Birgir

Hi Peter, Thank you so much for your detailed and insightful advice regarding crosswind take-offs and landings. Your explanation has certainly helped me understand the nuances and considerations that need to be taken into account when dealing with strong winds. I will definitely keep your tips in mind, especially the points about anticipating the wind's effect on yaw and the necessity of using rudder and opposite aileron to maintain control of the aircraft. Your suggestions about thinking ahead and preparing for wind conditions before applying power are invaluable and will undoubtedly guide me in future scenarios. For now, I plan to wait for calmer weather before making my next attempt. Your post has given me a lot to reflect on and I feel more confident about managing crosswinds in the future. Thanks again for your helpful post. Best regards, Birgir

Thanks - it's straight - I promise 🙂

Thanks to everyone above for their comments. I have now made some amendments to the model and a short video about my experience. I’ve included some of the comments from above in the video and hope that is ok. Here is the video:

Dear Cuban8, I have a confession to make. When deciding the CoG, I simply added some lead to the front, assuming that 50g was quite a lot. Then I placed my fingers under the wing and thought, "This doesn’t seem too bad." I didn’t even check the plan. But this is the essence of our hobby. If you don’t think things through, if you don’t give the task at hand the respect it deserves, you will be punished. And during takeoff, I failed to respect the process and thought I could just go straight into the air. This is what I love most about our hobby. If you are careless and inattentive, you will be punished within seconds. But once the disappointment fades, you realize that this is just a game—one that teaches you valuable lessons to apply in the real world. I will now check the plan and make amends.

Thanks, I value your comments very much. I‘ve also been thinking about the CoG and perhaps I should add a bit more lead before next try. Now the CoG is just shy of 75 mm from the leading edge of a 170 mm wing cord (44%). This might also be a contributing factor. I need to put in a new Outrunner or put a new shaft in this one before next flight. It will take some surgery to get this one out. There is a build video on my YouTube channel that explains this. I would appreciate your thoughts about that video also. My channel is at: https://www.youtube.com/@birgiredwald B.

Thanks Cuban8 I think you are spot on. The outrunner axel was bent so subsequent flights haven't happened yet. Next time I will practice some taxiing before takeoff B.

Guilty as charged :-(

I think I learned about the P-factor the hard way. What do you think?

Considerable cleaning work ahead...

Hi everyone I did the servo test as Cuban8 suggested. I pulled the servo lead from the Dual-receiver module and connected it strait to the receiver, the same receiver, and Vola! No bouncing at all. When I connected it again as it was previously, the bouncing was minimal. The unplugging and re-plugging might have cleaned the connectors a little, proving John’s theory. I also must admit that the inside of this old Keil Kraft Mini Super has a very nice smell coming from previous fuel leaks. Everything also has a nice oily touch, based om the same history. 😊 B.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and good suggestion. The most secure way is to bin the servo, and I totally understand this suggestion. But being a sportsman, I find that a bit too easy. (Most likely I would also make this suggestion if someone asked me). I’m sure that the servos are original Futaba S3003 bought from Pegasus Models in Norwich. I tested the model upside down as Martin suggests and moving the sticks quickly without letting them go as RottenRow and Engine Doctor suggested. This did not eliminate this behaviour in either case. Regarding extension leads as Engine Doctor and Cuban8 have pointed out, I have a confession to make. This model has two receivers and a Dual Receiver unit that connects both receivers to all the servos. The extension leads are JR but the servos are Futaba. So, the extension leads theory sounds appealing to me. While testing the servo the behaviour seems to diminish as Cuban8 did forecast, that also supports his suggestion. Engine Doctor also mention that a similar behaviour can happen just after the batteries are recharged. This might also play a role because I just chanced from a five batteries rechargeable Overlander battery pack to four Duracell Optimum non-rechargeable batteries which might be a bit more powerful. The reason for this change is that I’m using rechargeable batteries in my Futaba 6J Tx and when I put this Duracell Optimum in it lasted and lasted much longer than I expected. But I do worry a bit because I don’t know how these batteries behave when they are close to empty. Do they empty very suddenly and fall rapidly below working voltage or is it ok to expect noticeable fall in voltage that will alert that battery change is needed? B.

Hello Can anyone explain to me what is happening with my servo? When I release the transmitter stick suddenly from full up or down the servo fluctuates around the centre position for a moment before it stops in the centre. Should I be concerned about this, or should I just ignore it? This does not bother me when flying. I’m not that good a pilot. There is no gyro to blame. Any comments welcomed. Thanks - Birgir ServoProblem.mov.mp4

Your copy of the KK Mini Super is very beautiful Nigel. I rebuilt my copy a few years ago and also took note of the picture on the original box, which I still have. I built a new wing, reduced the dihedral of the wing and added ailerons. The model still has a glow engine. Hopefully I will be able to fly it this summer. B.

Hi Bill and thanks for asking. I'm sure that old Luis would turn in his grave if he heard this idea 🙂 but fun set aside, I know very little about electric conversion. Recently a came across this video. It looks like a 60" -isch model and you might be able to get some info about the spec from him. Regards, Birgir

Hi everyone. It’s now almost a year since my last post here, where I talked about my hopes that the Bleriot would be airborne again this season. I’m sorry to say that I used all the limited time of good weather here in Iceland to try to master the flying of my biplane, Sig Hog Bipe, with limited results. On windy days I however managed to make some more videos looking closer at some aspects of my Bleriot XI model. Here below is a video where I take a closer look at the stabilizer. You can also go to my YouTube channel and have a look at all my Bleriot videos at the Bleriot playlist. At present I ‘m collecting as many subscribers as I can and will be thankful if you could use this opportunity to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Thanks, Birgir.