bogbeagle

How much "safety"?

Luchnia

My Feedback: (21)

I would add what measures of safety and can you go overboard? Our person that promoted safety the most was one that got hurt by a gasser. Not that it should have happened that way - it just did. To me safe measures just go along with the training. Some people are clumsy and never get bit.

I have found over the years that accidents happen and they happen it strange ways. Is it always carelessness that causes accidents? Maybe most of the time carelessness is to blame but not always? Teach good behaviour and you have covered many of the bases to avoid a lot of problems.

I think good school instruction can be very valuable and it still depends on the teacher. With a good teacher you will learn a lot of things you certainly would not learn at a field with several different instructors. Pretty much anyone can instruct, but not everyone can teach.

bignasdy

weed...how much weeed is a better question..sorry i even said anything in this forum..screw the beginner forum

bogbeagle

[/quote]
How much ''safety''?
[/quote]


I had to ask. Usually, I hear someone say, "Safety first ... period." right before they tell me, "You can't do that."

bignasdy

Im now gonna charge 700 bucks and take a week to teach someone. Call me!

atchfoot

My Feedback: (171)

I did the 1st USRCFlight school several years ago and it was a very positive experience and worth the money paid. I had wrecked several airplanes when attempting to learn to fly, each of which easily cost me at least $600 and alot of down time due to repairs. David is a professional in every aspect. During week long course, he covered plane choices, safety, equipment use, field courtesy, etc. His teaching style was very logical and well structured, yet allowed alot of interaction between teacher and student(s).

Also, he was very knowledgeable about common mistakes made by budding pilots and how to avoid costly mistakes and was aware of club "culture", and myths. Each day had classroom-like instruction, Q&A, hands-on, and after-flight critiques.

Ealier when learning, I had received club based training, which was helpful, but many of those club designated trainers had very limited experience themselves, became frustrated, and have a limited knowledge of planes and techniques. With club based training, I often got the "I have always done it this way", whether it was correct or not.

Teaching students to fly is his job. Not an afterthought for a couple of hours on a weekday. No question was too basic or too theoretical, he was able to address any issue and put it in persective.

Does everyone need this level of training? Probably not. But 1 week of training saved me alot of crashes, saved time and I was able to advance quickly to a level of proficiency that may have required a full season or more of club-based training.

SeamusG

big - the unstated point is that quality instruction (1st US RC Flight School) results in a very safe pilot as he will have excellent control skills.

llindsey1965

My Feedback: (-1)

WHY NOT JUST JOIN A CLUB , THERE ARE PLENTY OF EXPERIENCED PILOTS who will instruct you and that money you would have spent there can go towards more equipment for you , just a thought , most of us learned that way , but it is your decision , i wouldnt do it   , would buy me another plane !!!!

llindsey1965

My Feedback: (-1)

a good instructor at a local club will do the same , my learning with a club instructor was all positive and advanced me to the level i am now i fly pattern 1/4 scale and larger aircraft like i said just a thought

RCER88

My Feedback: (25)

Learning to fly is like anything else. Practice and dedication. I tell my perspective students. Give me four hours a day for a solid week and I can teach them to fly and do it safely. In many cases the student and instructor can not get together but occasionally in a club enviroment. That causes many problems and relapses.

I learned to fly in a week because my instructor and I were able to fly every day for a solid week in the evenings after we both got off work. That was over twenty years ago now.

If you want to devote the time you can become a good pilot in a short time. Getting out on the flight line and flying is how to do it.

When you drop a wad of cash like that you are committing to it. I can easily see the benefits.

Termites Dream

My Feedback: (11)

I have attended the US RC flight school. I did the course for people who could already fly, I have not done the beginners course. Overall, it was OK, my class size was small and you get a fair amount of flying done (though class size is larger in beginners). Unfortunately there arent a lot of people teaching RC formally out there and I can say I definitely did learn some things during the week. The class is precision aerobatics, no 3D. Downsides: my impression is that Dave thinks there are 2 ways to do things, his way and the wrong way, so he wont be OK with you doing things your way (example: some of the best RC pilots out there are thumb flyers, but he wont let you fly that way). There is also a lot of dead time in the afternoon and evening if you are staying in a hotel up there, and there is nothing to do in Shawano. You can pay to join the local RC flying club if you bring your own plane. Dave will not let you fly at his field after class finishes. At the end of the class he offers a flight school T shirt from a box, which seems to be a graduation gift, but if you pick up a shirt he then tells you that you have to pay him for it.

