🚀 go-pugleaf

Stephen Eldredge ($stevee@sasb.byu.edu) wrote:
> control surfaces need to be less.  One suggestion that I might offer is hand 
> launching without power is a straigh glide with the controls centered.  Once 
> you have a little confidence that your glide is correct and true with no 
> input, try elevator and then rudder *slightly* to assertain their effect.  

But then again, without power the controls may be very unsensitive. I have
a .049 Middle Stick, that loops and rolls quite easily under power. But
when engine quits, I can pull the stick all up, and the model just floats
to the ground. To have some aileron authority I must let it glide a little
faster, though.

Very little control movement is needed in these small planes, I'd say
+-2mm:s for elevator to start with. And if your model looped (Matthew, that
is), check that you have enough downthrust in the engine. It may well have
been the strong headwind, causing the plane to fly over it's normal flying
speed, that made it loop. Next time, be prepared to push the stick some
after launch. Or maybe you could have some friend to throw the model, so
that you can consentrate on steering?

-Tapio Linkosalo-