Pandora

[Pauly]

My first thought too. But now that you 've figured it out, try try again!
The first flight with Pandora One, I had the ailerons reversed, so here I am, a novice with reversed ailerons, of course she headed for the nearest pole and snagged it.

Believe it or not, minimal damage, lesson one, check your control directions/surfaces. Second flight was when I augured in, can't remember why any more, but that was when we had the fire. Dejected, the wife said why don't you order another one. So I did, never say no to the wife!! Meanwhile, took a serious look at the fire damage and assesed it as fixable. Meanwhile Pandora Two was on her way. Got her, she augured in one day, due to the fact that I wasn't hitting neutral, unbeknownst to me at the time, she just spiraled in. Took a while to find her, but did and she was fixable as well.
To make a long story short, two years later, they're still great planes and both are flying wonderfully.
The measure of a great trainer is how much they teach you and how forgiving they are. Pandoras are number one in my books for those very reasons [ATTACH=CONFIG]n43838[/ATTACH]

I love the paint scheme on both planes Gman!

[Pauly]

Wow! That called for a cold beer after that! LOL! When you took off Dewey, was the gyro on or off? Just curious...

That's exactly what I was thinking Flygirl!

[Flygirl]

That's exactly what I was thinking Flygirl!

Had it happen to me Pauly where I had the elevator backwards on the gyro and it did just the same thing. Except I hit the light pole and Dewey missed. LOL!

[Dewey H Lee]

That one called for more than one cold beer after I got home. On one of the graceful stall turns(that's what we'll call them) it actually looked like it dove in the bed of my truck and then back out. Even though I know it went in behind it. But to see a plane completely disappear behind the bed of a F150 going almost straight down and then reapear going almost straight up is a sight you don't expect to see. When she went in behind the truck I almost gave up thinking there's nothing but pieces there. It's at that point I started to figure out that something was wrong with the elevator really. It acted just like a bad tail heavy plane and thats the first thing I thought. Then I said no way this thing showed nose heavy on my cg machine. Not alot but I checked it and the
measurements before leaving the house. I had it a little nose heavy at 75mm from the leading edge. I look at that plane now and can't wait to get back to the field. It's personal now. Went over every nut and screw. I'll guarantee there all tight now. Boy. Hard way to learn a lesson. I wanted something relaxing to fly😨. Oh well my fault. Maybe relaxing now. Can't wait . We'll see.

[Dewey H Lee]

I'll bet that was exciting Flygirl.

[Flygirl]

My fault Dewey.... It says all over the place not to take off with the gyro enabled. Doh!!!! Unfortunately I wrecked my sons Corsair. :(

[Dewey H Lee]

Ouch. Did ya get him anotherone. How in the world did that happen. One of those lapses, wind, mechanical. Or gyro. Those little buggers can cause problems if you don't do as instructed. That's one reason why I jerked the wing real quick before the flight because I kinda wasn't sure the switch I assigned to it😳. Seniors moment. Besides I was handicapped. I was sociopolitical excited about finally getting to fly after so long. Sorry to hear about the crash.

[Dewey H Lee]

Where in the world did that word in front of excited come from . Dang phone.

[Flygirl]

Where in the world did that word in front of excited come from . Dang phone.

ROFLMAO!!!!! ;)

[Flygirl]

Ouch. Did ya get him anotherone. How in the world did that happen. One of those lapses, wind, mechanical. Or gyro. Those little buggers can cause problems if you don't do as instructed. That's one reason why I jerked the wing real quick before the flight because I kinda wasn't sure the switch I assigned to it😳. Seniors moment. Besides I was handicapped. I was sociopolitical excited about finally getting to fly after so long. Sorry to hear about the crash.

Nope we fixed it I think. We haven't flown it since. I did the same thing on my Solius glider but THIS time I waited until I was a mistake high and managed to shut it off before I got in trouble. The perils of being blond I guess. ;)

[Dewey H Lee]

Okay. Back to getting that maiden in. It's finally done and still no breaks or bruises . The wind was gusting a little by the time I got to the field. Coming west to southwest at between 8 to 13 mph. Hate it always a crosswind. Not to be deterred I checked everything one more time and satisfied that the plane was in order I put in the throttle. At around 3/4 I pulled back on the elevator and up she went. Not like last week. I still had to add in a considerable amount of down trim but was able to get her flying hands free before landing and returning trim tabs to Zero and proceeded to adjust the clevisis. Putting her back in the air this time was so much better only requiring 2 clicks for straight and level flight at 3/4 throttle. I then finished off that battery and put in a fresh one. Took the time to smoke one and give the esc a chance to cool(not that it needed it) and back up she went. Got a couple of mistakes high and it was time to click on the gyro. So holding my breath I flipped the switch and where the wind had been kicking her around somewhat she smoothed right out. Flew that battery down and landed and took the time to burn anotherone(was beginning to chain smoke). Time for one last thing to test. Put her back up and deployed half flaps(I had to do the flap MOD it only seemed right). Boy did she slow down. After that I went full and I thought it was going to stop dead still. Just had to land and try a takeoff with them. I don't think I could have gotten off any quicker without hand launching. It jump off the ground. I'm satisfied this is going to be a fun plane to just fly in general. So thanks guys for all the recommendations and information. She will be a welcome addition to my hanger.

