Flying - GREAT PLANES RIFLE1m Instruction Manual

[3.5m]
When ready, hold the fuselage under the wing right about at
the C.G. Have your assistant "cock" the Rifl e overhead ready
to throw it in launch position. Envision trying to throw the
Rifl e over a 12' [3.5m] barrier about 12' [3.5m] away.
Double-check that the ailerons, elevator and spoilerons
are responding to your control inputs correctly, then
advance the throttle to full and throw the Rifl e immediately.
Throw it hard, at about a 20° to 30° angle with the wing level.
12'
The tendency may be for motor torque to cause the Rifl e to
roll left, but with a good launch into the wind you may not
notice any torque at all and the Rifl e will aggressively climb
skyward.
Hint: Sometimes, during the thrill of the launch it can be easy
to forget good mechanics (such as keeping the wings level or
throwing the plane hard enough). But one trick is to actually
look at the plane, not where you are throwing it. If you watch
what the plane is doing right from the start you can remember
to keep the wing level and to throw it at the correct angle.
However, actually looking at an object you are throwing is
counter-intuitive, so this usually takes a little practice.
Once your Rifl e is up-and-away the fi rst thing will be simply
to fl y it. Remember to throttle back and fl y a circuit before
reaching for the trims.
Once your Rifl e is airborne the fi rst order of business will be
to get it trimmed for straight-and-level fl ight. You can nudge
the trims yourself, or have your assistant work the trims for
you while you focus on fl ying the plane.
One of the initial challenges of fl ying the Rifl e is keeping it
within visual sight. This should be easy to do with the 2S
sport setup because it's lighter and not as fast to begin
with, making it more natural to fl y slowly. With either setup,
just remember to throttle back to slow things down. Give
yourself time to think and react.
The second order of business once airborne will be to
simulate a few landings and learn how slowly the Rifl e will
glide and test its stall reaction. Don't wait until the end of the
fl ight to do this; otherwise, you might run out of battery. Take
your Rifl e up to a high altitude, fl y it into the wind, cut the
throttle and fl y it around. Add more and more up elevator until
it either gets too low or actually stalls. Release the elevator,
allow it to build up a little speed, and then gently add throttle
to climb and do it again. Do this a few times also practicing
with spoilerons and low and high rate elevator. This will show
you the glide envelope and give you a more accurate idea of
what will happen when it's actually time to land.
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