ParkZone warbird gliding?

On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:46:49 -0700, "Larry G." wrote in :

I don't think gliding is going to give you the skills you need.

And tossing it hard enough to reach a good gliding speed may get you set up for a stall and crash--or a throw directly into the ground, which sometimes happens.

If you're ready to fly, go fly the plane the way it was designed to fly.

Marty

DON'T DO THAT! It will not survive believe me. They are very very fragile and it will definately nose in. They are not easy to hand launch on your own. Please get a friend to give a good level throw.

We are following this story with interest and are waitng for your report on how the first flight goes.

OK, no gliding! I'm probably going to have to do it myself, my buddies won't get up at 6 AM to come help me. I live in the desert near Phoenix, and it is way too hot after that time, and the wind picks up to. How hard do I need to toss it? In the video on Parkzone's website, it looks like it picks up and goes pretty fast.

Any tips wold be appreciated.

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Hey, if _I_ can toss one hard enough, you can :) As others have already said elsewhere, a level toss is probably best. Since it has the prop up front, you might make your life a lot easier by launching it on full throttle. Just be careful that when you toss it you don't touch the blades with anything. It hurts, trust me ;)

The general procedure is this:

- Stand so the sun is at your back, and the flying field in front of you If thats not possible, try to get the sun at least to your side.

- Turn on TX

- Make sure you've got zero throttle

- Make sure the TX is set to use LOW rates (switch on the upper right)

- Plug in battery (stay away from the prop just in case)

- Check that elevator works as intended, i.e.: * Stick UP pushes the elevator DOWN * Stick DOWN pushes the elevator UP

- Make sure the elevator is reasonably level when stick's centered. A teeny tiny bit of up trim might make it easier to launch, but thats personal preference. Level should work just fine.

- Check rudder, and use the trims to center it

- Hold the plane so the prop is safely away, and hit the throttle to make sure the engine works as it should

- If you can find a buddy, do a range check. If not... gotta skip it :/

- Grab the plane firmly (the manual actually has a picture how to grab it and where)

- Go full throttle if you dare (manual recommends against it, and I don't particularly feel comfy with a full-throttle toss either)

- If there is a noticeable breeze, aim the plane into the breeze.

- Toss the plane levelly away from you. Toss it firmly, but not like your life depends on force. Level is more important than force.

- Try not to pull the stick all the way back, just maybe 1/3rd max. The plane should pretty much pick up speed quickly and start to climb.

- Keep your eyes on the plane. Do NOT look away from it, not even a second. If someone tries to talk to you, ignore them.

Likely, on the first flight the trims might be just a hair off. Do not try and adjust them in-flight yet, bring the plane down before trying any trim adustments.

During flight, try to keep the plane in front of you, i.e. so you do not have to physically turn your body left/right. Also, try to keep it at a bit of altitude, and for your first flight, keep it at maybe 2/3rd throttle, that should keep it comfortably in the air without stalls and with a nice manageable speed.

And the bad news: Launching and flying is relatively easy. Landing is where new pilots seem to stuff it most often :) So... here's a simple way to land as long as you've got enough field available:

- During flight, figure out how slow you can go before the nose drops, just try to fly level, and slowly reduce power. If you have to pull up to keep the plane on altitude, you're getting too slow.

- Figure out where the wind comes from, if any. If there's wind, you'd want to land with the nose facing into the wind.

- Gently ease the plane into final approach and line it up as good as you can. If you're flying in a reasonably big park/field you don't have to worry about hitting any runway, which makes things easier.

- Just cut the power and let it glide in. Don't pull up. Don't push down. Keep the nose level and let it glide to the ground. Stick movements should be minor, else the plane will probably stall.

- If you feel something going wrong (plane overshooting the landing for example), just hit the throttle and try again.

- As long as it comes down on your flying field and as long as the plane isn't damaged, it's a successful landing :) The plane can take quite a "hot" landing as long as the grass is soft, somewhat short, and the plane lands nice and level on its belly. If the wing tip hits the ground at any speed, you're most likely going to do some repairs. Flat and level landing is the key with these foamies.

- Unplug the planes battery before retracting the TX antenna, and definitely before turning off the TX.

Since I've seen videos with people doing it: Do NOT try to catch the plane. That takes a lot of practice, and IMO it's silly anyway.

Mind, this is the lazy "oh my it's a NOOB!" way to land. Later you might want to make sure you can somewhat land spot-on, from any direction. Since your plane does not have a landing gear you HAVE to make sure you have cut power to zero before landing, else you'll strip the prop.

Sounds complicated, but really isn't. It's basically:

1. Pre-flight check
2. Finding a good place to fly (in relation to sun and wind)
3. Launch
4. Fly around
5. Glide in for a nice, soft landing
6. Proper power down

Good luck, and have fun at the first flight. It's a rush.

