This tip is all about preventing failure on GAS engines.
This is important because failure to follow would result
to engine wear.
1. Check
the fuel line for any signs of leak. A simple leak means
disaster for it results to fire or sometimes a contaminated
fuel that can loose compressed pistons and cylinder head.
2. Check
the air fuel mixture needle valve. if it sets to lean
then it would results to overheated engine or frequent
stop of engine. If it is set too rich, it will consume
and waste more fuel. so it is advisable to slightly richen
the engine so more lubricants are spewed out and protect
the engine as it runs cooler.
3.
Please dont repair glow plugs they are consumables and
needs to be replaced once busted. Please note that once
you encounter a busted glowplug to immediately overhaul
your engine, the small element from glow plug might hinder
the proper compression of the engine.
4. Never
use gasoline. The model engines are designed to run using
methanol and castor oil or combination of methanol+syntetic
oil+castor oil+nitro. If you use gasoline for that type
of engine, a serious personal injury might occur. Use
Gasoline only for the engine that was specifically designed
for them.
5.
Always log the running hours. A typical model
car needs to be overhauled after about a total of 30 running
hours while an airplane needs a total of 48 running hours.
The reason for overhauling is inorder to remove the gum,
tar and any minerals deposited inside the engine that
can cause problem like hard start.
6.
Use light duty oil like sewing machine oil
after using the engine. this will prevent rust from buildingup.
Flood the engine with above mentioned oil and drain later
when engine is again to be used.
7.
Lastly, make sure that no open flames are near the engine.
Also check the wiring for any possible damage in insulation.
A damage insulation may cause fire.
Here is my tip to prevent AM glitch that caused abnormal
or erratic servo or speed control movement. Some of you
might experience this abnormal behavior that is fatal
when your model is airborne... Well take this seriously
or else magloloko ang model nyo... Glitches are one of
the factors that affect the rc modelers for some years
now. It affects the performance of your plane. The symptoms
are similar to an RC Model with two remote controller
but in a very short duration. Lets say you are flying
an rc plane and preparing to land your model... suddenly
it swerves left or increase the engine or simply say it
performs unauthorized movements for a few seconds... this
is called glitch. Glitch is caused by many factors one
of the most common are interference by radio (Caused by
sudden surge of RF Energy or by magnetic means (Electromagnetic
Wave)... To prevent glitches I suggest to use a frequency
that no one is using (difficult to do unless you use a
PCM radio) or if the setup is already made., as in the
case for SYMA, I suggest to check if there is a 0.1uF
capacitor connected in parralell to the motor and the
main power lines and also to check periodically the forward
bias of the diode(every 6 months). Dont worry, it does
not consume power.... it just filters a stray harmonics(RF
Harmonics) that is intercepted by the receiver and the
EM(Electromagnetic Harmonics) caused by motors electromagnets...
In case for the engine type (GAS Powered) models, I suggest
to properly ground the engine by connecting a black negative
wires from the battery to the chassis of the engine and
also same for the receiver.,.. this grounding method minimized
the RF harmonics caused by metal to metal friction inside
the engine...
During the summer, your airplane can fly higher and save
power with the help of thermals or rising hot air.
Usually, gliders can benefit from thermals because the
airplane is very light and does not need extra motor power
to pull plane up but the wind catches the rising hot air
usually found in newly plowed fields and thick plantations.
The larger the wingspan and area of the plane the longer
it will glide which will sometimes last for more than
an hour.
You may be amazed that cheap 42inches wingspan planes
is capable of gaining altitudes to more than a thousand
feet.
But be careful to always keep the airplane in sight. Too
much altitude with strong upstream winds may drift the
plane farther
and harder to retrieve. Also, you need to be aware of
your airplanes receiving range.
3rd
week / Jan 2005
Installing navigational lights (at 3volts, 1.5 or less
than 1 volt LED or cellphone lights) to your plane is
easy.
Each light you want to install should come with a 1k resistor
(resistance to up to 12volts battery to avoid burn out)
for series connection.
To position the lights, first choose which polarity to
use for a parallel connection.
