 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Quique's Aircraft Support
|
 |
 |
|
| I will be doing my
best to help some of you fly 3D or take steps in right
direction to fly 3D. As I get more time, I will start
posting more on these.
Let's get rolling,
shall we? |
| Q1. What is 3D flying? |
| 3D flying mostly applies to
stall/low speed maneuvers such as Hovering, Harrier, Harrier
Rolls but there are also high speed maneuvers that can be
considered 3D such as Blender/Panic. |
| Q2. What can I do to improve my
flying? |
| Fly with goal. Before you do a
simple loop, you should be able to see how you are coming
out of it. Think before you attempt something that you want
to
learn. Most crashes happen when you get yourself in a
situation that you are not ready for or didn't think how
plane would react when you moved the sticks. Don't bang the sticks, focus and move the sticks
as you feel the need. Bottom line is to improve and get
better you need to think, focus and practice this is besides
the fact you need to choose right components for your
aircraft and have the right set up. |
| Q3. Is simulator helpful? |
| Simulator can be extremely
useful if you buy the right one. Practice with purpose. You
can master lots of things with simulator. You may not get
quite the same feeling of your own model aircraft but when
you are flying you don't have to think about the corrections
in different orientations. Should I give it right rudder or
left? |
| Q4.How important is my plane set
up? |
| Extremely important. At least
50% of a good flying plane depends on its set up. Get the
right servos, adjust your control surfaces with throw meters
and accurately, set the CG of your plane to your likings,
starting with mfg recommended CG. Bundle the wires and
extensions, don't let them flop around. Good power system
that supply the current needed by the servos. |
|
Q5. How much practice do I need? |
| If you are serious about learning,
improving and competing, I would say at least 2-3 times a
week. It is amazing how fast you can improve if you do
perfect practice and consistent. Also let me mention it is
amazing how fast you can loose certain things if you stop
your practice on a regular basis. The hand-eye coordination
and the feel for the sensitivity of the sticks and plane can
easily change and make you feel you need to start all over
again. |
|
Q6. What kind of plane do I need? Do I
need to go giant scale? |
| Depending what you are looking for
in this hobby you may need to step up to giant scale planes.
If you are in the hobby to have fun and be a sport flyer,
you don't have to go giant scale. I remember when I first
started, I had so much fun with my trainer that I was
looking for a back up! but then after 4 weekends and maybe
20-25 flights, I felt I am ready for the next step. I was
flying for 6 months before I got my first 50cc plane and
after that for about a year until I got my first 100cc
plane.
There are planes available in the
market that will do both precision and 3D with ease. So you
can set up your plane the way that with a flip of one switch
and changing flight mode you can fly either. I find my QQ-Yak
102" to be capable of both. Most planes tend to favor one or
other but my QQ-Yak 102" has no problem with either. I'm
sure there are other planes that can compete with mine but I
can't speak to the ones I haven't flown. |
|
Q7. Which one is harder 3D or
Precision flying? |
| Well, this is a tough question but
I can share with you my experience. Both are hard and
challenging. If you want to be an outstanding pilot you need
to do both. It gives you better vision for flying and better
control over your plane. Precision is extremely challenging
and difficult. Takes more time to master. Sense of doing a
whole routing at a certain time in a certain way makes it
really challenging and difficult. It is a lot of fun and
challenging for the pilot and less fun for the spectators.
Now 3D is also really hard to do
and challenging but with today's technology (Simulator) and
advanced 3D capable planes and right equipment, flying 3D is
getting easier and easier. The problem I have seen with most
3Ders is that they are sloppy. Hovering for 10 minutes
straight will not make you a 3D pilot. Most of the time
pilot care less about how the maneuvers are performed as
long as it is close to the ground and after a certain period
of time, you can see everything is getting repetitive. So if
you want to be a good 3D pilot, you need to have precision
in your 3D flying. You can always add the WOW factor of
getting close to the ground as well but make it look good
and have that in your priority list rather than flying
inches off the ground.
Bottom line is both type of flying
is extremely challenging and time consuming to master if
done right. Choose your own path and stick with a good plane
to be able to improve and help each other at the field to
become a better pilot. This a great hobby and everyone in it
can enjoy doing it. |
|
Q8. How to do knife
edge flight? |
| Flying knife edge is one of the
first maneuvers that flyers would like to learn and to do.
