Maiden flights and repairs

[bearcat]

4 flights of the Gentle Lady on a high start today. Each consecutive flight was an improvement in some way.

The first flight, I took over into the sun after Kim took me up, and had some trouble, but had plenty of altitude, so I handed it to Kim to get back over the barbed wire fence and land it.

The second flight I had that backwards thing (when flying towards me) giving me lots of trouble, but had an absolutely PERFECT landing into the grass because it was going away from me, and therefore not much different than my flight simulators.

The third flight, I started to get a handle on my backwads thing, but the wind started picking up. I was blown off course and found that the sailplane has lousy penetration ability into the wind, and so turned around for a controlled crash landing into the sage. A few punctures in the skin but I taped them for another flight.

The fourth flight was really my best, but I was losing altitude frightfully fast. The wind really picked up too, so I found myself going off course again and although I had 30 ft altitude, I thought I'd better get it on the ground in that wind before I couldn't handle it anymore. But again it was coming towards me, and in my concern for the increasing breeze, the backwards thing got me again. The wind was blowing it into a slow left turn, I thought I was compensating to the right, and instead turned it very hard left, and it dropped from about 15 ft, straight into the ground.

So here's the result.

I've already got the fuselage repaired, which was damaged the worst. I had some wood shattering from the nicad exiting from the side. I want to strengthen it some more and will probably freshen up the paint too.
The outer wing panels both got hurt, but they're almost fixed too. Tomorrow, I'll reinforce them and reskin them.

The way I see it, a sailplane on a highstart doesn't give me more than a couple minutes to "get it right".
Also, this sailplane has pretty lousy penetration ability, probably due to the high-lift airfoil and very light wing loading. So this is a plane better suited to a calm summer day with great thermals.
It does fly very well actually, but I need to work on my Piper Cub foamy to give me a lot more hang time to "learn my lessons" and try more maneuvers before I'm entering my landing pattern.

So a pretty good day, and I thought I'd escape without a crash, but I guess not. Better luck next time.

Any advice? How bad did I suck? Or how good did I do?
I'd appreciate some feedback from you old salts.
Thanks for the help guys.

[Lt Swiss]

I thought it was great. Ya gotta start somewhere. It will just keep getting better and better.

I salute you and Terry for giving it the 'ol college try.

I'd love to fly that glider just to see what its like up there.

[bearcat]

Mitch, It flies very nicely. It doesn't seem to like a very stiff wind though, because I consistently got blown off the field and had to fight my way back. This would be a beautiful plane to fly on a summer day with lots of thermals. However, that high start was only getting me up high enough today to start a landing pattern, and each time, I only got a couple of short minutes to do maybe 3 or 4 turns before setting up to land, and most of my maneuvers were to fight my way back to the landing field. So slightly frustrating today, but I felt myself getting better. If only I had a few more minutes with each flight though.

Tell you what, one of these days when I've got it out, I think you should fly it. I'd like to see what she can do when she really soars. As for me, it'll be awhile before I am that good.

That polyhedral wing, however, makes turns a little tricky. It's real slow to respond at first, but then it snaps into a sharp bank and looses altitude, just like that. It's like trying to throw a Porsche 911 around a tight turn.

[bearcat]

Damn, you know what? I just missed the opportunity to motorize this glider. Look at the pic above with the nose cone off. That would have been the perfect time to put a motor in the nose.

I was in too much of a hurry to repair her. Shoot.

[bearcat]

The fuselage is all done, except for some sanding and a new paint job. But you know what I found? I did NOT have the backwards thing going on. The battery disconnected and exited the aircraft upon impact, locking the servos in their last position.

Just like an airliner's black box, the rudder was turned to the right, indicating the control surface attitude when it crashed. It wasn't quite full rudder, maybe about half.
What is significant is that the plane turned to the left in a strong gust of wind while on final approach. At the beginning of the turn, I applied what I thought was right rudder, to steer the plane back into the wind as it was coming towards me. Turned out it was right rudder. Instead of right rudder correcting the left turn, the wind was a crosswind which caught the right wingtip and threw it into a radical left bank, which led to a nose-down attitude and it augered in.

