A dependable RC airplane flight begins before the wheels ever leave the ground. In Episode 5 of the RC Plane Lab podcast, Ron and Tom walk through the quick pre-flight checks they perform before takeoff and the much more detailed inspection they perform before the beginning of a flying season.
Along the way, Ron shares a battery-charging mistake involving two identical-looking connectors wired with opposite polarity, while Tom tells the painful story of rebuilding a Pica Duellist all winter only to destroy it on takeoff because the ailerons were reversed.
- Progress on the Stick and Senior Telemaster
- Ron’s smoking five-port battery charger
- Why matching battery connectors don’t necessarily mean matching polarity
- The control-direction check Ron and Tom perform before every flight
- Checking throttle, engine operation, transmitter timer, runway, and wind
- The downloadable RC Plane Lab Pre-Flight Checklist
- Tom’s reversed-aileron Pica Duellist crash
- Why the pre-flight should be repeated before every takeoff
- Battery cycling, capacity testing, and load testing
- Propeller balance and vibration
- Engine, motor, fuel-tank, clunk, and fuel-line inspections
- Mud daubers and other surprises in stored airplanes
- Loose covering, moisture, corrosion, and trailer damage
Free RC Plane Lab Pre-Flight Checklist
Ron mentions in the episode that he carries a small laminated pre-flight checklist with his transmitter. That original RC Plane Lab checklist is still available below.
Download the Pre-Flight Checklist PDF →Print it, laminate it if you’d like, and keep it with your transmitter or field box so it is available regardless of which airplane you take flying.
A Battery-Polarity Lesson
Before getting into pre-flight checks, Ron shares an unexpected lesson involving small one-cell LiPo batteries.
He had several 500 mAh batteries and some 250 mAh batteries from different manufacturers. Because they used the same physical connector, Ron connected all of them to the same five-port USB charger and walked away.
Shortly afterward, he smelled smoke.
The charger itself had begun melting. Ron eventually discovered that the positive and negative wires on one battery type were reversed compared with the other—even though the connectors were physically identical.
Before connecting an unfamiliar battery to a charger, verify the connector polarity and make sure the battery and charger are actually compatible. Do not assume that two plugs are electrically identical simply because they fit together.
The Control Check Before Every Flight
Ron and Tom both make the same basic recommendation: stand where you can clearly see the airplane, move the controls, and verify that the airplane does what you are commanding.
- Elevator: Pulling back on the stick should move the elevator trailing edge upward. Pushing forward should move it downward.
- Ailerons: Right stick should raise the right aileron and lower the left. Left stick should raise the left aileron and lower the right.
- Rudder: Right rudder should move the rudder trailing edge right. Left rudder should move it left.
- Throttle: Confirm that the power system responds in the expected direction and manner.
While moving the controls, also look for binding, disconnected linkages, unusual servo noise, loose hardware, or anything else that doesn’t look normal.
It takes only a few seconds once the routine becomes a habit.
Check the Power System
On a nitro or gasoline airplane, Ron and Tom recommend running the engine up before takeoff and making sure it transitions properly and can sustain full power.
For electric airplanes, verify the power system safely as well. When initially setting up an electric power system, remove the propeller whenever practical before programming or testing throttle direction.
Tom also discusses using the transmitter’s flight timer. His radio starts a countdown timer when full throttle is commanded for the first time, giving him a reminder of how long that particular airplane has been flying.
Runway, Airspace, and Wind
Before moving onto the runway, check that nobody is retrieving an airplane and that another model is not in your intended takeoff path.
Then look at the windsock.
Ron and Tom emphasize taking off and landing into the wind whenever conditions and field procedures allow. A tailwind during landing increases groundspeed for a given airspeed and can make judging the approach more difficult. What matters aerodynamically is maintaining sufficient airflow over the wing.
The Pre-Flight That Would Have Saved Tom’s Duellist
Tom’s story provides the clearest reason in the episode for checking control direction every time.
He acquired a fuel-soaked Pica Duellist, a twin-engine pattern airplane. Tom completely stripped the airplane, treated the fuel-soaked structure, recovered it, installed equipment, and spent much of a winter returning it to flying condition.
Because the airplane had flown before and he believed everything had been reinstalled exactly as it had been removed, he assumed the controls would still operate correctly.
