SaMx

Well, i am 16 and teaching myself to fly. i decided this summer that my goal would be to teach myself to fly rc airplanes. i spent about a month researching and decided to get a slowstick. It took me about another month to get all the stuff together to fly it. I downloaeded FMS, and practiced untill i felt i could handle it. I flew for the first time today. actually i tried once about 2 days ago, but it was really windy and about to storm. I gave my slowstick a toss into the wind, it shot up, paused, and slowly started to move backwards[X(]. i almost immediatly crashed. i flew again today, and i finally did it. Well, sort of. most of my flights consisted of a handlaunch, a brif climb, a stall, and a crash. my average flight time is a5 seconds, but i did get a few flights that were longer in. (i landed early on purpose, because i was afraid to mak a mistake lol
) Anyway, i just wanted to say ho cool this hobby is, and how great this site is! theres a ton of information here. One thing i want to tell newbs like me is that the slowstick is cheap, and great to learn on, but a little flimsy. it gets blown around in the wind alot, and the landing gear keeps popping out. once the motor popped out of the mount[X(], but i just glued it back on. also, expect to break alot of props. even after all the crashes, it was still amazingly fun!!!!!!!

Rat1

Find a field with short cut grass and do a rolling start. Build some speed and pull back on the stick just slightly. Climb gradually and see if it flys straight and land it and adjust the rudder or elevator till the plane flys straight and level. Keep trying and you willbe in the air for much longer.

jworosylo

Dont think you'll ever get that slow stick to handle better in the wind unless you strap on two pieces of iron to brace the wing and fuse.... hehehe.... seriously, its a park flyer, most park fliers are not stable, and it just happens that though the slow stick is a very good plane, it is one of the more flimsy of the bunch. Dont get me wrong, it flies great and is perfect for the beginner, but theres just nothing to it. Look at it. hehehehe..... if i were you, i'd pick a nice calm day , even if it means staying out of the air for a bit, and then try flying it. You will see how nice of a flier it is once the wind subsides.

AgCat1982

Hang in there and you will get it. I am 52 and, too, am self taught and I have flown full scale planes all my life and still had to learn!!!

I started with the AeroBird Challenger and kept crashing for what seemed like no reason. I almost decided to quit when I figured out the transmitter was intermittently shutting down causing a lot of the nose in's!!! I have since gotten a real trans, and other electronic equip and have built my own slow fliers. You are doing the smart thing first! You will soon get the techniques down pat and will be able to fly lots of others! I just, today, got my old AB Challenger out and was able to keep it in the air even with all its radio problems and had a blast!!!! [8D]

Lots of luck, you will find a lot of help here, some good and some not so good!

Mhale71

yeh, im 14 and i was thinkin of gettin a tm400 soon and teachin myself to fly, well, not really the first time, i have had eperiance with an aerobird, but yeh 4 channels would be good..

SaMx

Well thanks for the adviced. im going out to fly in a few minutes, i have the batter on the charger now. i think my cg was to far back for my first flights, so i moved it back, as well as decreased the throws. that should help, as my main problem was that the plane would always pitch up in the wind and stall, and i would overcontro when i was trying to recover. i also fixxed the gear by bending it, and reglued the motor mount(i really should screw it in).
jworosylo, you are right, the slow stick probably is the flimsyest of the parck flyers, but the eisest to repiar. i dont think it is unstable, just set up bad by a newp. hopefully i can get a full flight in today, im down to one prop! ill let you know how i do.

Kickflipkid687

I recommend doing ground take-offs if possible for you. I always do them with my Thawk, and its very fun. Im still learning to land on tar.. but im getting better. Ive only had my plane for about 3 weeks or something, and I taught myself. I never flew rc planes before, and with this plane I learned very fast. I crashed into alot of trees, even a 20 foot tall pole and smashed into the tar. Its still flies perfect and I didnt have to replace any parts. Well, actually I broke the landing gear today flying close to the ground and did a sharp turn. But its a very stable plane, even in 10 mph winds. Try not to mess with the CG to much, otherwise you might really mess it up, and then it wont fly at all maybe. The Thawk is kinda fast for a beginner, and its 3 channels, but I did it, so I think i get my servo 2morrow in the mail, so I will hook up my aerial setup and see how it works, hehe. I hope you learn to fly well, and like the hobby as much as I do so far! Don't worry about crashing all the time and whatever, just have fun, and stay focused. I looked away from my plane for a second, and in 1 second, things can change fast. Also, try to fly on the calmest days possible when u first start, dont fly above ppl, cars, or buildings.

Matt

SaMx

sorry i haven'
t updated, i broke my last prop, and im ordering a six pack. im just waiting for them to get here.

SaMx

finally got my six pack of props. I had to order off of ebay because Tower was out of stock. There were some problems with the payment, but id rather pay $11 for a six pack than go to my lhs and pay $3 each(you can only buy inividually, hey they have to make money.) So anyway, it been really windy and rainy here, with the remenants of a hurrican flowin through, but i did get to taxi up and down my drivway, as well as take of and land. My driveway is long and surrounded by trees so i can't get more than about 10 feet off the ground, but its good practice.