This means I did not make the mistake that I thought I did. I got the rudder direction RIGHT.

What I think happened is that the stiff wind slowed the plane down and began to catch the right wingtip, since it was from that direction, slightly starboard. The right rudder was correct but wasn't enough to stop the wind from lifting the right wingtip.
In retrospect, I think also down elevator might have helped it maintain more airspeed, but I don't know if it would have been enough to prevent the crash.

Even though I'm inexperienced, I blame this on encountering a wind gust that overpowered the plane.

If someone's got some other advice on how I could have prevented it, let me know.

[Lt Swiss]

That thing should hang in the wind no problem. You might consider keeping the wind in your mind at all times so when things go wrong, you just (and always) turn into the wind. That is the posture of maximum control. If you had done this one thing, that plane could never have lost altitude like it did.

You'll get it. My confidence is high...

[bearcat]

Yeah that's what I was trying to do. It began banking to the left and I countered with right rudder, but the wind under the right wingtip was too strong and I needed ailerons. Kim said that I also needed some down elevator to increase my speed and that might have made a difference.

Yes I'll get it. That fourth flight, I was really getting the hang of it, and it made me feel better that I didn't get the controls backwards. I just couldn't handle that much wind, this early in my development without a motor. Learning to fly on just the wing with only a few minutes per flight doesn't allow enough time to learn much, and I have to learn quick.
But I was starting to get it.

My problem is, I really need another foamy. I'm thinking about an Elapor foam powered glider next time. the Cub is okay, but it depends TOTALLY on the motor and doesn't have enough wing for better hang time.

Hey, I do have a prop I might try using for the Cub. It is bigger, and I'm not sure how the motor will turn it, but hopefully it will. I also have a couple of Lipo batteries, a 2 cell 700 maH and a 3 cell 1320 maH. The battery in it's a 5 cell 650 maH Nickel metal hydride. I can try a swap.

[Lt Swiss]

I recommend again, the FOX as a beater for just such a learning situation as yours.

I will bring mine Sunday so you can get a taste of it. It is cool slow or fast and has everything a pilot could want. And it will take a licking and just keep ticking...

Check it out. $189 with radio RTF. (no Amazon)


ST Model FOX Aerobatic RC Electric Glider RTF w/ EPO + Brushless Setup + Li-Po
www.bananahobby.com/1936.html

Here's a video...

[bearcat]

Wow, I like that. That's the sort of trainer I had in mind. I really feel like by the fourth flight on the sailplane, I had it. I really did. It's just that the flights were so dang short.

I bet I do better Sunday on the Piper Cub for sure, and yes, I'd love to try out your Fox. Stand by in case you want to take over or something, and I'll see what it feels like.

When I get better, how about you and I go to the Taos Middle School football field and do a little pylon racing in a figure 8 around the uprights? That'll be on a foamy for sure, because then if we crash, oh well, no biggie. I think it'd be fun!!!

[segelfluger]

Tony,

I have the perfect foam electric trainer sailplane for you. The Multiplex Electric Easy Glider. I owned one that was a pure glider for aero-towing. It's has ailerons, rudder, elevator, easy to fly, light. I totally recommend this ship. Check it out.

www.nesail.com/detail.php?productID=5146

Curtis

[Lt Swiss]

I agree. This is a smooth sailer...

[bearcat]

Okay. Repairs are nearly complete. The wing panels are repaired and reinforced, plus I got them pretty well balanced to avoid a tendency for the plane to want to turn one way or the other. I got the fuselage repaired and got the jigsaw puzzle back together. I used 5 minute epoxy. Turned out good except that it kind of ruined my nice paint finish. So I got to work.

