Great Planes Pluma 3D Bipe ARF ARF - GPMA1130 - Manual (Page 19)

19
Charge the Batteries
Follow the battery charging instructions that came with your
radio control system to charge the batteries. You should always
charge your radio batteries the night before you go fl ying, and
at other times as recommended by the radio manufacturer.
CAUTION: Unless the instructions that came with your
radio system state differently, the initial charge on new
transmitter and receiver batteries should be done for 15
hours using the slow-charger that came with the radio
system. This will “condition” the batteries so that the next
charge may be done using the fast-charger of your choice.
If the initial charge is done with a fast-charger the batteries
may not reach their full capacity and you may be fl ying with
batteries that are only partially charged.
Balance Propellers
Carefully balance your propeller and spare propellers before
you fl y. An unbalanced prop can be the single most signifi cant
cause of vibration that can damage your model. Not only can
screws and bolts loosen, possibly with disastrous effect, but
vibration may also damage your radio receiver and battery.
We use a Top Flite Precision Magnetic Prop Balancer
(TOPQ5700) in the workshop and keep a Great Planes
Fingertip Prop Balancer (GPMQ5000) in our fl ight box.
Ground Check & Range Check
Always ground check the operational range of your radio
before the fi rst fl ight of the day following the manufacturer’s
instructions that came with your radio. This should be
done once with the motor off and once with motor running
at various speeds. If the control surfaces do not respond
correctly, do not fl y! Find and correct the problem fi rst. Look
for loose servo connections or broken wires, corroded wires
on old servo connectors, poor solder joints in your battery
pack or a defective cell, or a damaged receiver crystal from
a previous crash.
MOTOR SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
Failure to follow these safety precautions may result
in severe injury to yourself and others.
Get help from an experienced pilot when learning to operate
electric motors.
Use safety glasses when running electric motors.
Do not operate the motor in an area of loose gravel or sand;
the propeller may throw such material in your face or eyes.
Keep your face and body as well as all spectators away from
the plane of rotation of the propeller as you run the motor.
Keep these items away from the prop: loose clothing, shirt
sleeves, ties, scarfs, long hair or loose objects such as
pencils or screwdrivers that may fall out of shirt or jacket
pockets into the prop.
The motor gets hot! Do not touch it during or right after
operation.
Do not throw anything into the propeller of a running motor.
AMA SAFETY CODE (excerpts)
Read and abide by the following excerpts from the Academy
of Model Aeronautics Safety Code. For the complete Safety
Code refer to Model Aviation magazine, the AMA web site or
the Code that came with your AMA license.
General
1) I will not fl y my model aircraft in sanctioned events, air shows,
or model fl ying demonstrations until it has been proven to be
airworthy by having been previously, successfully fl ight tested.
2) I will not fl y my model aircraft higher than approximately
400 feet within 3 miles of an airport without notifying the
airport operator. I will give right-of-way and avoid fl ying in the
proximity of full-scale aircraft. Where necessary, an observer
shall be utilized to supervise fl ying to avoid having models fl y
in the proximity of full-scale aircraft.
3) Where established, I will abide by the safety rules for the
fl ying site I use, and I will not willfully and deliberately fl y my
models in a careless, reckless and/or dangerous manner.
5) I will not fl y my model unless it is identifi ed with my name
and address or AMA number, on or in the model. Note: This
does not apply to models while being fl own indoors.