successful maiden flight

[diamonddog]

I've had my Cub for at least three weeks but work, social life, weather and nerves have delayed the first flight until this morning.
Hardly a breath of wind, batteries all topped up, a word to the wife and we were off.

Got to the site - a huge expanse of grass, a little long and very wet and sticky. There was a little wind but no gusts.

Set the Cub up did a range check, everything seemed ok.

I really wanted to take off from the grass but a quick check at almost full power convinced me it was too long and very wet.
So out of the hand it was, I was worried about the trim, but she pulled away and up almost immediately.
Gained lots of height and I realised that the trim was slightly out on the elevator. Always wanting to climb quite hard on full power, not a bad thing I suppose.
Did several circuits getting used to the controls, no major dramas at all. After about 8 minutes I did a practice landing at about 20 feet and then brought her in after the next circuit. Slightly hard landing and she tipped up on stopping but no damage.
New battery and off again. By now the wind had increased and I was surprised that it was quite hard going against the wind but excellent speed downwind.
Managed several loops against the wind and decided not to push my luck any further. Came in for a really good landing - I was so pleased that my first flight had gone so well.
I'm absolutely convinced that the hours on FMS stood me in good stead for a really successful flight.

Charging the batteries up now, may be able to get out again today

[crashedagain]

Hey, its great to hear another pilot having fun with the SC. The hobby can be so addictive, especially when your first flight goes so well. Its great to know that someone else was able to experience the same exhilaration I felt upon my first successful flight. I would like to see you encouraged by many more such flights and not make the mistake I made. I had the unfortunate mindset that I must be an awesome pilot since i did so well on an ("oh-so-gentle") almost breezeless morning. By the time my batteries were re-charged and ready, i was more than psyched to get back out to the field. Upon getting my plane ready at the site, i failed to acknowledge that the wind had picked up just a tad more than before. So i took her up and she lifted unnervingly, then every few seconds a wind shear would buffet her around. Less than a minute into the flight i decided that it maybe was too windy and decided to bring her in. As she was losing altitude to settle unto the runway, things got shaky... QUICK!!! Another Wind shear had her going straight up and as i pulled her nose downward, a secondary blast of wind continued my downward pull for me (without my permission!!!) She did a nosedive onto asphalt and i ended up wrecking the wings, fuselage and everything forward of the firewall. That was disheartening, but the Supercub is resilient and i had her rebuilt and ready with just a few hours of work. In all reality, it would have taken about 30 minutes of work to fix, but being a newbie (which i still consider myself), i was being extra careful with the rebuilding process. So anyways, be really wary of the wind. Wind is only good for kites and farts, but not the SC. In retrospect, i knew i should have paid attention to the conditions on the field, but i learned from it. However, I know its a long rant, and i don't want you think to am trying to discourage you by any means. Instead, I am trying to encourage you, and after all, isn't it better to learn from SOMEONE ELSE"S mistakes??
So here's to you and your new SuperCub. May you have calm skies and graceful landings.

Colin.

[diamonddog]

Thanks for your comments. Yes I'm aware that after such a successful maiden flight I may get carried away. Biggest problem I have is that my kids (although grown up) will probably want a go even though they've never flown before not even tried FMS.

I can imagine things get pretty hairy when it's windy, I'll probably be looking for more power before too long, with it being winter we don't get too many good flying days here. Too dark in the morning before work and too dark after work !!

[spar]

diamonddog said:

Got to the site - a huge expanse of grass, a little long and very wet and sticky. There was a little wind but no gusts.

diamonddog, thanks for sharing your experience. It was almost like being there with you.

You'll never be able to go outdoors again without evaluating the conditions for flying. I'm always looking at how much the leaves are moving and how the smoke leaves the chimneys.

[diamonddog]

Lol I know exactly what you mean. I keep looking out of the window, checking the trees, smoke anything to indicate the wind. I think to myself - I could fly in that, maybe? - and then real life gets in the way and its back to work or what ever.
The site www.xcweather.co.uk/ is never far from my browser !!

[furn1593]

Well, put the cub together on christmas and charged the 2 7-cell batts that came with the kit and off I went this am... TOTAL SUCESS.. flew around in circles for the first batt after a rolling take off, 2 batt - did 2 loops, 1st flight perfect landing, 2nd ran the batt to low and the lvc kicked in about 1 foot above the ground - no biggie, just nosed over. man, I LOVE THIS THING... Got the batts charing now - hopefully the rain and wind holds off long enough. This will probably be the last two on stock gear and then its getting a brushless...

[eastcoast78]

good job guys,great to see ppl haveing fun with this cub,ans yes diamonddog,a sim is the way to go check this one out pretty cheap for the quaity

rcflightsim.com/index.html

[l8again]

Good to see you back on board Mike!! Was getting lonely as the only Atl. Canadian on here!