At the field, both engines were running beautifully. The retracts worked. The airplane accelerated down the long paved runway and made what Tom remembers as a picture-perfect takeoff.
Then he commanded a turn.
The Duellist rolled violently in the opposite direction.
The ailerons were reversed.
Because the airplane was already fast and low, Tom had almost no time to understand what was happening. The Duellist continued rolling until it hit the ground.
The wreckage went home in what became known as the “Duellist bucket.”
The throttle worked. The engines worked. The retracts worked. None of that proved the primary flight controls were correct. Moving the aileron stick once while looking at the airplane would have exposed the problem before takeoff.
Repeat the Check Before Every Takeoff
Ron and Tom don’t limit the pre-flight to the first flight of the day.
If the airplane lands, a battery is changed, the receiver is turned off, equipment is connected or disconnected, or the model is otherwise handled between flights, they recommend performing the quick control check again before the next takeoff.
The whole point is to develop a repeatable routine. Once the movements become familiar, something unusual stands out immediately.
The Preseason Inspection
The quick pre-flight at the field is different from the inspection an airplane should receive after sitting for a long period of time.
Before returning an airplane to service, Ron and Tom go much deeper.
Check the Batteries
Inspect and test every battery system used by the airplane, including receiver packs, ignition batteries, electric flight batteries, and transmitter batteries where appropriate.
Tom discusses cycling NiMH packs and comparing measured capacity with rated capacity. Ron also talks about testing battery voltage under load rather than relying only on an unloaded voltage reading.
If a battery cannot safely deliver the expected capacity or maintain appropriate voltage under load, it does not belong in an airplane.
Battery chemistries have different storage requirements. Follow the battery and charger manufacturer’s instructions for storage voltage, temperature, charging, inspection, and fire precautions. Damaged, swollen, or questionable lithium batteries should not be returned to service simply because they will still accept a charge.
Inspect the Airframe and Hardware
Look over the complete airplane and check for loose hardware, bent landing gear, damaged pushrods, worn hinges, loose control horns, cracked mounts, and any other structural problem.
This is also a good time to notice damage that may have occurred while moving or storing the airplane.
Check and Balance the Propeller
Tom likes to remove and check the propellers on airplanes he expects to fly during the season.
An out-of-balance propeller creates unnecessary vibration. Vibration can loosen hardware, shorten bearing life, fatigue structures, and make life harder on electronics and electrical connections.
Inspect Nitro and Gas Engines
With the propeller removed, inspect the engine carefully. Tom recalls finding a dark oily residue underneath one airplane and tracing it to a leaking front crankshaft bearing.
Finding that problem in the shop is much better than discovering it at the flying field—or after takeoff.
Inspect Electric Motors
With the battery disconnected and the propeller removed, rotate an electric motor by hand and pay attention to how it feels.
The magnetic detents are normal. Grinding, roughness, unusual looseness, or a gritty-feeling bearing is not.
Inspect Fuel Tanks and Fuel Lines
For nitro and gasoline airplanes, inspect the fuel tank, fittings, clunk, and tubing.
Make sure the clunk can move freely throughout the tank. Tubing can harden with age, potentially leaving the clunk stuck in one position. Inspect tank seams for leaks and replace brittle or questionable fuel line before it creates an engine problem in flight.
Don’t Forget About Storage Damage
Airplanes stored in garages, sheds, trailers, or other less-controlled spaces can develop problems even when they haven’t been flown.
Mud Daubers and Other Visitors
Tom mentions mud daubers, which can build nests inside muffler outlets, carburetor openings, fuselages, and other protected spaces.
Inspect openings before starting an airplane that has been stored for an extended period.
Check the Covering
Heat, fuel, age, and storage can cause covering seams to loosen. On fuel-powered airplanes, oil contamination can eventually make it impossible to simply iron a seam back down.
A loose piece of covering is much easier to repair in the shop than after it begins peeling away in flight.
Moisture and Trailer Leaks
Ron describes discovering that his storage trailer had developed a leak. By the time the problem was found, moisture had caused wood to swell and warp badly enough that he estimated approximately three airplanes were lost.
Corroded or rusty hardware can be an early warning that moisture or excessive humidity is present even before the wooden structure looks severely damaged.
