Help! Old Man Winter

gene

Junior Member
I'm a terrible flyer, put a plug and play in the air last year from a ground taxi, tried hard to increase the rate of climb-------lost all control, shut down and crashed. Kinda put the kibosh on the rest of the year. Now I'm hearing about BROWN OUT kind of wondering if that's what happened.

I love to build, have an artist background but cant seem to get enough info on flying these things most around here say "awe, it'll come to you just keep trying". But----I'm old, don't have a lot of years (20) left in me and I just keep searching and wrecking!!! I just build and hang not fly.

I build bows (archery), started two state wide organizations, and teach students to do the same ----thought this RC planes would be a "piece of cake", and I'm finding out, unlike that of my first bow, people around here are much too unwilling to help but rather watch one stumble. Those that have a coalition of "friends" come from high yearly cost of membership and are much to closed to those that freelance too share without "kingship" that goes with those with the org. Thank god for those organizers of the FLITE TEST!!

Great build videos, but----I wish that when they introduce these plane they would dwell on the power source, "You need at the minimum this no of motor" and without all the fancy nos that are hard to reconfigure without going to another source to cross reference nos. or trying to use manufacturing names. Josh does a great job with the fine arts of cutting and dulling of blades etc, I'm sure with a little thought of the novice he would be able to cut to chase and tell us more about the electric motors.

One more thing---------I would love to be at the next large meeting in July but can't seem to find any dates for sure HELP!!!!

What about the BROWNOUT thing, do you have any answers. No hurry too much snow here in Iowa to fly in strong winds (just keeps coming!!)

I hope this group to be the answer,
Thank you
Gene
 

JTarmstr

Elite member
I'm a terrible flyer, put a plug and play in the air last year from a ground taxi, tried hard to increase the rate of climb-------lost all control, shut down and crashed. Kinda put the kibosh on the rest of the year. Now I'm hearing about BROWN OUT kind of wondering if that's what happened.

I love to build, have an artist background but cant seem to get enough info on flying these things most around here say "awe, it'll come to you just keep trying". But----I'm old, don't have a lot of years (20) left in me and I just keep searching and wrecking!!! I just build and hang not fly.

I build bows (archery), started two state wide organizations, and teach students to do the same ----thought this RC planes would be a "piece of cake", and I'm finding out, unlike that of my first bow, people around here are much too unwilling to help but rather watch one stumble. Those that have a coalition of "friends" come from high yearly cost of membership and are much to closed to those that freelance too share without "kingship" that goes with those with the org. Thank god for those organizers of the FLITE TEST!!

Great build videos, but----I wish that when they introduce these plane they would dwell on the power source, "You need at the minimum this no of motor" and without all the fancy nos that are hard to reconfigure without going to another source to cross reference nos. or trying to use manufacturing names. Josh does a great job with the fine arts of cutting and dulling of blades etc, I'm sure with a little thought of the novice he would be able to cut to chase and tell us more about the electric motors.

One more thing---------I would love to be at the next large meeting in July but can't seem to find any dates for sure HELP!!!!

What about the BROWNOUT thing, do you have any answers. No hurry too much snow here in Iowa to fly in strong winds (just keeps coming!!)

I hope this group to be the answer,
Thank you
Gene

A brownout is where the servos are drawing to much power and so you lost control over some of the control surfaces. That is the definition I have seen, others may be able to give a better definition.

But can you share a bit more info? What airplane is it, what transmitter, was it the right battery, was the CG stable. There are so many things that could have also been wrong that would have caused a crash. This may seem daunting but there are a ton of people on these forums to help.

If you need a airplane I recommend the FT Tiny trainer with a power pack F if you want to learn. I personally learned on the FT Viggen after wrecking my mustang on the second flight but I dont recommend this. Flitetest does have a chart HERE which each line corresponds to which power pack their aircraft use.

EDIT: I believe Flite Fest east is on July 11th-14th, I have to double check though
 
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Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
Welcome to the forums.

The dates for FFOH19 have not been announced yet. The past few years it been the 2nd weekend of July which would be July 11-14.

Brownout is from you servos drawing too many amps fro the ESC, reducing the voltage too low for the Rx to operate. Your Rx will temporally quit due to the low voltage.

It's possible you suffered brownout. I think a more likely cause, your wings stalled. That is, as you were climbing you lost air speed. With out enough air flow over the wings, they lost lift. You will drop out of the sky like a rock, usually rolling to one side.
 
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Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
I do post crash cause investigations at my local club and to clarify and broaden the meaning a Brownout is when the voltage to the Rx from the BEC drops below the voltage required to allow for proper operation of the Rx and the Servos. This can be caused by overloading the BEC itself, an ESC over-temperature where the BEC reduces it output to reduce heat dissipated and thereby protect itself. It can also be caused by a poor battery connection and even a poor quality solder connection.

Statistically PNF crashes are not normally subject to brownouts but rather to a radio LOS due to poor placement of the Rx antennas. A LOS can give all of the airborne symptoms of a brownout even on systems that are more than capable of supporting the fitted electrics and the currents required. PNFs are normally designed such that brownouts will not occur EVER in the standard plane.

A secondary thing to consider is what Merv mentioned and that is the dreaded aerodynamic stall. It also will cause a loss of control and normally a rapid decent followed by a rather hard impact.

As for your own attempts to learn to fly It is best to take things easy and help out the wallet with building your own. Just remember even the Wright brothers used to crash and in fact a Wright brother was the pilot during the crash that caused the world's first death in military aviation! They did not quit and neither should you! KEEP at it and you will be flying in rather short time, it is all down to determination and experience!

Have fun!
 

FDS

Elite member
If you want to avoid confusion, buy a speedbuild kit from the FT store, with the corresponding power pack. There are even bundles with a radio and battery with a charger as well.
The Tiny Trainer is very adaptable and can be made with lots of variety, mods and a sliding scale of performance, from a slope soaring glider to a three channel gentle flying trainer, then a 4 channel and right up to a full on 3s vertical aerobatic beast. Plus it’s modular so you just rebuild the bit you break of you crash, the wings are tough and removable/ejectable too.
Motors and stuff can be confusing but are near the end of the build process, if you learn to centre servos (a $5 tool and 4AA cell holder with a servo plug) you can build most planes without fitting the motor, receiver and ESC, it all goes in through the front on FT designs. Only the rudder and aileron servos are built in.
 

jross

Well-known member
most around here say "awe, it'll come to you just keep trying".
What they should be saying is buy a simulator. For a hundred bucks you can learn how to take off, land and fly patterns without risking real planes. If you haven't tried one already, you won't regret it.
 

Headbang

Master member
The flight description does sound like a stall. It is by far the most common thing I see new fliers do. Even those who do not fly often and get rusty tend to do it. Pull too much up to force a climb, not enough speed left to stay in the air. Not enough height to do anything about it, not enough experience to have any clue what you could have done about it.

Clubs can be wonderful. Age means squat, 80% of my club is over 70, some in their 90's. Some of those are new fliers just like you, they love to build, need help flying. That's where myself and a few others whom are dedicated to helping others come in. Unfortunately not all clubs are like that.

Simply put, you will be 1000 times more successful buddy boxing with someone experienced. Beyond that, simulators are the next best thing for gaining experience without crashing your pride and joy.

This a great group here! Always willing to lend advise. Most advise is pretty solid. And we were all where you are now at one point!