Turning the plane

[freed2003]

I understand that the two main ways to turn the plane are tilting the wing or rotating the horizontal stabilizer. I would like to know what people think is better and why.

[bernard]

A combination of settings are needed to make your plane turn efficiently.

http://www.scioly.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=191&t=6244

http://www.scioly.org/phpBB3/viewtopic. ... 68#p268168

http://www.scioly.org/phpBB3/viewtopic. ... 14#p267614

http://www.scioly.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=212&t=8928

http://www.scioly.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=212&t=8047

[retired1]

Since you are new to Wright Stuff, read this article. https://www.soinc.org/sites/default/fil ... iad5.0.pdf Turning is near the end, but is good enough that you should read it all.

[calgoddard]

retired1 is correct. He recommended that you read an article which is excellent if you are new to the Wright Stuff event.

I read the part of the article about controlling the turn of the airplane. It is a little sparse, so let me amplify.

The preferred flight pattern of an indoor duration rubber powered airplane is to fly in counter-clockwise circles (viewed from above). Flying in a small diameter circle is less efficient than flying in a larger one. However, your airplane must not hit the walls, spectators, basketball backboards and other obstructions. A typical flight path for a Wright Stuff airplane is a circle with a diameter of 30 - 50 feet, depending on the size of the gym, whether the bleachers are extended, etc. Remember to account for drift as the airplane may not stay clear of all obstacles if the circular flight path moves 10 - 15 feet, for example, due to air currents inside the gym.

The circular flight path of an indoor duration rubber powered airplane is due to four different factors: 1) torque of the wound rubber motor; 2) left thrust in the motor bearing; 3) left rudder; and 4) stab tilt. These four factors have varying effect during different portions of the flight. Typically the wing of a Wright Stuff airplane is offset to the left of the motor stick about a half inch (viewed from the standpoint of a theoretical pilot on board). You do not want the airplane to be circling in a left bank as this is not an efficient flight path. The offset wing helps prevent this banking. Sometimes wash-in is used to offset the relatively high torque that bleeds off shortly after launch. This is a very slight downward deflection of the outer segment of the trailing edge of the left wing panel.

The 2017 Wright Stuff kit sold Freedom Flight Models, designed by Dave Zeigler, will probably include excellent instructions in regard to how much left thrust, left rudder, stab tilt and wash-in to build into your airplane. Often these are adjusted during the trimming process. Trimming refers to a series of adjustments made during practice flights to optimize the flight performance of your model. Remember to make only one adjustment at a time. Observe the results, and test further individual adjustments one at a time. If you were, for example, to change rudder angle and stab tilt at the same time, and the result was not good, you would not know which one of the two adjustments caused the negative result, or if the combined adjustment was the culprit.