Slowstick Repair

Look for some foam food containers, the kind you use for take out meals. Also your local supermarket might give you one or two meat trays. I have found that carpenters glue (Titebond) or white glue as we sometimes call it, works quite well with this foam material.

-- Red Scholefield AMA 951 District V

It's called "Depron" foam, but it's basically just the stuff that they make the foam meat trays at the supermarket from.

Plain old white glue, yellow carpenter's glue, ODORLESS or FOAM SAFE CA, 2-part epoxy will all glue the foam without melting it. Stay away from adhesives with acetone or toulene in them. A sure indication that it will melt foam is if the label says, "Use with adequate ventilation."

I did a little research on this foam and it is a combination of EPS and EPP. Mostly EPS, though. That is the main consideration as EPP is nearly indestructible. Epoxy, white glue, and poyurethanes all work well. Make sure to scuff the surface with some light sandpaper.

If the foam is just broken and not mangled, try taping the piece(s) together with 2" wide package sealing tape. Put the tape on both sides of the break. Also, if you find yourself breaking props on less than perfect landings, take a look at this page:

to fly model planes -

tries to go vertical -

it - four broken props.

then trying for a bit

it costs me $3 to $5 a

Check the ballance. 25% from the front of the wing.

have to sort of urge it

manage to get it off

crashes - sort of cartwheels

and although I test

just after it takes off.

Check the wing tips, to see if one has more twist than the other. Check the rudder being straight. Check side to side balance.

Hi There

I am beginning to wonder if there are some people who are just not meant to fly model planes - me being one of them.

I would appreciate some advice on..

My slow stick keeps crashing - takes off OK - flies about 6 feet, then tries to go vertical - doesn't succeed and goes nose first into the ground. 4 tries at flying it - four broken props.

Naturally I have tried adjusting the CG - first to the recommended point, then trying for a bit nose heavy to stop the attempts to go vertical. Expensive testing tho as it costs me $3 to $5 a flight for a new prop each time.

Any ideas? Please.

Also, I keep crashing my Worldstar 40/OS 46LA - takes off very slowly, have to sort of urge it into the air as I only have a short strip to take off from. Each time I manage to get it off the ground, it rises to about 3 feet then rolls onto one side and crashes - sort of cartwheels until it falls in half. I fix it up, then crash again. Bloody sick of doing that.

I have tried full flaps, and no flaps - still rolls over and crashes

It is fitted with a FMA Co-Pilot that is supposed to keep the wings level, and although I test it each time and it seems to work OK, it still lets the plane roll over just after it takes off. On another plane (Super Stunts) that I had it fitted to it worked fine, at one time landing the plane perfectly all by itself when I lost sight (and of course shut the motor off) of the plane behind some trees.

The plane itself is (well was) OK as I had an experienced flyer check it out for me first. So it IS me that is doing something wrong - or am I expecting too much from the CoPilot?

Of course someone is going to suggest "join a club" - I have already done that but as I have got tired of driving 100 Km to the club only to sit there all day because no instructors were there to buddy box me, I decided the best thing was to learn at home until I reached a stage where I could fly solo, then back to the club.

It seems a real worry that I cannot even fly a slow stick tho. I was able to take off and land my Super Stunt OK at the club grounds with the Co-Pilot turned off on one occasion, under the supervision of a very experienced flyer. (I did crash it tho on my 3rd solo - just made a mistake)

So, any ideas much appreciated - thanks in advance.

David

Hi David, David here also. It sounds to me like you are pulling the plane off at to slow a speed and or to sharp an angle. If you are flying at or just barely above the stall speed the nose will be a bit high and the plane cannot accelerate. As you lift up out of ground effect the wing will stall and the plane will torque roll to the left and into the ground. Try holding a little less up elevator or even a little down elevator and let the plane accelerate until it wants to come off on its own, then let it fly straight ahead and accelerate just above the ground until it has built up some speed and then climb it out. I think you will find it flies much better and will solve your stall at takeoff problem.

Good luck.

Dave Carr

to fly model planes -

tries to go vertical -

it - four broken props.

then trying for a bit

it costs me $3 to $5 a

have to sort of urge it

manage to get it off

crashes - sort of cartwheels

and although I test

just after it takes off.

at one time landing the

motor off) of the plane

out for me first. So

that but as I have got

instructors were there

reached a stage where I

to take off and land

occasion, under the

solo - just made a mistake)

fly model planes -

to go vertical -

four broken props.

trying for a bit

costs me $3 to $5 a

sort of urge it

manage to get it off

sort of cartwheels

although I test

after it takes off.

one time landing the

off) of the plane

for me first. So

but as I have got

instructors were there

a stage where I

take off and land

occasion, under the

just made a mistake)

