PREFLIGHT CHECKLIST
With Notes.
Before leaving the house:
Do you have :?
The transmitter, is it the correct channel?
Airplane ?
Wing?
Rubber bands or bolts for wing hold down.
Glow starter.
Electric Starter
Fuel, is it the correct kind for engine.
Flight Box.
Cold drinks / Hat / Sun block / Sunglasses / Insect repellent /
Long pants for hunting airplanes in woods (some other guys airplane of course).
Don’t laugh, I have forgotten most of the above things at one time or another.
Check the batteries in airplane and transmitter with battery tester.
Use an expanded scale volt meter for this. Not a normal volt ohm meterAny damage to airplane, wing or covering?
It is a lot easier to fix it now then at the field.
Verify that transmitter and receiver are OFF.
Nothing will piss you off more then arriving at the field with dead batteries.
.
Before first flight of the day:
AS SOON AS YOU REMOVE YOUR TRANSMITTER FROM THE CAR MAKE SURE IT IS OFF!
Cant be too careful double check it.
PUT YOUR TRANSMITTER IN THE IMPOUND.
Your club probably requires this or should.
Fuselage :
Before putting on the wing :
Check all servo mounts for loose and missing screws.
Servos are under a lot of torque, screws that hold the servo in place become loose easy.
Check all linkage connections. Are clevis's "locked"?
By locked I mean do they have a piece of fuel hose over them or some other device to keep them from coming open.
Check all wiring you can for tight connections and no broken wires.
Check for broken antenna wire.
It is hard to check most of the wiring, but do check the antenna if you can
The airplane will work just fine with a shorter antenna . Until it is a hundred feet up or so..
Check wing mounting blocks make sure they have not broken loose.
Or if using rubber bands to hold on wing check rubber band pegs for tightness.
Keeping the wing attached to the fuselage is a very good thing. Often in hard landings the
Mounting blocks that the wing bolts screw into will break loose.
The pegs that hold the rubber bands on are under a lot of stress so keep an eye on them.
Check the vertical and horizontal stabilizers for "shipping" damage.
For some reason if you are going to break something while carrying an airplane it will be the "tail feathers."
Pull on rudder and elevator to check for loose or broken hinges.
You want to pull firmly on the control surfaces to see if there is a broken hinge.
It sounds strange, but if it comes off in your hand you are lucky. As with most aviation things "Better on the ground then in the air".
Make sure the fuel tank is not loose in the airplane and the clunk (fuel pickup) is in the back of the tank.
Hey it happens. And in the air a loose tank could pull off a hose or radically change your balance point.
Check landing gear for loose wheel collars or bent landing gear.
You also want to check that the wheels turn freely and are not bent out of alignment.
Check for broken wood inside fuselage.
You don't want your tail to fall off do you?
Check for holes in covering.
Never fly with a hole in the covering a tiny hole could cause the entire sheet of covering to be ripped off.
Try tearing a piece of covering sometime then just put a tiny nick in the edge and try again.
In general check for anything that is loose or just does not look right.
If something is not right find out why!.
Engine:
Make sure the muffler is on tight.
Make sure the engine mounts are tight on the firewall.
Make sure the engine is tight on the mounts. (Watch for broken bolts)
Bolts that hold the engine on are known to break there is a lot of vibration and torque so keep them tight.
Make sure the prop is tight.
Examine the prop for cracks deep gouges or chips.
A loose or damaged prop can fly apart or fly off and hurt someone.
Do to centrifugal force there are extremely high forces (TONS) trying to tear the prop in half.
Check the throttle linkage.
Nothing like flying for an hour until your airplane runs out of fuel because you can't slow down enough to land.
Check for dirt in carburetor intake.
Always check for anything in the intake, if sucked into the engine it can destroy the engine in one flight.
Check for tight glow plug.
Bubbles around the plug mean something is wrong.
Wing:
Pull on the ailerons to check hinges
Check the pin that locks the wing to the fuselage if using a bolt on wing.
