T E A M
Plane: MultiPlex EasyStar & stock motor
Servos: 2 X HS 81
ESC: Esky 15A
Lipos: JH 2S2P 1600mah, 12C
Rx: Airtechnnic
TX: 9C
Just got back from my maiden. Went to the field beside my house. It was about the size of 4 football fields but surrounded by roads. I hooked the battery up did a quick flight check, and prepared myself mentally that I had to trim it once its in the air.
Had a pal with me to help launch the plane. First launch, the plane floated for abit then landed nose into the ground. Ok, i see that i have to give it abit of elevator. So second launch, i gave it some elevator and up it went. The plane was heavily skewed to the left, and i was fighting it real bad to control it. I felt the the controls were very sluggish, seems that the rudders were not really working. The plane then went into a loop and headed straight back down. I tried to give it some elevator but too late, it hit nose in first into the ground.
As we were walking towards the plane, i told my friend, "dun worry, i read that this plane is tough!" As I walked nearer, i realised that I had nosed dive right into a rock! Of all the places. The canopy was dislodged as I surveyed the damage. My lipos were way out of shape, the front of teh fuse seems bent. I cant get the canopy to fit back in. I thought, man this is bad. I tried to pull the fuse back to shape and to fit the canopy. It took a while of pulling the trying to bend it back to shape, then the canopy fit.
Next up i looked at the lipos. Realised that it was bent out of shape because the sleeve had run. No problems there, just shifted it back into place. I then had an oevrall look at the rest of teh plane... thats it and off i went for another try.
This time round I remembered that I needed to correct the triming abit. So i trimed it and had my pal launch for me. With a bit of elevator the easystar went into the sky, and i'm not sure why, but it was much easier to control this time round. I was making figure 8s with ease and was able to do a couple of fly-bys at a slow and steady speed. I realised that all i needed was half throttle to keep it easy going. I also felt that the easy star could not take much wind. When there are sudden gusts, it would just turn by itself or up/down elevator.
One thing i noticed was when there was a tail wind, the speed increased drastically. Flying it for a couple more minutes i realised that the field was too small. I had about 100m to fly then needed to make the turn, so i decided to go to a bigger field. Then i tried to land it. It was really difficult, I cut the throttle then glided it and flap the elevtor slightly hoping to get a good slide on the grass. But as soon as it touched down it went in nose again. So i learnt that i needed a longer approach and basically need to have some elevator to keep the nose from jamming into the ground.
The canopy and battery got displaced again. So i decided to pack up and fly my heli instead... I tot the plane would be less of a stress than my heli! I will repair the damage then do another flight tomorrow morning. Overall it was a pretty sucessful maiden. Also tested the durability of the easystar on the first crash. I think after fixing the damage and making sure that everything is in place, the plane would fly like a dream.
One question, if the fuse is bent as in it has been 'compressed' with the sides buldging out, how do i get it back to shape. All i did was to squeexe it & tried to bend it back down. But i coukdn't get it to fit as normal. Is there a way to fix this? My friend suggested using a hairdryer to heat it then bend it back to shape. Any advise?
Servos: 2 X HS 81
ESC: Esky 15A
Lipos: JH 2S2P 1600mah, 12C
Rx: Airtechnnic
TX: 9C
Just got back from my maiden. Went to the field beside my house. It was about the size of 4 football fields but surrounded by roads. I hooked the battery up did a quick flight check, and prepared myself mentally that I had to trim it once its in the air.
Had a pal with me to help launch the plane. First launch, the plane floated for abit then landed nose into the ground. Ok, i see that i have to give it abit of elevator. So second launch, i gave it some elevator and up it went. The plane was heavily skewed to the left, and i was fighting it real bad to control it. I felt the the controls were very sluggish, seems that the rudders were not really working. The plane then went into a loop and headed straight back down. I tried to give it some elevator but too late, it hit nose in first into the ground.
As we were walking towards the plane, i told my friend, "dun worry, i read that this plane is tough!" As I walked nearer, i realised that I had nosed dive right into a rock! Of all the places. The canopy was dislodged as I surveyed the damage. My lipos were way out of shape, the front of teh fuse seems bent. I cant get the canopy to fit back in. I thought, man this is bad. I tried to pull the fuse back to shape and to fit the canopy. It took a while of pulling the trying to bend it back to shape, then the canopy fit.
Next up i looked at the lipos. Realised that it was bent out of shape because the sleeve had run. No problems there, just shifted it back into place. I then had an oevrall look at the rest of teh plane... thats it and off i went for another try.
This time round I remembered that I needed to correct the triming abit. So i trimed it and had my pal launch for me. With a bit of elevator the easystar went into the sky, and i'm not sure why, but it was much easier to control this time round. I was making figure 8s with ease and was able to do a couple of fly-bys at a slow and steady speed. I realised that all i needed was half throttle to keep it easy going. I also felt that the easy star could not take much wind. When there are sudden gusts, it would just turn by itself or up/down elevator.
One thing i noticed was when there was a tail wind, the speed increased drastically. Flying it for a couple more minutes i realised that the field was too small. I had about 100m to fly then needed to make the turn, so i decided to go to a bigger field. Then i tried to land it. It was really difficult, I cut the throttle then glided it and flap the elevtor slightly hoping to get a good slide on the grass. But as soon as it touched down it went in nose again. So i learnt that i needed a longer approach and basically need to have some elevator to keep the nose from jamming into the ground.
The canopy and battery got displaced again. So i decided to pack up and fly my heli instead... I tot the plane would be less of a stress than my heli! I will repair the damage then do another flight tomorrow morning. Overall it was a pretty sucessful maiden. Also tested the durability of the easystar on the first crash. I think after fixing the damage and making sure that everything is in place, the plane would fly like a dream.
One question, if the fuse is bent as in it has been 'compressed' with the sides buldging out, how do i get it back to shape. All i did was to squeexe it & tried to bend it back down. But i coukdn't get it to fit as normal. Is there a way to fix this? My friend suggested using a hairdryer to heat it then bend it back to shape. Any advise?