Aerobird Challenger Problems

[dcag]

I recently made the mistake of allowing someone else to fly my Aerobird Challenger, and in truly magnificent fashion, they proceeded to spike it off the earth at full throttle from about 100 feet. Since then it hasn't been the same. THe trim is off as it constantly turns to the right, despite my best efforts to adjust it. On occaision, powering on the radio causes the left elevon to raise completely, with no radio input. But possibly the biggest problem of all is that the throttle is not working correctly. I have 3 batteries, all of which I freshly charged the day of flying, but the plane will go to full throttle for a few seconds then slowly die. If I kill the throttle for a second or two, I can power it back up, but with noticeably lower power, and it again dies within a few seconds. It acts like it is a low charge on teh battery, but I know they were just charged. In addition, I believe the ABC is supposed to kill the motor all together when the battery gets low, to maintain power for the control surfaces. Could it be that the electronics took a fatal blow? Any suggestions? Do I need to just buy a new fuselage?

Thanks

[Elboy]

I'm not sure about buying a new fuselage , but that sounds like a vary good idea.
I'm have the same trouble with my tail turning right.But I'm not sure yet how to reparit. So if you have any suggestions please tell me.

[Girly Whirly]

We bought a FB Commander. My husband upon first flight made a fairly...not very...hard rollover landing. It damaged the wing slightly when the prop contacted the back edge. It flew great the next few trips, and then as the batt decreased, the steering went and only turned one way, then the motor wouldn't run. Now upon connection of a fresh batt....the prop turns for a sec when connected, but then only a humming, and no prop or controls. Since no warranty, he opened the front, unscrewed the circuit board to inspect solders, etc. Everything appeared ok, except for a humming from the little motor that controls the steering gears. Coincidently the first plane we bought had the same humming sound when we connected it out of the box, and nothing worked on it. It also appeared a little dirty. My guess...someone had landed that one hard, sustained the same damage and returned it. Unless this little motor can be replaced at Radical shack...my guess is a new fuselage from HZ is the only answer. My concern is....though your's sounds like a full fledged hard crash...ours by no means was, and there was no apparent physical damage to the first one we got that exhibited the same troubles. Maybe those boards are fairly sensitive, I sure hope not, as we have since purchased 2 Aero Challengers w/ sonic fighting modules....and hope the first lil bang doesn't leave them dead and humming. Let me know what you think. :confused:

[rtfguy]

Maybe I am just lucky but I bought a FB commander about a year ago and have flown it just about weekly since... I have put the controller in the hands of my kids, my neighbor, and a few others and let them fly it several times. As a result of sharing, it has been crashed into a car, the ground (multiple times), and two separate trees. I am not imune to the crash bug either, I hit a chain link fence at full throttle (trying to clime to get over it and misjudged the distance) and I even had a wing fold up completely when trying to pull out of spiral for a tail stall.. this resulted in it plummeting about 200 feet to the ground and sticking nose first like a lawn dart. After that particular crash, I thought it would be dead for sure but, with a replaced wing, and a little tape to hold the nose in shape, it was back in the air within half an hour. My Dad saw the abuse my plane took and then decided that he would try one too. So far he has had the same kind of luck I have had. I keep thinking that this plane is going to blow up any time now, but it just keeps on flying...

[aeajr]

I have an Aerobird and an Aerobird Challenger. Combined I have over 300
flights on them. I have taught several people to fly their Aerobirds. Here is
the procedure I tell people to follow to get the plane to fly properly. I
can't be sure how much damage you have done to the plane due to crashes, so
let me just offer this as a starter.

Unless you have removed the white foam that sits between the battery and the
electronics, ignore CG for the moment. Do all of your flight testing with the
6 cell battery. The 7 cell makes it nose heavy and will change the way it
flies. When we are trying to fix it, I would use the 6 cell only.

1) With your transmitter on and all trims centered, and your battery connected
in the plane, but with the motor off, look at the control surfaces on the tail
from the back. Are the movable parts exactly even with the fixed parts? If
not then you are going into a turn the moment you launch assuming the motor is
straight and the tail is straight. More on that later. Normally, these
surfaces have to be
perfectly aligned.

2) The boom between the pod an the tail - is it solidly anchored or can you
move it around inside the plane. If it moves, it has broken loose. This must
be
fixed. It will either sag causing the nose to go down or it is twisted causing
the plane to turn right or left.

3) Check the tail, especially by the rigid plastic near the boom. Are there
any creases? I had a problem with my Aerobird that caused it to turn to the
right so badly that it crashed because it would go into a spiral. I tried
everything. Turned out there was a crease in the tail that caused the tail to
flex under pressure. On launch, this could take you into the ground.

4) It is possible for the tail to shift from a severe nose crash. There are
trim instructions in the owner's manual. AFTER you have checked the other
items and
fixed or found them to be OK, try trimming the tail for more up or down force.


Other points to be aware of:

When the motor is running, more air moves across the tail so that you get a
faster response for turns. The slower the motor is running, the slower the
plane will respond. When gliding, response can be very soft.

Make sure you are launching into the wind - directly into the wind, or the
plane will be turned by the wind when you launch. Same for landing.

Let me know how it goes.

If this doesn't help, I invite you to post photos.

These are what I would
want to see: All shots are with battery in and transmitter on, motor off.
All trims to center and not touching the stick unless I tell you to. All
tests are in Sport mode.

view from nose to tail - level with the top of the plane - to check alignments
view from tail to nose - same reason

Remove the wing, lay the plane on a table on its side with the tail hanging
off the end. Place a ruler or a suitable straight edge under the body
extending to the tail. I want to see if the boom
is straight

surface alignment - battery connected, transmitter on - make sure your trims
are centered

For the shots from tail, I want you to center the motor in the frame so that
you are shooting STRAIGHT down the shaft.

view from the tail at tail height - full left command
view from the tail at tail height - full right
same - full up
same - full down
sticks centered and hands off shot.
Finally view from under the tail.