Banana Hobby Pre-Flight Check Procedure

Thank you for your purchase of your RC Aircraft or Helicopter from Banana Hobby! This checklist is to insure proper start up and powering off of your new RC product! Please follow these steps and it will yield in a long lasting and fun RC experience in your purchase! Happy Flying always, and thank you for your continued support! ~ Pete

*** Keep in mind the majority of the RC Jets, Helicopters, and Airplanes DO NOT have an ON or OFF switch. The On and Off on the aircraft is plugging in and unplugging the battery or Lipo.**

POWERING ON For Flight:

  • Step 1: Always make sure the batteries in your transmitter are of highest power and valued alkaline such as Duracell, Energizer. Make sure your power source for your aircraft or helicopter is fully charged per instructions supplied with your product.
  • Step 2: DO NOT APPLY POWER to the Aircraft or Helicopter at this time. Make sure the transmitter has the throttle stick (left stick) set at the lowest DOWN position. Make sure the vertical "trim” tab located to the right of the throttle stick is set to the lowest DOWN position.
  • Step 3: Always turn on the Transmitter FIRST. (if you are powering up a 3D helicopter, always make sure the 3D switch on the transmitter is set to NORMAL and not 3D). Turn on the Transmitter.
  • Step 4: Plug the battery into the product. If your product is a helicopter, make sure you plug it in on a flat surface with the helicopter sitting on the landing gears or skids and after connecting the power, do not move the helicopter or the sticks on the transmitter for 5 seconds. Keep the helicopter away from your face or any objects. For aircrafts, airplanes, EDF Jets, connect the power by plugging the battery into the electronic speed controller.
  • Step 5: AIRCRAFT'S, EDF's, Propeller Airplanes Only: BEFORE FLIGHT YOU MUST check all the control Surfaces for proper directional movement! Left stick is your Throttle (vertical movement) and Rudder (left and right movement) Right Stick is your Aileron Movement (left and right movement when the aircraft is 4 channels or more) and Elevator (vertical up and down movement)
  • *When standing behind the aircraft, giving left Rudder, the trailing edge of the rudder will move to the LEFT. Right it will move right. When giving UP ELEVATOR (Pulling DOWN on the Elevator Stick), the trailing edge of the Elevator Surface will move UP. Down Elevator (Pushing the Elevator Stick Forward) the trailing edge of the Elevator Surface will point DOWN. Aileron control Surfaces: When banking to the RIGHT, the RIGHT wing surface will point UP while the Left Wing Surface will point DOWN. When banking left, the LEFT Surface will point UP and Right Surface will point DOWN. IF ANY of the Control Surfaces are moving in the opposite directions as we have stated here, on the Transmitter, you will see a ROW of Reversing switches Numbered 1 thru 4 or possibly 1 through 7. Simply move the switch in the opposite direction as is in on the channel that is reversed. Here are the CHANNEL Assignments:
  • CHANNEL 1: Aileron
  • CHANNEL 2: Elevator
  • CHANNEL 3: Throttle
  • CHANNEL 4: Rudder
  • CHANNEL 5: Retract Gears (When applicable)
  • CHANNEL 6: Bomb Doors or Vectoring (When applicable)
  • THROTTLE: When moving the stick FORWARD, you should have thrust. If you have a propeller airplane, the propeller will ALWAYS SPIN counter clockwise. If you have an EDF, check that there is air coming from the BACK nozzle of the EDF. If for some reason your Thrust is REVERSED, and your aircraft is a BRUSHLESS Motor system, all you have to do is switch any 2 or the 3 wires from the motor to the ESC and the direction will be changed (Wire Color does not have any importance). If your system is Brushed Motor, switch the RED and BLACK wires from the motor to the ESC. This will correct the direction of the thrust. If your Aircraft continually BEEPS, please disconnect the battery and reverse the Throttle Channel Reversing Switch. Plug in the battery and this should resolve the issue*
  • *DO NOT EVER "Bench Test” your aircraft or helicopter by running the aircraft at more than 30% Throttle power on the ground for a length of time more than 5 SECONDS. DO not RUN at FULL THROTTLE on the Ground for more than 3 Seconds. There is no air cooling over the power system and can cause a thermal ESC shut down or failure!*
  • When you have completed those steps we can move on to the next step.
  • Step 6: For Both Helicopters and Aircrafts 4 Channels and above (excluding Coaxial Helicopters) YOU MUST NOW RANGE CHECK your Aircraft. Make sure you are at a field with no crowds or structures. Have someone hold the product once the power UP process has been completed. Now start moving the control surfaces up, down, left right, etc and walk at least 150 to 200 feet away while communicating with the person holding the aircraft. See that there are no connection breaks or if you may Lose radio transmission. If you experience any loss in transmission signal from your transmitter to the aircraft, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FLY. Please contact us for support.
  • Step 7: Once the aircraft has passed the range test, you are now ready to FLY! Airplanes and Jets, always remember to check wind direction. You ALWAYS want to take off and land POINTING INTO the wind. NOT going with the wind as we call it "Downwind”.
  • Step 8: Ready for launch! Remember if you are flying an aircraft which is powered by a Lipo (Lithium Polymer) battery, try to time your flights to avoid over draining the Lipo.
  • Step 9: Helicopters (3 channels and above): After power has been applied, check that you have movement in the linkages. Step away from the helicopter and only hover a few inches off the ground. Do not push the throttle stick all the way forward as your helicopter will take off quickly and be damaged.
  • Step 10: After a flight, ALWAYS DISCONNECT the Battery to the Aircraft FIRST.
  • Step 11: Then POWER OFF your Transmitter!

Happy Flying!