Hello All,
Well, I finally got the maiden flight in for my P-40. It was a good bit windier than I would have liked, but since I was at the field, and I had flown both my PZ Corsair S, and the Dynam C-188, I decided it was time to get the Warhawk in the air. The wind started out at only about 5mph, but kept increasing the whole time I was there, and by the time I was flying the P-40, the gusts were 15mph+, probably a good bit more up 100 feet or so. Take off was smooth, not a whole lot of rudder correction was needed, and the actual roll was pretty short, but that was probably due to the 5-10mph headwind too. I left everything on high rates for the first flight, especially since I wasn't sure how much down force I would need on take off. As it turns out, not much at all. I won't say this was the easiest maiden ever, but certainly not the worst either. I had the CG set right at 70-75mm and the plane penetrated the wind well, but gusts hitting it during turns would really rock the wings, and I had to keep more power on than normal just to counter the effects of the wind. Very little trim was required, but again, with all the wind, it was difficult to tell what the plane was doing at times. I never attempted to stall it due to the conditions, but I did manage some nice loops and rolls. She really does look good in the air, and seems to have good power. I was flying with a 2600mAH 35C 4 cell and my timer was set to 5 minutes. After about 4 minutes, I started trying to make some lower, landing like passes to practice brining it in, but the wind kept bouncing it around, and I ended up doing many "go arounds". I never noticed any stalls trying to start, but again, I would really pour on the coals before turning against the wind for the go around. I did notice that this plane loves to glide! It simply did not want to come down. I finally added just a touch of flaps on my last approach, and it would come down to maybe a foot over the grass, and the wind would kick up and she would just float. I finally got it to touch down after another 50 yards or so, and all was pretty good. The glue used for one of the retracts was not super solid, and the taller grass knocked it loose, but that was an easy fix with a bit of epoxy once I got home.
So, overall, I think it will be a good flying plane, but I really should have waited for a calmer day to try the maiden flight. It handled fine at altitude, and I think it will be much smoother flying on low rates. Anyway, it is down in one piece, the maiden is completed, and I am hoping for better weather soon to really try it out. The 5 minutes set seems about right, I went just a bit a over with all the landing attempts, and still had 35% capacity left in the battery.
This was my first flight with one of the 1450mm FMS warbirds, and I am thinking there will likely be more in the future!
Well, I finally got the maiden flight in for my P-40. It was a good bit windier than I would have liked, but since I was at the field, and I had flown both my PZ Corsair S, and the Dynam C-188, I decided it was time to get the Warhawk in the air. The wind started out at only about 5mph, but kept increasing the whole time I was there, and by the time I was flying the P-40, the gusts were 15mph+, probably a good bit more up 100 feet or so. Take off was smooth, not a whole lot of rudder correction was needed, and the actual roll was pretty short, but that was probably due to the 5-10mph headwind too. I left everything on high rates for the first flight, especially since I wasn't sure how much down force I would need on take off. As it turns out, not much at all. I won't say this was the easiest maiden ever, but certainly not the worst either. I had the CG set right at 70-75mm and the plane penetrated the wind well, but gusts hitting it during turns would really rock the wings, and I had to keep more power on than normal just to counter the effects of the wind. Very little trim was required, but again, with all the wind, it was difficult to tell what the plane was doing at times. I never attempted to stall it due to the conditions, but I did manage some nice loops and rolls. She really does look good in the air, and seems to have good power. I was flying with a 2600mAH 35C 4 cell and my timer was set to 5 minutes. After about 4 minutes, I started trying to make some lower, landing like passes to practice brining it in, but the wind kept bouncing it around, and I ended up doing many "go arounds". I never noticed any stalls trying to start, but again, I would really pour on the coals before turning against the wind for the go around. I did notice that this plane loves to glide! It simply did not want to come down. I finally added just a touch of flaps on my last approach, and it would come down to maybe a foot over the grass, and the wind would kick up and she would just float. I finally got it to touch down after another 50 yards or so, and all was pretty good. The glue used for one of the retracts was not super solid, and the taller grass knocked it loose, but that was an easy fix with a bit of epoxy once I got home.
So, overall, I think it will be a good flying plane, but I really should have waited for a calmer day to try the maiden flight. It handled fine at altitude, and I think it will be much smoother flying on low rates. Anyway, it is down in one piece, the maiden is completed, and I am hoping for better weather soon to really try it out. The 5 minutes set seems about right, I went just a bit a over with all the landing attempts, and still had 35% capacity left in the battery.
This was my first flight with one of the 1450mm FMS warbirds, and I am thinking there will likely be more in the future!
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