Top Flite TOPA0700 - Manual (Page 44)

T
akeoff
Bef
ore y
ou get ready to tak
eoff
, see ho
w the model
handles on the g
round b
y
doing a f
e
w pr
actice r
uns
at
lo
w speeds
on the r
unw
a
y.
Hold
“up”
ele
v
ator to
k
eep the tail wheel on the g
round.
If necessar
y,
adjust the tail wheel so the model will roll str
aight
do
wn the r
unw
a
y.
If y
ou need to calm y
our ner
v
e
s
bef
ore the maiden flight, shut the engine do
wn and
br
ing the model bac
k into the pits
.
T
op off the fuel,
then chec
k all f
asteners and control linkages f
o
r
peace of mind. If possib
le
, tak
eoff directly into the wind.
The Giant
P-51 handles cross
wind tak
eoffs w
ell, b
ut taking off
directly into the wind is usually desired—use the rudder as necessar
y to maintain heading.
When
ready
, adv
ance the throttle and hold a bit of up
ele
v
a
tor to k
eep the tail on the g
round to maintain
tail wheel steer
ing.
As the model gains speed
decrease up ele
v
a
tor allo
wing the tail to come off the
g
round.
One of the most impor
tant things to
remember with a tail dr
agger that has a large engine
is to alw
a
ys be ready to apply
right
rudder to
counter
act engine torque
.
Gain as m
uch speed as
y
our r
unw
a
y
and flying site will pr
actically allo
w
bef
ore gently applying up ele
v
ator lifting the model
into the air
.
At this moment it is lik
ely that y
ou will
need to apply more r
ight r
udder to counter
act
engine torque
.
Be smooth on the ele
v
ator stic
k and
retr
act the gear when comf
or
tab
le
.
Allo
w the model
to estab
lish a
g
entle
climb to a saf
e altitude bef
ore
tur
ning into the tr
affic patter
n.
Flight F
or reassur
ance and to k
eep an e
y
e
on other tr
affic
,
it is a good idea to ha
v
e
an assistant on the flight line
with y
ou.
T
ell him to remind y
ou to throttle bac
k once
the plane gets to a comf
or
tab
le altitude
.
While full
throttle is usually desir
ab
le f
o
r tak
eoff
, most models
fly more smoothly at reduced speeds
.
T
a
k
e
it easy with the Mustang f
or the first f
e
w flights
,
g
radually getting acquainted with it as y
ou gain
confidence
.
Adjust the tr
ims to maintain str
aight and
le
v
el flight.
After flying around f
or a while
, and while
still at a saf
e altitude with plenty of fuel, pr
actice slo
w
flight and e
x
ecute pr
actice landing approaches b
y
reducing the throttle to see ho
w the model handles
at slo
w
er speeds
.
Add po
w
er to see ho
w she climbs
as w
ell.
Contin
ue to fly around, e
x
ecuting v
a
rious
maneuv
ers and making mental notes (or ha
ving
y
our assistant wr
ite them do
wn) of what tr
im or C
.G.
changes ma
y be required to fine tune the model so
it flies the w
a
y y
ou lik
e
.
Mind y
our fuel le
v
e
l, b
ut use
this first flight to become f
amiliar with y
our model
bef
ore landing. Landing One of the k
e
ys to landing a giant-scale model is to
maintain sufficient airspeed throughout the landing approach.
An un
usually high airspeed is not
necessar
y,
b
ut those unf
amiliar with landing giant-
scale models are sometimes deceiv
ed b
y
the
model’
s larger siz
e
.
Larger models often appear to
be closer than the
y actually are
.
Additionally
, most
giant-scale models slo
w do
wn r
apidly
, thus causing
the uninitiated to land shor
t.
T
o
a
v
oid this initial
illusion, mak
e y
our landing patter
n closer than y
o
u
nor
mally might f
or a .40-siz
e spor
t model.
A
lso
, don’t
pull the throttle all the w
a
y bac
k and lea
v
e
it there
the w
a
y y
ou nor
mally w
ould.
Instead, momentar
ily
pull the throttle all the w
a
y bac
k, b
ut then adv
ance it
a
“clic
k”
or tw
o to k
eep the engine RPM up and
maintain airspeed.
Once o
v
er the r
unw
a
y
y
ou can
cut the throttle the rest of the w
a
y and the model will
slo
w f
or the landing flare
.
The P-51 ma
y be landed with or without flaps
.
Flaps
increase lift and dr
ag, so the plane ma
y be landed
slo
w
e
r, thus reducing rollout after touchdo
wn (not as
m
uch of a f
actor on g
rass r
unw
a
ys).
T
o
initiate a
landing approach, lo
w
er the throttle while on the
do
wnwind leg.
If using flaps
, allo
w the model to slo
w
bef
ore e
xtending them.
Contin
ue to lose altitude
, b
u
t
maintain airspeed b
y
k
eeping the nose do
wn as y
o
u
tur
n
onto the cross
wind leg.
Mak
e
the final tur
n
to
w
ard the r
unw
a
y
(into the wind) k
eeping the nose
do
wn to maintain airspeed and control.
If using flaps
k
eep a f
e
w additional
“clic
ks”
of po
w
er so the model
doesn’t slo
w
too
m
uch.
Le
v
el the attitude when the
model reaches the r
unw
a
y
threshold, modulating
the throttle as necessar
y to maintain the glide path
and airspeed.
If o
v
ershooting, smoothly adv
ance the
throttle (alw
a
ys ready on the r
ight r
udder to
counter
act torque) and retr
act the flaps when
enough airspeed is gained.
Climb out to mak
e
another attempt.
W
hen the model is a f
o
ot or so off
the dec
k and y
ou are ready to mak
e
the landing
flare
, smoothly increase up ele
v
ator until it gently
touches do
wn.
Once the model is on the r
unw
a
y
and
has lost flying speed, hold up ele
v
ator to hold the tail
on the g
round, thus maintaining tail wheel steer
ing.
Note:
If e
v
er the occasion ar
ises when a dead-stic
k
landing m
ust be perf
or
med, do not e
xtend the flaps
until
cer
tain
the model will be ab
le to reach the
landing z
one (on dead-stic
k landings it is common to
land with no flaps at all).
Without engine po
w
e
r, flaps
can une
xpectedly reduce the model’
s r
ange
, thus
causing y
ou to come up shor
t of the field.
One final note about flying y
our Giant P-51.
Ha
ve
a goal
or flight plan in mind f
or
e
ver
y
flight.
The goal could be
lear
ning a ne
w maneuv
er
, perf
ecting kno
wn
maneuv
ers
, or lear
ning ho
w the model beha
ves in
cer
tain conditions (such as on high or lo
w r
ates).
This is
not necessar
ily to impro
ve
y
our skills (
though it is ne
ve
r
a bad idea!)
, b
u
t more impor
tantly so y
ou do not
sur
pr
ise y
ourself b
y
impulsivel
y
attempting a
maneuv
er without an
y planning.
Ev
er
y maneuv
er
should be deliber
ate
.
F
or e
xample
, if y
ou’
re going to do
a loop
, plan it out—chec
k y
our altitude
, mind the wind
direction (anticipating r
udder corrections that will be
required to maintain heading), remember to throttle bac
k on the do
wn side
, and mak
e cer
tain y
ou are on the
desired r
ates (high/lo
w r
ates).
A flight plan g
reatly
reduces the chances of cr
ashing just because of poor
planning and impulsiv
e mo
ve
s.
Remember to think!
Ha
ve a ball! But al
wa
ys sta
y
in contr
ol and fl
y in
a saf
e manner
.
GOOD LUCK AND GREA
T FL
YING!
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