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- Newsgroups: rec.models.rc
- Path: sparky!uunet!gumby!destroyer!ncar!virga.ucar.edu!fhage
- From: fhage@virga.ucar.edu (Frank Hage)
- Subject: Re; Moving to Ailerons
- Message-ID: <1992Aug20.232929.3738@ncar.ucar.edu>
- Sender: news@ncar.ucar.edu (USENET Maintenance)
- Reply-To: fhage@virga.rap.ucar.edu (Frank Hage)
- Organization: Research Applications Program/NCAR, Boulder, CO
- Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 23:29:29 GMT
- Lines: 41
-
- As a relatively new RC modeler, who has made the transition from
- ployhedral floaters to aileron planes (flying the slope sites around
- Boulder), I have the following advice:
-
- 1. Don't try to fly your new aileron plane in light wind.
- Only fly it when there is enough lift! Your Gentle lady should be
- able to fly in the wind in which you will try your new plane with 4
- oz of ballast. I suggest you try this directly before your maiden
- flight to get somewhat used to the increased speed at which your
- plane will fly. Practice keeping your speed up in the turns.
-
- 2. Keep your speed up! Don't try to float around the turns,
- trying to maintain altitude, point the nose down and pick up speed
- before turning. Stalls on the Gentle lady are slooooowwww, leaving
- you in fine shape to recover, on the Ninja, it will happen much
- faster, and it will seemingly flutter out of the sky. If you stall,
- concentrate first on getting the nose down and your speed back up,
- then worry about the direction the plane is flying. Ailerons do
- almost nothing when the wings are stalled.
-
- 3. Remember, you will have to push the upper wing back down,
- after you enter turns. Polyhedral planes come out of turns by
- themselves, with ailerons you have to give opposite stick to exit the
- turn. You can practise these techniques on your ballasted, polyhedral
- plane first. Practise making fast, tight turns, with quick and
- explicit exits into straight flight.
-
- 4. Find an experienced flyer to sit on the other end of a trainer
- cord, if you can. It's guaranteed to increase your flying to
- repairing time ratio, as well as your confidence.
-
- 5. Go for it!. It's not that big a step. Just don't make the
- mistake of thinking that light, mild conditions are better to
- learn in. You will need an excess of lift in which to learn. Ninjas
- fly great in 50mph winds, and suck in 10mph winds. If other flyers
- are scraping for lift, don't try. When others are exclaiming;
- "ooohhh massive lift!", then it's time!
-
-
- -Frank Hage. National Center for Atmospheric Research. Boulder, Colorado.
-
-