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Greyhead · 03-07-2008

At long last the strong winds we’ve been having weren’t in evidence yesterday morning so I managed to get the SE5a out to the flying field.

First a range check, then another with the engine running, everything worked fine, so out to the takeoff area, a quick check of the controls and “wow” the elevator’s reversed, back to the pits for a spot of transmitter programming. After all the time I’ve spent setting up the model it just goes to show, never take anything for granted. A certain disaster averted!!

With everything now moving in the right direction it’s back out for another attempt. As I eased open the throttle the model started moving forwards but very sluggishly; half way down the runway and the tail still hadn’t lifted so I closed the throttle. Surprisingly the model carried on and eventually bumped over the “rough stuff”. When I collected the model one of the landing wire brackets had broken; I felt sure it must have been fractured, or at least badly stressed, when I was making it as the ground wasn’t that rough.

No chance of a flight now but I thought I might as well do some more testing, I removed the cowl and tweaked the needle valve for maximum noise and tried a takeoff run again; this time it was a lot better with the tail lifting OK.

I have been a little concerned that my “standard” 13x6 prop looks very small against the large radiator with only a couple of inches of blade protruding into clear air so I fitted the “jumbo” 16x4 and tried again.

This time the acceleration was much better, in fact the tail was up in about a yard and before I knew it the model was a couple of feet in the air. I now had to make a quick decision, keep power on and risk a flight or reduce power and land? Common sense prevailed and I decided on the latter; luckily our mown square at Redmarshall is a good size, even so it was a bit of a bumpy landing but at least this confirmed my suspicions about the landing wire bracket having been weakened as the remaining brackets handled this severe “landing” with no problems.

The bracket was easy enough to repair; I’ve used tinplate this time instead of brass so it should be even stronger. The next fine day and I’ll try again.

I was a little disappointed to not actually get a flight but with a model of this complexity it’s not uncommon to not get off the ground on the first attempt, at least I managed a bit of air under the wings, even if inadvertently!

03-07-2008	#644 (permalink)
Greyhead Scale Model Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: County Durham Real Name: Grahame My Models: Preference for biplanes Visit Greyhead's Gallery Posts: 581 Images: 642	At long last the strong winds we’ve been having weren’t in evidence yesterday morning so I managed to get the SE5a out to the flying field. First a range check, then another with the engine running, everything worked fine, so out to the takeoff area, a quick check of the controls and “wow” the elevator’s reversed, back to the pits for a spot of transmitter programming. After all the time I’ve spent setting up the model it just goes to show, never take anything for granted. A certain disaster averted!! With everything now moving in the right direction it’s back out for another attempt. As I eased open the throttle the model started moving forwards but very sluggishly; half way down the runway and the tail still hadn’t lifted so I closed the throttle. Surprisingly the model carried on and eventually bumped over the “rough stuff”. When I collected the model one of the landing wire brackets had broken; I felt sure it must have been fractured, or at least badly stressed, when I was making it as the ground wasn’t that rough. No chance of a flight now but I thought I might as well do some more testing, I removed the cowl and tweaked the needle valve for maximum noise and tried a takeoff run again; this time it was a lot better with the tail lifting OK. I have been a little concerned that my “standard” 13x6 prop looks very small against the large radiator with only a couple of inches of blade protruding into clear air so I fitted the “jumbo” 16x4 and tried again. This time the acceleration was much better, in fact the tail was up in about a yard and before I knew it the model was a couple of feet in the air. I now had to make a quick decision, keep power on and risk a flight or reduce power and land? Common sense prevailed and I decided on the latter; luckily our mown square at Redmarshall is a good size, even so it was a bit of a bumpy landing but at least this confirmed my suspicions about the landing wire bracket having been weakened as the remaining brackets handled this severe “landing” with no problems. The bracket was easy enough to repair; I’ve used tinplate this time instead of brass so it should be even stronger. The next fine day and I’ll try again. I was a little disappointed to not actually get a flight but with a model of this complexity it’s not uncommon to not get off the ground on the first attempt, at least I managed a bit of air under the wings, even if inadvertently!