mazjag

Hey guys, I want to get your opinion...at our club we train on like .40 size glow trainers with a buddy box..I realize this is a tried and trued way of doing it, but I kinda disagree.. Most of the new guys that come to the field have electric parkzone type of planes to get started..Their theory, is well when they switch to glow they will be way over their head.. Thats kinda BS IMO as its lot easier to teach somebody to get going on a parkzone t-28 then have them learn all the stuff about a glow plane engine. If you work in an office all week why mess with a needle valve ,your thoughts...don`t hold back...thx..Jason

bogbeagle

We can't have a debate about "personal preference", so this thread is going nowhere.





"I like glow, so it's better."

"No, I like electric, so it's better."

rcmiket

I agree with the OP. We have guys show up all the time with the T-28 and Apprentice. We check out the bird and fly them. Personalty I would rather teach on a electric than glow. Quick , clean, no messing around just flight time for the student. Isn't that the reason behind instructing to get stick time? Most guys who start out with electrics seem to stick with them. If they go glow or gas down the road it's no big deal by that time they normally have a grasp of the whole picture anyway.
Mike

weathervane

My son is 9. He will turn 10 this summer. I started him out on a PZ Champ in our back yard. (No BB) I then took him and his Champ to the club field. (Gave him the feel of more space) I have moved up to buddy boxing him with my .40 size trainer (glow) and Four Star Forty (electric). He likes the electrics better for some reason. In the spring I will put him on an electric .40 size Cub. teach him more rudder input. I think he needs to understand the basics of aerodynamics a little better.

If people are coming to the field with the PZ electric type planes. Thats fine, teach them how to fly the plane that they have. BUT make sure they know the bigger .40 size plane is something that they are not ready for yet. Encourage them to come back and ask for help when / if they ever make the jump to a bigger plane. The last thing anyone wants is a guy going from a small PZ T-28 to a .90 size AT-6.

Just my thoughts,
-Andrew

flyinwalenda

My Feedback: (5)

At our field we feel the best way (after ground school) is to let the student operate the transmitter while the instructor stands behind the student giving them instructions verbally and by tapping them on the shoulder to turn. Might be real old school but the success rate is higher than using the buddy-box right from the start.
At fun-flys we use the buddy-box with the general public and we will turn to the box with a student as a last resort.

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

The purpose of this thread has nothing to do with with any altruistic motives to improve flight training what it really is, its simply another pointless rant aginst glow power Period.

Indeed its seems those who know only tunnel vision and never really sampled glow flight often turn into evangelical electric flyers set on converting everyone lest they not go to the electric garden of eden.

Yes I fly and train the fellows with anything including this latest one who just solo'd with his Kadet Senior converted to electric and I did the conversion for him. Its a very successful conversion but the bottom line will always be glow power for training around here.

Sorry Jason but you said not to hold back[8D]

John

Edwin

My Feedback: (2)

I prefer teaching on glow, but I dont care what they bring. If its compatable with our buddy boxes, I'll teach on it. I have a list of prefered glow and electric planes that I suggest to them depending on THEIR preference. My preference for glow is that the student can get more flights in during a day. Im not saying the electric guys cant get a bunch of flights in, their infrastructure usually isnt built up enough to get more than 3 to 5 flights. The glow guys can also fly in higher winds. Its not the planes that are the limiting factor, its the students. The electric guys stand down usually above 10 mph. I show them their plane can still fly, but the training starts becoming unproductive. The glow guys stand down around 18 mph for the same reason. I have found that guys choose electric because that is what they want to stick with after soloing.
Edwin

mazjag

Thanks guys,, Bog I didn`t ask what is better electric or glow as I know how that thread is gonna go. Basically do you think teaching guys on a .40 size glow plane is 1980`s stuff??

mazjag

John, how you got all that out of that is amazing...I`m looking at a Saito 4 stroke as I type and have a glow plane on order so I`m not converting the world to electric one by one..

RCVFR

My Feedback: (7)

If the question is to train new pilots, that will encompass some fundamental knowledge of what makes an airplane fly, how an engine runs, how an electrical motor works, how our radios work. If the point is to just play with an aero toy allthat stuff is just unneccesary, so whatever gets the plane in the air is enough. There are people who have beenflying for years who haven't a clue about how this stuff works. They are not pilots but consumers, the ones who regard modeling products about the same as buying a toaster from Walmart.

So, is there room for the hobbiest and the consumer to cooexist? Sure!Whatever floats your boat.

bogbeagle

Oh, well Imust have misinterpreted your OP.




Is glow "1980s"? Yes, it is ... 1960s, I suppose. I don't infer that glow is, therefore, obsolete.

I think that the implication in your OP is that glow IS obsolete. That's how it reads, to me, anyway.



