RC SBD Dauntless Grass Field: Flight Four

Описание: RC VQ Models SBD Dauntless has a 6400mah 4S lipo powered by a Turnigy 40 motor 60 amp ESC and a tri bladed prop. The wingspan is 1.4m. I upgraded from a tri bladed propeller to a 2 bladed 13 x 8.5 prop.

Flight Review:
Takeoff had to be done from the grass strip, and the Dauntless has quite small wheels, so rudder control was important. Despite that, it handled the surface better than expected and tracked straight enough to get airborne cleanly. The new propeller gave the plane a stronger feel, and as I got more comfortable with the aircraft I was able to fly it more aggressively.

I pushed it through some rolls, loops, and even a spin out over the north end of the strip. With the swamp currently dry, the risk was much lower, which gave me more confidence to explore the flight envelope. The aircraft responded well and felt solid throughout those manoeuvres.

The biggest challenge during this flight was orientation. There was a lot of white sky and glare, and even with sunglasses the dark blue airframe could be difficult to see from the ground. I did feel slightly disoriented at times, but I stuck to a simple rule. If I thought it was turning left, I trusted that instinct and corrected smoothly.

Landing was the highlight. I slowed it down properly and rolled out onto the grass for my first grass touchdown with the Dauntless. Keeping a bit of throttle on gave me better control during the rollout. I left the rear facing camera view in the corner for context, and overall it was a very satisfying and confidence building flight.