Originally Posted by Bob6831

Ok, tried again....... and I did get a little more distance. But last flight, crashed and I broke the main fuselage, so have some gluing to do. Note that I still would like answers to my questions asked earlier about possible damage to my motor when smoke came out..... and how 'straight' the fuselage has to be.
....... I really think that my main hindrance to getting the plane to fly is my concern about running out of space such that I over-react as soon as I get the plane in the air. I will put this plane aside for now until I find a better place to fly it. Note that I checked a few schools and a Little League field and they all had Posted signs up, so I did not want to take a chance.
Am I giving up on flying? Heck no, I just bought a Hobbyzone Champ.

I've got a Hawk Sky (similar to yours, I think) and a Champ. It's hard to beat the Champ for a DIY introduction to flying. There's a couple of tutorial YouTube videos by the Hobby Zone guys, and a bunch of others that will be pretty educational.

This one is my favorite, it made me order my Champ after I saw it.

Hobbyzone Champ crazy flying (5 min 6 sec)

I just got the Champ yesterday and flew it successfully. I have also found a good place to fly my Wild Hawk, so I will try it again as soon as I get it repaired. Note that I have used a E-Sky simulator but did not find it much fun or much helpful.

Zero - are you suggesting that I don't worry about CG at all?

Originally Posted by Bob6831

Zero - are you suggesting that I don't worry about CG at all?

No I'm saying don't add additional weight to adjust the cg. Adjust the battery as needed and give it a go. If I recall correctly your plane keeps nosediving in and you also have a roll of quarters in the nose. My main point is to not modify the plane (extending control surfaces with foam) before you actually fly it.

Ok, I have the Hobbyzone Champ and have flown that successfully. But...I cannot fly the Wild Hawk. I tried it in a large area today and still no luck. I did better when I launched it at a greater angle upward and with a faster throw but it still only went about 10-20 yards before it veered right and started diving down. Note that I have removed the extra foam that I had added to the rudder and elevator and the roll of quarters added to move the CG forward and only have 3 Quarters taped to the front of the plane. Note that I have even adjusted the rudder trim so that rudder is favoring a left turn but that does not seem to make any difference when the plane starts to go down.
I don't know what I am doing wrong. Questions:
1) Could I have damaged the motor when it smoked after crashing on an earlier flight such that it isn't getting enough power?
2) I have bent the fuselage when I crashed and I am not sure if it is on straight anymore. Is this important? In other words, how bent can the fuselage be before it effects the flight?
What am I doing wrong?????

Are you sure the prop is facing forward as diagrammed in earlier posts?

Also motor should turn clockwise looking from the rear.

Propeller is on ok, I just checked it running from the rear and goes clockwise.

Originally Posted by Bob6831

Propeller is on ok, I just checked it running from the rear and goes clockwise.

The numbers on the prop... are they in the front (closer to the nose) or the back?

I see 1 number on the propeller and it is facing the back.
Is it possible that the motor is slowed down due to the crash-smoke incident, or that I am not charging the battery up enough (have stopped after the battery and the transformer have gotten quite warm)?

Originally Posted by Bob6831

I see 1 number on the propeller and it is facing the back.
Is it possible that the motor is slowed down due to the crash-smoke incident, or that I am not charging the battery up enough (have stopped after the battery and the transformer have gotten quite warm)?

It looks like your prop might be on backwards. Both forwards and backwards will push air to the rear, and the motor spins the prop the same direction. Flip it around and see if it doesn't give you better thrust. Typically all printing, etc, on props is done on the leading side.

Originally Posted by Bob6831

I see 1 number on the propeller and it is facing the back.
Is it possible that the motor is slowed down due to the crash-smoke incident, or that I am not charging the battery up enough (have stopped after the battery and the transformer have gotten quite warm)?

I looked at what I think is an old Hawk prop, it has a #1 on it and the # should face the rear. So ???

Looks like I am getting 2 different opinions, which one is correct?????

Originally Posted by Bob6831

Looks like I am getting 2 different opinions, which one is correct?????

I don't have my old motor/prop, so I would go with bartricky... sorry for the confusion!

Originally Posted by Bob6831

Looks like I am getting 2 different opinions, which one is correct?????

There are always exceptions to the rule especially with the pre-packaged RTF planes.
Best to go by the concave/convex method with the convex side of the prop facing forward and the motor spinning clockwise looking from the rear.

You might check for a loose prop adapter.

Originally Posted by Bob6831

Looks like I am getting 2 different opinions, which one is correct?????

You MIGHT have one of the few props with the numbers on the back of the prop but I've never seen one. The real answer is in post #13. Fastfwd gave you the way to figure out which way the prop should face without worrying about numbers, then was buried by other posts. A prop on backwards will still rotate the same direction and generate some thrust, but only a tiny fraction of what it is designed to deliver.