+2
Not a bug

Turns harder to left, softer to right. didn't work like that at first

ThaiKarl 10 years ago updated by Prashant Vaibhav (The 'tech' guy) 9 years ago 6
having fun with my SmartPlane!  maybe i crashed it to many times getting the hang of it, but now, when i tilt phone to right, the plane turns very softly.  when i tilt phone to left, it turns very hard, and usually dives for the ground, unless i back off on power and stop the turn quickly.  on right turns, i tilt the phone hard and it barely turns.  the plane didn't do this the first 10 flights or so.  nothing appears bent, the rudder swings smoothly when i flip it with my finger. any ideas?  'flight assist' is on, trim was off, turning it on didn't seem to do much.
Under review
Hi Karl, that's interesting. I think the weight-balancing or physical trimming has become deformed due to hits. This usually doesn't happen, and any deformity should be visible. Did you also check that the "Reverse" switch did not accidentally get toggled? Another thing you can check is, hold the phone, give it full throttle (don't let it fly away!) and turn the phone left and right. Does the rudder turn approximately the same angle left as to the right? The wind from the propeller can affect the rudder's turn.

Also, in a week or so we are about to push an app update which has some improvements to FlightAssist, if you cannot solve the problem maybe that will help.
i looked carefully at the alignment of the wings, body and tail.  they are not perfect, but not wonky either.  no different than when i first got the plane.  the rudder does appear to flip to a greater angle to the left than it does to the right.  i tried to gently twist the servo mechanism in it's mounting, thinking maybe it got out out alignment.  i wasn't able to move it enough to compensate - i felt like i was stressing the mounting to much.  "reverse" is off in the settings.  is the buzzing sound from the rudder servo normal?  it appears as soon as the plane is synched to the phone.  that sound has been there since i got the plane, but it's intermittent.  i'm wondering if there is interference from other bluetooth or WiFi devices in the building.

newest problem: there isn't enough power to fly!  push up full throttle (flight assist on, trim off) and the plane just flys to the floor.  not sure what's going on here.  is there a way to "re-flash" the onboard chip back to 'factory settings'?  i need to check with a magnifying glass and see if there might be something, like some dust, wrapped around the prop shaft, but i can't see anything like that with naked eye.  my flying goal was to fly out a full charge without crashing once.  i'm not there yet, and the flyability problems are preventing any progress towards that goal.  thanks for the reply.
I've asked Captain Rich for help. I will post his reply here as soon as I receive it.
This is Cpt. Rich's reply:

- slightly and gently bent the tail upwards. This will trim the plane. Could be that during a crash the horizontal stabiliser was hit a little bit and now the plane is trimmed wrong. Actually I think this is the solution.
Also:
- Check if the propeller fits properly.
- Check if the plane is really fully charge. Make sure the plane is turned on while charging. Charge it for at least 15 min. Check the battery level inside the app afterwards. Does it show 100%?
ah, working better now.  i bought a stupid quad copter from 7-11 that flew once and now just goes crazy.  noticed that hair was wrapped around the props.  didn't fix the quad, but it thought to look at my smartplane again.  noticed that the prop was shoved so far back on the stem, it was brushing the wing - no wonder why the plane just flew into the ground.  used a knife to push the prop further out, and it's flying again.  and i bend the body upwards a little, now it flys better - tended to dive easily.  still having turning problem. the rudder deflects to the left much more than to the right.  think i'll try a little piece of tape and a bit of paper to make a rudder stop to even it out.