Top Flite TOPA0300 - Manual (Page 55)

If y
ou ha
v
e
dual r
ates on y
our tr
ansmitter
, set the
s
witches to "high r
a
te" f
o
r tak
eoff
, especially
when taking off in a cross
wind. Although this
model has good lo
w-speed char
acter
istics
, y
o
u
should alw
a
ys b
uild up as m
uch speed as y
our
runw
a
y
will per
mit bef
ore lifting off
, as this will
giv
e y
ou a saf
ety margin in case of a "flame-out."
When y
ou first adv
ance the throttle the plane will
usually tur
n
left slightly
. Correct b
y
applying
sufficient r
ight r
udder to hold it str
aight do
wn the
runw
a
y. When the plane has sufficient flying
speed, lift off b
y
smoothly applying up ele
v
ator
(don't "jer
k" it off into a steep climb!), and climb
out g
radually
. Do not use flaps f
or y
our initial
tak
eoff
. After y
ou ha
v
e
the f
eel of the Cessna,
tak
eoffs ma
y be made with the flaps set at 50%.
W
e
recommend that y
ou tak
e
it easy with y
our
Cessna f
or the first se
v
e
ral flights
, g
radually
"getting acquainted" with this realistic model as y
our engine gets fully brok
en-in. Add and
pr
actice one maneuv
er at a time
, lear
ning ho
w
she beha
v
es in each. F
or ultr
a-smooth flying and
nor
mal maneuv
ers
, w
e
recommend using the
"lo
w
r
ate" settings as listed on page 52. "High
rate" ele
v
ator ma
y be required f
or spins
. Though
the full scale Cessna 182 is not r
ated f
o
r
aerobatics
, the T
op Flite 182 is capab
le of some
g
raceful aerobatic maneuv
ers
. A beautiful barrel
roll ma
y be accomplished b
y
adv
ancing the
throttle to full, then pulling the nose about 25 deg
rees abo
v
e
the hor
iz
on. Apply about 3/4
aileron in one direction, and let the 182 roll 360 deg
rees without touching an
y of the other
controls
. If the proper roll r
ate is estab
lished, the
wings should come bac
k to le
v
el with the plane
in a 20 to 25 deg
ree div
e
. Reduce po
w
er and
gently r
a
ise the nose to le
v
e
l flight. Loops are
easily accomplished, b
ut y
o
u should reduce
po
w
er as the plane goes o
v
er the top to reduce
stresses and enhance realism.
When it's time to land, fly a nor
mal landing patter
n
and approach. The Cessna 182 ma
y b
leed off
airspeed more r
apidly than the spor
t planes y
ou are
used to
. F
or this reason, be prepared to carr
y a little
po
w
er dur
ing approach. F
o
r y
our first landings
, plan
to approach slightly f
aster than stall speed and flare
a f
e
w inches off the r
unw
a
y
onto the main wheels
.
FLAPS Full flaps mak
e the Skylane v
e
ry
steady in the
landing patter
n, b
ut just carr
y a little e
xtr
a po
w
er to
mak
e up f
or the e
xtr
a dr
ag. The e
xtr
a dr
ag of the
flaps also allo
ws y
ou to mak
e shor
ter
, steeper
approaches
. Lik
e the full scale 182, the T
op Flite
182 needs to touch do
wn with a nose high attitude
to a
void whac
king the nose gear and skipping bac
k
into the air
. F
or this reason, landings with flaps
require a deliber
ate flare with high r
ate ele
va
tor to
raise the nose
. T
ouch and go's and go-arounds can
be accomplished with full flaps
, just use the ele
vator
to estab
lish a shallo
w climb
. It is pref
erred to ha
ve
the flaps up or at "half" setting f
or tak
eoffs and
climb-outs because the plane will acceler
ate and
climb m
uch better
.
Ha
ve a ball! But al
wa
ys sta
y in contr
ol and fl
y in
a saf
e manner
.
GOOD LUCK AND GREA
T FL
YING!
If y
ou enjo
y
ed b
uilding the T
op Flite Cessna 182
Skylane
, tr
y one of these outstanding .60 siz
e
Gold Edition kits as y
our ne
xt project.
T
op Flite A
T
-6 T
e
xan
(T
OP
A0130)
69” Wingspan, 7.5 - 10 Lbs
.
T
op Flite P-40E W
arha
wk
(T
OP
A0120)
64” Wingspan, 8 - 10.5 Lbs
.
T
op Flite P-51D Mustang
(T
OP
A0110)
65” Wingspan, 8 - 10 Lbs
.
T
op Flite F4U Cor
sair
(T
OP
A0100)
62” Wingspan, 7 - 9.5 Lbs
.
Landing
CA
UTION
(THIS APPLIES T
O
ALL R/C
AIRPLANES): If
, while flying, y
ou notice an
y
un
usual sounds
, (such as a lo
w-pitched "b
uzz")
this ma
y be an indication of control surf
ace
"flutter
." An
y time y
o
u detect flutter y
ou m
ust
immediately cut the throttle and land the air
plane
because flutter can quic
k
ly destro
y its
components
. Chec
k all ser
v
o
g
rommets f
o
r
deter
ior
ation (this will indicate which surf
ace
fluttered), and mak
e sure all pushrod linkages are
slop-free
. If it fluttered once
, it probab
ly will flutter
again under similar circumstances unless y
ou can
eliminate the slop or fle
xing in the linkages
. Here
are some things which can result in flutter
:
Excessiv
e
hinge gap; Not mounting control hor
ns
solidly; Slopp
y fit of cle
vis pin in hor
n; Elasticity
present in fle
xib
le plastic pushrods; Side-pla
y of
pushrod in guide tube caused b
y
tight bends;
Slopp
y fit of Z-bend in ser
vo
ar
m; Insufficient glue
used when gluing in the ele
v
ator joiner wire or
aileron torque rod; Excessiv
e fle
xing of aileron,
caused b
y
using a too-soft balsa aileron;
Excessiv
e
"pla
y" or "bac
klash" in ser
vo
gears; and
Insecure ser
vo mounting.
Fl
ying
1.20 4-STR
OKE NO
TE:
If y
ou ha
v
e
installed a
1.20 4-strok
e engine
, throttle management on
tak
eoff and throughout the flight is highly
recommended! Y
our first f
e
w flights should be
made using slightly more than half throttle f
o
r
tak
eoff
. Apply po
w
er g
radually until y
ou become
familiar with the Cessna’
s flight char
acter
istics
.
T
akeoff
55