Episode 5 Takeaways
- Check control direction before every takeoff.
- Never assume controls are correct because the airplane flew previously.
- Matching battery connectors do not automatically mean matching polarity.
- Verify the power system before entering the runway.
- Check the runway, airspace, and wind direction.
- Repeat the pre-flight after landing and before taking off again.
- Perform a more detailed inspection before returning stored airplanes to service.
- Test batteries rather than assuming a full charge means a healthy battery.
- Inspect propellers, hardware, engines, motors, fuel systems, covering, and airframes.
- Storage can damage an airplane even when it never leaves the ground.
Full Episode Transcript
Transcript based on the original Episode 5 captions. Speaker labels, punctuation, capitalization, and paragraph breaks are formatted for readability while preserving the substance of the conversation.
Read the complete Episode 5 transcript
[00:04] Announcer: For anyone interested in RC airplanes, we’ll share tips and tricks on how to build models and talk about successful flights, epic crashes, and everything in between. Visit us at rcplanelab.com to sign up for our email list and to ask us questions. You can also text us or leave us a voicemail at 818-351-9846. Please help us out by rating and reviewing us in your favorite podcast app. Thanks for spending time with us today. Now here are your hosts, Ron and Tom.
[00:38] Ron: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Episode 3 of the RC Plane Lab Podcast. I’m Ron.
Tom: I’m Tom.
Ron: Today we’re going to be talking about pre-flight checks.
Tom: Very, very important subject.
Ron: Very important. Before you take off, you need to do some checks on your airplane. Actually, before we talk about that, though, have you had any time to work on anything since last we spoke?
[01:00] Tom: Well, not at home. We did do a little bit of work here in the RC Plane Lab dungeon, if you will.
Ron: Almost got the Stick recovered.
Tom: Looks like we’re about ready to do some installation on the Senior Telemaster as well. Some good progress.
Ron: We’re getting close on that too. I’ve got some servos put in. The engine’s mounted. The graphics are done. It’s looking good. We’re getting toward the end of it.
Tom: We’ll have to post some pictures.
Ron: Yeah. And then after we’re done with this, we’ll move on to another plane.
Tom: There’s always another project.
[01:39] Ron: Actually, before we get started, I decided to get out a couple—I know we’re not supposed to talk about them—but I have some quadcopters also.
Tom: You can talk about them.
Ron: Well, I learned a very important lesson. I have, I think, 500 mAh one-cell LiPo batteries, and then I have a couple 250 mAh one-cell LiPo batteries that are actually for a small airplane.
I have a charger that goes onto a computer, and I thought, you know what? I’m just going to charge them all together and be done. It’s a five-port charger. It’s the same connector on the end of everything. I didn’t think anything about it.
I threw the batteries on the charger, and I walked away.
Tom: Uh-oh. I don’t like where this story’s going.
[02:28] Ron: My daughter was playing in the living room where the computer was, and all of a sudden I started to smell smoke.
Of course I got scared. I ran in there. I told Piper, “Let’s go.” By the way, my daughter’s name is Piper.
Tom: And cute as a button.
Ron: Thank you very much. Anyway, we got out of the room, and then I looked over by the computer. There was a nice column of smoke going up to the ceiling.
Tom: That’s not good.
Ron: I got her safely out of the way and went back in there.
Tom: So the battery charger was melting?
Ron: The charger itself was melting. I thought it was a battery at first too, when I saw the smoke.
Tom: That would have been my guess.
[03:21] Ron: I unplugged it, put it out in the garage, and got it cooled down. I had no idea the batteries would be wired backwards.
The 250 mAh battery was reversed from the 500 mAh battery as far as which wire was positive and negative. So be very careful.
Tom: That’s bizarre.
Ron: Apparently they’re not all wired the same way.
Tom: Same connectors.
Ron: Same connectors.
Tom: But just wired differently. That’s kind of scary.
Ron: I know. So be very careful when you’re charging batteries like that. That was a major learning experience for me. I was very surprised by it.
Tom: I would have been too.
Ron: It’s not like I wired anything backwards.
Tom: That’s how they came out of the package.
Ron: I’ve had the batteries for probably two or three years. I had just never charged them on a different charger than what came with them. This time I thought, instead of having two different chargers plugged into the same computer, I’d use the same charger.
