JesseJames

Any tips on learning orientation. I am fine when it comes to cars, but having trouble with planes.

Lnewqban

Do you know what each control does?
Do you have a simulator to practice?
What is your main difficulty regarding orientation?

http://www.gettingairborne.com/sims.html

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

LEARNING TO FLY TOWARD YOURSELF
by Ed Anderson
aeajr on the forums

One of the biggest challenges in learning to fly an RC airplane is to
maintain orientation when the plane is coming at you. It is an unnatural
situation. If you have driven the family car, this is not an issue because
you are in the car, left is always left because your left and the car's left
is always the same. But, when an RC plane is in the air, you are not in the
plane so the airplane's left and your left are different. How do you
overcome this confusion.

First, always think about the plane from the pilot's seat. When you say
right wing, it is the wing to the pilot's right, regardless of which way the
plane is flying and which way it is traveling. Right is always right and
left is always left because it is always as the pilot would see it. If the
plane is on the ground and you are facing the front of the plane, which is
the right wing? It is the plane's right, or the pilot's right, not your
right. Always speak and think of your plane in this manner.

Practice this on the ground. Turn on the radio and the receiver. Now face
the plane. Have someone give you commands as to which way to move the
rudder. In fact have them behind the plane so their orientation is the
same as the plane's. Right - move the rudder right. Left - move the
rudder left. Only hold it a moment to show you know the direction, then
return to center. Have them give you faster and closer commands to you have
less and less time to think. Do it till it becomes natural.

Now do it with the ailerons, if you have ailerons. And, if you are learning
to coordinate turns, use your rudder with your ailerons during this
exercise. Same with the elevator. When he calls right, give right
rudder, then a few moments, a touch of up elevator, just as you would with
the plane in the air. Have your friend talk you through an entire flight,
but always keep the plane facing you. Take off, then enter the pattern to
your left. Fly three circles around the field, in your imagination,
then make your down wind, cross wind turn, final approach and land, just as
you would in the air.

You can do this sitting in front of the TV. When the commercials come on,
practice flying toward yourself with the distraction of the TV. If you
have a large flat area, and you have good ground handling on this plane,
drive it around like a car, keeping the plane coming toward you as much as
possible.

After a while, you realize there is no stick reversal. Right is always
right, it is the plane's right. Project yourself into the pilot's seat. Be
the pilot. This takes time to develop this mental picture. Today, I
never ever ever think of stick reversal because I am always the pilot in the
plane. For the pilot, right is always right.

Try these exercises to help you further develop your skills. Remember right
is ALWAYS the plane's right, not your right.

1) When the plane is coming toward you, try to hold it level. If a wing
starts to drop, you put the stick "under the low wing" to support it until
it levels. Do this high so you have time to correct if you make a mistake.
As you become more confident, you can do this lower, but initially do it
high.

2) Just as you tested yourself on the ground, do it in the air. Put some
markers on the ground to mark a course. Colored rags or highway type cones
work well. Imagine they are pylons, obstacles that you have to fly around.
Now, run the obstacle course coming at yourself. Then turn and run it away
from you. Then turn around and run it coming at yourself again. Do it till
it is natural.

After a while, there will be no such thing as control reversal when you are
flying upright. Right is always the plane's right, the pilot's right. If
you want to go right you move the sticks right. It will begin to become
natural, as you project yourself into the plane. As long as you know which
way the plane is facing, you should have no problems.

phillipmorris

Excellent tips !

Some frown on this but during my early orientation when the plane is coming towards you and things are reversed, have your back or side to the plane and hold the transmitter behind you looking over your shoulder back at the plane. Things suddenly become normal. I used this alot during my very first flying ventures. Eventually it will become easier to handle things normally on the approach. You can also be aware of this method when things suddenly go wrong and just might save the day for you ! But keep working on the orientation, you'll get there. Practice, practice.....BEST ....

MajorTomski

I've been teaching for 15 years now and the above method has helped people the fastest to learn left and right. Simply point the antenna in the same direction the plane is going. Even if you have to look over your shoulder to see the plane. The sticks will always make the plane move the way you want it to go.

Then, if the air over your field is clear enough (no other planes) after you master a right hand and left hand race track pattern, then move up to a figure eight, crossing the field at mid point at roughly a 45 degree angle each time This lets you get one left and one right hand turn in on each circut. You will quickly develop a natural feeling for which way to move the stick to make the plane go where you want it to go.

Saburo Sakai

Great tips, all! Thank you! Phillip Morris, I love your American tobacco products! I bet you get that all the time!

When I find myself making, say,  a clockwise circuit,  I  force myself to reverse it and go counter-clockwise and that helps click in the brain reversing switch, too. Time on sims and on the sticks! Outside of these great tips, the only other thing would be "brain hemisphere reversal surgery", but I think that might be taking it a bit too far. I'll try your tips first!

Jetdesign

My Feedback: (8)

get a free simulator - flying model simulator (google it, it comes from a german site). Not the most detailed sim in the world, but it's free and will teach orientation.

There are lots of tricks out there to help with orientation; however I personally find that anything that requires me to think gets me in trouble. I like to practice things until they become intuition.

phillipmorris

Flight Simulators help tremendously, most basic one is FREE, and worth the $25 investment for the control box is minimum investment.
Especially helped on the tricky Helis as well as the orientation issues. Are much better ones out there but this one will get you started and save headaches on losing the models on maidens.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXSJR9&P=ML

You can run the FMS with the keyboard, but is important to match the real thing, so get the box !

Jetdesign

My Feedback: (8)

You can get cables for $5 off e-bay to use your own radio:
http://cgi.ebay.com/RC-USB-Flight-Si...item1c1576ca2d