maiden flight success w/ minor damage

[seamus]

so yesterday afternoon was the first day without rain and wind in about four days - I took my cub to some soccer fields up the street but to my dismay the area was filled with kids *sigh*

so I took a chance at the next best thing near me, a huge portion of a multiplex parking lot that is basically unused - I was nervous about having the hard surfaces and little islands with trees all around me, but it all made for some interesting obstacles

stock 7-cell fully charged, ACT sensors disabled, ACT toggle switched off, pushrods installed at the innermost positions - probably the perfect storm for a newbie and not the best decisions, but I was willing to take risks to test my aptitude - worst case would be a total loss, then buy another *shrug*

all takeoffs were from the parking lot surface, no mishaps there (though I nearly stalled it after takeoff one time with too much elevator too early) - getting up in the air and flying went well though, I just did a lot of nice and easy laps counterclockwise around the area - no dives or uncontrolled flying while in the air, nothing fancy, very conservative

landings were a mixed bag in part due to the approach being subject to obstacles - lots of curbed islands with 15-20 ft trees - I didn't hit any trees, but I had a couple rough touchdowns - the last landing was picture perfect though, very very smooth and light, very controlled - so I felt I made progress

damage was pretty minor - the very fragile cowl was busted in a few places, near the screws and on the bottom - after one of the harder landings, I had a nose down smash after the initial touchdown while the plane still had some momentum - I had tried to 'touch n go' before the nose went down but that led to taking a little plastic off the prop edges while busting the cowl

so I'll tape the cowling, maybe epoxy if I grab some this weekend - I'll keep an eye on the prop as well - the cowling really is unreasonably fragile from what I can tell - overall it was a fun and unique experience for someone new to rc planes

my shopping list consists of epoxy, more clear packing tape, some extra props, and maybe I'll order an extra cowl or two - I have some 2 1/2" dubro diamond lites and a 1" dubro tailwheel in the mail right now, might arrive today

[mississippiflyboy]

Congrats on your successful flight.....you're braver than I would be flying for the first time with no soft grass underneath and all kinds of poles in the way. BTW Try using Transparent Duct Tape instead of packing tape it's a lot stronger.

[seamus]

mississippiflyboy said:

Congrats on your successful flight.....you're braver than I would be flying for the first time with no soft grass underneath and all kinds of poles in the way. BTW Try using Transparent Duct Tape instead of packing tape it's a lot stronger.

thanks for the suggestion, I'll modify the shopping list accordingly

[cybersoft]

Well done on your new venture seamus. I have the same problem here in the UK, I plan to go to my local field and find soccer players :-(

All is not lost though as I also have a tarred road about a 1/4 mile away but it is surrounded by lamp posts but so far they have been no problem, the LiPo powers above them instantly.

[seamus]

2nd outing less successful, landed my cub in a tree

I was at the soccer fields this time and there's not nearly as much tree-free space there when compared to the multiplex where I performed my maiden flight - the practice soccer fields are kind of narrow, between the school and dense forest

I ran home to get a salt water spinning rig as the plane was quite high - about 10 casts in, I landed one very near the plane, and with some line work, I was able to get the line firmly beneath the inverted cub - the gear was caught up in the branches pretty well, so it took some strong sweeps to bring it down - unfortunately, the most successful swipe cut a crescent into the trailing edge of one wing just short of severing it completely

other damage included a 7" rip along the fuse, probably from the branches as it entered the tree at first - the prop is a total loss, so I'll use the included 2nd prop and I just ordered more - the wing strut hooks busted on one side of the wing as well - finally, the right-most corner of the tail stabilizer was busted and creased, and just short of being severed as well

glue and tape should repair the fuse, wing, and tail - the prop will be replaced so long as the shaft was undamaged - I'll probably find some way of reattaching the struts to the wing on that one side, but I'm unsure of what will be best for that

I hope to be back in the air asap, and I'll probably go back to the theatre as the open space is much better there when compared to the fields where I crashed into a tree

[SCC]

seamus said:

I'll probably find some way of reattaching the struts to the wing on that one side, but I'm unsure of what will be best for that

Good to hear you got it out of the tree with minimal damage

As for the struts.
If its just the hooks missing, push the strut back through the eye, then heat the end with a lighter and then mold flat with fingers.
This is a quick and simple solution that i have used myself, and it works perfectly.
All credit for this fix goes to forum member cybersoft.

[seamus]

admin said:

Good to hear you got it out of the tree with minimal damage

As for the struts.
If its just the hooks missing, push the strut back through the eye, then heat the end with a lighter and then mold flat with fingers.
This is a quick and simple solution that i have used myself, and it works perfectly.

thanks SSC for passing along that fix, I think that should do nicely

the hooks are just busted in half on one set of struts, so I'll push them through and get them melted a bit to reset them

[spar]

Seamus - I'm a newbie and my flying got way better because I traveled a bit to a *huge* stress-free, tree-free field. I think my skill level is just about ready now for the smaller field near my house.

You mentioned salt water reels. Are you near a beach like SCC?

Hope this helps.

[seamus]

spar said:

Seamus - I'm a newbie and my flying got way better because I traveled a bit to a *huge* stress-free, tree-free field. I think my skill level is just about ready now for the smaller field near my house.

You mentioned salt water reels. Are you near a beach like SCC?

Hope this helps.

as you put it, I definitely need a *huge* stress-free, tree-free field and I will need to try scoping out some more in the area - the school near me is convenient, but it is bordered by too many obstacles, including the trees - there's another school a bit further that I may need to try

on the reels, I was born and raised near the shore in south jersey - I still live in jersey, but a bit more inland now - I have only ever fished on the ocean and I don't have any fresh water experience - all my fishing gear consists of medium to heavy salt water rigs, I used a penn spinning rod and reel with 30lb test and a 4-5oz bank sinker to down the plane - it was actually a pleasure to tie a palomar without any wind or boat sway

I made all of the repairs last night using CA, transparent duct tape, a few cuts of paper for splints on the stabilizer, and the lighter technique ssc mentioned earlier - I replaced the prop and tested it out, everything seems fine at the moment as I did not detect any wobble or unbalanced action in the prop - I hope to get the cub airborne again after work today - the real test will be how well my cub will taxi and fly after the repairs - well that and my flying

[seamus]

went back to the multiplex tonight, awesome weather but with 8-10 mph winds - the cub definitely got blown around a bit, sometimes seemed to stand still when fighting back through the wind - also turned into a lil spec before long once downwind...

overally the repaired plane weathered today's flying really well - the wind made for some interesting flying at times, but it's good experience all the same