Tom: I think we would all assume that if it has the same connector, it’s probably wired the same as every other battery that uses that connector.
Ron: Right.
Tom: So it’s a very good lesson. Check the polarity of those batteries.
Ron: Luckily, nothing bad happened.
Tom: It’s a good thing you caught it early too.
Ron: A lesson learned.
[05:03] Tom: From now on, folks, if you’re charging multiple batteries on a charger that maybe didn’t come with that battery, double-check the polarity. Make sure it’s charging correctly.
Ron: And the polarity is correct.
Tom: LiPo batteries kind of scare me anyway. They’re really safe nowadays, folks, but when LiPos first came out, I was around when they first came out, and they were very volatile early on.
Ron: They still can be, but I think a lot has to do with how you treat them, and the safeties built into electronics are a lot better.
Tom: The chargers and the cutoffs on speed controllers and things like that.
Ron: Which surprised me, because most of the chargers I have for bigger batteries will tell you if it’s reverse polarity. This one didn’t.
Tom: Needless to say, you’re looking for a new charger.
Ron: New charger and at least one new battery.
Tom: If they use the same connector, I would have assumed they’re wired the same, but apparently they’re not.
Ron: They were different manufacturers. On my bigger batteries I use XT60 connectors most of the time, and those actually show positive and negative on the connector.
Tom: Those little tiny batteries usually come with the connector already on them. Nobody changes them.
Ron: You buy them and they only plug into one thing most of the time. So be careful and check before you charge.
[07:11] Ron: Anyway, moving on: pre-flight checks.
Tom: Pre-flight. Pretty important subject. Something you should do before every flight. No matter what type of airplane you’re talking about—nitro, gas, electric—the function is the same.
It’s basically a quick once-over. It doesn’t have to be really involved, but you need to make sure the control surfaces are doing what you’re commanding them to do.
Ron: Okay, let’s go through what you do when you go to the field.
[07:47] Tom: We’re assuming you’ve already done all the other stuff we’ll cover later—the once-a-year checks—and you’re ready to put the airplane on the ground and take off.
I start with the elevator. You pull back on the transmitter to go up with the airplane. As I’m pulling the elevator stick back, I’m looking at the elevator, and it should rise up to meet me.
You pull back and the elevator rises. Push the stick forward and the elevator goes down.
That’s where I start. To me the elevator is the number-one channel. Without an elevator you can’t really control the airplane’s pitch attitude.
[08:55] Tom: Then I move on to the ailerons. I’m looking at the airplane as if I’m sitting in the cockpit looking forward.
If I move the aileron stick to the right, the right aileron should rise up to meet me—give my thumb a high five, whatever you want to call it. The left aileron should move in the opposite direction. Vice versa when I move the stick left.
Ron: All right, next.
[09:34] Tom: Then I move over to the rudder. Looking at the airplane, move the rudder stick left and the trailing edge of the rudder should move left.
Ron: And vice versa. Move the stick right and the trailing edge should move right.
[09:57] Tom: Last is throttle. With electric, you probably already have programming set up. I recommend doing initial programming with the prop off.
On a nitro or gas airplane, you can check it with the engine not running, especially if you can see the carburetor. Push the stick forward and the throat of the carburetor should open.
[10:34] Ron: I’m a little different, but pretty much the same. I do ailerons first because I go by looking at the airplane. Left stick, left aileron up; right stick, right aileron up. Then I go back to the elevator, pull back and make sure it goes up, and then I do the rudder.
If you’re flying nitro, you’ll do a run-up on your motor after it’s started. Run it up before you take off to make sure you clear it out and can get full throttle.
I do kind of the same thing with electric. I’ll run that all the way up too.
[11:07] Tom: I have a timer set on my transmitter. Most transmitters these days are programmable. On my old DX8, I have it set so the timer starts when I hit full throttle the first time.
I know in advance about how much time I can get with each airplane, so I set a countdown timer. That way you don’t run out of battery while you’re flying.
With electric, running it up also starts my timer, so it kills two birds with one stone.
[11:48] Tom: Once everything is moving correctly and going in the directions it should be going, you’re ready for takeoff.