David,

First, on the Slow Stick.......Sounds like you have too much up thrust on the motor. Make sure rudder and elevator are centered (neutral). Also make sure wing is centered too (just look at seam on bottom of wing and center it with fuselage). Insuring that the wing is centered will fix any tendancy for plane to roll one way or another. You might also check the wing for warp. Many have a slight down angle to the trailing edge near the wing tips. You can use a heatgun (CAREFULLY) to help warp that tip back to correct level. Just do not heat too much, and be sure to keep twisting pressure on that tip during heating. To help correct the up thrust on motor, try using less throttle on takeoff....may have to roll a few feet more, but will give you time to actually fly the plane into the air. To correct the thrust angle, if motor is mounted on top of fuselage, turn it over and hang it from bottom. This will sometimes correct the problem. Also, have found that virtually ALL of the Slow Sticks I have seen have a curve in the fuselage. If it is not assembled with this curve facing UP, you will have this type of problem (added upthrust). Look at yours and see if it is up or down. Easiest way is to look from motor end to tail. It should curve UP towards center of fuselage, and then down towards tail. If it curves right or left, REASSEMBLE IT!! A curve like that will cause plane to favor one side or another, very hard to deal with without LOTS of trim. When properly balanced, your Stick should takeoff almost hands free, and fly with neutral trim. You are correct to place CG slightly nose heavy, as it is much easier to fly in that condition. Last thing on Stick.....be sure your control rods are setup like this....Servo end - FARTHEST OUTSIDE HOLE (this will give max throw) Rudder/Elevator ends - FARTHEST OUTSIDE HOLE (this will give MINIMUM throw at surface!!) You will want to fly this way until you are confident with your flying skills. If you do MAXIMUM throw, you WILL overcorrect, and you WILL CRASH. Remember, minimum movement on your sticks while flying, smooth movement on your sticks while flying. And lastly, KILL THROTTLE IF CRASH IS IMMENANT (doing this will likely save your prop, and maybe keep from bending propshaft, and sometimes keep from breaking gearbox).

As for your Worldstar......sounds like you are stalling it on takeoff. Also, check the wing for warps too. If it consistantly rolls to one side, most likely the wing is warped. On takeoff, speed is important. Flaps do add lift, but they also induce drag, which kills speed. If you use flaps, you need to add throttle too. If takeoff area is too short, find another place to fly. Will save you LOADS of repair work.

Goodluck David.

Joe Bennett

Pretty much what he said. If you are trying to get airborne when you have plenty of runway left, by all means, use some more runway! If the plane has been trimmed correctly, when you get up to speed, it should begin to want to rise off the ground on its own. Let it. With the engine/plane combo you are using, it sounds like you are trying to climb too soon and too fast and an OS .40LA engine just hasnt got the poop to do that. Same with the Slowstick. It should gently rise off the ground when you get to the proper speed. Yanking the stick back will cause a stall every time.

Ahhh - Thanks David, I didn't know about that ground effect - while I did think of stalling as the problem I dismissed that as obviously (or so I thought) if the plane was either at or below stalling speed it wouldn't get off the ground! Therefore, it seemed, if it got off the ground it MUST be above stalling speed and Co-Pilot should stop it rolling. Good logic, lousy plane knowledge.

Because the take off run is short (maybe 20 feet) and I have to clear a fence, I do have to have had nearly full up elevator as soon as it left the ground. Incidentally it rolls to the right, not the left.

I will get the tractor going and see if I can doze a longer take off strip and see what happens

Thanks kindly

David

Dave Carr wrote:

BUT I didn't know about that ground effect - who the hell invented that!

But seriously, thanks for your reply

David

Nope, used it all up - but only had a about 20 feet or so before the rough ground and low fence, so might need to make it longer

It was trimmed nicely by an experienced flyer - and flew beautifully for him

Yep, I can see that now

Different story here - I do let it rise of the ground gently - no rush since it lifts off in about 10 feet or so - it seems to go just nice for short while then suddenly nose up and then DOWN - crash. I am not holding up elevator when it does that.

Thanks Dan

Thanks Joe - I never thought of most of that stuff - will check and see how I go.

David

Joe Bennett wrote:

....lots of helpful advice

Depron is sold here as an insulating material to go under wooden (parquet) floors, so a DIY shop that sells flooring might be a good place to pick some up. I know as I have seen it in a friend's house (who uses it to make small indoor models) and that was clearly written across the box!-- Dave S, Kuusankoski, Finland.

My return address requires modification before use.

Thanks to all for all your help. The prop idea looks like a winner and will definately try it. I have gone through a lot of props. You would think they would be more flexable than they really are.

A lot of good advice is given (specially the stall theory seems feasible) I suggest to follow up all this advise first! ...If that does not help:

I have no idea what a "slow stick" looks like. (In Holland...) Does it have rubber bands to hold the wing down? - if so - how many? (any number < 8 will raise alarm) Does the servo controlling the elevator have to *push* or to *pull* for up elevator? If push - check for binding - or the pushrod being to thin - it might snap from "no elevator" to "to much elevator" due to bowing of the pushrod under friction or earodynamical load on the elevator. A good way to snaproll.

Success!

I TOLE you not to ask! Do you know that a Top Flight P-51 looks really real when you hold up elevator through 200 feet of elevation after you stall it?

David wrote:

reply to David my

Hi Rene

The slow stick is one of those foam winged, thin metal fuse, electric park flying (or in my case crashing) machines.

Thanks for the info - have checked that now but all looks well - nice and smooth action on both elevators and rudder.

Cheers

David

PS thanks guys for all the >