CONGRATULATIONS!
Your KADET SENIOR is completely assembled. However, it is
NOT ready for flight! There are a few very critical pre-flight tasks
we must perform before flying. These are extremely important
and should be approached with patience and care.
This may be the single most important step in preparing your air-
plane for flight. All airplanes, model or full-size, must be accu-
rately balanced in order to fly successfully. An airplane that is not
properly balanced will be unstable and will most likely crash.
NOT ALL KADETS WILL BALANCE THE SAME
It is impossible to produce a model airplane kit that will automat-
ically have the correct balance point. Not everyone uses the same
engine/motor or radio gear - and all those items can vary in
weight! You might be surprised to know that .40 size 2-stroke
R/C engines can vary in weight from 11 oz. to 18 oz. - that’s almost
a half pound difference, way out on the nose of your model! There
can even be as much as a 3/4 oz. difference in weight between
different brands of propellers! So, that’s why every model must
be balanced before flying. Don’t feel that whatever the balance
point your model came out at is “good enough”. Check carefully
and make whatever adjustments are required. Trying to fly an out
of balance model is dangerous!
Preliminary: All the parts and components that will be in the air-
plane in flight must be installed in their correct positions. This in-
cludes all the radio gear, the propeller, spinner, muffler (if
applicable), etc. Every piece of essential equipment must be in-
stalled, ready for flight. Always balance a glow powered model
with the fuel tank empty. Always balance an electric powered
model with the battery pack in place.
RECOMMENDED BALANCE RANGE
Between 4” to 5” Behind The Leading Edge Of The Wing
(Anywhere within this range is acceptable.)
Using a ruler, measure back from the leading edge of the wing
and mark the balance range on the bottom of the wing, next to
the fuselage. Make the same marks on both sides of the fuselage.
Place your fingertips within the balance range on both sides of
the airplane and carefully lift it off the table. No part of the model
should be touching anything except your fingertips! If the KADET
SENIOR will sit on your fingertips in a level attitude, then it is prop-
erly balanced and ready to fly.
If the airplane sits on your fingertips in an extreme nose down at-
titude, then it is nose heavy. You will have to add weight to the
rear of the airplane to get it to balance. NOTE: Before adding ad-
ditional weight to the model, try simply moving the battery pack
to a further aft location. The battery pack is relatively heavy and
therefore makes a good balancing tool. You might try switching
places between the battery and receiver; or move the battery right
in front of the servos; or in extreme situations, move it behind the
servos. If you can’t get your model balanced simply by re-locating
the battery pack, then you will have to purchase lead weights from
your hobby dealer and glue them into the tail end of the fuselage.
If the airplane sits on your fingertips with the tail down, it is tail
heavy. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FLY IT! A tail heavy model is very
dangerous and will most likely crash!! Weight will have to be
added to the nose of the model to bring it into balance. The
weights can be glued to the front of the firewall; or inside the cowl-
ing. There are also “spinner weights” available for tail heavy mod-
els. Wherever you put the balancing weight, make sure it cannot
come loose in flight! Because the KADET SENIOR EG ARF has
so much wing area, adding balancing weight will have little effect
on its flying ability.
Double check the alignment and movement of all the controls one
more time! Adjust all of your pushrod linkages so that the control
surfaces are in their neutral position when the transmitter sticks
and trim levers are centered. Make sure the control surfaces
move in the proper direction when you move the sticks. You’d be
amazed to know how many models have been destroyed on take-
off with one of the controls reversed. Don’t let it happen to you!
In fact, it’s a good idea to get into the habit of checking for proper
control response every time you get ready to fly.
Adjust your pushrod linkages and/or transmitter EPA (End Point
Adjustment) settings as necessary to provide the recommended
amount of control surface travel. NOTE: The rudder measurement
is taken from the bottom of the rudder, at its widest point.
RECOMMENDED CONTROL SURFACE TRAVEL
AILERONS: 1" UP, 1" DOWN
ELEVATOR: 3/4" UP, 3/4" DOWN
RUDDER: 1" LEFT, 1" RIGHT
The KADET SENIOR is designed to give you the best possible
chance to succeed in learning to fly R/C. However, learning to fly
model airplanes is not a skill you can learn overnight. It’s very
similar to learning to fly a real airplane in that you should go
through a learning phase with an instructor before you try to pilot
the airplane yourself. A lot of things can go wrong with
these machines, and if you are not prepared to deal with them in-
stantly, you will loose your brand new airplane in a crash. To
practically eliminate any chance that your first flight will end in dis-
aster, we strongly recommend that you seek the assistance of a
competent R/C pilot to help you with your first flights.
An instructor serves two purposes. First, he will take your model
up for its first test flight to make sure it is performing properly be-
fore you try to fly it. When a brand new R/C model takes off for
the first time, there is no way of knowing which way it is going to
go. Some models will try to climb steeply, while others may want
to go down. Some will try to turn left, others right. Some
models will be doing both at the same time! It doesn’t mean that
there is anything wrong with the model, but these minor
differences must be “trimmed out” in order for the model to fly
“hands-off” straight and level. An experienced pilot can instantly
correct for out of trim conditions before the model crashes into the
ground. An inexperienced beginner has almost no chance of sav-
ing an out of trim model!
The second reason for an instructor is to have someone there who
can correct any mistakes you make when you take over the con-
FLYING
CONTROL SURFACE TRAVEL
BALANCE YOUR AIRPLANE
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