THE C.A.T. CHECK ~ ~ USE IT OR LOSE IT!

by Lyman Slack

This is a “last chance” check performed immediately prior to takeoff on each and every flight. This quick and ever so simple check has, can, and will save models from many common crash causes.

The C.A.T. check is not designed to replace normal pre-flight checks you do at home or upon arrival at the field; it does not replace safety checks. It is simply the last chance to catch some common problems that can and do appear quite often. If you are an instructor, insist from the start that your students perform it each and every flight. Make sure they do it correctly and see what they are looking at.

What does it cover? What can and will it catch? In a nutshell: reversed controls, antennas not fully extended, and trims out of whack. Here’s how it works.

When your latest “Masterpiece” is setting on the ground with the engine running and ready for taxi-out for takeoff, you perform the C.A.T check every flight. It takes but a moment. First off, check your controls – really check them; not just a wiggle! Look at ‘left aileron’ – is it really a roll left command? Is ‘up’ really up? Is ‘right rudder’ really right? Don’t think reversing can’t change between flights, it can. We have all seen cases of someone changing throttle ATV or whatever and accidentally reversing a primary control. It’s usually not caught because all we do is wiggle the controls and tell ourselves the controls still work. We all know reversed ailerons are usually fatal!

Next, we’ve all seen someone takeoff with the transmitter antenna collapsed. This usually happens after we have started, set the model down, then had a balky engine quit and we return to restart it and set the needle. After a couple of tries, we are anxious to get airborne and forget to extend the antenna again! Of course, check the receiver antenna is extended as well. This is usually a problem with new R/Cers who still hook the antenna to the fin. I always run mine inside through tubes, but even here, I look for the stub that usually extends out beyond fuselage length. It might have been stepped on and pulled out, you know!

Although usually not fatal, trims being out of position can cause a few anxious moments! It easily happens during transmitter impound or routine handling. Not as much of a problem now with the new computerized radios, but in its place we’ve added a few more possible problems called Rate Switches and Mixing Switches, so we’ll include them here as part of our check. Are they where you want them for takeoff?

Down and dirty, here is the C.A.T. Check:

CHECK your controls; left is really left, up is really up!

ANTENNAE – insure both are fully extended.

TRIMS – are all flight control trims centered? Are all

rate and mixing switches properly positioned?

Get in the habit of performing this simple check each and every flight. It takes but seconds and will save models J