W
E
L
COM
E
T
O
R
AD
IO
C
ONTR
OLLE
D
F
LI
G
H
T
!
Y
our Sky Buddy is ready for F
un at a moments notice. Clean, Quiet electric power and Lightweight Durable design makes this
model aircraft a good c
hoice for beginners and e
xperts alike. Don’t discard the b
o
x! It’s great for storing your Sky Buddy
. P
ut
your Sky Buddy in the trunk of your car and you’ll be ready to fly wherever you go. T
he R
/C hobby becomes more and more
enjoyable as your e
xperience grows. If you take your time and follow these instructions, your c
hances for success are very good
and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a competent R
/C pilot. W
e
hope you enjoy flying your Sky Buddy!
I
F
Y
OU
D
ON
’
T
R
EAD
M
AN
U
ALS
, W
E
I
NSIS
T
Y
OU
A
T
L
EAST
R
EAD
T
HIS
:
•
Y
ou have everything you need inside the b
o
x e
xcept for batteries - Install 8 “
A
A
” alkaline batteries in the transmitter
.
• Make your first flight on a day when there is no wind, totally calm, and in a field with more room than you think you will ne
ed.
•
Do Not overc
harge the flight pac
k battery
, always use a stopwatc
h or wristwatc
h and don’t c
harge for muc
h longer than ab
out
3 minutes and you’ll be O
K. Never leave the batteries unattended when they are c
harging, you should monitor the temperature
at all times. Make sure your battery is drained before re-c
harging. T
he c
harged battery should be warm but not too hot.
•
Remember that when your Sky Buddy is flying towards you, your controls will seem “reversed” - it takes a while to learn to fl
y
towards yourself, you’ll find that the airplane will turn the opposite way you thought you were going. It will help you a lot i
f you
imagine that you are sitting in the model’s coc
kpit.
• F
ull T
hrottle (L
eft Stic
k) will make the Sky Buddy climb. T
he Right Stic
k is for “steering” left and right.
•
T
h
is micro airplane weighs less than 2 ounces, but you should still take care to c
hoose an appropriate flying site away from
cars, people etc. P
rotect Y
ourself And Others by being saf
ety conscious when flying your model airplane.
•
If you are going “S
olo” right here and right now without reading the rest of these “destructions”
, at least ensure that you a
re in
a big grassy field on a day with no wind. Flying in a grassy field, the Sky Buddy can survive most crashes without any damage.
• Read all saf
ety warnings in this manual before flying, please turn the page and continue to read the manual!
1
Copyright 2003 Plantraco Ltd. V
ersion 1.0
4
F
LY
IN
G
T
IP
S
If you have never flown an R
/
C aircraft, it is a good idea to get help from an e
xperienced R
/C pilot, but if you can’t find one
to help you learn,
the following will help you:
• Always make short duration control movements for steering. By making small control movements, you reduce the risk of “overste
ering” the
airplane in a turn. T
here is always a little bit of time lag between your control stic
k movements and the c
hange of motion in
the Sky Buddy
, so
try to make small c
hanges rather than big c
h
anges to the flight path of the plane. K
eep your eye on the plane and observe what
it is doing
and plan ahead.
• If you get confused while flying the Sky Buddy
, your best bet is to release the Right stic
k, and decide whether to apply full
throttle or no
throttle with your L
eft stic
k. K
e
ep the airplane at a saf
e altitude, and concentrate on whic
h way you need to turn, and then t
ry a short duration
control movement to see if you got it right.
• A typical flight could be as long as 6 minutes, but it is probably a good idea to have a good place to land at all times. W
h
en your flight pac
k
battery gets depleted, you will notice that the Sky Buddy won’t climb as well, this is usually a good time to make a landingbef
ore the 6 minute
maximum flight time, and rec
harge the flight pac
k.
• Always take off and land into the wind. T
h
is will help slow the Sky Buddy down and make it easier to land.
• W
h
en the Sky Buddy is coming toward you, moving the Right stic
k causes the plane to turn left, but it appears to turn to your
right. Y
ou have
to reverse the way you control the right stic
k. Imagine yourself in the pilot’s seat and keep on practicing, you’ll get it.
A
D
JU
S
T
MEN
T
S
T
O
Y
O
UR
S
KY
B
UDD
Y
R
EP
A
IRS
•
T
he Sky Buddy Airplane is constructed of light weight foam and should withstand most of the abuse of learning to fly
. But if
the airplane sus-
tains some damage, here are some helpful hints to get you bac
k up in the air:
•
Damaged P
ropeller: T
o
remove the old propeller slide the supplied prop removal tool between the motor and the propeller
, brac
e the motor
pod area with one hand while gently prying the prying the prop with the other
. T
o
install a new prop, hold the motor pod area w
ith one hand
and gently press on the new prop with the other hand. Be careful not press the prop on so far that it binds with the motor
.
•
If the F
oam W
ing becomes damaged, it can be repaired by aligning the broken area and applying a piece of cellophane tape acro
ss the
break.
•
If the motor pods become loose in a crash, you can re-attac
h
them with white glue. Y
o
u should be cautious of using other glue
s as it is possi-
ble that it could melt the foam. If you are unsure, you can try applying some glue to the foam pac
kaging of the airplane. Y
ou
should not use
Superglue or other Cyanoacrylate adhesives as they will melt the foam.
W
AR
RANTY
I
N
F
OR
MA
TI
ON
Plantraco guarantees this kit to be free of def
ects in b
oth material and workmanship at the date of purc
hase. T
his warranty do
es not cover
any component parts damaged by use or modification. In no case shall Plantraco’s liability e
xceed the original cost of the purc
hased kit.
F
urther
, Plantraco reserves the right to c
hange or modify this warranty without notice. No liability shall be assumed nor accep
ted for any dam-
age resulting from the use by the user of the final user-assembled kit. By the act of using the product, the user accepts all
resulting liability
.
Clean Quiet Electric Flight
All Up W
eight is < 2 oz!
Requires 8 “
A
A
” Batteries
C
OM
PLETE
M
INI
A
T
U
RE
R
AD
IO
C
ONTR
OLLE
D
A
IR
PLAN
E
S
ET
V
IS
IT
U
S
ON
TH
E
W
EB
A
T
:
WWW
.
PLANTRA
CO
.
COM
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.
S
KYB
U
D
D
Y
.
COM
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