Disappointing first flight

Yesterday evening saw my first flight of any R/C aircraft. It's my own Nine Eagles Sky Surfer. I've done plenty of RC car driving over the last (nearly) 30 yrs, and had checked the plane out myself, using tips read on forums and stuff seen on Yotube. And when the East Devon RCC chairman took it up for me to check trims it was already flying ok under full power. He commented that it was 'ballooning' a bit, and I could see the nose coming up at slower speeds. With the throttle set around half speed, I took the sticks. And I have to say, I didn't really 'feel' that I had much control of it. I managed to make it turn one way and the other, sort of. He said I did alright, but I felt that I was connected to the plane via treacle, as the responses were so vague. All the conrtol surfaces have very limited movements I must say. Perhaps that's considered best for a beginner, but I was expecting to have to finesse the controls rather than having to push fully in any direction and then wait to see if any effect was felt by the aircraft. Haha! I was almost disappointed to see how easily he took control and landed it nicely. :D

I do need more batteries, as a single flight never seems enough. Hopefully Whipton Models will have some more in this weekend, so I can show off my lack of skill at the club 'Fly In' on Sunday.

Wish me luck!

But the evening was so beautiful that I didn't mind. Fantastic weather compared to the last few days.

Good luck, I am sure you will master all that is needed.. the RC car background will ensure you know the basic's.. only the mysteries of flight remains

Grab some more batteries, as you rightly say one flight is not enough, if you can build up to four batteries for the model... one in it, two ready to go and one on charge.. it will see you flying for the whole afternoon / evening with tea/biscuits breaks..

I expect the control settings were set up for a beginner, not a bad idea until some coordination is second nature for you. Any changes to the control surfaces at this juncture will result in overcontrol, and with a model airplane this is very undesirable until your coordiation is good.. so stick with it, you will appreciate the skills you learn now whilst things seem slow motion, especially when you "teak it a bit"... learn how to get it up and keep it up (said the vicar to the young chap reading from psalms)

Now that is what its about, getting up there and staying up... enjoy the good weather, it will surely arrival soon...

I bought 'er indoors one of these. To describe it's responses as sloppy is an understatement.

On reflection, I'm not sure it was a good buy.

I have a Radian Pro which is much more responsive and may be worth a look for you.

Teak it? That's a head scratcher!

Thanx guys. Interesting to see another opinion on the Sky Surfer. I already have an Easy Pigeon (elevator and rudder only). But haven't finished sorting it yet as it was NOT 'ARTF' in several areas, plus it was suggested that it wasn't suited to the gusty winds we had until recently. But I'll get some more batteries from somewhere on Friday, and take both planes along to the fly in on Sunday and see what's what.

Of course I'm buying these hobbies against a recession starves bank account, but we do what we can don't we? I've just found my local hardware store have 1" and 4" thick exp poly foam boards, so maybe I'll make a trainer that won't cost if I destroy it!

Someone please put up a huge umbrella over Devon and keep that blimmin rain orf!

Edited By Chuck Planes on 02/05/2012 22:30:59

Vague control is disconcerting.You want the model to respond at your speed.What you have should help you start and not over compensate.It gives you time a bit like a vintage model and you teach yourself more with lots of stick time and plenty of reaction time,If necessary can you take advice on increasing the throws maybe if its much to slow for you.

Thanx Stephen. Unfortunately these are my servos.

Reciever/servos

Aileron servo

No extra throw available for the ailerons unless I drill another 1mm hole in the central arm, and I can tell you there's only one hole lef to go on the elevator horn as well. Rudder is on max throw already. It does have 1.5mm carbon rods inside the fuselage, but I can see the 1mm metal rods bending as they operate, haha! But the worm drive servos are slow to operate and struggle as they try to reach the end of their travel.

Oh well, I'll have to grin and bear it for the first few flights. Then get some mini servos and a receiver that I can use with the Hitec 2.4ghz unit which came with the E-Pigeon deal

Edited By Chris Bott - Moderator on 03/05/2012 19:31:34

Chuck - 'teak it' is Typonese for 'tweak it' (a language we all read and write fluently)

Typonese! Hahahah! I guessed, but have not heard it called that before.

Typonese. I really like that. I write it a lot on posts.

I keep telling people that my keyboard is dyslexic or my fingers are. but Typonese is better.

You may have more fun out of something like an 'EasyStar' Chuck or the Radian as mentioned above. Keep at it though!

Hi Chuck,

well trainers are designed to be very stable - unfortunately the natural "other side" of that is they tend to be rather slow on the controls! Most learners need that to be honest. But if its too slow it can get in the way of learning! You could always up the control throws a bit - an 30-50% on elevator and ailerons wont hurt. See what its like then.

You're right about batteries - you need more. At this stage in your flying career the more "stick time" you can get in the faster you will learn.

May the way - incase you are thinking "rather tame these model planes compared to cars" - don't worry - there are plenty of models waiting for you once you have learnt that will respond to control input at a rate that will scare pants off you!

BEB

Sorry, off theme but why has the text on this thread disappeared behind the ads again after not having it happened for quite a while.

Geoff

My view seems ok. But then I my machine behaves in a slightly different way to most peoples, as I only ever use the Ubuntu operating system.

Do you mean the sort of model cars that I would have sliding fully sideways and with just a whiff of throttle well before a particular corner on a muddy track after applying the 'Scandinavian Flick', sort of cars sort of cars? That type of car BEB?

Unfortunately I haven't found out how to post images here yet. Otherwise my primitive servos would have shown above. ^^^

There is basically no extra throw to be had with the standard setup on this model. But, I now realize that the crushed ploystyrene 'hinges' on both ailerons and elevator are quite stiff at the moment. And the aillerons actually bind immediately onto their own actuator pivot tubes under the wing. Plus I can see that none of the 'worm drive servos ever get anywhere near the end of their travel. But it gave me my first ever flight, so thumbs up for that! Hmm, clear parcel tape hinges anyone?

I have a feeling I will void the warranty this evening! I tend to modify most of my toys. Even my windsurf boards get altered sometimes.

Receiver/servo, worm drive!

Aileron servo the same.

Edited By Chuck Planes on 03/05/2012 18:58:14

Dear Chuck,I think that most of us had a disappointing first flight....but intreresting days coming.

continue to fly please...

Regards

Jo

Hey Jo. My local club are having a big 'Fly In' day this Sunday. I'll be there with both of my planes. The weather forecast is, 10/11C, sunshine and fluffy clouds, 7mph wind, no gusts, lots of tea and buns.

Do you want to buy an RC car?

Chuck I've edited your post that contains photos, because it was messing up the page in some browsers.

Could you have a look at the brief tutorials here and use the buttons above the reply box rather than code.

Cheers
Chris

No problemo Chris. I got used to posting links on some other forums. But I've read the tutorial now. Thanx

Chuck - re the Easy Pigeon.

I have one and have flown it in blustery winds exceeding 30 mph. It has always behaved OK in those conditions probably becasue the very heavy NiMH battery in mine acts like ballast. The only problem I have is in getting it down where I want to in calm conditions as it comes in very fast and I often have to go round more than once to avoid a longer walk than I would like.

Malcolm

Thanks Chuck, we're a little "odd" on here but most people still stick around