Two Nose dives today!!

[ray copeland]

Finally got to fly my bigger planes today even with the threat of a storm.  Akromaster with brand new OS 15 , flew fantastic , never hesitated on a turn or any of my crazy manuevers until i got inverted. Same ole story hand ends up sideways and when i try to get it back , smash , nose first! Buried up to the wings! The plane will survive only the tail cracked a little, the engine will have to be taken apart and cleaned as the entire venturi was full of mud.  On to the combats, made it through a full tank running very rich. Adjusted needle and took off , made about 3 minutes when something shocked my hand and i lost it just for a moment, and again nose first, up to the wings. Venturi has to be taken apart and everything cleaned and wing needs new mono, but plane will survive. Talked to Howard Shenton this evening , he said the shock was static from the high humidity while using the old E Z Just handle. Next up , combat half a,  no spark on the glo plug, by then the rain came. Got home and checked it out and the new, (only flown once Nelson glo plug was bad!)  Anyway got in about 10 minutes flying time and it sure was fun!! Can't wait till next weekend!!

[Jim Kraft]

Ray; next time you are out and inverted, put your thumb on the top of the handle, and tell yourself it is the panic button. Then when you start to get a little low or you just want to go back upright, just push the panic button, and around she will come. At least that is the way I learned. Glad they were not hurt to bad and will fly again.

[Alan Hahn]

Assuming those weren't thunderstorms around you, I would get a wooden handle. It lets the charge buildup leak off without shocking you. Plastic holds off the discharge until it gets so large, it goes in one big zap! If they were thunderstorms, or if thunderstorms were forecast, the wood doesn't help ---it is best to hang things up!

[minnesotamodeler]

Ray, concerning that 1/2A with the bad plug, you do know that the black fins on the Norvel .061 are not conductive, don't you?  If you're using a kwik clip or similar, be sure it's clipped to the head itself, not to the cylinder fins. I figured this out all by myself after spending an hour or so flipping, changing plugs, flipping, checking leads, flipping, checking batteries, flipping...makes a guy feel real bright.  The genius at Norvel who came up with insulated cylinder fins oughtta be taken out and shot.

[ray copeland]

Hey Ray in the Artic Circle, hope the weather breaks soon for you!  No , the Nelson plug is just bad , i put the meter on it when i got home , just couldn't beleive it was bad after only 1 flight on it. Oh well , i have a spare and i bet Larry Driskall has more to sell.

[bill marvel]

Akromaster with brand new OS 15 , flew fantastic , never hesitated on a turn or any of my crazy manuevers until i got inverted. Same ole story hand ends up sideways and when i try to get it back , smash , nose first!

Ray

Most of us fliers went through much of the same thing.  There must be a million ways to learn to fly inverted.  It is the most necessary maneuver to progressing.

Try this.

Do not ever attempt inverted flight without perfect flying conditions.  You want the wind to be low to nonexistent (so you can exit inverted flight without also struggling with line tension!)

Practice inverted flying by doing lazy eights.  Start an inside loop.  When the plane crosses the top of the loop and starts down, give it some down elevator, adding more down until the plane does an outside loop.  (DON"T BACK OUT!).  Be confident.  Your little Akromaster can fly much better than we can.  When your plane crosses over the top of the outside loop, you are upright again.

Fly a couple of laps to catch your breath and try it again.  The "Rule of Thumb" for learning inverted flight is that you never (NEVER) exit with "up".  Your mantra will be, "When in doubt, full down!"   Practice lazy eights until the inside and outside loops are fairly comfortable.  Start an inside loop.  As your plane crosses the top of the loop,  give it some down elevator and flatten out your lazy eight for as long as you dare.  Full down and exit.

You just flew inverted successfully!  It wasn't very far but it was successful and it was under some control.  Practice flying lazy eights over and over, stretching out the lazy eight for a quarter of the circle.  After a little practice, you can plant your feet, start your 1/2 of an inside loop at your left shoulder, and pull out with 1/2 an outside loop at your right shoulder.  When you do that, you will have flown a half of a lap inverted successfully!  After you have practiced half-lap lazy eights for a while, you will be comfortable moving your feet and going a little farther.

Back in the early 1960's, a LHS owner in Temple, Texas taught me to fly inverted one afternoon.  I must have destroyed a couple of dozen airplanes trying to fly inverted on my own.  In a couple of hours and no crashes, he gave me the key.  The best part of this lesson is that you can practice it without flying in the privacy of your own basement or backyard.  Stand in your imaginary circle and hold out your arm.  Fly the airplane through each step.  Visualize what you are doing and what the airplane is doing.  It will work for you because you now have a backdoor ("When in doubt, full down!).  I may not remember his name but I will never forget what he did for me.  Pass it on!

Good luck.  Let me know how it works for you.

regards,
bill marvel 

 

[minnesotamodeler]

Bill,
Exactly the way I learned it.  IMO lazy eights are the safest maneuver there is, you're always turning AWAY from the ground, no worries about line tension at the top (as in wingovers), hold the down at the back side and you've done an outside loop, stretch it out as you describe and you've flown inverted, it's a safety valve if the wind picks up unexpectedly, in fact in enough wind you can fly 'em deadstick forever. the hourglass is basically just a vertical variation of it...a very versatile maneuver. It oughtta be the first maneuver a budding stunt pilot learns.

