I read an article recently in one of the mags on the importance of maintenance and checking that all is as it should be with one's models. This was suggested as an activity during the Winter non-flying period and on reflection, I couldn't agree more! It just so happened that I had done that very same thing. I was "between models" and waiting for the postman with a DB Sport and Scale Tiger Moth kit and decided to fill time with checking and smartening up the existing planes that I have.
Despite being what I thought was quite thorough before flying anything, inspection of an old Great Planes Electricub showed that the rudder through which the hinges went was broken in two places, the steerable tailwheel is also attached to this and the breaks were completely unnoticeable under the unbroken yellow covering unless one got hold of the rudder and applied pressure. No doubt this was the cause of some of the unusual manoeuvres I had experienced of late!
Next, a look at a Windstar electric glider revealed a cracked mainspar, pressure caused the wing to show signs of more flexibility than I would expect and would probably have ended up breaking in the style of the Ben Buckle Southerner previously written about. Whilst I was at it, I decided to have a look at the Junior 60 which has had countless flights and found that the pushrods were not doing the job as they ought to - there was too much flexibility and control responsiveness was poor. A left turn was okay as the servo was "pulling", but right turns were very slow as the servo was pushing against air pressure and the balsa and wire pushrod was just bending under the strain. I replaced with "Golden Rods", i.e. the plastic tube with the inner plastic rod, and the difference was remarkable, immediate response to the controls and much more manoeuvrable. All in all, almost a different plane!
So, another lesson learnt. Check, check and check again! The need for thoroughness in preparation and ensuring that everything is as it should be was brought to mind one day in King's Park a couple of months ago when I met two chaps with a Multiplex Cargo four engined job. I think they were fairly inexperienced and were learning on this model. However, it had suffered a few mishaps and had loose motors, out of line motors, props falling off and poor electrical connections, plus body damage - and they were a bit disappointed in its performance! I wondered what they expected in view of the condition of the model! I offered some suggestions after they asked and hopefully they are now getting better results.
That's all then, all very basic stuff, but as they say, it all registers a lot more when you experience it yourself and what you learn sinks in!