The next thing is to check the runway and make sure it’s clear. Nobody should be on it retrieving an airplane. I also glance at the path I’m going to take off through and make sure there aren’t airplanes in my takeoff path.
[12:12] Ron: Check the windsock, see which way it’s blowing, and decide which way you’re going to take off.
Tom: It’s amazing how many times I’ve seen people get that wrong.
Ron: With landing too. Landing scares me more than taking off with a tailwind because you’re already slowing down.
Tom: With landing you’re decelerating. At least with a takeoff you’re accelerating and hopefully have some extra time if you get off the ground early.
Ron: And you’re at full throttle, which helps when you need the extra power.
[13:19] Tom: That’s pretty much how I accomplish a pre-flight, and I do that every time I fly.
Once you’ve done it a few times, it becomes habit.
[13:35] Ron: I have a little laminated checklist that I carry with me. That way you can check it and make sure you don’t forget anything.
I’ll post it on the website under the show. If anybody wants it, they can download it. I recommend laminating it. It’s small enough to throw into your transmitter case, and then you always have it no matter what you’re flying.
[14:11] Tom: I actually have a confession to make. I don’t do a pre-flight every single time. I try to, but there’s at least one time I can remember when I didn’t do a proper pre-flight.
Ron: Did something happen that time?
Tom: Well, yeah. We’ve talked about it before.
Ron: Do tell, please.
Tom: Everybody loves crash stories, right?
Ron: Absolutely.
[14:38] Tom: I had acquired an airplane from a friend that was fuel soaked. We can talk about fuel-soaked airframes and how to bring them back to life some other time.
This was a Pica Duellist. If anybody listening knows what that is, it’s a twin-engine pattern-type airplane. Very smooth, very fast, kind of a precision aerobatic design from the seventies. I think Pica made the kit into the eighties.
I got this airplane from a friend and it was fuel soaked. I completely stripped it, treated the airframe, recovered it, and put it back together over the course of a winter.
This was quite a while ago. I was a college student, so it took some time, and it wasn’t cheap. Covering is expensive. You replace batteries and things like that. I don’t think I got the engines with the airframe, so I had to buy engines too.
[15:47] Tom: When I reinstalled the radio, I just assumed I put everything back exactly the way it came out. The right aileron servo was in the right panel, the left servo was in the left panel, and the linkages were where they had been.
In theory it should have been perfect, right? The airplane had flown fine previously.
I spent all that time putting it back together and took it to the field. Friends were watching because I’d been working on it all winter. It looked really cool. It was a beautiful airplane.
I fired everything up, ran the engines, and tuned them so they were in sync.
[16:49] Tom: And I neglected to do a proper pre-flight.
I ran the throttles up. That was good. It had retractable gear and I’d tested the gear on the bench at home. But not once during reconstruction did I think to check that the ailerons, elevator, or rudder were moving the correct direction.
I just assumed.
Ron: Even if an airplane isn’t completely new, if it’s new to you or it’s on a new transmitter and electronics, I almost consider that a maiden.
Tom: In this case all the internal electronics came with the airframe. All I had to do was plug my receiver in. It was JR equipment, so everything should have moved the same direction.
[18:27] Tom: I’m ready to take off. The field had a very long paved runway with lots of room.
I taxied all the way to the end. I don’t know if it was nerves or if I wanted to put on a show, but I got to the end and ran the throttles up.
Man, this thing just rocketed down the runway. The engines were screaming and perfectly tuned. It was one of those picture-perfect takeoffs.
Right about in front of me it rotated, lifted off, and was climbing beautifully. I started to throttle back because it was gaining speed.
Then I went to make a turn.
[19:44] Tom: It happened so fast I had no time to react. The thing was hauling.
I believe I went to make a left turn, and the airplane started rolling violently to the right.
Looking back, I should have realized immediately that the ailerons were backwards, but I didn’t.
The thing rolled and rolled. It was still rolling when it hit the ground. I managed to pull the throttles back to idle before it crashed.
When it was done, it was basically a kit again.
Ron: Wow.
[20:33] Tom: I took it home. For the longest time I had this plastic pail—a two-gallon pail or whatever. That was my Duellist bucket because that’s what I had in the car that day.
That’s what I collected all the parts in.