Check aileron servo and linkages
Check for holes or tears in covering.
Put wing on airplane.
Check rubber bands for cracks, oil
Rubber bands are cheep airplanes are expensive don't take chances with old or oily bands.
Make sure you use at least 10 rubber bands.
Make sure wing is on straight and square with fuselage
Make sure wing is on tight if using bolts and that both bolts went in their hole.
Sometimes you can put the bolt in beside the hole and do to the other bolt it feels tight.
Check balance before filling fuel tank.
Always check your balance things can change like loosing a weight or battery pack shifting.
Your manual should tell you where the balance points are, Usually the main spar in the wing.
Remember to check low wing airplanes upside down.
Fill the fuel tank.
Check for any leaks.
Get transmitter from impound. Make sure you tag your frequency.
Turn on receiver in airplane and transmitter.
Stand behind airplane and check that all control surfaces work and move in correct direction.
STANDING BEHIND THE AIRPLANE.
First move the right stick right. The right aileron should go UP .
Move the right stick left the left aileron should go UP
In both cases the opposite aileron should do the opposite.
This one is the biggie if it is not right you WILL crash. If you are not sure ask someone.
Pull back (climb) on the right stick. The Elevator should go UP.
Push up (descend) on the right stick . The Elevator should go DOWN.
Move the left stick right. The rudder should move to the right.
Move the left stick left. The rudder should move to the left.
Move the left stick back ( Throttle to idle) the carburetor should close.
Move the left stick up (full throttle) the carburetor should open.
Do the above before every flight or at the very least check your ailerons.
If you ever see an airplane take off, then quickly crash to the right or left more then likely he had his ailerons reversed
If you don't understand the above and even if you do have someone show you, this is very important.
Check for ANY strange noise or jitter when moving the control surfaces
Jitter or a noise from a servo may mean a gear is broken check it out.
Do range check.
This is something you HAVE to do before your first flight of the day.
Make sure your antenna is down all the way and both the transmitter and receiver are on.
Walk about 25 yards and then try all the controls, you need someone near the airplane to make sure everything is working and that there is no jitter.
If you lose control or you get a lot of jitter you HAVE to find out why before you fly.
The first thing you should try is to move the airplane a few feet sometimes wet ground will interfere with radio control that close to the ground.
Also someone else on your frequency or someone on a different frequency with an ON transmitter between you and your airplane can cause jitter..
You can also put the antenna up and walk about 200 yards and test it again, but that is a lot of walking.
If in doubt about what should be happening ask someone to check it out for you. Don't just say "the hell with it" and go fly.
Put your antenna up NOW!
You can take off with out the antenna up, but you will lose control in about a hundred feet or so.
Check all Trims on the Transmitter, are they were they should be?
A trim set in the wrong position can crash your airplane, check them now and then just before take off.
Note: you might have a trim set to adjust for a miss adjusted control surface from the last flight. Don't forget and center the trim..
Before starting the engine make sure throttle is in the idle position.
Start engine:
Idle okay
High Speed okay
Will run if held at 45% angle at high speed.
Will transition from low to high to low to high without stalling.
Engine will shut off from transmitter.
GO FLY
Before Each Flight:
REFUEL
Always refuel even after just a short flight.
Check operation of all control surfaces.
Make sure wing is tight, rubber bands okay.
Check landing gear.
Check for any damage / holes in covering.
Make sure antenna is up.
Start and check engine
Always at least run the engine up to full power before takeoff an engine that just ran perfectly might never run right again.
Go Fly
After a "hard" landing:
Basically do the "before first flight check" again.
Pay extra attention to :
Dirt in the engine
Bent landing gear
Control surfaces.
Prop.
Clunk in tank.
Internal damage to wing or fuselage.
Anything can happen in a crash (oops,that's "hard landing") make sure the engine intake is clean before you try to turn the engine over.
Check the clunk (the heavy weight on the end of the fuel line in the tank) it might have been forced forward in the tank crimping the fuel line.
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