Philip Brown 3

It flies like the proverbial brick. not a beginners plane by any means.

Hi Ben, how's lock down going, plenty of time to sit around and watch the glue dry? Nice to know that there is still another Flycatcher enthusiast out there trying to defy gravity as well. I set mine up with a 3536 1250Kv motor turning a 10 x 4 prop. I used HK 15138 servos for rudder and elevator, bit of over kill but they look period so suit the model. I can't tell you what I used for aileron servos as their buried in the wing and I can't remember what I ordered. I do know that I had to try twice to get one that was slim enough to fit into the wing. I did take a hint from this forum and built some dihedral into the wing. As for flying it , beware it will bite! Came the day to maiden her and I handed the Tx over to my son who being younger then me has faster reflexes and better eye sight. He also has a pilots licence so I always employ him as my test pilot for new models. (And I can cut him out of the will if he lawn darts it) A check of all control surfaces, open the throttle and she was off, rose into the air and promptly flipped over on her back from a metre up and cartwheeled down the strip. It wasn't a pretty sight, Alvin the Aviator lost both arms and both legs. The report from Air Crash Investigators said that probable cause was a aileron servo that had unglued its self. So another tube of glue later and we're back for the second attempt. Off down the strip and rose gently into the air and........an U/C wheel fell off! (my fault, I didn't check the collet grub screw was tight) But she remained airborne which was very encouraging. The Test Pilots Report ran along the lines of "this $%#@ thing is &*$# to fly, it doesn't want to respond to any inputs, its a battle just to do a circuit." So after staggering around the sky for 5 min he brought it in for a one wheel landing, almost pulled it off but still ended up cartwheeling down the strip. So after I re-find my enthusiasm and get another tube of glue I will rebuild her again and next time try changing the angle of wing incidence to see if that improves matters. Cheers, Phil.

Posted by J D 8 on 30/10/2020 09:20:33: Love that pilot, googly eyes from a kids craft set ? Pack of 30 from a craft shop. Just got to find a use for the other 28!

Only taken me 5 years but I've finally finished! Now just have to wait for the weather to improve before I maiden her.