That bucket sat in my closet for a really long time because I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it.
Ron: That’s too bad.
[21:03] Tom: All due to neglecting a pre-flight. Had I done a proper pre-flight, who knows? That airplane might still be flying today.
Ron: Literally that half second of checking the aileron could have saved the whole thing.
Tom: Saved everything.
Ron: Tough lesson learned, but I bet you haven’t forgotten since then.
Tom: I don’t think I have. I’m sure there are times I’ve been in a rush, but I try to do it every single time. Even if I’ve flown the airplane previously the same day, I’ll do it again because you just never know.
[21:41] Ron: Anytime you land and take off, especially if the battery’s been taken out or you’ve turned anything off, make sure everything moves the way it’s supposed to, moves freely, and is ready to go.
Tom: Once you get into the habit, it takes no time at all.
Ron: Three or four seconds at most.
Tom: You get into a rhythm, and if something isn’t right, you pick it out immediately.
Don’t neglect it. Get into the habit of doing it every single time.
[22:18] Ron: That’s what you do when you’re at the field and flying. What else would you check at the beginning of the flying year?
[22:28] Tom: Annually, like a preseason once-over or an annual checkup, I check all of that and then everything on the airframe.
First and foremost: batteries. I’m terrible about neglecting my batteries over the winter. We have a winter here where we live when it’s simply too cold to fly.
The first thing I’ll check before flying season is all my batteries—NiMH, LiPo, lithium-ion, whatever you’re using. Check them according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.
[23:24] Tom: For nickel-metal-hydride packs, I’ve got an older charger that does a great job. It cycles the packs, cuts them off at a safe voltage, and gives me a readout of estimated capacity.
If that’s not pretty close to the rated capacity, I replace the battery or use it for a bench-test pack instead.
Ron: My charger can charge and discharge up to six cycles automatically. At the end it tells you how many milliamp-hours it put in and how many it took out for each cycle.
On older batteries that haven’t been charged for a while, you can see the numbers get closer together toward the end of the cycles.
Tom: Yeah.
Ron: I also check them under load to make sure the voltage isn’t dropping.
[24:51] Tom: I’ve still got my old Tower Hobbies analog load gauge. It puts a load on the battery and has a green range on the dial. I still use that to this day.
Every time I’ve checked a battery and it hasn’t been well into the green, I haven’t flown. I haven’t lost an airplane due to a dead battery.
Ron: If you keep up on your equipment, you won’t have the failures you get when you don’t.
[26:11] Tom: For the preseason checkup, batteries are the first thing I do.
Ron: That’s usually not in the plane for all of them either. You can take those out pretty easily to charge.
Tom: If you can take them out, that’s a good opportunity to inspect them. If you can’t easily remove a battery, at a minimum make sure it is properly disconnected when the airplane is stored, according to the equipment manufacturer’s instructions.
I admit I’m terrible about leaving some receiver batteries physically in the airplane because wrestling a 50cc airplane around my little basement to get them out can be difficult. But I unplug them.
[27:39] Tom: With lithium batteries, my charger has a storage-charge feature. I use that and check them periodically through the winter.
It’s a good idea to keep lithium batteries in an appropriate storage location and container and follow the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Ron: Storage is especially important if you’re not keeping them somewhere climate controlled. Heat can be hard on batteries.
Tom: That’s a good point. Battery storage is important.
[29:34] Tom: Batteries are the first thing I check. Then I go over the airframe and make sure all the hardware is still tight.
Make sure there’s nothing bent—landing gear, pushrods, anything like that. Give it a once-over and make sure nothing obvious stands out.
Then I like to check the balance on my props in the spring before I start flying.
[30:05] Tom: Vibration is a terrible thing. It does weird things to electronics and sets up harmonics. Metal-on-metal vibration inside an airframe isn’t something you want either.
Check the prop balance.
Ron: You do that on every plane before you fly it in the summer?
Tom: On the airplanes I know I’m going to fly, yes. I’ll pull the prop off. It doesn’t take long, and I like tinkering with airplanes anyway.
Ron: What size propellers?
Tom: I try to check them all. Small props can be harder to balance accurately, but an out-of-balance propeller isn’t fun. The larger the prop, the more important it becomes.
[31:57] Tom: Since you already have the propeller off to balance it, you may as well go over the engine.
