Flying - GREAT PLANES Super Sportster 90 Instruction Book

GENERAL
1 I will not fly my model aircraft in competition or
in the presence of spectators until it has been proven
to be airworthy by having been previously success-
fully flight tested
2 I will not fly my model aircraft higher than approx-
imately 400 feet within 3 miles of an airport without
notifying the airport operator I will give right of
way to, and avoid flying in the proximity of full scale
aircraft Where necessary an observer shall be
utilized to supervise flying to avoid having models
fly in the proximity of full scale aircraft
3 Where established, I will abide by the safety rules
for the flying site I use, and I will not willfully and
deliberately fly my models in a careless, reckless
and/or dangerous manner
6 I will not fly my model unless it is identified with
my name and address or AMA number, on or in the
model Note This does not apply to models flown
indoors
RADIO CONTROL
1 I will have completed a successful radio equipment
ground check before the first flight of a new or re-
paired model
2 I will not fly my model aircraft in the presence of
spectators until I become a qualified flyer, unless
assisted by an experienced helper
3 I will perform my initial turn after takeoff away
from the pit, spectator and parking areas, and I will
not thereafter perform maneuvers flights of any sort
or landing approaches over a pit, spectator or parking
area

FLYING

The SUPER SPORTSTER 90/120 is a great fly-
ing sport airplane that flies smoothly and predicta-
bly, yet is highly maneuverable It does not have
the self-recovery characteristics of a primary trainer,
therefore you must either have mastered the basics
of R/C flying or seek the assistance of a competent
R/C pilot to help you with your first flights
We recommend that you take it easy with your
SUPER SPORTSTER 90/120 for the first several
flights and gradually get acquainted with this fan-
tastic ship Add and practice one maneuver at a time,
learning how she behaves in each one We particu-
larly enjoy the way the SUPER SPORTSTER 90/120
tracks through big loops, with very little aileron or
rudder correction required' Spins, snap rolls and in-
verted spins are also performed with ease High speed
knife edge flight and point rolls are performed with
ease, but they require some aileron correction to
counteract the slight amount of rudder-induced
bank
When it's time to land, make your approach
low and shallow, as this ship wants to just keep on
flying (especially if built light) If you find that it
lands a little fast, you might try dialing in a few
clicks of up elevator when you cut the throttle on
the downwind leg of the landing approach This will
automatically help to bleed off some of the speed If
you have trouble getting your big engine to idle down
slow enough to land at a comfortable speed, we
suggest that you purchase and install one of our
"Switch-N-Glo onboard glow systems, which will
allow you to set the idle much lower without killing
the engine
Have a ball' But always stay in control and fly
in a safe manner
Large, high performance airplanes like the
Super Sportster 90/120 are more susceptible to con-
trol surface flutter than smaller or slower models,
therefore, when flying your Super Sportster 90/120,
you are advised to control the speed of the airplane
to avoid exceeding the speed at which the control
surfaces will flutter The "flutter speed" of your
airplane depends on many factors, the most impor-
tant of which is the amount of "slop" in the control
linkages You can have a lot of fun and still fly safely
by not pushing the speed "to the limit" This means
actively using the throttle while flying For in-
stance, cut the throttle when coming down out of big
vertical maneuvers to avoid 90mph+ speeds Some
people jam the throttle to "full" for takeoff and never
cut it back until ready to land' We consider this
practice to be not only unsafe and irresponsible, but
also a very unrealistic way to fly an airplane of this
size All full-scale airplanes have a "red line" speed
beyond which flight is unsafe All R/C model
airplanes also have "red line" speeds, however, they
are much more difficult to pinpoint because each
kit-built model has its own individual characteris-
tics Therefore, you are strongly advised to fly sensi-
bly and responsibly, considering the type of airplane
you are flying
If you have any doubts about your ability to
stay within the intended speed envelope described
above, then we strongly encourage counter-balanc-
ing the elevators as instructed below (see drawing
on page 44)
NOTE' We have (by permission of Model Aviation
magazine) included a copy of an article by Ron Van
Putte, which was published in the May, 1988 issue
of Model Aviation to help you better understand the
concept of control surface flutter According to this
article, the "cure-all" is to static balance the control
surfaces Although not required on a well built Super
Sportster 90/120 that is flown in its designed speed
envelope (see above), this is one modification that is
authorized if you choose to do so, because (in theory)
it will eliminate any possibility of control surface
flutter (or "buzz") To balance the elevators it will
require a 1-ounce weight approximately 2 inches for-
ward of the hinge line (one weight per elevator) This
addition will then require you to add approximately
6 ounces to the nose of the airplane to rebalance
The article is at the end of these instructions
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