuffing up my nice paint. I put the flaps at 50%, throttled it up, and it flew perfect. Had I been chasing my tail after the glide test, I never would have gotten it off the ground. Sure it was too big a motor and too much battery for such a little plane.
Excellent! Especially the part that goes "I've heard about glide testing and it's probably a good idea."So first things first, stick with it. I chose foamboard planes expressly because I figured they'd be easy to rebuild and fix WHEN I crashed. And when I started out (I also came from an RC Car background), I crashed a LOT! In fact, I probably was on my sixth plane before I had one I could keep up in the air. Many of those initial planes were just me not being good with the build techniques at first.
But once you are airborne there's a whole new set of issues learning how to trim the plane, how to adjust throws and limits, and how to set and use expo. So you'll STILL crash a lot. Most of my initial landings were more falling from the sky than anything nuanced and subtle.
Don't start with the "pretty" planes, like the warbirds. If it looks real cool, it's probably NOT the bird to be learning to fly on. If it looks derpy, it's probably perfect. The Tenet and the Explorer are great starter planes. Yeah they look weird with those polyhedral wings and pusher props but those are features meant to make them super easy to fly and at first you want to NOT be worrying about many of the things the "pretty" planes introduce. Frankly the Tenet is an excellent platform because it's easy to set up and can be converted later in your learning process to use Ailerons and tractor propulsion without additional investment. In short, picking something less glamorous but more stable will go a long way toward teaching you to fly. These ugly trainers are also designed to fly SLOW, which helps you learn reaction time and hurts the plane less when they inevitably hit the ground.
Once you get that down, build something prettier. I recommend the Scout. Everyone should have a Scout. It's just a good simple basic yet beautiful flyer. My initial success flying was with a simple Cub, but I learned to FLY with a Scout. I crashed the heck out of that Scout too, but kept fixing it and kept putting it up in the air. I retired it not because it quit working, but because I felt like replacing it, with another Scout (one I modified to be low wing).
I've heard about glide testing, and it's probably a good idea. I tend to glide test...under power.
So first things first, stick with it. I chose foamboard planes expressly because I figured they'd be easy to rebuild and fix WHEN I crashed. And when I started out (I also came from an RC Car background), I crashed a LOT! In fact, I probably was on my sixth plane before I had one I could keep up in the air. Many of those initial planes were just me not being good with the build techniques at first.
But once you are airborne there's a whole new set of issues learning how to trim the plane, how to adjust throws and limits, and how to set and use expo. So you'll STILL crash a lot. Most of my initial landings were more falling from the sky than anything nuanced and subtle.
Don't start with the "pretty" planes, like the warbirds. If it looks real cool, it's probably NOT the bird to be learning to fly on. If it looks derpy, it's probably perfect. The Tenet and the Explorer are great starter planes. Yeah they look weird with those polyhedral wings and pusher props but those are features meant to make them super easy to fly and at first you want to NOT be worrying about many of the things the "pretty" planes introduce. Frankly the Tenet is an excellent platform because it's easy to set up and can be converted later in your learning process to use Ailerons and tractor propulsion without additional investment. In short, picking something less glamorous but more stable will go a long way toward teaching you to fly. These ugly trainers are also designed to fly SLOW, which helps you learn reaction time and hurts the plane less when they inevitably hit the ground.
Once you get that down, build something prettier. I recommend the Scout. Everyone should have a Scout. It's just a good simple basic yet beautiful flyer. My initial success flying was with a simple Cub, but I learned to FLY with a Scout. I crashed the heck out of that Scout too, but kept fixing it and kept putting it up in the air. I retired it not because it quit working, but because I felt like replacing it, with another Scout (one I modified to be low wing).
I've heard about glide testing, and it's probably a good idea. I tend to glide test...under power.
So first things first, stick with it. I chose foamboard planes expressly because I figured they'd be easy to rebuild and fix WHEN I crashed. And when I started out (I also came from an RC Car background), I crashed a LOT! In fact, I probably was on my sixth plane before I had one I could keep up in the air. Many of those initial planes were just me not being good with the build techniques at first.
But once you are airborne there's a whole new set of issues learning how to trim the plane, how to adjust throws and limits, and how to set and use expo. So you'll STILL crash a lot. Most of my initial landings were more falling from the sky than anything nuanced and subtle.
Don't start with the "pretty" planes, like the warbirds. If it looks real cool, it's probably NOT the bird to be learning to fly on. If it looks derpy, it's probably perfect. The Tenet and the Explorer are great starter planes. Yeah they look weird with those polyhedral wings and pusher props but those are features meant to make them super easy to fly and at first you want to NOT be worrying about many of the things the "pretty" planes introduce. Frankly the Tenet is an excellent platform because it's easy to set up and can be converted later in your learning process to use Ailerons and tractor propulsion without additional investment. In short, picking something less glamorous but more stable will go a long way toward teaching you to fly. These ugly trainers are also designed to fly SLOW, which helps you learn reaction time and hurts the plane less when they inevitably hit the ground.
Once you get that down, build something prettier. I recommend the Scout. Everyone should have a Scout. It's just a good simple basic yet beautiful flyer. My initial success flying was with a simple Cub, but I learned to FLY with a Scout. I crashed the heck out of that Scout too, but kept fixing it and kept putting it up in the air. I retired it not because it quit working, but because I felt like replacing it, with another Scout (one I modified to be low wing).
I've heard about glide testing, and it's probably a good idea. I tend to glide test...under power.
I like the surprise
lol
