Since the EasyStar does not have landing gear, it must be hand launched. For the first few flights of your new EasyStar your instructor will both hand launch and fly the model while you stand next to him or her.
At first you will mostly observe. Try to watch your instructor’s hand while it moves the control stick and fingers the throttle lever. At the same time, look at the EasyStar in the air and note how it is turning and pitching up and down to both the rudder and elevator commands.
Quickly into the first flight you will note your instructor setting the trim levers on both the rudder and elevator to help achieve level flight when no controls are being issued (hand not holding the control stick). It is important for a beginner pilot to have the aircraft trimmed for level flight so that when it gets into some kind of bad attitude, it can recover mostly on its own. Once the trim is set, you won’t have to change it much except for weather conditions such as more or less wind!
Once the EasyStar is up to a reasonable altitude of approximately 100-150 feet and trimmed, your instructor will hand you the RC transmitter and let you grip the control stick for your first time. Try to remember not to “slam” the stick from side to side. Doing that may cause some violent maneuvers on the aircraft.
You should try small amounts of rudder and see if you can steer the airplane in a circle or a partial circle. Try moving the stick forward to apply down elevator and watch the airplane begin to dive. Pull the stick back and up elevator will be applied and the it will tend to pitch upwards.
If at any time while you are holding the transmitter the airplane gets in a bad attitude (and it will and does happen!), pass the transmitter immediately back to your instructor to recover before you try to take over again.
You should try using the throttle lever on the Hitec Focus three-channel transmitter. Pushing the lever toward the middle of the case will provide high or full throttle while pulling the lever to the case edge will get you low speed. Pushing it all the way back, the motor and propeller will actually stop.
Recognize that the airplane will quickly descend when you retard the throttle, but full throttle is not necessary for the EasyStar to remain at altitude. If you can cut back on the throttle and still stay at altitude, you will be saving battery power and extending your flying time. If you were to fly the entire flight at full throttle you might only obtain a 5-minute duration flight. With somewhat reduced throttle settings you might get a 7-minute flight.
As you progress into your flight training you will realize that the throttle is the better way to set your altitude. High throttle or full power will let you climb, while low throttle or idle will let you descend. It is desirable to adjust your altitude with throttle control rather than using the elevator control. If you apply down elevator to reduce altitude, as the airplane goes into a dive, it will speed up. Reducing the throttle will accomplish the same reduction in altitude, without increasing the speed of the aircraft.
One of the most difficult things to learn as an RC model aircraft beginner is that your left and right maneuvers are not always the same. If you are standing behind the aircraft and it is flying away from you, a left turn executed by the transmitter control stick will prompt a left turn of the aircraft. When the same aircraft is flying toward you and you apply left rudder control at the transmitter, your aircraft will appear to turn in the opposite direction.
So the relationship of your aircraft to your position on the ground is important. This would never happen to a full-scale pilot because sitting in the cockpit of the aircraft the left is always left and the right always right. This is why full-scale pilots initially have trouble when learning to fly RC model aircraft.
How can you correct for this turning phenomena? The easiest way to correct is when the aircraft is approaching you is to turn away from the airplane and look over your shoulder. For some this may be difficult to do and keep your bearing on things. An approach many have suggested (with the airplane flying at you) is to lean the control stick in the direction that the airplane is turning (or dropping off!). If the airplane is flying toward you and its right wing (which you will be viewing as the left wing) tends to drop off in a bank, applying left rudderwill straighten out the airplane and make it fly right at you.
It may sound complicated, but one of the most important jobs for your instructor is to get you through this phase of aircraft orientation. You won’t believe it now, but when you gather some solo flight time, you will never think again about aircraft orientation, it will just happen naturally or automatically.
Early in your training your instructor will first let you hand launch the EasyStar. After a few times doing this you will be asked to hand launch the airplane with your right hand, while holding the transmitter case with your left. If the aircraft is trimmed reasonably well, it should leave your hand and begin to fly straight and level. This will give you a second or two to grip the control stick with your right hand and begin actually flying the model.
In every flight you have to land. This is probably the most difficult task for new RC pilots. At the beginning of landing training your instructor will be happy to just get you down safely somewhere on your flying field. The exact location is less important than having the airplane land in one piece.
As you initially try landing approaches and actual landings your instructor will caution you about items to be concerned with at your local field such as trees at the approach end of the runway or buildings or a parking lot that must be avoided. You should never fly over the pit area or flightline. All of these “obstacles” must be avoided and that must be the case for every landing.
At the beginning your instructor will talk you down, telling you how to set up for a landing by being downwind of the runway. As the airplane approaches the runway you begin to reduce the throttle and continue to do so as the airplane settles in for a landing. By the time you are almost on the ground, you should be nearly at an idle engine/motor speed.
Before actually touching down, apply a slight amount of up elevator to help flare the airplane for the landing (making the nose slightly high!). As you keep making landings your skill level will improve and as it does you will learn how to get the airplane closer to the desired spot on the runway. After you are flying on your own, you can put a “target” out on the runway and see how close you can land to it.
From this point on, it is strictly a matter of fly, fly, fly, until everything you are taught becomes second nature. Experience has shown that the more flying sessions you make while in the learning process, the faster you will learn. If you are a busy person and can only find time to take lessons every couple of weeks, it will take longer to learn. Busy people must recognize this real world kind of situation. Of course the one thing we have no control over is the weather. A stretch of bad weather can easily slow the training process down.
One of the things you will learn quickly when flying the EasyStar is that your battery will only provide a 5-7 minute flight time. After that the battery pack must cool down for roughly 5 minutes and then it will take about 30 minutes to recharge the battery while at the flying field. That by itself might really spread out the number of flights you get at any one flying session.
It is advisable to purchase at least two additional battery packs. Hobby Lobby can provide these for roughly $20. Having three will allow you to have one on charge, another cooling down, and the third flying the aircraft.
This is probably the only real disadvantage of electric-powered flight and one that a fueled model doesn’t have. Remember, with a fueled model aircraft all you have to do after each flight is fill the tank and off you go. The choice of electric or fueled will still be your own!
Always remember to disconnect and remove the battery pack after each flight (or when not flying). Only charge the battery pack if it is reasonably cool (not hot to the touch). Always charge the battery outside of the model. Disconnecting the battery prevents inadvertent or accidental motor start ups and to prevents the battery from being drained down by the RC system.
Another important safety rule should be considered when trying to make control surface position changes at your home shop, for which you need your RC system turned on. When doing that always remove the propeller from the motor shaft. Then if the motor should accidentally start up it won’t hurt you or anyone in your shop or even scatter your model supplies and balsa dust all over your shop.
The rear facing, high location pylon mounted motor on the EasyStar makes it almost impossible to break a propeller on landing but it might break in a “nominal” crash landing. Be prepared and purchase several spare propellers.
Sooner or later in the learning process you may break a wing, tail surface, or even a fuselage. The EasyStar foam is resilient to damage, but it still may happen. Hobby Lobby offers spare parts for this aircraft. In fact, many manufacturers of both RTF and ARF model aircraft offer a full inventory of spare parts.
To continue, click here.
