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How young is too young to learn C/L

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How young is too young to learn C/L

Old 03-09-2011, 06:30 AM
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sealdoggy
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Default How young is too young to learn C/L

My grandson is 7, I have a Rigmaster hanging from the rafters that has been his since he was 5, everytime he came to the house the 1st thing he wants to do is go see that Ringmaster.

I told hime when he was 5 he can have it when he turns 10 but he has to learn how to fly one 1st and get good at it before he can have it..

Well now he's 7 I'm wondering if he's ready to learn, he's very coordinated great at video games like they all are at that age, they don't get bottles anymore thay get a controller.....lol

What do you guys think, and what would be a good bullet proof plane to teach him on

Regards

Steve
Old 03-09-2011, 06:43 AM
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controlliner
 
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Default RE: How young is too young to learn C/L

Flight streak trainer. It is all solid balsa including the wing. It will take a lot of hard nocks until he can keep it up long enough to empty the tank. 7 is not too young to learn with good responsible supervision. Imagine the huge smile on his face when he completes his first sucessful solo.
Old 03-09-2011, 08:26 AM
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ron ward
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Default RE: How young is too young to learn C/L

i learned u-control when i was about 10 and there were younger kids than me in my clubflying dad'sfull blown stuntnoblers already. although not doing the stunts, they were flying them, just the same.
theclubhadseveral "learning planes" that consisted of a flatcardboard wing and tail surfaces that were rubber-banded on a 3/4 inch pine fuse about 2 inches wide laid flat,with the engine mounted in front, in a typical cut-out"fork" and the tank rubber-banded on right behind it, withtypical bent-wire landing gear. they flew perfectly fine for learning and when you crashed, you just cut up another cardboard box and got out the duct tape. witha nylonprop and that pine fuse, the only thing that crunched was a piece of carboard!....5 minutes to change out the wingand you were back in the air.... there were always several wings waiting! the bellcrank was just mounted on the bottom of the fuse and the leads were run through ablock of hardwood glued to the bottom of the wing at the tip. i wish i could remember more detail about them, because i've never seen anything like them any where else, but in my club from 40years back.. they were excellent trainers, they flew nice and slow and responded real smooth and slowly. we flew them on regular 60 ft. lines and they had ,if i recall, about a 4 ft. wingspanand typicaly, afox.35 for power tuned to blubber just enough to get off the ground and stay running.
maybe they arestillmore common and still around in u-control clubs now-a-days, but i haven't seen one since back then..... they were so cheap and simple, it would be worth while to make a few to get kids interested again.
Old 03-09-2011, 08:31 AM
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Default RE: How young is too young to learn C/L

As an alternative, look-up the Man-Win (http://www.balsabeavers.ca/begginers_page.htm) trainer (Made out of Coroplast real estate signs) It's very stable, practically flys itself and is near crash-proof . It dramatically accelerates the learning process when you can just pick-up the crashed plane, restart it, throw it back out immediately. I recommend the Cox 6 X 3 prop as it slows things down a bit and is very flexible, enough to sustain dozens of crashes.

My son was 7 when he learned with it.

You can also look-up the Osborne Platter, made out of foam board. Same idea, more maneuvrable. Both can be built in an afternoon or 2 for very little money. I'd go and crash those a couple dozen times before I'd spend time + money building and painting a balsa model.
Old 03-09-2011, 10:44 AM
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nitroairplane
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Default RE: How young is too young to learn C/L

give him a try with a cheap trainer if hecan do it and enjoys it keep going if he doesnt you should try to teach him in a year or two
Old 03-09-2011, 11:53 AM
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icerinkdad
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Default RE: How young is too young to learn C/L

Ditto on the Man-win trainer. I have even seen a 15 size version of this. They are almost impossible to break. You will replace motors more often than the airplane.
Bob
Old 03-09-2011, 12:20 PM
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BobHH
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Default RE: How young is too young to learn C/L

Well, I soloed at 5 with a Goldberg Stuntman and a Pee Wee .020 on 15 foot lines. After that went to longer lines and a Golden Bee. At 9 I build (With dad’s help!) a Sterling P51 with Topedo 35 man that thing was sweet!! Then RC at 11!!

At a 1/2A flyin Rog had a few years ago I think we had a 4 year old flying an old Goldberg Wizard with Baby Bee .049 and 18 ft lines. I was amazed! With these video games these kids have now their hand eye coordination really excels!! I would suggest a cheap sheet wing profile 1/2A model, a Cox .049, 15 to 20 ft lines and a grass runway!!!