If it’s nitro or gas, look it over. One summer I found a weird sooty, black, oily drip underneath where an airplane had sat all winter.
Upon further investigation, I found the front crankcase bearing was leaking.
On a nitro airplane, that can cause trouble because it allows air into the mixture and the engine doesn’t run the way it’s supposed to.
Ron: That’s a good time to find problems—not when you’re at the field trying to figure out why it doesn’t run right.
[33:11] Tom: Even with electric, with the battery disconnected and prop off, you can turn the motor by hand. You’ll feel the magnets, but if there’s a bearing hanging up you’ll start to feel a weird grittiness.
[33:31] Tom: If we’re dealing with nitro or gas, this is also a good time to look at the tank and lines.
Make sure the clunk is free to move inside the tank. Over time, some fuel tubing can get stiff.
If the airplane is upside down and the clunk stays stuck on what is now the top side of the tank, the engine can run out of fuel.
Check the tank seams too. Many tanks are molded in two pieces and the seam can develop a leak over time.
Ron: If fuel lines dry out and get brittle, vibration from the airplane or engine can cause them to fail. That’s a bad time to lose a fuel line.
Tom: Fuel tubing is relatively cheap. Buy what you need, though. I’ve bought extra tubing, stored it, and still had it stiffen up with age.
[35:35] Tom: A lot of people store airplanes in garages, sheds, or trailers. Something very real here in the Midwest is mud daubers.
A mud dauber is basically a wasp that builds a nest out of mud. They like cozy, cramped spaces.
I’ve seen airplanes where mud daubers built nests in a muffler outlet, carburetor, or inside the airframe.
First, it’s a nasty surprise when you go to start an airplane and wasps come out. Second, those nests can break loose and bounce around inside the airframe.
Check the airplane, engine, and openings carefully if it’s stored in a garage, shed, trailer, or similar location.
[36:54] Tom: The last thing I look over is the condition of the covering.
That’s why I’m recovering the airplane over here. At the end of last season it wasn’t looking too pretty. A couple seams were coming loose, it was fuel soaked underneath, and I couldn’t iron them down anymore.
That’s something you want to catch before you fly. A wing without its covering doesn’t develop much lift.
Ron: That can be avoided by doing a proper inspection and checking the airplane.
You kind of get out of it what you put into it. If you spend the time to make sure what you’re flying is correct, you reduce the chances of problems later.
[37:53] Ron: Going back to trailers and the issues you alluded to—that one’s on me.
My trailer had a bit of a leak over the winter that I didn’t catch in time. I would say I lost probably three airplanes due to the wood swelling and warping.
One or two I could probably rebuild, but they weren’t airplanes I was all that excited about, so I’ll probably pull out whatever electronics I can save and go from there.
Be careful with your trailers.
[38:37] Tom: If you store anything in a trailer, especially anywhere with humidity, check those things often.
The first sign may be corroded hardware. A lot of the hardware is steel, and steel turns to rust. If you’re in a bad storage situation, rusty hardware may be the first thing you notice.
Ron: Lesson learned.
Tom: We spend so much time, energy, and money on these things. Let’s do everything we can to take care of them and fly them for many years.
Ron: Make them last longer. Take care of them for your kids.
Tom: And you can do that by not crashing them—and preventing crashes with a proper pre-flight.
[39:25] Ron: Everybody: pre-flight check every single flight. Anything else?
Tom: No, I think that about covers it. We’ve gone over what you should look for in a pre-flight check and how to perform one. Ron’s going to post a handy checklist on the website.
Ron: Check us out there. Until next time, I’m Ron.
Tom: And I’m Tom.
Ron: Thanks. Bye.
Tom: See you.
[39:47] Announcer: We hope you enjoyed this episode of the RC Plane Lab podcast. For topic suggestions, to ask questions, or to give any feedback, connect with us at rcplanelab.com or email us directly at ron@rcplanelab.com or tom@rcplanelab.com. You can also text us or leave us a voicemail at 818-351-9846. Please subscribe, rate, and review us on your favorite podcast app. Until next time, may your landings be gentle.
Need to set up the airplane before running this checklist? Start with the RC Airplane Setup & Preflight Center, then return here for the final field check.