One of the “landings” (crashes) of my new plane last night was particularly rough, and I noticed a crease in the wing, where it looked like it folded on impact. I figured the thing was still flyable, but boy was I wrong! I tried a few more times last night and blamed my lack of success on the wind. But I got up early this morning, and went flying in the park. There’s no wind at all, and the plane still kept crashing. But I didn’t give up. Like the good former Aerospace Engineering student I was, I kept flying and crashing, flying and crashing, until I figured out what was wrong (actually, now that I think about it, maybe that’s a sign of a bad aeronautical engineer).
And then I noticed that the reason the thing was spiralling into the ground wasn’t my own lack of expertise at the controls. It was because at high wing loadings, the wing is folding up along that crease I noticed. And once one wing folds in half, the plane pretty much instantly spirals into the ground. So, I need to go buy a new wing. Fortunately, the way they make this plane, you can replace every part on it. I believe a new wing is $15. But my local hobby store (HSJM LTD, Hobbies & Collectables here in Broomfield, the place where I bought the plane) is closed because it’s Labor Day. So I’ll have to see if the next closest store (HobbyTown USA in Westminster) is open.
Also, I noticed that the control surfaces were configured for maximum sensitivity flying. The owner’s manual said they came from the factory set for minimum sensitivity, which would, of course, be good for beginners like me. But I guess the manual’s wrong. I didn’t think to check for myself, but I noticed it this morning.