David Lewis wrote:I've found building and flying FF kits very helpful in succeeding with subsequent RC conversions. Also, the larger the airplane, the easier it will be to fly and the better it will fly, all other things equal.
Good advice, especially along the lines that it pushes an individual to learn the importance of a straight airframe that will fly well on it's own, as well as the importance of all the various settings.
My C150 was one of my earlier conversions, that went from unflyable to being a very good flyer, due to a few degrees of incidence mismatch and rudder misalignment. The problem was compounded by the direction of the misalignments. Had they each been misaligned in the opposite directions so to speak, it probably would have been flyable. Excess positive right wing panel incidence, with a rudder misaligned to favor right hand turning is a horrible situation when combined with prop torque, causing a sidewinder. It's those little details that we learn to appreciate with experience.
In performing numerous Guillows conversions over the years, my first concern is the airframe, far ahead of the gear. It's not that the gear isn't important, but that there are numerous combinations that will work well, if reasonably well selected. Gear placement on the other hand is very important. It takes a number of builds of various types, before a builder can pretty much hit the c/g dead on, with no ballast. I cringe at adding more than a few grams of wasteful ballast. Any good conversion should trim easily and fly well for considerable distances, with no control inputs. That took a while to achieve. I basically look at a good r/c conversion as a free flight electric, where you also have the ability to give it control inputs. They're not enjoyable, when you're struggling to keep them in the air.