[Flygirl]

Okay. Back to getting that maiden in. It's finally done and still no breaks or bruises . The wind was gusting a little by the time I got to the field. Coming west to southwest at between 8 to 13 mph. Hate it always a crosswind. Not to be deterred I checked everything one more time and satisfied that the plane was in order I put in the throttle. At around 3/4 I pulled back on the elevator and up she went. Not like last week. I still had to add in a considerable amount of down trim but was able to get her flying hands free before landing and returning trim tabs to Zero and proceeded to adjust the clevisis. Putting her back in the air this time was so much better only requiring 2 clicks for straight and level flight at 3/4 throttle. I then finished off that battery and put in a fresh one. Took the time to smoke one and give the esc a chance to cool(not that it needed it) and back up she went. Got a couple of mistakes high and it was time to click on the gyro. So holding my breath I flipped the switch and where the wind had been kicking her around somewhat she smoothed right out. Flew that battery down and landed and took the time to burn anotherone(was beginning to chain smoke). Time for one last thing to test. Put her back up and deployed half flaps(I had to do the flap MOD it only seemed right). Boy did she slow down. After that I went full and I thought it was going to stop dead still. Just had to land and try a takeoff with them. I don't think I could have gotten off any quicker without hand launching. It jump off the ground. I'm satisfied this is going to be a fun plane to just fly in general. So thanks guys for all the recommendations and information. She will be a welcome addition to my hanger.

LOL! Dewey you so sound like me with the smoke between flights. Hahaha! You have your Pandora set up just like I do with the gyro and flaps. You can make some fantastic landings with that setup. About a 5 foot roll and off she goes.... Glad you got that plane :) It will become your fave I bet.

[boomer108]

Hey Dewey!

. You will have a great time flying the Pandora. Since I started flying g mine at the beginning of the season it's become my go to plane. I upgraded the motor to the 850 kv Roc Hobby as Gman suggested and put in a bigger esc (45 amp) it's just fun to fly especially with the flaps. I also put a air inlet just below the prop on the cowling and put a exit vent hole on the fuse just behind the wing saddle for more cooling. Good luck and good flying!

Roy B.

[Dewey H Lee]

Hey Pauly
When you put in the 580 what did you have to change. Did the motor mount screw up to the motor board without modification. I can really see to where it needs a little more ump.
Yes your right about the cigarette Flygirl. Just sitting and talking with the guys I don't smoke that much but between flights seems like I for I had just smoked one 6 minutes earlier. Every now and then I'll forget and go to the flight line with one in my mouth and when the smoke starts getting in my eyes I'm like what the heck. Can't see plane all over the sky. Still can't put them down. Like them to much.

[Flygirl]

Hey Pauly
When you put in the 580 what did you have to change. Did the motor mount screw up to the motor board without modification. I can really see to where it needs a little more ump.
Yes your right about the cigarette Flygirl. Just sitting and talking with the guys I don't smoke that much but between flights seems like I for I had just smoked one 6 minutes earlier. Every now and then I'll forget and go to the flight line with one in my mouth and when the smoke starts getting in my eyes I'm like what the heck. Can't see plane all over the sky. Still can't put them down. Like them to much.

LOL!! Yep! That's me too!

[Grossman56]

She bolts right on Dewey, its an easy upgrade, just get a bigger ESC, I have an FMS 50A in mine it comes with long battery leads which works great for me.
The DB's are a nice mod as well. She just likes to crab in a cross wind, fly the airplane as a whole, don't worry about where the nose is pointed. She gets herself straightened out as soon as she touches down. It's fun to try to kick the crab out just before she touches down. Also fun to get her head in the wind with full flaps and let her hover in the air.

Grossman56

[Dewey H Lee]

Boy you got the hover right. I think if you knew the wind would stay constant you could almost sit it down like a chopper. I am definitely going to have to get use to the slower landing characteristics. I am definitely going to do the motor MOD as well as the DBs. What size DBs did you put on it. I'm already trying to move the battery back because it's flying a little nose heavy. I'm flying the 3 s 11.1 2200 pro admiral it. It seems that the 4 cell will make it worse. I'm ready to switch it to a low wing anyhow because that's what I'm really use to.

[Grossman56]

DB's are 2 1/2" and I have used only 2200 3s batteries, both the stock and Pro series Admirals. I guess, with a 50A ESC you could go a 4s battery, but hey, its a Pandora, its sort of defeating the purpose. As you can see from the pics, this is where I have my batteries and I also have one 'square ' of weight on the tail, I cut the shape right into the little square at the end of the fuselage just under the Vertical stab.
I placed the battery straps on the fuselage keeping in mind that I might want to remove the wing for transport, which I have done, so keep that in mind as well.

Grossman56

[Pauly]

Good to hear Dewey, glad to hear the last flight was good for you. I still got my Pandora as stock. The last flight I did I went through 5 batteries and didn't really get much of a break in between flights. However that day the weather was awesome and not 100 like the past few days.

[Grossman56]

They are a great little plane, I love both of mine, sometimes, when you just want to relax and fly the pattern, they are the go-to planes. We play,"He who makes the least moves wins" with them. bank, neutral pull, then back and no touching the controls as she goes down to the other end of the field. Minimal control input, to the point where you hold the radio up with one hand. It's fun and gets you out of correcting. You can do the same thing with the Apprentice, but you could probably have a smoke, read a book and order a new airplane in the time it takes to get to the other end of the field!!LOL!!!

Grossman56