People have asked for it, so I thought it would be a good idea to promote this post I made a while back into a forum article. Hooray for VB!
When I was little, I used to build model balsa-wood airplanes, and I learned some useful rules of thumb that might be worth sharing:
One, if it looks like a plane, it will probably fly like a plane. Try a very conventional design before you go for the successor to the SR-71.
The KRJ-100. Looks very much like a plane. It will glide without input.
Two, the center of mass should be at the first third of the wings. Mentally divide your wing into three sections. The plane should be balanced at the first division threshold. (landing gear can be just aft of that, to provide a nice fulcrum)
The KRJ-400 JetLiner, it\'s as heavy as it looks like.
Three, vertical stabilizers should actually be pushing down, not up. Use the rotation feature in the SPH to pitch your elevators down a notch or two before placing. The wings alone will make the plane pitch down, while the stabilizers keep the nose up. Planes are stable when those forces even out.
The Annihilator Mk1, the V tail acts as both rudder and elevator, and they\'re pitched down 10 degrees.
Four, canards are like pushing on a rope. See rule 1.
The Ravenspear Mk1 is much trickier to fly than the Annihilator. Pitch too aggressively, and it will tumble out of control.
That\'s about it for now, hope this helps.
Cheers
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