First I used a dremel tool with a sanding wheel on it and rough-sanded the epoxy to a semi-smooth surface. Epoxy's not that easy to sand, so that is a shortcut, if you're careful. Then I used automotive glazing putty and spread it as thin as I could with a butter knife. After that, I sanded it using 320 grit. There is a technique to this, which I will discuss after the pictures. Here's the picture at this stage:


After that, I sprayed the repaired areas with automotive primer. I did this because Aerogloss paint is a translucent paint, which would show the dark putty too easily. Anytime you use a light paint over a dark repair, you should use primer. Here's the pic all ready to paint my final finish coats:


Now there needs to be a short discussion.
The reason I chose automotive products is because they are designed to work over a painted surface. It's true that they are made for use over metal or fiberglass, but it seemed the best thing to try over painted wood.

Some technique has to be developed to use glazing putty over aerogloss-painted surfaces. The glazing putty uses acetone as the softening agent, which dries rapidly. Do not apply this stuff thick or else you'll get cracking. Also, the acetone seems to have a mild reaction to the paint, softening it underneath before it dries. I'm sure over time, it'll dry better. So if you do too much sanding in one area, the sanded putty will clog the pores of the sandpaper and tend to strip off more putty, which will lift off of the painted surface. The technique I used that seemed to work is to blow the sanding dust off the surface between every half-dozen passes with sandpaper. This helps keep it from clogging, which also helps keep the putty on the painted surface too. Use a sharp-tipped knife to scrape the sandpaper whenever it starts to clog.
The second tip is to change sanding directions frequently. Don't just continuously sand in one direction.
And the third tip is to realize that on an Aerogloss surface, you're probably not going to get perfection. So it's better to stop feathering the surface when it's "good enough". This is one time that being a perfectionist seems to just create more work.

[bearcat]

I thought I'd be done painting it today, but know what? Can't paint too thick a coating of airplane dope or it reacts negatively with the primer. It's fine if I dust several thin layers. So this is gonna take awhile. I'll show pics when it's done.

[bearcat]

Finished!

I gave up on the Aerogloss because despite many coats, it's so transparent that I just couldn't get a pure yellow color. I switched to Duplicolor engine enamel in School Bus Yellow which is about identical to Cub yellow. Much better finish too. I believe on my wood-bodied planes from now on, I'll just use enamel paint on it. Another advantage to enamels is that you can get custom colors mixed in anything you want. Can you imagine a cool metallic paint on a plane?
It's an interesting idea. I'll think about it. A lot of people just like to use monocote or some other iron-on plastic skin over wood, but the bubbles can be sort of a hassle. Paint really does provide a nice finish. You just have to be careful with it.

Anyway, here's the pic. And this time the sailplane will hang from my "Airplane Room" until next spring. By then, I'll have learned how to fly on the cub and some other foamies, and will have to continue learning to fly "on the wing" when the weather is nicer and less blustery.
But then again...when is it ever NOT blustery in Taos??? The spring is the windiest time of the year.

[Lt Swiss]

Wow! Good as new!

You can't tell me this girl can't handle the wind...
Gentle Lady Glider Slope Soaring


Gentle Lady Glider Kit
www.towerhobbies.com/products/goldberg/gbga0060.html

[bearcat]

There has been some criticism on RC Groups about this sailplane's ability to penetrate the wind, yes. In my case, I'm sure if I had more experience, I could have handled the gusty conditions.

It's a large plane with very light wingloading and a fat airfoil. If it had a supercritical type airfoil it would make a huge difference, but the concave under-surface of the wing is a little difficult to cover.

I will try it again after I've had plenty of practice on foam jobs. I'm sure next summer, I'll be up there soaring with you, Evan, Kim, and Curtis. Just watch and see.



That pilot looked like he almost lost it for a minute there. And he landed so damn close to his kids sitting there, didn't he? Definitely a good pilot though. I'm surprised he did so good without ailerons.