Top Flite TOPA0290 - Manual (Page 70)

B
ALANCE PR
OPELLERS
Carefully balance y
our propeller and spare
propellers bef
ore y
ou fly
.
An unbalanced prop can be
the single most significant cause of vibr
ation that can
damage y
our model.
Not only will engine mounting
scre
ws and bolts loosen, possib
ly with disastrous
eff
ect, b
ut vibr
ation ma
y also damage y
our r
adio
receiv
er and batter
y.
Vibr
ation can also cause y
our
fuel to f
oam, which will, in tur
n, cause y
our engine to
ru
n hot or quit.
W
e
use a
T
op Flite Precision Magnetic
Prop Balancer
™
(T
OPQ5700) in the w
o
rkshop and
k
eep a Great Planes Finger
tip Prop Balancer
(GPMQ5000) in our flight bo
x.
GR
OUND CHECK
If the engine is ne
w
,
follo
w the engine
man
ufacturer
’s instructions to break-in the
engine
.
After break-in, confir
m that the engine idles
reliab
ly
, tr
ansitions smoothly and r
apidly to full po
w
e
r
and maintains full po
w
e
r—
indefinitely
.
A
fter y
ou r
u
n
the engine on the model, inspect the model closely to mak
e
sure all scre
ws remained tight, the hinges
are secure
, the prop is secure and all pushrods and
connectors are secure
.
RANGE CHECK Ground chec
k the oper
ational r
ange of y
our r
adio
bef
ore the first flight of the da
y.
With the tr
ansmitter
antenna collapsed and the receiv
er and tr
ansmitter
on, y
ou should be ab
le to w
alk at least 100 f
eet a
w
a
y
from the model and still ha
v
e
control.
Ha
v
e
an
assistant stand b
y
y
our model and, while y
ou w
o
rk
the controls
, tell y
ou what the control surf
aces are
doing.
Repeat this test
with the engine running
at
v
a
rious speeds with an assistant holding the model,
using hand signals to sho
w y
ou what is happening.
If the control surf
aces do not respond correctly
,
do
not fl
y!
Find and correct the prob
lem first.
Look f
o
r
loose ser
v
o
connections or brok
en wires
, corroded
wires on old ser
v
o
connectors
, poor solder joints in
y
our batter
y
pac
k or a def
ectiv
e cell, or a damaged
receiv
er cr
ystal from a pre
vious cr
ash.
ENGINE SAFETY PRECA
UTIONS
K
eep all engine fuel in a saf
e place
, a
w
a
y
from high
heat, spar
ks or flames
, as fuel is v
e
ry
flammab
le
.
Do
not smok
e near the engine or fuel;
and remember
that engine e
xhaust giv
es off a g
reat deal of deadly
carbon mono
xide
.
Theref
ore
do not run the engine
in a c
losed r
oom or gara
g
e
.
Get help from an e
xper
ienced pilot when lear
ning to
oper
ate engines
.
Use saf
ety glasses when star
ting or r
unning engines
.
Do not r
un the engine in an area of loose g
ra
v
el or
sand;
the propeller ma
y thro
w such mater
ial in y
our
face or e
y
e
s
.
K
eep y
our f
ace and body as w
ell as all spectators
a
w
a
y
from the plane of rotation of the propeller as
y
ou star
t and r
un the engine
.
K
eep these items a
w
a
y
from the prop:
loose clothing,
shir
t slee
v
e
s
, ties
, scarfs
, long hair or loose objects
such as pencils or scre
wdr
iv
ers that ma
y f
all out of
shir
t or jac
k
et poc
k
ets into the prop
.
Use a
“chic
k
en stic
k
”
or electr
ic star
ter to star
t the
engine
.
Do not use y
our fingers to flip the propeller
.
Mak
e
cer
tain the glo
w plug clip or connector is
secure so that it will not pop off or otherwise get into the r
unning propeller
.
Mak
e all engine adjustments from behind the
rotating propeller
.
The engine gets hot! Do not touch it dur
ing or r
ight
after oper
ation.
Mak
e
sure fuel lines are in good
condition so fuel will not leak onto a hot engine
,
causing a fire
.
T
o
stop a glo
w
engine
, cut off the fuel supply b
y
closing
off the fuel line or f
ollo
wing the engine man
uf
acturer
’s
recommendations
.
Do not use hands
, fingers or an
y
other body par
t to tr
y to stop the engine
.
T
o stop a
gasoline po
w
e
red engine an on/off s
witch should be
connected to the engine coil.
Do not thro
w an
ything into
the propeller of a r
unning engine
.
AMA SAFETY CODE (EXCERPTS)
Read and abide b
y
the f
ollo
wing e
xcer
pts from the
Academ
y of Model Aeronautics Saf
ety Code
.
F
or the
complete Saf
ety Code ref
er to
Model A
v
iation
magazine
, the AMA w
eb site or the Code that came
with y
our AMA license
.
GENERAL 1) I will not fly m
y
model aircr
aft in sanctioned
e
v
ents
, air sho
ws
, or model flying demonstr
ations
until it has been pro
v
en to be airw
or
th
y b
y
ha
ving
been pre
viously
, successfully flight tested.
2) I will not fly m
y
model aircr
aft higher than
appro
ximately 400 f
eet within 3 miles of an air
por
t
without notifying the air
por
t oper
ator
.
I will giv
e r
ight-
of-w
a
y
and a
v
oid flying in the pro
ximity of full-scale
aircr
aft.
Where necessar
y,
an obser
v
er shall be
utiliz
ed to super
vise flying to a
v
oid ha
ving models fly
in the pro
ximity of full-scale aircr
aft.
F
ailure to f
ollo
w these saf
ety precautions ma
y
result in se
vere injur
y to y
our
self and other
s.
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