Bob Harris
Old 03-09-2011, 04:48 PM
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Larry Driskill
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Default RE: How young is too young to learn C/L

7 is plenty old enough to learn and enjoy C/L.

(Luckily, 70 isn't too old either)

I would use a machine that will survive many crashes and keep on truckin'.

Fly off grass (tall turf with damp soft ground beneath is good).

Pick a day with no wind.

Go for ice cream to celebrate the fun.

Old 03-09-2011, 09:06 PM
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GeorgeG97322
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Default RE: How young is too young to learn C/L

I started to learn to fly at age 5 or so... Early 60's Didn't solo till about age 11 or so... My father did have time to spare for a bit during the mid 60's

George
Old 03-10-2011, 06:59 AM
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ARUP
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Default RE: How young is too young to learn C/L

Take him out there in the circle and let him have the handle while you hold it, too! Put extra right thrust in an expendable airplane so as to slow it down. Reduce the control throws. I flew with a 4 y/o before. He got pretty good at it!
Old 03-10-2011, 07:24 AM
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sealdoggy
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Default RE: How young is too young to learn C/L

Thanks everyone for you kind input, I'm pretty convinced he can do it we'll see

Steve
Old 03-10-2011, 09:15 AM
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Default RE: How young is too young to learn C/L

I agree with icerinkdad and R/C Phile on the Man-Win trainer. Like many of you, our club is made up of a bunch of Old F**ts that learned powered modeling on C/L before R/C was around. I take these mashers to the field for anyone that wants to get in a circle. Watching is a lot more fun than flying since old knees, hips, backs and shoulders coupled with starting out dizzy makes for a comical performance. With a 50 cent plane, you can't go wrong.

andrew
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Old 03-10-2011, 05:13 PM
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sealdoggy
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Default RE: How young is too young to learn C/L

Thanks so much for the plans

Steve

Old 03-15-2011, 07:41 AM
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M. Boesen
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Default RE: How young is too young to learn C/L

Ditto, on the Man-Win trainer. I think its the best designed trainer I've seen.

Does anyone know how aerobatic it is? I'd think with a strong Black Widow or better and a lot of throw it would be pretty maneuverable or is it too heavy?

FYI, R/C predates U/C.

Mark

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Old 03-22-2011, 06:14 AM
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Default RE: How young is too young to learn C/L

ORIGINAL: M. Boesen


Does anyone know how aerobatic it is? I'd think with a strong Black Widow or better and a lot of throw it would be pretty maneuverable or is it too heavy?
The Man-Win is not very aerobatic at all. If you want more maneuvrable go with the "Extreme" version of the Osborne Platter

Our Black Widows could not be much more suped-up: Galbreath Heads / Nelson Plugs / Tank sealed / Needle Sealed / Blocks decked / Crank polished / SPI-lightened piston / Dual boost cylinders / 30% Nitro fuel..

They turn a Cox 6 X 3 @ 15,500 RPM and a Cox 5 X 3 @ 19,300 RPM on the ground.

We tried "Lightweight" versions, smaller versions, larger versions, diamond wings, rectangle wings, crazy CG, crazy throws, smaller props, you name it..

Best I could surmise is that it's a combination of being too flexible and heavy for anything beyond inverted flight / wingovers / big lazy loops. No matter what I tried I could not get the loops to get smalller.

That did not keep us from attaching streamers and try our hand at some combat [8D]. As you might imagine with my wing man being 8 years old at the time: Keeping both planes running and in the air at the same time gave a heck of a workout to the old man..

The upshot of being super stable is that it's also really easy to keep it going straight and level and the loops are big and slow so that makes it a good trainer, as intended.

On pictures you can see the different shape wings we still have (Have thrown out a few worn-out / destroyed ones) and you can see our BW's: The spinners are worn from crashing, the props are bent (Same Reason), and they are both on their 2nd crankcase / cranks and about 3rd piston / cyl combo's

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Old 03-22-2011, 08:17 AM
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Default RE: How young is too young to learn C/L

I started flying C/L at age 4. I had to wait until age 15 for R/C. Do it now while you can enjoy the hobby with your grandson. He will have great memories of the time you spend together. You'll have some nice times with the grandson as well....

turbo

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