Actually it is quite simple if you set up your plane right.
Let's go over how it's done first. Let's say you are flying
right to left at high speed 3/4 to full throttle, now roll
the plane to the left where canopy will be towards you. Now
as plane getting close to 90 degrees you need to kick in
right rudder. when at 90 degrees you need to input as much
right rudder to keep the plane from descending or ascending.
Now couple of thing would happen. 1. plane wants to pitch to
canopy or 2. plane wants to pitch to landing gear. 3. Plane
needs opposite aileron (meaning opposite rudder input) to
stay at 90 degrees and not roll out of it. Let's my plane
shows number 2 and 3 behavior. My stick inputs to hold a a
true knife edge would be giving up elevator and left
aileron. For a well designed plane normally the mixings are
very little. Some planes do show the need of mixing more
than others. For example and Extra330 would require more
mixing than a Yak-54. Program these mixes in your radio so
whenever you want to do a knife edge flight, all you have to
do is hold your rudder. (Click
Here for Video) |
| Q9. Why should I program knife
edge mix when I can correct while flying? |
| First of all let me tell you
something. All the top pilots and I mean all of them will
place these mixes in place. Why? It's because flying all
those routines are hard enough that they find absolutely no
reason to make it harder for themselves. Imagine a rolling
harrier that anytime you need to compensate for your knife
edge coupling! I would highly recommend you to take the
right steps if you want to improve your flying. One of these
steps is to have correct mixings in place. Also keep in mind
that a plane can and most likely will behave differently in
different knife edge directions (right to left or left to
right). I have seen planes that didn't require as much input
when right rudder was required for knife edge in compare to
the situation where left rudder is the correct input to hold
the knife edge. |
| Q10. How to do 4 point rolls? |
| Now that you have mastered knife
edge in both directions, you can start practicing 4 point
rolls which would be like building a block. Simple if you
know how to knife edge and you have the right mixes in
place. Well, this is how it's done. Let's say you are flying
right to left, 1. roll the plane to left until plane is at
90 degrees, apply right rudder to hold the knife edge
position. You need to have a 1/2 a second or so stop so it
is obvious that you have established a stop at the knife
edge. 2. Now slowly release the rudder as you are applying
left aileron to go to inverted. Depending on the speed of
the plane rudder can be released faster from knife edge to
inverted. Normally this maneuver is done at high speed so
rudder release rate is relatively fast. You also need to
push on the stick to hold level flight 3. Now you are
inverted and want to make the third point so apply left
aileron until plane is at 270 degree from upright and then
kick left rudder to hold the knife edge. So for the first
point roll at 90 degrees you needed right rudder but for 270
where landing gear is towards you, plane requires left
rudder input to stay in knife edge attitude. 4. Lastly, roll
left for an upright position as you are releasing your
rudder input to neutral. What
makes this maneuver challenging is you need to have stops at
90,180,270 and 360 degrees and keep the plane in the same
altitude and with no yaw in a straight line. I would suggest
that you do the maneuver along the runway so you can monitor
any drift or change while flying. This way you can correct
yourself until you master this maneuver. (Video will be
available soon). |
| Q11. How to do an inverted flat
spin? |
| This is a fairly easy maneuver
that looks good if done right. You need high rates on
everything. Gain enough altitude by going a vertical upline.
Do a hammer head to get the plane diving straight down. Now
full down elevator and full right rudder at a tad above
idle (this can vary depending on your plane, CG and prop). You may need a
little opposite aileron (which is right aileron in case of
inverted) in this case to keep it flat and also you may need to increase the throttle
a little bit to hold the nose up. Watch for too much
throttle and too much aileron! To get out of the maneuver,
let go of rudder first, then ease up on your down elevator.
Roll to any direction that you would like to see the plane
and pull up elevator to get out. You will need to add
throttle at the end to gain some power to pull out. Do not
increase the throttle when you are not ready to pull yet.
