Here is the back story. I got RealFlight G4 last year and started learning to fly. Since then I have logged close to 900hrs in RealFlight. Last weekend(july 5,2009) I found a Used Tiger Trainer 40 on Craigslist for $70. When I went to get it, It had all servos, Futaba Reciever, and a Tiger Thunder .46 Pro. All ready to go. Only thing wrong with it was a hole in the wing monokote, that I patched with some clear packing tape, and 2 missing wheels. I picked the wheels up this week for $2 plus Fuel and a couple of glow plugs which brings my total to under $100.
So Friday rolls around I take my plane out to the Local RC field and Deryl Ellison was the only one there. I asked him to fly it and trim it out so I could give it a go. Well we get it started and he gets it up the air and figures out that It continuously pulls up. We bring it down and he notices that the firewall is a bit loose and that the elevator needs adjustment. He was gracious enough to let me fly one of his Combat Falcons for about 3mins. then he took over again and landed it. I take my plane home and work on the issues he found.
At home I epoxy the firewall, and inspect the aileron and find that the control rod had been installed incorrectly by the original owner of the plane. Which meant that the elevator would move up(climb) but not down. The rod would catch on a former in the fuselage. Rotated the rod 180* and elevator problem solved.
Saturday I go out again and this time it was Charley and Forrest Mayes. Both were exceptionally friendly and more than willing to help. They checked out the plane didn't notice any problems and Charley got it up in the air. Trimmed it out as best as he could and let me fly for about 5mins. He then took over and landed it. It was still trying to climb most of the time. So we looked over the plane and found that the original owner had installed weight right behind servo tray for some reason we removed most of the weight and got ready to fly again. Charley again prepped the plane to fly. Started take off and one of the wheels fell off right before lift off. Luckily the only damage was that it pulled the elevator hinges loose. So home I went and epoxied the hinges back in and replaced the Wheel collar that was lost.
Now here we are on Sunday July 12 plane has been gassed up and My wonderful Girlfriend Allie was nice enough to brave the North Texas Heat and Get this moment on video. Sorry for the low quality. We used a Cannon SD630 which is a camera not a camcorder to film. It is unedited. From start to finish. I must say now that RealFlight is extremely close to the real thing. Keep in mind this is my 3rd time in the air and maybe 10th minute of actual flying. What you can't make out in the video it that I do a couple of loops and 2 high flybys inverted. The field was pretty rough so the take off was bumpy but the landing was a perfect 3pt landing. Not bad I think.
Right now I am in the process of building a SPAD EXTRA with an Enya .60 motor. it should be ready next weekend.
Thanks again to Allie. And thanks to the guys out at Texoma RC Modelers. Deryl Ellison, Charley, and Forrest Mayes for all the help and encouragement.