Kickflipkid687

Sorry to hear that man.. I hate when its windy... i just get so mad... I want to fly, but i dont want to loss my plane to the grasp of the trees or get blown into the pavement like a fly. I just broke my prop on my first 3d foamy, and im mad. It was my second flight, first was only like 4 min since the battery wasnt charger from when i got it. I hit full power, and over reacted in controls and crashed. I just ordered 2 new props and some extra gears and stuff. Im gonna go check the LHS 2morrow and buy another prop so i can fly NOW. Next time i gotta stay off the gas, lol. I also made my throws much lower, especially on the ailerons.. eeeeeeeek. I hope you learn to fly better, and get a chance to

ElectricFlyer_17

Thats why I prefer pusher planes! (Aerobird Challenger)

J-To-Low

Forget the electric junk Go GLoW Get an Avistar a field and join the AMA i am 13 years old flew the avistar for a few weeks or maybe 2 months am currently flying a somthing extra flying the basic sportsman imac pattern and am re painting a smaragd a pattern plane getting ready to fly it

GLoW is the way to go

ElectricFlyer_17

I have always preferred electric over glow. Electrics are clean, quiet, and some can fly in relatively small spaces. Besides the field where I fly is small and near a rec center/playground and I don't think the management would like glow planes...
by the way I,m 13 too and cant afford the larger more expensive glow planes

ZimboRaider

Hi,
I am 13 too. I have a Eagle 2 glow trainer but I switched to electric and found it much better.
No more slime, noise, oily planes or trouble engines!
ELECTRIC IS THE WAY TO GO!!!
Zimbo

red91sit

My Feedback: (2)

I'm a little older than you kids i started at your age though and bought the cheapest best plane i could find when it went on sale for 150 bux (sky scooter pro 2). That was almost all the money i had at the time. Now i've spent 20 more dollars for a Pico Stick J3-S It's a nice flying plane and can easily fly in very small areas. I'm going to take it to the gym tommorow i think and see how it does if it's windy out side.

I don't really like glow planes because of all the extra things you need for them, fuel, fuel accesories, run way (hand launches with the pico stick consist of full throttle and just letting go of it ) and of course if you crasha glow plane it usually requires a lot more expensive repairs.

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

Don't get too mired in sweeping generalizations. Electric airplanes also require specialized equipment like batteries, battery chargers, DC power supplies, which can add up to hundreds of dollars.

There are also many smaller glow planes that can be hand launched and belly-flopped into a small field, as well as many larger electrics that require a runway.

There's room for everyone in this hobby.

Hatty

I enjoy electrics because of how clean they are and how easy they are to maintain. Also, fuel gets pretty expensive, but electricity is virtually free. I also loke how quiet most electrics are. But I do have to agree with Matt, there is a place for everyone. I am sure on of these days that I will want to go gas and join a club, but right now, I don't have the time and the cash. I am sure many people are in the same boat that I am in.

SaMx

Wow, i didn't expect so many reviews so fast!!! I also didn't expect this to turn into an electric ove glow debate, and i don't think it should be, "cause that has been done about 1000 in other threads(even though electric totaly wins). It's harder to find time to fly now that school is started, but i-ll try this weekend. speakin of hurricans, the last bits of Ivan are rollin through at this very moment, but it should clear up by tomorrow. Here in PA we don't get any hurricanes, but they always come to us as "tropical depressions." Thanks for all the great replys. by the way, the new gws props come in grey, black, or orange. my new props are grey, and they're lighter(i think).

cloudancer03

My Feedback: (22)

it's always great to see the enthuisaum of young people wanting to fly rc..I really believe a good teacher is best but if you arent near them and you have to learn self taught then a picco stick or something very slow is a good way to learn..I have flown gas all my life and just am starting with electrics..I am 55 and retired which gives me lots of time to experiment and I love this hobby..and I have taught my son now 28 and other young people to fly and it gives alot of satisfaction when they learn and see those smiles..and one thing don't fly a small electric in a windy condition lol..glad you guys are having fun with it.. gear up and fly straight!

Ribcracker

About those blizzard conditions...because of my flying addiction (and in spite of my wife's warnings), I took the plane out today. Launching it was a roller coaster ride but I finally got some altitude and just nosed it into the constantly changing wind and fed it corrections to keep it from losing ground. My adrenaline level was probably similar to that of a high-stakes gambler. I grit my teeth when I realized I was losing the battle and tried to bring it in. Then, the wind ripped it out of my control and slammed it into the top of a tree. As it tumbled down through the branches like a pin ball, I could see little pieces breaking off and blowing away. Now I've got a real mess on my hands but repair work is part of the hobby...and it's not a hobby until it starts costing money.

MUSIC PUBLISHER

red91sit..I just flew my new sky scooter pro2 today for the 1st time...what a fantastic rtf this is..got the whole kit for $139.00...2 flights and not 1` crash....2 very nice landings too...a dream to fly it...

red91sit

My Feedback: (2)

ha ha your doing WAAAY better than I did, I first tryed fliying it in a tree surrounded parking lot, broke the propellor after a 10 sec. full throttle full turn flight, then my next one was about a miunut long and mostly ahh ahh ahh then it went nose first into the ground. I dindt' get a good landing till about my tenth flight.

Congratualtaions man you sound like a natural!.