Sometimes increasing throttle when you are still struggling
with coming out of the spin will not only make things better
but also you will be speeding up towards the ground and go
in the state of panic. Always and I mean always when you
have enough altitude ease up on throttle to give your self
enough time to react and correct! (Video will be available
soon) |
| Q12. How to do knife edge circle? |
| Knife edge circle is not hard to
do if your plane has proper knife edge mixing. Let's say you
are flying right to left into the wind. Roll the plane to
left and hold in knife edge. Canopy will be towards you. Now
start pushing on the elevator stick (down elevator). You
need to correct if plane wanted to roll out but giving it
correct aileron correction. One thing to remember is when
plane completes half the circle and now is going downwind
you may need to increase the power or more rudder to hold
the plane in the same plane and altitude otherwise you will
start dropping. You need high rates on rudder and low rates
on Aileron and elevator. Do not fly on full deflection
because it will take the precision away from your circle.
(Click
Here for Video) |
| Q13. How to do an upright flat
spin? |
| Some planes do inverted flat spins
better than upright some are opposite and some do both well.
Here's how you do it. You
need high rates on everything. Gain enough altitude by going
a vertical upline. Do a hammer head to get the plane diving
straight down. Now full up elevator and full left rudder,
neutral aileron and about 1/4 throttle or less (this can
vary depending on your plane, CG and prop). You may need a little
opposite to full opposite aileron in this case to keep it
flat and also you may need to increase the throttle to even
full to hold the
nose up. Watch for too much throttle and too much aileron!
My QQ-Yak 102" loves 3/4 throttle to full with Full right
Aileron but I have found other planes to be slightly
different.
To get out of the maneuver, let go of rudder first, then
ease up on your elevator. Now you are diving towards the
ground. Roll to any direction that you would like to see the
plane and pull up elevator to get out. One thing to note on
inverted and upright flat spins, aileron correction can
separate good pilots from average pilots. In some cases
pilot is required to adjust the aileron as the plane is in
spin, so it wouldn't be like holding the aileron in one
position! (Click
Here for Video) |
| Q14. How to do knife edge loop? |
| This maneuver can be challenging.
First off let me remind you that your plane needs to be
trimmed for knife edge flight. Also it would be the best
that you trim your plane using multi-point mixing that
actually allows you to have variable mixing points as rudder
gets deflected from small movements to full throw. Now let's
get down to it. Fly the plane
in a high speed knife edge and start increasing your rudder.
Plane starts climbing in knife edge. Remember to adjust
aileron and elevator as you see the need when increasing
rudder throw. As you are getting to the top ease up on the
throttle and let the plane start its dive. Then start adding
throttle 1/4-1/2 to get the plane back in the circle and add
full power as you feel the need. The hardest part of the
maneuver is the down line of the loop. On some planes rudder
don't show enough authority to pull the plane towards
completing the loop. On other high performance planes,
tricky part is adding throttle and rudder at the same time.
You should also be able to adjust for the coupling you will
be seeing at the bottom of the loop. The adjustment can be
very challenging depending on your plane and mixing set up.
(Video will be available soon) |
| Q15. How to do upright Harrier? |
| This maneuver can be very simple
or frustrating due wing rocking. First let tell you and a
light plane will more likely do a better harrier than a
heavy plane. A heavy plane will require more throttle and
power and can show wing rocking/tipping behavior. This is
how is done. Get enough altitude so you would have enough
time to learn about your plane characteristic as this can be
an issue from one plane to another.
From level flight with not much
throttle, pull full up elevator (Full deflection) . Don't
add any throttle yet. Observe the plane to see if it's
coming down nice and easy with no wing rocking. Watch for
your aileron sticks! (people tend to move their aileron
stick) Add a tad more power until plane lifts its nose to
over 30 degrees. I have found some planes like 30-35 degree
and some 40-45. Find your plane angle of attack sweet spots.
This is normally where you have the least or no wing
rocking. Now after that, you need to understand that harrier
is not a hold stick effortless operation. You may be
required to hold a little of correct rudder and a little of
aileron depending on what your plane needs. Remember a
little not much at all. Also throttle plays a very important
roll, sometimes you need to modulate the throttle and/or
play with your elevator at the same time. This is not an
easy pull stick type of maneuver, you have to be on top of
it. Smaller planes will show more wing rocking. I will try
to show you all this on videos that I will be making. (Video
will be available soon) |
|
Sponsored By:
Quique's Aircraft Co.
Duralite Flight
Systems
JR
|
