Friday, November 2, 2007

Super Cub Electronics problems....

I finally took the supercub up (briefly) after the major repairs to the fuselage and receipt of the new transmitter. Lets say it didn't go as planned. After a hand launch the plane climbed briefly and then banked to the right and took a gentle nose dive. No real damage, just a broken propeller. This time I am not going to blame the wind; I place the blame squarely on the electronics. Through out the short flight the engine and flight controls were intermittently cutting out. At first I thought there was a short, but upon later examination I believe it was the Anti-Crash Technology (ACT) circuitry. On previous flights I deiced this "handy" feature was basically junk. This flight I forgot to switch the ACT off before take off. The ACT uses two optical sensors to determine the pitch of the airplane. When the plane enters a steep dive or climb, the ACT cuts the engine and applies some up elevator until the controls are released to reset it. While a good idea, I have found this to be more problematic that helpful. On this particular day I think the clouds were wreaking havoc on the optical sensors which is something the manual says can happen. So lesson learned; ensure all controls are properly set before take off!