Jen

Larry G. wrote:

On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:36:59 -0700, "Larry G." wrote in :

Bummer.

Not hard at all.

No need for a windup or follow-through.

Hold the TX in your weak hand. Practice finding the sticks WITHOUT looking at the TX. Keep your eyes on the airplane when you throw it so that you know what it needs by the time you get your hands on the sticks.

The first day you go flying should not be the first time that you practice your "quick draw." Five or ten minutes of repetition should help you figure out what works for you.

You might fold a paper airplane and use it for tossing practice. Toss the plane with your strong hand, keep your eye on it, and get your hands on the controls.

Don't panic. Smooth and sure is better than hasty and off-balance. People do this all the time and the odds are in your favor.

Hold the airplane comfortably above your head and shoulder.

Rev the engine to maximum. This may be just a bit awkward depending on which hand is holding the TX. You can practice this sequence, too, the night before you plan to fly. HANG ON TIGHT. Letting an electric plane loose in the house is a classic beginner's mistake. You don't need to practice this a lot to get the feel of holding the plane with the motor running at full tilt.

After charging your batteries as needed and appropriate for your system, it's time to fly.

No running.

No lunging.

Push the aircraft forward like a dart aimed at a target in front of its nose.

Do not throw it like a football or baseball.

Do not throw it with your shoulders and legs.

Throw into the wind, if any.

It doesn't take much of a shove to reach flying speed. As soon as you let go of it, the motor and prop will take care of the rest of the acceleration needed to fly.

Watching my hand go through the air, I estimate that maybe my hand can travel 2-3 feet in a straight line. Probably 18" is all the little planes need.

In years past when our field was badly tended, I've thrown .40- and .60-sized trainers. They weigh 5 to 7 pounds and do need a little trot and a little more persuasion in the final toss. None of the trainers I threw crashed on takeoff.

Yes. It's not that big a deal. The trouble is that it's the first flight of your life and the first flight of the airplane's life. Although I think the odds are in your favor, strange and bad things do happen. Do your best to make sure that the wings and control surfaces are straight.

Make sure that the control surfaces go in the right direction.

Left rudder makes the rudder swing to the left as you look at the plane from behind.

Pulling the elevator stick toward you (or toward the tail of the airplane, or "back") should make the elevator come up.

Left aileron makes the left aileron go up.

Pulling the elevator back towards you will make the airplane go up if you have the power on. If the airplane stalls or has the power off, pulling the elevator back may keep the airplane stalled (not too likely with light park flyers).

Have fun and let us know how it all turns out!

Marty

Hi Larry, Most importantly, if there's a wind toss the bird *into* the wind!!

Thank you all for taking the time to write up these great tips!!!!!

Larry

Jen,

The instructions for the Spitfire do call for max throttle on launch. Thanks for all the great advice!!

From what altitude do you cut power and glide it in?

Larry

Correct, full throttle until it gathers enough airspeed. I suspect that it's a lot safer to start out with full throttle on a "regular" plane with the prop on the nose, as opposed to the pushers I fly.

Depends on overall altitude above sealevel. At 5000ft I think I come in at maybe 20ft above ground, maybe 75ft out from where I want to touch down. At 9000ft, the final approach is a lot steeper. It depends on the glide ratio of the plane, and yours quite certainly differs. Best bet is to do a few approaches and see what altitude you need. The plane will glide just fine as long as you allow it to - i.e. no pulling nose up. If nothing else, the Parkzone planes are well balanced.

Jen

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On Sat, 14 Jul 2007 11:25:14 -0400, I said, "Pick a card, any card" and "Red Scholefield" instead replied:

You didn't answer his question. Have you tried them?

-- Ray

Sorry about that. No, I have not tried them. I don't buy batteries to test. If they want a review they have to provide the packs. Why would one want to pay $20+ more from an off the wall vendor you never heard of using cells from an unknow source?

If you want to advance the understanding of the technogy offered by Air Thunder I'm sure they will accomodate you. . . . for $69.99 plus shipping. While you are at it, please ask them if they can post some performance curves on their web site and give us a clue as to who their cell supplier is.

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If there are no more low voltage worrys then YES I would pay more.

Just found this Think I will have to try one :-)

Air Thunder is making some pretty wild claims on their site. If they have a new 'mysterious' technology that accomplishes all of their claims, they should tell us what that technology is. Otherwise, it's nothing more than smoke and mirrors.

You did not bother to tell us how you achieve this MIRACLE of the ability to withstand over-discharging. Are we to just take your word for it?

If you want a true test, send some batteries to Red Scholfield. He will tell it like it is and if you indeed have a great battery, he will say so!

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For once I can agree with you totally.