Top Flite TOPA0290 - Manual (Page 73)

reason, the fuel mixture should be r
ichened so the
engine r
uns at about 200 r
p
m belo
w peak speed.
By
running the engine slightly r
ich, y
ou will help pre
v
ent
dead-stic
k landings caused b
y
o
v
erheating.
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.
M
ak
e sure the model
rolls str
aight do
wn the r
unw
a
y
and mak
e an
y tr
im
adjustments necessar
y to get it to go str
aight.
If y
o
u
need to tak
e a break bef
ore the maiden flight, shut
off the engine 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
or peace of mind.
Remember to tak
eoff into the wind.
When ready
,
point the model str
aight do
wn the r
unw
a
y, then
g
radually adv
ance the throttle
.
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 and lifting the
model into the air
.
A
small amount of r
ight r
udder
ma
y be required to correct engine torque to k
eep the
wings le
v
e
l.
Be smooth on the ele
v
ator stic
k, allo
wing
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
.
W
hile 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 f
or the first f
e
w flights
, g
radually getting
acquainted with the model 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
xtend the flaps to see ho
w the model reacts
.
Add
po
w
er to see ho
w the model climbs as w
ell.
Contin
ue
to fly around, w
o
rking the controls and 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
el,
b
ut use this first flight to become f
a
miliar with y
our
model bef
ore landing.
LANDING T
o
initiate a landing approach, lo
w
er the throttle while on
the do
wnwind leg, allo
w the model to slo
w
, then e
xtend
the flaps
.Allo
w the nose of the model to pitch do
wnw
ard
to g
radually b
leed off altitude
.
Contin
ue to lose altitude
,
b
ut maintain airspeed b
y
k
eeping the nose do
wn as y
o
u
tur
n onto the cross
wind leg.
Mak
e y
our 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.
When landing with flaps
,
keep a f
e
w additional
“clic
ks”
of throttle to maintain
airspeed.
Le
vel the attitude when the model reaches the
runw
a
y
threshold, modulating the throttle as necessar
y
to maintain y
our glide path and airspeed.
If y
ou are
going to o
vershoot, smoothly adv
ance the throttle
, allo
w
the model to gain speed, retr
act the flaps and climb out
to mak
e
another attempt.
When y
ou’
re ready to mak
e
your landing flare and the model is a f
oot or so off the
dec
k, smoothly increase up ele
vator until it the wheels
gently touch do
wn.
Once the model is on the r
unw
a
y
and has lost flying speed, relax the ele
vator and taxi the
model bac
k.
Examine the model and mak
e
an
y
mechanical adjustments necessar
y so the tr
ims can be
retur
ned to center
.
One final note about flying y
our model.
Ha
ve
a goal or
flight plan in mind f
or
e
ver
y
flight.
This can be lear
ning a
ne
w maneuv
er(s), impro
ving a maneuv
er(s) y
ou already
kno
w
, 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
ver a
bad idea!)
, b
u
t more impor
tantly so y
ou do not sur
pr
ise
yourself b
y
impulsiv
ely attempting a maneuv
er and
suddenly finding that y
ou’v
e r
un out of time
, altitude or
airspeed.
Ev
er
y maneuv
er should be deliber
ate
, not
impulsiv
e
.
F
or e
xample
, if y
ou’
re going to do a loop
,
chec
k y
our altitude
, mind the wind direction (anticipating
rudder corrections that will be required to maintain heading), remember to throttle bac
k at the top
, and
mak
e cer
tain y
ou are on the desired r
ates (high/lo
w
rates).
A flight plan g
reatly reduces the chances of
cr
ashing y
our model 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
.
CA
UTION
(THIS APPLIES
T
O
ALL
R/C
AIRPLANES):
If
, while flying, y
ou notice an
alar
ming or un
usual sound such as a lo
w-pitched
“b
uzz,
”
this ma
y indicate control surf
ace
flutter
.
Flutter occurs when a control surf
ace (such as an
aileron or ele
v
ator) or a flying surf
ace (such as a
wing or stab) r
apidly vibr
ates up and do
wn (thus
causing the noise).
In e
xtreme cases
, if not
detected immediately
, flutter can actually cause
the control surf
ace to detach or the flying surf
ace
to f
ail, thus causing loss of control f
ollo
w
ed b
y
an
impending cr
ash.
The best thing to do when flutter
is detected is to slo
w the model
immediatel
y
by
reducing po
w
e
r, then land as soon as saf
ely
possib
le
.
Identify which surf
ace fluttered (so the
prob
lem ma
y be resolv
ed) b
y
chec
king all the
ser
v
o
g
rommets f
or deter
ior
ation or signs of
vibr
ation.
Mak
e
cer
tain all pushrod linkages are
secure and free of pla
y.
If it fluttered once
, under
similar circumstances it will probab
ly flutter again
unless the prob
lem is fix
ed.
Some things which
can cause flutter are;
Excessiv
e hinge gap;
Not
mounting control hor
ns solidly;
P
oor fit of cle
vis
pin in hor
n;
Side-pla
y of wire pushrods caused b
y
large bends;
Excessiv
e free pla
y in ser
v
o
gears;
Insecure ser
v
o
mounting;
and one of the most
pre
v
alent causes of flutter
;
Flying an o
v
er-
po
w
ered model at e
xcessiv
e speeds
.
- 73
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