Andy Hoffer asked me to publish the steps for maidening an airplane after last night's Pilot's Meeting.
I have been asked to maiden about 25 airplanes a year for the past 20 years. This list is a very conservative way to maiden airplanes since my only mission is to bring the plane down in one piece. I have only failed twice.* This assumes the basics of radio/pushrods/servos/left is left/up is up etc. are fine.
1) Pre-Flight
- Nose heavy CG. Take the forward CG of a given range and move it forward. Note: some CG's on plans are significantly wrong!! (eg. Sig Wonder)
- make the elevator throw conservative and the aileron significant. Do not have significant throws on 2 axes. The plane will corkscrew.
- lots of rudder, especially on WW2 models (Spit, Mustang).
Watch out:
- for Spitfires and Mustangs. Take what you think will be a conservative elevator throw and then reduce by 1/3.
- Cubs - make it significantly nose heavy.
2) Taxi test- do a high speed taxi run to see:
- if it tracks straight
- if it wants to take off.
- if you have enough rudder throw.
3) Take-off.
- Line up for take-off from the farthest downwind point of the runway (max runway distance)
- punch it to full throttle (if electric, a fast advance if IC) and commit to the take-off
4) Speed before altitude. As soon as the plane breaks the ground, level off at about 4' and pick up max speed before giving "up" elevator.
5) Make the first turn at significant altitude (2 mistakes high) and turn slowly.
6) Do only 2-3 circuits at altitude and then prep for landing (no rolls, no loops, no low speed stuff, no retracts, no flaps).
7) Land at higher than normal speed... just in case, land at a shallow angle just after the apron. Slowly throttle back once you are 2-3' off the ground and feed in up elevator until it settles down. Note: do not cut the motor during the landing, keep the prop spinning to keep prop wash going over the wing and tail feathers.
7+1)** Landing: cut the throttle immediately (esp. a tail dragger) just in case of a nose-over, to protect the speed controller/motor
9) Take the airplane apart (wing off) Look at all the connections and screws (motor screws, servo screws, landing gear, hinges). Centre the servos on the trims you landed with. Get ready for a second flight.
10) Second flight: Take off, go two mistakes high and check:
- low speed
- stall
- flap
- retractable landing gear
Note: I never touch these areas in the first flight
11) Go home and celebrate!!!
Hand launch airplanes:
same as above but:
- have a friend hand launch it for you. Avoid solo maidens at all cost.
- give the elevator at least 3 clicks of "up" trim. No lift on the wing until you get speed.
- launch by aiming at an imaginary spot on the horizon 100 feet in front of you. Do not launch at an upward angle until you have several successful flights under your belt.
This is by no means authoritative. The main message is be conservative on the first flight and take about 5 flights to get to know your airplane. My most complicated plane is a 4 IC engine 5 foot span plane. I fly it on a basic 4 channel transmitter without dual rates on purpose to reduce the mistakes (wrong dual rates, wrong switches, no slaving, no mixing). Fight human error.
Happy flying
Frank van Beurden
* two crashes:
- a .40 size Great Planes Decathlon after suffering a broken aileron servo wheel. Sorry Tony
- A student's Alpha 40 after suffering a 2.4 brownout.
I completely re-built both these airplanes. Significant damage to both
** can't punch in the number "8" because it brings up a smily face.