After choosing, make a small slit from that main wire
and wound a wire to serve as main line for all the negative
or positive contact points of the lights, then attach
all the negative or positive ends of your choice of the
lights to that main line.
second is to attach one end of all resistors (1k) to the
vacant polarity from battery - do this by slitting and
wound all the ends of resistor.
now, you will have an exposed tip of the resistors and
other end of the lights - connect the ends together and
if the light lits up,
you have done correct light installation. if the light
doesnt lit up, just try to remove light,
twist connection and reattach two ends until you get right
flow of power.
using 1k resistor wont give any visible drop on flight
time. please email me or join the forunm if you have any
questions.
2nd
week / Jan 2005
One of the most susceptible parts to damage is the propeller.
90% breaks comes from the BLADE ROOT during impact crash.
to repair this, (1) put a drop of high bond super glue
on broken part. (2nd) clamp together or apply pressure
- leave for 1hour.
(3) reinforced by coating broken part with high bond epoxy
- depending on your epoxy curing time (5min or 24 hour)
can bond stronger.
also add coating to the other portion of the propeller,
equal in distance of the broken part.
this will balance the weight of the propeller during revolution.
if you dont apply epoxy on the other part of the wing,
the prop rotation will stress out the motor and make the
plane waggle in the air.
also make sure the epoxy reionforcement is not too thick.
I can repair propellers for free. email me first and describe
the problem and the type of plane you have, then send
the props to my address.
i will repair them and send them back to you, however
you have to pay for the reshipment at a very very minimal
fee
maybe about $2 for international mail (or P100 locally
through LBC).
this way, you can study how it is done and dont spend
anymore money due to broken parts.
it is better that you can send alot of them so we can
save on shipment cost.
a brandnew propeller can cost $2-$4 us dollar which does
not yet include any shipment cost.
if you can repair the props yourself then you can save
spendings and get to know propellers better.
1st week / Jan 2005
For beginners, It is always recommended
to dedicate a single day to test your airplanes receiving
range
before making your maiden or first time flight by taxying
the plane on a runway as far as you can and bringing it
back.
This way, you may be aware visually of your airplanes
receiving range and limit the radius during flight.
You can also ask someone to hold the plane and walk away
by continuously transmitting until plane can no longer
pick up signal.
Taxying or making the plane go back and forth on the runway
will help beginner pilots to familiarize with the controls.
3rd week / Dec 2004
It is always important to concentrate
and look at the plane when flying.
A quick turn of the head or a blink of an eye can make
the plane look disoriented specially when it is flying
against the sun.
The the above animation will give you a clue on the airplanes
position.
When a plane is getting smaller, it means its moving away
from you, whereas, when its getting bigger it is moving
towards you.
It is always better to install navigational lights to
your rc planes
- when facing airplane (green lights for left wing,
red lights for right wing,
clear lights for front wing head lights and a yellow or
clear blinker for tail vertical fin.
2nd
week / Dec 2004
An airplane stalls when it is pushed forcefully against
a strong wind. Stalls can happen
several hundreds of feet or even just a few feet above the
ground. Most often, a moment
happens when a plane stalls and then followed by a nosedive
- this event is called "porpoising".
You can correct this in the following manner:
If your plane is controlled by elevator, try lowering elevator
to level plane, but too much will
pull plane down or you can lower down motor speed if your
plane can be controlled by a throttle
speed. "Porpoising" can be used as an acrobatic
manuever for throttle or variable speed planes
to wow the audience, but be sure that your plane has enough
altitude to do this trick so that you
have chance to correct problem incase anything goes wrong.
1st
week / Dec 2004
Radio Transmitters operating in FM band transmits radio
waves by
line of sight, because of this, range is sometimes limited
to the transmitting power and
obstructions present in the area. It is ideal to hold the
transmitter upright (a)
when
flying so receiver can pick up maximum signal. If plane
does'nt respond to controls, there are
some possible causes, (a weak receiver battery, weak transmitting
battery, or
a gust of wind pushing the plane in a different direction.
if this happens during flight, try raising the
transmitter up (b) while
controlling the plane to your direction and land immediately.
When a plane gets drifted away and becomes uncontrollable,
try chasing it (c)
while controlling to retrieve and land plane immediately.
It is important that you know the maximum
receiving range of your plane by asking someone to hold
it away from you so you can limit the
radius of flight.
