A Valuable Lesson Learned

On Christmas day I was able to go down to a huge vacant parking lot to try my hand at taking off again.  All attempts were a failure.  I had to use 5 min epoxy about 3 or 4 times.  Absolutely every time I would go to take off the plane would turn left and crash.  After I broke my propeller, I took the plane back home and did some serious thinking.  I did all of my center of gravity checks.  My weight was good.  I still couldn't figure it out.  So I took the plane outside and simply pushed it with my hand one good time on the ground.  The plane arched at almost a 45 degree angle when it stopped around 10 feet away.  Although my wheels looked perfectly straight, they obviously weren't.  I bent the front wheel to compensate for the left draw and tested it out again.  This time it rolled perfectly straight.  So from now on when I do my pre-flight checks, I will always hand push my plane one good time to ensure that the wheels are aligned properly for a straight take off.  Hopefully now I will be able to actually get my plane in the air..   Here's hoping!

I will have to apologize for not posting any pictures or videos so far.  Next time I go out to fly, once my new propellers get here, I'll have to drag someone along with me and get the flight recorded with my HD Camcorder.  But anyways, here's my Cessna 182:

The 3 Second Flight...

Well Christmas came a day early since my wife has to work on Christmas Day, which means I got my plane today!  After about 1 hour of putting it together I was itching to fly.  We went up to my in-laws house after we opened gifts and I scouted out a nice place to fly.  It was short grass with a few small bumps that should have worked just nicely...  The wind wasn't too strong either, or so I thought.  I pushed the throttle forward and the plane taxied to the left and bit the grass.  Take off attempt number 1: fail.  Take off attempt number 2 came next.  I pushed the throttle forward, the plane started bouncing in the grass and having a hard time gaining speed, so I gave it full throttle and pulled back on the elevator to the max to create some lift.  As soon as the plane lifted off it went completely vertical (because my elevator was still all the way back), instantly catching the wind, and fell backwards into a roll and slammed into the ground, snapping off both wings and breaking a blade off the propeller.  3 lousy seconds of flight time.  What a disappointment...  However, I did not fret.  I had luckily visited my local hobby store and picked up some 30 min epoxy, not to mention I had an extra propeller that came with the plane.  As of now the epoxy has cured and the plane is back into flying condition.  Tomorrow, if the wind permits, we will try to have take off attempt number 3, and hopefully this time with a better outcome.  :)

Flight Simulator

Well my plane arrived about 2 weeks ago and my wife wrapped it up and put it under the Christmas Tree.  However, I did talk her into giving me the flight simulator and transmitter from out of the box so I could practice flying so when Christmas did get here we could fly it on Christmas day.  The flight simulator that came with the plane was very basic.  A little too basic.  So I searched over the internet and found a new simulator called AeroFly Professional Deluxe.  The graphics are far better and the planes are more realistic.  You can even download new model planes and scenery off of various websites.  I found a few scenery's that were actual pictures taken from different airstrips and parks around the world. 

Once I installed the program and got my transmitter set up correctly, I took off, and crashed almost immediately.  I found it very hard to fly!  Luckily with persistence and patience, I have been getting better day by day.  The more stick time I get, the better I get.  Now I'm able to take off, do aerial tricks, and land about 4-5 times without even crashing.  With only 9 days until Christmas, I plan to get even better!  :)