Notes”, below, for more information - as it is useful to have higher ‘up’ elevator throws for landing.
Ailerons:
5mm ‘up’ and 5mm ‘down’. Set 40% exponential in the ailerons.
Elevators:
Low rate/normal flying
: 8mm ‘up’ and 7mm ‘down’.
Optional High rate (for landing)
: 10mm ‘up’.
We also recommend at least 40% exponential on the elevators.
Rudder (optional):
10 mm ‘left’ and ‘right.
Flying the ‘Komet’
It’s always a good idea to have an experienced pilot friend standing by your side for the first flight.
He can act as your timer, advise you when to land, and watch for other traffic in the circuit or haz-
ards on the runway during landing - generally reducing your workload.
I have had a lot of fun flying the Komet but you need to be ‘on the ball’ ! Take off from a hand-launch
is no problem but it needs a good straight throw, just aimed up a few degrees, especially if there
is no wind. You will need to hold in some ‘up’ elevator during the initial stage and then relax it as
the speed builds up.
It is a good idea to glue a couple of small patches of 80 grit sandpaper on the outside of the fuse-
lage, as shown below, so that you can ‘grip’ the rather wide, smooth, fibreglass fuselage for hand-
launching. If using a powerful motor set-up, you may find that launching is easier on about 75%
throttle, as the plane has a tendency to pull ‘downwards’ out of your hand on full power.
The Komet does not seem to lose speed during turns so be prepared to throttle back after half a
circuit or so, until you have got it fully trimmed. All rolling and looping manoeuvres are normal,
with rolls being especially nice to do, and very axial. Outside loops are OK but need a little more
room, so start these with plenty of height for the first few. If you fit a rudder then you will find then
Komet very neutral with regards to aileron coupling. In other words it does not roll when the rud-
der is applied. Great for point-rolls and knife-edge !
We flew our first prototype on a 400 watt Mega motor for the first flights and performance was
very good, and this will be adequate for most pilots. I then built one with a .15 size glow motor and
was fairly disappointed, although it seemed to slow up better for landing than with the much cleaner
electric nose set up.
We later fitted a 700 watt Typhoon motor, and this gives startling performance on 3 cells although
we have to be a little careful of battery temperature when using this set-up in Thailand. Battery tem-
perature is a big problem here in Thailand as it is always at least 30+ degrees Celsius, but my
friend reports no problems when flying in the UK. (Check the cooling section in these instructions
for more info)
We then tried it on 4 cells, and it had even better performance. It was ‘radar checked’ at over 150
mph (240kph) on a no-wind day, in cool conditions in England. This was after a steep dive, with
132mph being achieved on 3 cells. The elevator gets more sensitive at this kind of speed and you
must be careful that you do not overstress the airframe by using too much movement. I use around
40 per cent exponential, but you must make sure you understand it and get the softer part of the
elevator movement in the centre. Stick to the recommended throws shown above.
The Komet glides very well but is still quite fast. It will loop and roll on the glide if you keep the
Fox Composites Co., Ltd.
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