Owner manual

BALANCE PROPELLERS Carefully balance your propeller and spare propellers before you fly. An unbalanced prop can be the single most significant cause of vibration that can damage your model. Not only will engine mounting screws and bolts loosen, possibly with disastrous effect, but vibration may also damage your radio receiver and battery. Vibration can also cause your fuel to foam, which will, in turn, cause your engine to run hot or quit. We use a Top Flite Precision Magnetic Prop Balancer
™
(TOPQ5700) in the workshop and
keep a Great Planes Fingertip Prop Balancer (GPMQ5000) in our flight box. GROUND CHECK If the engine is new, follow the engine manufacturer’s instructions to break-in the engine. After break-in, confirm that the engine idles reliably, transitions smoothly and rapidly to full power and maintains full power—indefinitely. After you run
the engine on the model, inspect the model closely to make sure all screws remained tight, the hinges are secure, the prop is secure and all pushrods and connectors are secure. RANGE CHECK Ground check the operational range of your radio before the first flight of the day. With the transmitter antenna collapsed and the receiver and transmitter on, you should be able to walk at least 100 feet away from the model and still have control. Have an assistant stand by your model and, while you work
the controls, tell you what the control surfaces are doing. Repeat this test with the engine running at various speeds with an assistant holding the model, using hand signals to show you what is happening. If the control surfaces do not respond correctly, do not fly! Find and correct the problem first. 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. ENGINE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS Keep all engine fuel in a safe place, away from high heat, sparks or flames, as fuel is very flammable. Do not smoke near the engine or fuel; and remember that engine exhaust gives off a great deal of deadly carbon monoxide. Therefore do not run the engine in a closed room or garage. Get help from an experienced pilot when learning to operate engines. Use safety glasses when starting or running engines. Do not run the engine 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 start and run the engine. 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. Use a “chicken stick” or electric starter to start the engine. Do not use your fingers to flip the propeller.
Make certain the glow plug clip or connector is secure so that it will not pop off or otherwise get into the running propeller. Make all engine adjustments from behind the rotating propeller. The engine gets hot! Do not touch it during or right after operation. Make sure fuel lines are in good condition so fuel will not leak onto a hot engine, causing a fire. To stop a glow engine, cut off the fuel supply by closing off the fuel line or following the engine manufacturer’s recommendations. Do not use hands, fingers or any other body part to try to stop the engine. To stop a gasoline powered engine an on/off switch should be connected to the engine coil. Do not throw anything into the propeller of a running engine.
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 fly my model aircraft in sanctioned events, air shows, or model flying demonstrations until it has been proven to be airworthy by having been previously, successfully flight tested. 2) I will not fly 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 flying in the proximity of full-scale aircraft. Where necessary, an observer shall be utilized to supervise flying to avoid having models fly in the proximity of full-scale aircraft.
Failure to follow these safety precautions may result in severe injury to yourself and others.
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