Prop Lee's RC Help trainer
- Thread starter Lee
- Start date
Lee
Well-Known Member
So,
It flew
It was seriously tail heavy, maybe due to the 1 inch shorter nose cause my foam board wasn't long enough. I had to add a lot of lead weight to it to get it balanced. I have set it up as a 3 channel plane. Rudder and elevator only, no ailerons. Only because it will be used on my friend radio and RX which is very basic and not able to mix.
As it was, it flew fine but the rudder didn't have much authority without the help of Ailerons. I will increase the size of the rudder to make it better.
I was very lucky. It did crash at the end of the flight because i think the no name ESC he had in his box of bits i borrowed, was set to cut motor at LVC. The motor stopped dead and the plane nose dived into the ground, because of all the lead weight on it. When it came down the wings were level and the plane was into wind, so it dropped straight, just missing the lake of water. 2 seconds later and i would have been turning over the water. Phew!!!
Broke the prop and the landing gear came loose. No biggy. I will have it ready again tomorrow.
Conclusion:
If you build it as Tony has made it to be built, this is an awesome plane.
If you make a rudder, make it slightly wider to give it better authority.
I have video of everything which is uploading, so it will be online tomorrow.
It flew
It was seriously tail heavy, maybe due to the 1 inch shorter nose cause my foam board wasn't long enough. I had to add a lot of lead weight to it to get it balanced. I have set it up as a 3 channel plane. Rudder and elevator only, no ailerons. Only because it will be used on my friend radio and RX which is very basic and not able to mix.
As it was, it flew fine but the rudder didn't have much authority without the help of Ailerons. I will increase the size of the rudder to make it better.
I was very lucky. It did crash at the end of the flight because i think the no name ESC he had in his box of bits i borrowed, was set to cut motor at LVC. The motor stopped dead and the plane nose dived into the ground, because of all the lead weight on it. When it came down the wings were level and the plane was into wind, so it dropped straight, just missing the lake of water. 2 seconds later and i would have been turning over the water. Phew!!!
Broke the prop and the landing gear came loose. No biggy. I will have it ready again tomorrow.
Conclusion:
If you build it as Tony has made it to be built, this is an awesome plane.
If you make a rudder, make it slightly wider to give it better authority.
I have video of everything which is uploading, so it will be online tomorrow.
Derek
Well-Known Member
yeah..mine came out tail heavy, too. Although, I think some of the troubles lie with the fact that I didn't have the Page Scaling turned off on my printer when I printed the plans, so the plans came out a bit smaller than they should be. I have reprinted them and I'll be working on building a new RCH Trainer with the new "to scale" plans. Also..the motor that I have on my current RCH Trainer isn't exactly what Tony had suggested. It's a bit smaller so there is less weight in the front than what he was talking about.
I'm working on it, lol
Glad to hear that you did get yours to fly though. it looks great in the pics!
I'm working on it, lol
Glad to hear that you did get yours to fly though. it looks great in the pics!
Tony
Staff member
Yeah Lee, I'm working on a new rudder design that I put into Matt's plane. I need to fly it and see how it does. I'm a bank & yank flier and hardly ever use rudder even though I have one on my RCH Trainer.
And if it nosed down when the power was cut, it was way too nose heavy. When you cut the power, it should go to a slight nose down attitude and with the slight bit of elevator that you need it in, should flair then start it's decent. Another way to test CoG (which I'm sure you know) is to flip the bird inverted. You should have to give just a slight bit of forward elevator to keep it level.
Either way, I'm glad it flew for you. Can't wait for the video so that I can see it in action.
And if it nosed down when the power was cut, it was way too nose heavy. When you cut the power, it should go to a slight nose down attitude and with the slight bit of elevator that you need it in, should flair then start it's decent. Another way to test CoG (which I'm sure you know) is to flip the bird inverted. You should have to give just a slight bit of forward elevator to keep it level.
Either way, I'm glad it flew for you. Can't wait for the video so that I can see it in action.
Derek
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I'll, also be doing a servo tray inside my new Trainer....well...when I can get back to that one. I've got 5 planes that I wanna get parts for (including the last few pieces for my big Albatross) and my 2nd RCH Trainer would be the 6th plane in need of parts.
Nonetheless...I'm really looking forward to seeing your flight video, Lee.
Nonetheless...I'm really looking forward to seeing your flight video, Lee.
Tony
Staff member
Hey Lee, that plane didn't look tail heavy at all. If it was tail heavy, it would be all over the place in the sky.
One thing I would do with a 3ch is put more dihedral in it. Looks like you only have a few degrees in that wing. Something around 7-10º would make it handle the rudder much better. Just a thought.
Derek, I have done a modification on callsign4223's plane that I built where the elevator is straight across and I cut the rudder at a 45º angle up where the elevator would clear. Then I extended the rudder by about 1/2" for more authority. I'm hoping Matt lets me fly it so that I can see if it will work.
One thing I would do with a 3ch is put more dihedral in it. Looks like you only have a few degrees in that wing. Something around 7-10º would make it handle the rudder much better. Just a thought.
Derek, I have done a modification on callsign4223's plane that I built where the elevator is straight across and I cut the rudder at a 45º angle up where the elevator would clear. Then I extended the rudder by about 1/2" for more authority. I'm hoping Matt lets me fly it so that I can see if it will work.
Lee
Well-Known Member
Its not tail heavy cause theres 4 pounds of lead on the nose LOL
I wanted to see how it would fly first as it was. I will be putting more dihedral in for my friend, but i thought it flew well as it was.
I also think i found out why it lost power, and possibly why this motor fail on my quad copter in Mexico, the one that went in the water. As i went to unplug the motor plugs, one wire came away in my hand and left the plug in
I wanted to see how it would fly first as it was. I will be putting more dihedral in for my friend, but i thought it flew well as it was.
I also think i found out why it lost power, and possibly why this motor fail on my quad copter in Mexico, the one that went in the water. As i went to unplug the motor plugs, one wire came away in my hand and left the plug in