Im new to flying. my only experience is with realflight. Please note I do not have access to an instructor.
Heres my setup:
PT-20 with a os 25la
standard fut 3004 servos
futaba 6j transmitter

I have built this plane to exact specs. paying particular attention to building straight wings and all things considered i believe everything to be correct.

I have balanced the plane lateral and cog.

i have tried to fly the plane a few times and takes off great but then i loose control usually the plane will go to the right after it hits about 30 ft in the air and i cant recover. yesterday there was about an 8 mph wind which i took off directly into it and it went right up. nice and straight. all of a sudden it took a turn to the right. "as Im looking at the tail" and i couldn't recover then a nose dive from 30 ft. ouch. luckily this plane is a tank and have had very little damage to repair on all the crashes to date.

now there are slight dents just to the leading edge corners, but i don't think it is enough to hinder a flight so i just recovered it

I would think its a balance problem but i rechecked the balance and seems ok.

Any thoughts?

thx
Rick

Hmmm. First off. 8 mph wind for a beginner is too much wind to deal with. You may have stalled. If the Plane loses its lift component, it will likely stall. If that didn't happen, then check your ailerons on the ground to see if they are moving freely. Double check them to see if they are centered. Keep in mind. In a new plane. First thing is to get it in the air and trim it out. This is very difficult for a beginner. Get on your sim and put a plane out of trim. Fly it and trim it in the air. This may help you get a jump on things when it comes to that. Note: as an experienced Pilot, if you gave me a out of trimmed plane and told me to fly it but I had to do it without trimming, it might not be a good outcome. Trimming is VERY important.

I would make sure you are using a good battery and do a range check on the ground. even if it stalled, i would think a 30' dive would provide enough speed to pick the plane up before hitting the ground. i am just a rookie myself so i could be wrong. I had a problem with a bad battery causing almost the same thing.

ok thx guys. it may have stalled or a large gust that i didnt feel had grabbed the plane at that height. none the less i have ordered three more props and will continue to try. and if i loose this one as a result of a crash i will build another.
I will also set my parameters on realflight as difficult as i can so as to gain experience with difficult flights.

oh and lastly. i forgot that i did a pre flight inspection and tested my transmitter reciever binding for a distance check, and also did a battery drain and charge on my triton2 batterry charger, so i believe all components are in excellent working condition

Reversed ailerons?

O - and don't build another of these there are MUCH better learn alone choices. Try the Champ first. That will give you a base to build on.

thx pda the ailerons r correct i went through the setup religiously before i even thought about taking her out. there's only one servo reversed and that's the rudder due to a backwards mount in the fuselage, but other than that everything else is standard

There is no "standard". Try this - when you hit full right ailerons what happens?

Very difficult to tell without witnessing your attempts but it is highly likely that you stalled the plane by trying to climb to a safe altitude to quickly. Try a more gentle climb out next time and keep that air speed up. Good luck on your next venture.

I have to agree with the probable stall. If the plane took off fine and began it's climb out fine then it would seem to be trimmed and balanced fairly well. The sudden right turn would indicate that the right wing dropped, which would indicate a slow speed stall. After take off, don't let the nose pitch up too far.

I teach full power take offs....advance the throttle all the way...do not slam the throttle forward but get to full throttle before you roll very far.....better to have the power and not need it than to need the power and not have it...it is easier to retard the throttle than to advance the throttle when you're behind the power curve...
Unless you live in the middle of BFE I'll bet there is an instructor pretty close...even if you had to drive a few hours and spend just one day with someone you will come away with a lot of knowledge....Go to the AMA web site and search for clubs

again thx for the replies. after thinking about the whole thing and reading the replies i also think it was a stall. my mistake was probably trying to compensate for the right turn instead of using the elevator to compensate for the nose dive. an amateur mistake im sure. as for the instructor, i quite driving a year ago and haven't regretted it. i have turned to bicycling only, even have a bicycle trailer that i configured to carry my plane to a field close by where i can fly

I destroyed a $400 Plane when I started. But got lucky and bought a new plane that came with lessons. That was 20 years ago.

Originally Posted by asusrick

thx pda the ailerons r correct i went through the setup religiously before i even thought about taking her out. there's only one servo reversed and that's the rudder due to a backwards mount in the fuselage, but other than that everything else is standard

Have you fixed the rudder servo ??? Along with a stall if you gave just a little rudder ( while steering ) it could make it real hard to recover. ENJOY !!! RED

I have gone through it many times in my head what i could have done wrong. This time i will give slight elevator to get it off the ground and stay away from the rudder stick until it is a safe distance in the air at which point i can play with the controls. I believe realflight to be a good trainer, but cant rely on it totally. when i use the sim it allows me to accent rather fast and I may have believed that this is true in real life. apparently this is not the case. I am waiting on some props and in the meantime the slight damage is fixed and im gonna re-balance again just to make sure that there is possibly nothing I have left out. I believe once I get it to a safe height I will be able to quickly gain knowledge of what is possible with this plane.

Did you reverese the rudder servo? It can be done through the radio...one of the dangers in teaching yourself is you can teach yourself bad habits....I again strongly recommend some time with an instructor...take a taxi, horse or walk....you'll be a lot better off even if for just a day....
I don't know where you are flying but I never can recommend flying alone (you ought to see my fingers)(I am glad someone was around when I tangled with a prop) or in this sue happy nation flying anywhere public
I don't mean to sound harsh I don't mean to be I want you to succeed....and the best chance of that is with help
Good Luck