Help/Advice

[Simon Hopley]

Hi,

For my birthday (30th) I was brought a park flite cessna ep,This is my first ever r/c plane and i am totaly clueless

I have read lots of information on forums and mags so i felt confidant enough to have a go so we me and my dad (bigger kid than me) put the plane together and headed to the park.We set and checked the plane to the best of are abillities and set for a hand launce.

My dad was holding the plane about shoulder high well away from the prop i set full throttle a bit of up elevator trim and away we went he gave it a throw nice and level not up so not to stall.

Know here is where it all goes pair shape the plane does not fly all that happens is it banks to the right and nose dives into the ground   And im not sure why.

I would be most gratfull for any surgestions,help,advice,Anthing you can think off to help me get flying.

Sorry for the long post

Simon

[simon barr]

Hello Simon, and welcome.

I take it that you are unable to recover from this turning/diving situation with appropriate corrective stick movements, which may well point towards a warped wing, or maybe a warped fin/rudder. Check it carefully to make sure both wings look the same, especially at the tips...one may have the leading edge at the tip higher that the other...they need to be the same.

I assume that the control surfaces are travelling the correct way for the stick movements...right aileron stick raises the right aileron and lowers the left, and vice verser for left stick

[Simon Hopley]

Thanks for the the reply,I forgot to put that it wont recover from the dive no matter what i do.I will check that the wings and stuff are alinged correctly.The stick movements are correct this is the first thing i checked not wanting to make a school boy mistake and embarres myself  too much.

Are first thought was maybe something to do with the centre of gravity not being spot on,We have done are best to get this correct according to the building instructions but not a 100% sure we are doing it correctly.We measure from the wing tip back to where it says then try to place the battery so it balances at this point.

Thanks again all help is greatly appreciated

Simon

[Former Member]

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[Simon Hopley]

"Next comes the balance. I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say you measured from the tip. The balance point should be about one third of the wing width measured backwards from the front edge of the wing at the middle of the span (where the fuselage is!)."

Sorry i meant the wing leading edge from your description we have done it correctly the instructions do not mention anything about balancing left to right but i will try it out before we go again.This is the problem with RTF models i only knew about doing a range check from reading mags/forums as there is nothing in the instructions about this.

I have looked at the BMFA web site and found a club but the club web site is not the best and not up to date.

I was hoping to just have an easy to fly plane i could use at the park when i am there using my r/c nitro truck and not have to find a club and go down that route but if i cant work it out i will have to.At the time im righting the rain is coming down like there is no tomorrow so will have to wait for hopefully some nicer weather.

Thanks for your great post it has gave me a lot to go and look at and try to get right.

Simon 

[Bruce Richards]

Simon,

Do not judge a club on its web site. I know in my club we voted against spending club funds on an updated web site we just did not see the point of spending our money this way. Make a phone call and talk to someone, arrange to go along either to the flying field or a club meeting. You will soon find out if it is the club for you by talking and listening to the people there.

[Alex Hasell]

hi,

i know it might sound a little silly but my friend had a "park Fly" and had similar problems in the end it was the prop it was on backwards hence there was no power to climb /recover from anything just a thought for you.

Alex

[Simon Chaddock]

Simon

The Park Flite Cessna should be ok but it is quite a complex "first flight" model.

In your original post you did not mention if there was any wind. I hope you launched absolutely directly into it. Your description of the launch certainly sounds like you had insufficient air speed and if so, then down is the only way it will go, even with full "up" elevator.

Is there any chance you can find somewhere big & flat enough to take off from the ground? That way it will only get into the air when you have sufficient speed.

Ready To Fly means it probably will - but not necessarily that you will be able to.

As with all things flying, there is no substitute for skill & experience so your most successful route will be to get your Cessna checked over and test flown by someone who already has it.

I hope this helps. 

[Lee Burke]

The simplest route is to take the plane along to a club and someone there will help you out in short order.  You will also get a chance to evaluate the club.

[Simon Hopley]

Thanks all for the great advice and help.I will double check the prop is on the right way for starters and go from there.

I did try to take of from the ground but the grass was a bit long.

I will get in touch with the local club to see if they could help me out and have a look around.

Thanks again for the help and sorry for the late reply been busy with work

Simon

[Pat Tomkins]

Hi

I want to get into radio control flying but have only my right hand is there any radio controls  that are suitable for me.

[Simon Chaddock]

Pat

I am not aware of any single handed radio gear - although a simple rudder/ throttle model can be operated via one stick.

More complex should be possible. A PC joystick uses twisting for rudder control and combined with a finger trigger for throttle and stick top thumb buttons you could have 6 or more channels in one hand. You might have to find someone who could modify such a joystick to operate a transmitter, possibly through the buddy lead?

[Former Member]

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[Ernie]

Hi Simon, The advice given by Eric is spot on...But do remember, model flying is not easy, in spite of what the box says..All planes can crash, and do. Also they are dangerous little beasties.Get help, and Insurance. Now how many times have I heard the experienced flyers say this?  

ernie