[Larrys4227]

Bill - Thanks so much for your description of inverted flight. I'm on my 2nd Streak .... due to trying to learn stunts. Unfortunately, the TF FS isn't very durable, so I've been doing ALOT of repairs.

I've saved your description, and once I get the FS settled on durability and can fly it for more than a few flights without something breaking, I want to start practicing.

Thanks again!  Larry (Larrys4227)

[bill marvel]

...I'm on my 2nd Streak .... due to trying to learn stunts. Unfortunately, the TF FS isn't very durable, so I've been doing ALOT of repairs...

Hi, Larry

The first maneuvers we attempt (after takeoff, level flight and landing, of course!) are the wingover and loops.  Most new fliers "bulldoze" through a few loops (Full up, hang on one line, panic, run backward to maintain line tension and take several laps to catch our breath and get our nerve up for the next one... Sound familiar?).  We immediately move to conquer inverted flight.  It is universal!  What is much easier (and a whole lot more cost effective!) is to learn to be comfortable with Lazy Eights.  Ray (MinnesotaModeler) said it well.  You are always turning away from the ground.  More importantly, you are learning to be comfortable giving your airplane down and still survive.

I have enclosed a picture of my FS.  Note the name on the wing, "ARF No Mo".  It is a fun airplane to fly but it is also durable after you replace the fuselage.  We fly on asphalt circles.  Hard landings can damage a plane.  "ARF No Mo" has been crashed and rebuilt so many times, only the inboard wing and center section are original.  It flies better now than I can.  Build a Sky Ray next.  It will be a little slower than the FS, just as aerobatic and it has a reputation for surviving hard learning errors.  If the Sky Ray is fun and challenging to Brett Buck, the 2006 Nats champ, that is a good recommendation.

Take care,
bill marvel

[Larrys4227]

Hey Bill - Wingovers and inside loops with my first FS were going well .... no running backwards, but the pucker-factor, to a small degree, was there on the loops. Trouble came when I tried an outside loop from up high. I felt something let go through the lines .... and straight in it went. The elevator and hinges were ripped out on one side. Still unsure what happened..... but something in the controls let go. Everything checked out fine from handle to plane .... with the only problems in the elevator area. Who knows .... LOL

The wing is repairable .... and the fuse I'm working on from scratch. #1 FS will fly again!  In the mean time, I bought another FS kit and only got 5 flights (trimming, bunch of wingovers, etc) on it before something stoopid happened and I cracked the fuse yet again. Right now I'm repairing it and should be flying again by weeks end.

I was pretty ticked at this last incident ... 

My stooge I concieved had some issues so I had to re-engineer it alittle bit at the field. Was working pretty well, as long as I paid attention to it. On that last flight .... half way out to the handle .... the plane takes off by itself. I see the handle sliding along the ground .... I stomp it with my foot .... pick it up ... pull up as quick as I could .... I almost saved it.  It WAS going straight into the ground, but my pullup wasn't quite enough and it took a glancing blow to the ground. Damage not bad considering .....

That reminds me, I gotta work on my stooge before I venture out again ..... Arrggh. LOL!

My next plane, no matter what it is, wont be an ARF. I want to put it together .... right .... the first time. I get a certain kick out of repairing my planes, but GEESH!!  Hahaha!

FlySafe! Larry (Larrys4227)

[ray copeland]

Hey guys, thanks for the tips! Really appreciate hearing from someone who has been there and done that, i promise i will use these tips and keep trying. It is really tough sometimes flying by yourself and trying to learn the "simple things" on your own, but it is also so fulfilling when you hit the right combination and everything works just right! The Akromaster will definitly fly again after getting a new remote needle valve backplate, and if this one breaks i will rig up something better. The combat plane really needs new covering but i have opted to tape it together and glue the broken balsa and leadout guides back together. On the nelson plug, i took a paper clip and played with the coil this evening and it started working again, maybe it was grounded to the side of the plug or something, anyway i am all about getting your moneys worth , so it will use it till it dies again.  I still don't know how i end up getting my hand sideways when doing figure eights but i am going to try keeping my hand in an upright position while stunting on my little planes first, it is just hard with them on 30 foot lines to react fast enough. But this may help to train me better in the long run! Bill, your notes are priceless!!  Thanks again !!  Ray

[the original Steve Smith]

Ray,

I agree with the lazy 8 method but I have a twist for you (pardon the pun).  When doing the first half of the lazy 8 I turn my hand over so that the palm is facing up.  What that gives you is another "failsafe".  If you are inverted with your palm up then if you just stop turning in the middle of the circle the down line will be pulled first and your plane will do an outside loop and recover upright.  Try it and you will see what I mean.  Now, there are many opinions on whether or not this method is a detriment later when flying the full pattern competitively but it works for me!

Steve