My Planes

It has been some time since I last flew any of my model planes - a combination of needing to do some repairs and bad weather when I have been around to fly - but this weekend I managed two trips to the field to fly three planes. The two ic planes that I have been flying this year are a Wot4 and a Magician.  The Wot4 was an ARTF (almost ready to fly) kit that I put together last year.  Although not flown as much as I had hoped this year, it has been reliable, until the last time that I flew it when it had deadsticked (stopped) twice in a row.  Taking the wings off to look inside, I found a big fuel leak, saturating the foam inside the fuselage that helps keep everything in place.  Sorting out the leak meant removing the fuel tank, which in turn meant removing the propeller and engine cowling - a tricky job.  It turned out that the bung which closes the end of the tank and through which the various pipes go for filling up, the exhaust and fuel line to the engine had become loose.  Not too difficult to put right - but very awkward to get the tank back in place and connected up again.  Still, the job was done and after a few attempts to start up on Saturday the plane flew nicely throughout Saturday morning and, in colder and windier conditions, on Sunday.  I managed a few loops and rolls, and so it appears everything was working - even upside down.

The Magician is a second hand plane that I bought at a club auction last year.  The plane is a self-build plane from a kit sold by Galaxy model shop in Ipswich.  As a low wing plane, I had originally thought that I would not be up to flying this one - but it has been surprisingly easy.  One problem that I do have with it is taking off - largely because it has a tendency to put it's nose down into the ground when you throttle up, stopping the propeller.  I had therefore tried adjusting the undercarriage to move the wheels a little further forward in front of the wings.  I had only been able to make a small adjustment, and was keen to see whether it had made a difference.  It had.  Still a bit tricky to get off the ground, but with a lot of up elevator to keep the tail down as the throttle starts moving the plane, then level out the elevator as the plane picks up speed to prevent it from lifting off too soon, and then up elevator at takeoff speed and away she goes.

I also have one other plane that I have flown before - an electric plane that is a sort of powered glider - a Pretty.  I bought this one earlier this year at Wings and Wheels, and built it up and flew it a couple of times in the evening when it was after time for flying ic planes.  It was very relaxing to fly - at least in glider mode when the power was not on as then it was a bit lively!  The first time I took off on my own (at least when I had the controls as someone threw it to launch it for me), it climbed so quickly that it went right over the top and looped a few times before I eventually got it under some sort of control.  Anyway, the last time I went to fly it, the pre-flight checks showed that the elevator was not working.  A bit of playing around with the servos and receiver and nothing would work consistently.  The opinion was that the speed controller, through which the battery power is provided to the receiver and from there to the servos, and also through which the motor is controlled was bust.  A new speed controller cost about £25, but also needed new plugs to connect to the motor and battery, as well as some disassembly of the plane.  To be fair, once I actually got all of the new bits I needed and got the soldering iron out, it did not take too long to put it all together, and I finished it up just before I went to the field to fly on Sunday.  Fortunately, an expert was on hand to help get it up and running.  The plane was not far off trim, at least so far as elevator, aileron and rudder were concerned, although it still climbed far too rapidly when the engine was turned full on.  The expert solution was to mix some down elevator in with the throttle so that increasing the throttle resulted in some down elevator to compensate for the climb with the result that the plane now flies with just a little lift as the motor runs to full power.  Just remember to put in a little down elevator as you slowly come off the throttle at the top of the climb and everything is good to go.  There was one slight problem - at low speed when coming downwind for landing the plane is not at all responsive - resulting in one very poor landing that involved going straight into another flyer - but no damage done.

So those are my three flying planes, all of which were flown over the weekend.  What is next?  Well, I am building another electric plane, and Funcub.  This is more a normal plane than a glider, with huge wheels meaning it can land and takeoff even on rough ground.  It will also be my first plane with flaps to slow it down in the air.  I am well on the way to finishing this one - the fuselage and wings are assembled and all the servos in place, as is the motor and speed controller.  Initial tests show that all the control surfaces are working, except the flaps that need a reversing y-lead (ordered today) so that they both go up and down together!  Then I just need to fit the receiver and battery in place, put some decals on and another plane is ready to go.  I intend to fly this off a different transmitter, and it may even be one to fly on the beach.  There are also another two ic planes - an Extra which is still in it's box, and a Lancair which is a secondhand plane in need of a receiver, battery and a lot of weight in the nose to get the centre of gravity in the right place. A couple of planes to get prepared over the winter and ready to go next year.