ISTM that the power source is almost irrelevant to the question of "learning to fly a model". It could be petrol, gas turbine, gravity or dilithium crystals - the same aerodynamic constraints would exist.

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

Our club has 2 fields,, one is e-power only so at that field they train guys with an e-powered trainer. It's up the individual if they want to learn about glow,gas, or e-power

hugger-4641

My Feedback: (6)

I use both glow and electrics when I teach people to fly. I have developed my own personal preferences from the behavior I have observed in new pilots. One of the secrets I've found is that if I buddy box someone on my Avistar first, then with my electric Super Cub, they seem to progress more quickly. I will go back and forth between the Cub and the Avistar, but I always solo them on the Cub first.
I think it's sort of like learning to drive a car, the first time you drive 55mph on a two lane highway, it's a little scary. But after going 75mph on a four lane, driving 55mph seems like no problem. I find the same thing happens with planes. I give the first flight on the sporty and responsive Avistar, after that, the slow and gentle electric cub is more relaxing to the student and gives them some confidence. Just my opinion, but it works for me.

w0mbat

My Feedback: (1)

The biggest advantage to electric for new pilots is the ability to repair them with a dab of glue. Not only that, but I really think new flyers are more comfortable flying foam because they know that a crash is no big deal.

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

This is the third thread in the front page today that has to do with electrics......glow.....gas.[X(]
Lets have peace on this Christmas Eve Day, and you fly what you want.

Helicopters dont fly......they are so ugly the Earth repels them.

Link119

My Feedback: (1)

I prefer digital planes (Flight simulator). No worries when it crashes and once a student can use that, they are good for flying a trainer by themselves. Im still a beginner, but even before my simulator i was able to let my SS do a little gliding without turning. Then, after i got used to the sim, i am able to turn and i dont have to think about which way to move the stick when the plane is coming to me.

Edwin

My Feedback: (2)

Can you land and takeoff? I agree, simulators save you a lot of time by training your fingers. But every one of my students needed the real thing to learn how to land. Most were able to learn to takeoff without too much trouble.
Edwin

flycatch

My Feedback: (26)

Get yourself a three channel glider. Does not matter if it's electric or you use a high start to get it airborne.

dasquirrelisme

My Feedback: (81)

I learned on a 3 channel kadet senior. When I went to 4 channel it was like starting all over. Start with a 4 channel.

OliverJacob

My Feedback: (12)

You learn a lot from a simulator, pushing the reset button is a lot easier then picking up a bunch of sticks and make them look like an airplane again...
Then you go to your field, fly any trainer plane on the buddy box.
It does not matter if it's glow, gas or electric. If someone does not want to get their hands dirty, get an electric plane. There have been endless discussions about this already and you have to decide for yourself what you want to stick with.
Most of the time we have strong winds at our field. Small and light planes just won't get much use. So glow and gas powered models dominate
here.

foodstick

I know almost nobody does this anymore, but I taught myself to fly, and repair using a 2 meter glider.

I know gliders have very little following anymore. but they do give you a LOT of time to react and correct. and like it or not you do learn about energy management in a dead stick situation...

It still makes me laugh when I think of that horrible slow recovery from a stall at low attitude though.. hahahah sometimes you have time to run in a circle and panic before that slow drop of the nose and flight control comes back..

I used to just hand launch and land going straight away.. once i got better I would turn back 180, and land towards me.. so many fun times back in those low tech learning days.

I think as long as everyone is having fun, and nobody is being put at risk, the person will eventually pick it up or move on... the sim's sure make it faster to learn, even if they are not quite the same thing.

DanMN

Who cares what the plane is as long as the persons first plane they fly is a trainer with some dihedral. If they come to the field with a 4star for their first plane, use the club trainer and buddy box with them. IMO, foamies are OK to train on, as long as they get help from someone when they bring their first 40 glow plane to the field. Way different landing a balsa/glow plane than say, an apprentice. I learned on a HZ SC. It was the best! Slow, glidey, low power. I progress to a Nexstar (which I hate), and went from there.

bruceal

This Summer we buddy boxed alot of people at a club event for the public. What worked well was my Tower 40 trainer with an LA40 OS. The plane uses a 2000mah NiMH battery. In between rounds, I just gave the battery a quick charge and I was good to go all day. Electric is nice but having enough batteries and charging them is difficult when you have a public event. That being said, electric is fine for one on one training where there is no rush to get back in the air right away.

Bozarth

My Feedback: (15)

How are you so successful with your technique? Tell us more.

Kurt

DanMN

This is true, when we have Scouts out or some other group, we use glow trainers for the same reason. Put a mongo rx batts in and go all day. I think that people that are there think the engines are cool too. You have to admit that there is a cool factor to small engines vs trying to explain the cool factor of brushless motors and esc's......