Top Flite TOPA0700 - Manual (Page 41)

❏
16.
Balance the propeller and spare propellers
.
❏
17.
Place y
our name
, address
, AMA n
u
mber and
telephone n
u
mber on or inside the model.
❏
18.
Cycle the receiv
er batter
y pac
k (if necessar
y)
and mak
e sure it is fully charged.
❏
19.
If y
ou wish to photog
raph y
our model, do so
bef
ore y
our first flight.
❏
20.
P
erf
or
m a r
ange chec
k when y
ou get to the
flying field.
PREFLIGHT
Identify Y
our
Model
No matter if y
ou fly at an AMA sanctioned R/C club
site or if y
ou fly some
where on y
our o
wn, y
ou should
alw
a
ys ha
v
e
y
our name
, address
, telephone n
umber
and AMA n
umber on or inside y
o
ur model.
It is
required
at all AMA R/C club flying sites and AMA
sanctioned flying e
v
ents
.Fill out the identification tag
on page 47 and place it on or inside y
o
ur model.
Char
g
e
the Batteries
F
ollo
w the batter
y charging instr
uctions that came
with y
our r
adio control system to charge the
batter
ies
.Y
ou should alw
a
ys charge y
our tr
ansmitter
and receiv
er batter
ies the night bef
ore y
ou go flying,
and at other times as recommended b
y
the r
adio
man
uf
acturer
.
NO
TE:
Chec
king the condition of y
our receiv
er
batter
y pac
k is
highl
y recommended
.
All batter
y
pac
ks
, whether it’
s a tr
usty pac
k y
ou’v
e just tak
en
out of another model, or a ne
w batter
y
pac
k y
ou just
purchased, should be cycled, noting the discharge capacity
.
O
ftentimes
, a w
eak batter
y pac
k can be
identified (and a v
aluab
le model sa
v
ed!) b
y
compar
ing its actual capacity to its r
ated capacity
.
Ref
er to the instr
uctions and recommendations that
come with y
our cycler
.
If y
ou don’t o
w
n a batter
y
cycler
, perhaps y
ou can ha
v
e
a fr
iend cycle y
our
pac
k and note the capacity f
or y
ou.
Gr
ound Chec
k
If the engine is ne
w
,
follo
w the engine
man
ufacturer’
s instructions to break-in the
engine
.
After break-in, confir
m that the engine idles
reliab
ly
, tr
ansitions smoothly and r
apidly to full
po
w
er and maintains full po
w
er—indefinitely
.
After
y
ou r
un the engine on the model, inspect the model
closely to mak
e sure all scre
ws remained tight, the
hinges are secure
, the prop is secure and all
pushrods and connectors are secure
.
Rang
e Chec
k
Ground chec
k the oper
ational r
ange of y
our r
adio
bef
ore the first flight of the da
y.
With the tr
ansmitter
antenna collapsed and the receiv
er and tr
ansmitter
on, y
ou should be ab
le to w
alk at least 100 f
eet a
w
a
y
from the model and still ha
v
e
control.
Ha
v
e
an
assistant stand b
y
y
our model and, while y
ou w
o
rk
the controls
, tell y
ou what the control surf
aces are
doing.
Repeat this test
with the engine running
at
v
a
rious speeds with an assistant holding the model,
using hand signals to sho
w y
ou what is happening.
If the control surf
aces do not respond correctly
,
do
not fl
y!
Find and correct the prob
lem first.
Look f
o
r
loose ser
v
o
connections or brok
en wires
, corroded
wires on old ser
v
o
connectors
, poor solder joints in
y
our batter
y
pac
k or a def
ectiv
e cell, or a damaged
receiv
er cr
ystal from a pre
vious cr
ash.
ENGINE SAFETY PRECA
UTIONS
K
eep all engine fuel in a saf
e place
, a
w
a
y
from high
heat, spar
ks or flames
, as fuel is v
e
ry
flammab
le
.
Do
not smok
e near the engine or fuel;
and remember
that engine e
xhaust giv
es off a g
reat deal of deadly
carbon mono
xide
.Theref
ore
do not run the engine
in a c
losed r
oom or gara
g
e
.
Get help from an e
xper
ienced pilot when lear
ning to
oper
ate engines
.
Use saf
ety glasses when star
ting or r
unning engines
.
Do not r
un the engine in an area of loose g
ra
v
el or
sand;
the propeller ma
y thro
w such mater
ial in y
our
face or e
y
e
s
.
K
eep y
our f
ace and body as w
ell as all spectators
a
w
a
y
from the plane of rotation of the propeller as
y
ou star
t and r
un the engine
.
K
eep these items a
w
a
y
from the prop:
loose
clothing, shir
t slee
v
e
s
, ties
, scarfs
, long hair or loose
objects such as pencils or scre
wdr
iv
ers that ma
y f
all
out of shir
t or jac
k
et poc
k
ets into the prop
.
Use a
“chic
k
en stic
k”
or electr
ic star
ter to star
t the
engine
.
Do not use y
our fingers to flip the propeller
.
Mak
e
cer
tain the glo
w plug clip or connector is
secure so that it will not pop off or otherwise get into the r
unning propeller
.
Mak
e all engine adjustments from behind the
rotating propeller
.
The engine gets hot! Do not touch it dur
ing or r
ight
after oper
ation.
Mak
e
sure fuel lines are in good
condition so fuel will not leak onto a hot engine
,
causing a fire
.
T
o
stop a glo
w engine
, cut off the fuel supply b
y
closing
off the fuel line or f
ollo
wing the engine man
uf
acturer’
s
recommendations
.
Do not use hands
, fingers or an
y
other body par
t to tr
y to stop the engine
.
T
o stop a
gasoline po
w
ered engine an on/off s
witch should be
connected to the engine coil.
Do not thro
w an
ything into
the propeller of a r
unning engine
.
F
ailure to f
ollo
w these saf
ety precautions ma
y
result in se
vere injur
y to y
our
self and other
s.
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