Wheel alignment

[frazer1981]

Hi lads,

When taking off my SC will veer left and right and im battling to keep it straight. Ive adjusted the rudder to try and keep the rear wheel in place but is there a way of aligning the front wheels up to enable me to take off straight?? ;D

[spar]

I have this same problem. It helps to align the front wheels as best you can and make rolling part of the take off as brief as possible. I try to avoid much steering on the ground because it gets me into trouble.

[frazer1981]

I did see in one of the previous posts about pulling back and goin straight onto full power. Im worried that ill get airbourne to quick and not have much control?? Spar do u just kinda hope it stays straight?!!

[spar]

I line up the plane and give it full throttle. I start with about 1/2 up elevator and adjust as required once I'm under way. I must admit that the first 10 seconds of each flight are the most tense, especially the first flight of the day. I try to keep my control corrections small during take off because the SC wants to fly, we just have to let it.

[davemac2]

you may want to try bending the gear so that you have a little tow-in.

dave mc

[frazer1981]

davemac2 said:

you may want to try bending the gear so that you have a little tow-in.

dave mc

Bending it? but i guess not too much in case a heavy landing as this would cause the batt box to scrape along the floor?

[av8tor]

The left turning tendency is normal because of the motor torque and P-factor (especially on a tail dragger). I find that if I just remember to prepared for it I can compensate with the rudder.

I ALWAYS use full up elevator when taking off on grass. The prop wash over the elevator keeps the tail on the ground and it will be MUCH LESS likely to nose over on rough ground. AS SOON AS the wheels are off the ground release the stick and with the controls at neutral the SC will climb out very nicely and in scale. If you don't release the up elevator quickly you will stall and crash... ask me how I know ;D

[mararra]

Make sure your rudder is trimmed properly; not to one side or the other, but inline with the verticle stabilizer. I find that careful examination of the landing gear is a good idea before every flight, as its easily bent and occaisionally the wheels bind and don't run freely. A little toe-in of the wheels really helps, as was mentioned by Davemac. I'm a peddle-to the metal lift off artist myself ;D
M

[sackohammers]

My front wheels are not perfectly aligned. I fly with 8 and 9 cell batteries and so takeoffs are quick enough that it doesn't matter. Of course, if you want a nice, scale rollout, then you need to resolve your problem.
Or, if you're only worried about takeoffs... then just hand launch. Full throttle with transmitter in your left hand and chuck that baby into the wind with your right hand.

Honestly for me, bad landing gear tracking would be more of a concern when landing, not when taking off. If you toe them in slightly it may help. Also, make sure your rear tail-feathers are nice and tight, the screws that hold it in can loosen over time. Loc-tite for the win!

[jt01]

If your still using the stock wheels your problem may be more in the rear wheel than you think. My rear wheel flopped all over the place until I upgraded and made the new 1" wheel tight on the axle. Now my take offs are nice and straight.

Jim

[frazer1981]

JT01, Ive actually found a uk based supplier of the dubros wheels and have just placed an order for some so hopefully that will assist the takeoffs!!

[patmatgal]

sackohammers
loc-tite for the tail screws because they loosen
thanks