I'm about 50% complete with my new Soarstar. Everything is going together OK. I'm going to attempt to fly the thing by myself either Sat or Sun morning. Yes I know it's not the optimal way of learning, but I have very little time as it is, I figure I'll go out in the very early morning (6-7am when the kids are still asleep).

My flight experience is about 1 and 1/2 minutes almost 14 years ago. Back then I had a Cox Cessna .049 glow RC with a 2 channel radio. Boy was flying that thing nerveracking. The first flight lasted about 6 seconds, I had the elevator reversed and about 4 seconds after hand lauch it nosedove into the ground. Second attempt was slightly better. Big field, very gentle throw and it literally shot into the air. I let it fly out about 10 seconds (didn't trim just watched soar into the sky), but the sucker was pretty fast, started turning (I think the rudder may have had too much travel), and it spiralled to a crash. Third experience killed it. I tried to fly it in my neighborhood thinking not realizing how fast it was. Again super gentle throw, zips into the sky, try turning, banks really hard and fast and literally rips through tree going about 25-30 mph. Wings destroyed on that one. That kinda killed RC for me for 14 years.

But know I'm back! And with several hundreds (if not thousands) of hours in flight simulators and now RC flight simulators under my belt, I understand the dynamics of flight a lot better (plus I think I understand why not to have the moving controls extend too far and to be gental on the controls). Also I've heard that the Soarstar/Wingo type planes are pretty forgiving. But I'm still nervous as sh*t about killing the plane. Can anybody give me any hints as to how to fly the Soarstar and be successful? How hard do I need to hand launch the plane? Exactly how slow is the stall speed? How many vertical feet will it take to recover from a stall? At what throttle setting can I expect the plane just to coast but not stall in very little wind? How hard will this plane bank when the rudder is applied (I have experienced extreme banking with the good ole Cox, so I'm pretty sure I won't be doing any extreme turns)? How tight a radius turn can I expect to do this it? Any info would be extremely helpful!

Thanks!

Make sure the CG is correct and that all the controls move the right way. With battery installed, if I lift mine by putting my fingertips under the L-shaped wires that the wire wing struts connect to, the nose drops to about a 20-degree angle.

A gentle, level toss will do for a hand launch. Pretend you're tossing a ball to an 8-year old about 15 feet away. The stall speed is pretty slow, I would guess around 10 mph. It'll recover from a stall in maybe 10, maybe 15 feet. It'll maintain altitude on about 1/2 throttle for most of the flight. The turning radius and bank are a function of throttle setting, turns faster/tighter with power on.

Find a BIG field for the first couple flights. After you learn to fly it you can fly from a baseball or soccer field, but you need something much larger the first couple times. Ideally you don't want any wind at all but a slight breeze (5 mph max including any gusts) is okay but you should have an even larger field. If there is any wind, always keep the plane upwind from you. Keep the plane at least 50 feet up, more is better. Just don't get so high/far away that you have trouble seeing which way it's pointing.

Good luck to you!

BTW, if MA means Massachusetts, I live in RI. If you're more or less in the area I'd be happy to help you out.

Control the altitude of the airplane with the throttle not the the elevator. Gently climbout to at least a hundred feet before attempting you first turn and when you do turn barely nudge that stick and execute a slow controlled turn - don't over control by jamming the stick all of the way to the right or left. Apply some up elevator when turning (this is critical in my opinion) - if you don't and turn too sharply the nose will drop and you'll be in a dive before you know it (it might spiral in as well). If you get in trouble reduce the throttle and let go of the sticks - the airplane should self correct.

Good luck and have fun, Greg.

My very first R/C experience was about 2-3 minutes on a fellow flyer's Wingo. It was a beautiful experience, and I give all of the credit to the plane. I did not do the take-off or landing though.

The Soarstar and Wingo both love to fly. Just don't over-control them and I think you'll do just fine.

But then again, what would I know?

Wings