- The plane seems to be flying pointing out, as if the outboard wing has
a lot of drag. Does that mean the lead-outs are too far behind?
Possibly,
rudder offset can also cause this. Remove rudder offset.
- Talking about lead-outs, how should they be positioned in relation to the
CG? behind or aligned?
They need to be behind the CG about 1.5-2 degrees (.75" +- a bit to start)
- On the inside loops the plane runs an even curve, but on the outside loops
at around 11 o'clock (just before reaching the top) it looses tension, and
then it dives, as if it was a billygoat jumping... In other words it seems
to turn better inside, to get the same rate of turning on the outside loops
I have to give so much command that it stalls and looses tension. I'm not
sure if this last statement is exact, but that's what I guess it is.
Check that the flap and elevator are both at neutral at the same time,
or flap neutral with the elevator slightly down (maybe 1/16-1/8"). Make
sure that your handle connections are equally spaced above and below the center
of you hand. And make certain that the handle is vertical when the elevator
is at neutral. But there is something else wrong, too.
- If I try to make a very sharp corner is shakes and looses tension.. By the
way, the engine has 1 degree offset or less, and the rudder some 15 degrees.
The CG is around 25% of the wing chord.
Make sure the hinge lines are sealed between the hinges. Get rid of the
rudder - at most 1/8" offset. Move the CG forward to 18-20% of the average
chord. Move the leadouts to .75"-1" behind the CG. Set lap times
to 5.0-5.2 seconds on 60-62 foot .015 lines. Start with 1-1.25 oz tip weight.
Set your handle so that about +-20 degrees of hand movement moves the controls
about +-20 degrees of flap movement.
Fly level upright and inverted. If the outboard wing is high both upright
and inverted, add tipweight 1/4 oz at a time until it is level. If it is low
both ways, remove 1/4 oz at a time until it is level. If the outboard wing
is higher one way than the other, look for and fix wing warps if you can see
any. If you can't see any, bend the flap horn so that the flap is lower on
the side of the airplane that hangs down in upright flight. This should get
you close. Everything is of course predicated on very good alignment of the
parts - tail and wing parallel in both directions, and fuselage on square
to the wing. If this is not the case, then all bets are off, and you will
have to consult local experts.
Brett