Great Planes Spirit 100 Sailplane Kit - GPMA0550 - Manual (Page 47)

INSTALL THE SPOILERS (OPTIONAL) CONTROL SURFACE MIXING
D 1 Thread a 36" long piece of 20-30 lb fishing line through
the spoiler tubing in the wing
D 2 Thread one end of the string through the small hole in the
spoiler horn and use a piece of a round toothpick to hold the line
in the horn Allow about 1/2" to hang out the othcr side of the horn
for fine adjustments
U 3 Tape the spoiler in position in the wing using a strip of
cellophane v i n y l tape or a strip of covering The tape should be
flexible enough to allow the spoiler to close on us own The tape
should also be replaced every once in a while as it will
eventually rip.
D 4 Glue a small lead weight on the bottom side of the spoiler
to help it close 1/4 oz is usually enough since the airflow will
keep the spoilers closed when the plane is flying
D 5 Mount the wings on the fuse and pull the ends of the
spoiler strings up to the spoiler servo Position the spoiler servo
horn at the rearward end of its swing and wrap one spoiler string
around the screw in the horn With the spoilers taped or held
closed, apply a drop of med or thick CA to glue the string to itself
and form a small loop Remove the string and perform the same
steps to the other string The two strings should be the same
length (be careful not to glue the two strings together) and the
spoilers should open and close together Small adjustments can
be made at the toothpick end if needed
We recommend the following
CONTROL SURFACE THROWS:
NOTE: Throws are measured at the Trailing Edge ot
the clev
first nights with your SPIRIT 100 You may wish to
change the throws slightly to provide the responsiveness
you prefer
ELEVATOR: 5/8" up, 5/8' down
RUDDER: 1-1/2" Rt, 1-1/2" Lt
FLAPS: 6 degrees up (3/16 ),
70 90 degrees down CROW
AILERONS: 3/4" up, 3/8" down
30 deg down, 60 - 70 deg up (CROW)
SPOILERS: 70 - 90 degrees up
Move the pushrod wires (Z-bends, nylon clevises) in or out on
the control horns and servo horns to achieve the desired move-
ments If your radio is equipped with "endpoint adjustments" you
may set the throws from the transmitter
Their are several types of mixing the SPIRIT 100 can take
advantage of if you have a computer radio
CROW - This mixing is tied to the flap stick and allows the
ailerons to come up (up to 75 degrees) as the flaps drop This is
particularly useful when landing or trying to lose altitude
AILERON/RUDDER COUPLING - This is used to allow the
sailplane to make efficient non slipping non skidding turns
You w i l l need to experiment to f i n d the proper amount of throw
required to do this but 1" of rudder throw at full aileron is probably
a good place to start The idea behind this is to have the tail follow
the "groove" of the turn rather than being pulled inside or pushed
outside the groove Some radios have a 3 position switch to
control the amount of rudder coupling If they do, we like to set
it up so one position will have no coupling, the second position
will have the coupling explained above, and the third position will
have maximum rudder throw (almost hitting the stab) at full
aileron The third position can be helpful when landing or when
trying to turn ' flat' in very light lift
FLAPS (CROW)/ELEVATOR COUPLING - This is used to
keep the plane level as the flaps come down You can set this up
to suit your flying style but 1/8" of down elevator at full down
flaps is a good place to start
ELEVATOR/CAMBER COUPLING - This is a neat type of
mixing allows the TE to respond to the elevator When properly
set up, this can be very useful when floating around in light air or
when trying to thermal very lightly This mixing can change the
flying characteristics of the plane so start o f f small and get used
it A good place to start would be approx 1/8" of TE drop at full
up elevator
CAMBER/ELEVATOR COUPLING If your radio allows
this, just experiment to achieve level flight in all camber posi-
tions Generally a small amount of down elevator will be
required as the TE drops
BALANCE THE MODEL
NOTE: This section is VERY important and must
not be omitted! A model that is not properly balanced
will be unstable and possibly unflyable
D 1.The balance point (CG - Center of Gravity) is shown on
the plan, and is located under the spar This is the balance point
at which your model should balance for your first flights Later,
you may wish to s h i f t the balance up to 1/2" behind the spar to
change the flying characteristics Moving the CG forward of the
spar will add stability but it will decrease the overall performance
of the sailplane and make it stall easier at slower speeds Moving
the balance behind the spar makes the model more agile with a
lighter and snappier "feel" and improves the sailplane's response
to air currents It also makes the model less stable and can cause
the sailplane to "tuck under" or dive when its flying speed
increases If you fly the SPIRIT 100 with its CG behind the spar
We recommend the following
CONTROL SURFACE THROWS:
NOTE: Throws are measured at the Trailing Edge ot
the elevator and rudder These control surface "throws"
arc approximate and provide a good starting point for the
first nights with your SPIRIT 100 You may wish to
47