Why? What's happening?

Ya whats up, it was my first wing/plane, i had er airborne first toss..... For like 3 seconds lol

I was frustrated too. Kept dorking it in until I launched it near full throttle and finally got her up and was disappointed in its speed. Weeks later after changing motor and ESC, I discovered I was running with the prop reversed!
She flies awesome now and takes off fine with a little over half throttle. I love the Assassin!
Blu

Take a look at our preflight checklist.

http://crashtesthobby.com/articles/10-mistakes-to-avoid

I help a lot of newer local flyers trim in planes. Most of the time they are having trouble it is not just one but a combination of these things.

1. Their CG is too far back. Flying wings won't fly tail heavy... ever. (add some weight to the nose and try the plane with the CG forward)
2. They have too much movement it the elevons. (This shows up as a snap roll on take off)
3. They have poor leverage from the servo arm to the elevon horn. (This is usually a higher speed problem and the plane won't pull out of a dive.)
4. They don't know how to launch the plane. (Don't spin it at all when you launch.)
5. They have a plane above their skill level.
6. They are flying with their thumbs and not grasping the stick with thumb and finger. Some planes are so responsive you need two points of reference to have full control.
7. I have had several flyers that couldn't fly with the expo on. I recommend turning Expo off.
8. .... and an occasional prop on backwards. I did this myself this year!!! (writing on the prop should face forward)


Lee



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So 3/8" travel (on an Assassin) should be enough? The stupid little Pop Wings are totally outmaneuvering me at the field, so I'm thinking of adding a little more travel.

3/8" up and 3/8" down.

If that's not floating your boat, you can certainly dial it up, but if you have DR or expo on, I'd personally dial that down to nothing first. Then if you still want more, program in more travel, bit by bit.

For me, CTH's recommended travel has been enough on every plane but the Albatross. I programmed in some more on that one, and also fly with a 3530 1800kv motor, instead of a 2812.

I don't know what's wrong with it My only other plane was a big nitro trainer. I didn't have to launch.

My movements are correct. No binding in the servos. Elevon travel is set. Maybe the CG is screwed up I'm using a big motor to offset the 2200 up front.

My attempts at flying usually go something like this. Grasp wing in right hand, throttle up until I can feel the wing pushing. Try my best to "set it on the air" with out throwing it. Quickly move right hand to transmitter, and about that time the planes already bouncing off the ground. I tried giving it more throttle on launch but that just put it in the ground even quicker.

Where is your CG? (how far back from the nose)
How much reflex do you have in the elevons?

My plane balances nice with the 2200 3s up front and the motor recommended on the site, battery is starting exactly 2.5 inches back from nose, cog is 6 3/8 from nose... Check you motor mount too. I had crashed a few times and it bent forward.. Was a pain to get any climb it was as if my elevator was always staling

Originally Posted by Thursday

I don't know what's wrong with it My only other plane was a big nitro trainer. I didn't have to launch.

My movements are correct. No binding in the servos. Elevon travel is set. Maybe the CG is screwed up I'm using a big motor to offset the 2200 up front.

My attempts at flying usually go something like this. Grasp wing in right hand, throttle up until I can feel the wing pushing. Try my best to "set it on the air" with out throwing it. Quickly move right hand to transmitter, and about that time the planes already bouncing off the ground. I tried giving it more throttle on launch but that just put it in the ground even quicker.

Do you have some up trim. My buddys and I have 3 assassins and beat the hell out of them in combat. They all still fly like new. Lee has a awesome product. In fact we just got a 3 pack of widowmakers.We are going to make speed wings out of them.

Originally Posted by jetpackninja

Where is your CG? (how far back from the nose)
How much reflex do you have in the elevons?

Well I was aiming for 6.5" but the push pin method seems a little wonky to me to really be able to tell.

I don't know what you mean by reflex.

I'm regretting the way I setup my motor by the way. Is there anywhere you can buy just a new 3mm shaft or whatever size it is to fit this motor?

Originally Posted by elliott000

My plane balances nice with the 2200 3s up front and the motor recommended on the site, battery is starting exactly 2.5 inches back from nose, cog is 6 3/8 from nose... Check you motor mount too. I had crashed a few times and it bent forward.. Was a pain to get any climb it was as if my elevator was always staling

My battery starts exactly 2" from the nose. Though I suppose we could have different weighted batteries, and my motor seems a lot bigger than yours. My motor mount is 90 degrees.

Originally Posted by n-2-stuff

Do you have some up trim. My buddys and I have 3 assassins and beat the hell out of them in combat. They all still fly like new. Lee has a awesome product. In fact we just got a 3 pack of widowmakers.We are going to make speed wings out of them.

I don't have any up trim I set the wing on the table, 90'd the servos and pushed the elevon down to match the bottom plane of the wing then tightened up the push rod.

I feel like I've already beat the hell out of mine just trying to get it to fly. I hate seeing it nose dive in the ground so many times.

Originally Posted by Thursday

Well I was aiming for 6.5" but the push pin method seems a little wonky to me to really be able to tell.

It's pretty difficult to get the plane to actually balance on the pins, but you should be able to find the spot at which it wobbles either way, depending on how you hold it. So, where exactly does your plane balance?

Originally Posted by Thursday

I don't know what you mean by reflex.

the amount of "up" that's programmed into the elevons when you're not touching the sticks. the elevons "at rest" should be angled just slightly higher than the angle of the surface of the wing, as if it's pulling up slightly.

Originally Posted by Thursday

I don't have any up trim I set the wing on the table, 90'd the servos and pushed the elevon down to match the bottom plane of the wing then tightened up the push rod.

And thus, this might be one big problem.

Originally Posted by Thursday

I'm regretting the way I setup my motor by the way. Is there anywhere you can buy just a new 3mm shaft or whatever size it is to fit this motor?

Why, what's different about it? What don't you like?

And one last thing--I looked at your picture and noticed you don't have any winglets on the wing tips. Those chloroplast pieces that came with the kit should be attached on the wing tips to keep the wing from wagging back and forth. Some people like to leave them off, but then you have to cut a flat-faced diagonal from the leading edge of the wing tips, to produce the same effect. The chloroplast works a lot better, though.

Without any winglets to stabilize the wing, plus no reflex (or up-trim) in the elevons, that's probably enough to make it un-flyable.

Lack of reflex is definitely one of your major problems!
Blu

Originally Posted by Bluhammer

Lack of reflex is definitely one of your major problems!
Blu

Well what is it?

Originally Posted by Thursday

Well what is it?

elCapitan answered this question but here it is again.

the amount of "up" that's programmed into the elevons when you're not touching the sticks. the elevons "at rest" should be angled just slightly higher than the angle of the surface of the wing, as if it's pulling up slightly.