Bottom line: worth going to if you live in the Shawano area but I wouldnt travel a long distance to get there unless you cant get any help at all where you live. Add the course cost to hotel and travel costs and it becomes an expensive proposition.

Travis, feel free to PM me if you have questions.

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

If I knew that when I was learning I would go. 

Termites Dream

My Feedback: (11)

Did you say pictures?

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

Hey Thx Mike, that looks like a nice setting. I goggle the city and its actually in the middle of nowhere, it has 6K people.[X(]
I still think that is worth the $$$ if they take you from knowing nothing to solo in 1 week

Termites Dream

My Feedback: (11)

I think its an individual decision. Most people could teach themselves pretty easily with a combination of a flight simulator and something really forgiving to start with, like the Parkzone Radian. But if you have the cash and a week free and Dave has a slot available, it would be the fastest way to solo.

You are right about Shawano, there is pretty much nothing there. The local flying club, if you join for the week, has a beautiful field just south of the town. Daves school is about 20 min west of town.

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

Actually this is a good and probably profitable idea, if the school was in LA, NY or Muncie. But in nowhere, Wisconsin??

OliverJacob

My Feedback: (12)

It's a good idea if you want to learn fast and become professional.
The cheaper route is - go to the local club, there will be someone to teach you for free.
Also get a simulator - that is money well spend.
I'd go that route to get started. When you advance and want to fly competition, I'd take the course.

just my 2 cents

Iherling

Big
You bring the conversation back to money. Do you have a problem teaching for free? It isn't about money, it is about value. I would love to see statistics on how many of1st RC's startupsare still flying as compared to how many club startups are still flying. I would suggest that a significant percentage of folks that show up at the club field return a few times and are never seen again.I would like to compare the student who shows up at the club with a trainer setup so that we compare folks that have amonetary investment. After 5 days of flying Dave's startups are over the hump. After how many weeks or months of club flying does the average student who does indeed continue to return finally get over the hump.
I should probably drop this topic but you seem to be defensive because another model exists which has proven successful in training students.
I meanno offense by this post, just my thoughts

SeamusG

Will somebody please explain to me the skills required by a pilot to "solo"?

Will somebody please explain to me the skills transferred to pilots at the "free training clinics" of the typical club?

Will somebody please explain to me the skills that a "just soloed" pilot trained in a free training clinic can demonstrate?

I'm pretty sure that the answers all begin with "It depends" ...

After I soloed (9 flights - 3 evenings) I had no clue what flight skills were. What a simple maneuver was. How a complex maneuver is made up of a series of simple maneuvers. How to fly straight-n-level. How to perform a roll that starts and ends at the same altitude and direction. How to perform a repeatable loop. How to manage the throttle during various maneuvers. How to deal with a bit of breeze at the field.

Cost: $0 for training. SIG Kadet Senior, Hobbico Avistar, SSE, - more than $0.

Guess I got what I paid for. [:@]

Iherling

John
you always seem to hone right into the meat of things and nail it down. Bringing it back to the important points
Kudos

Luchnia

My Feedback: (21)

Good post. I take my own experience when dealing with this and I really wished there were more training "standards" for instructors yet I do understand how difficult that may be to implement since this is a hobby. I did learn to fly with club instructors and I would wager that if I had better instruction I would have done much better overall as I just basically learned to fly and that was because of volunteer instructors and scheduling time with them.

It is hard to organize the time and each instructor teaches differently. I had three different club instructors teach me due to time constraints and this made it very difficult to get going. I think had I known more of the fundamentals I would have saved a number of airplanes during my first two years after solo flight. For example none or my instructors really taught much about perception against certain areas of the sky (overcast or bright sun), wind changes, level flight circuits, downwind legs, proper landing approaches, etc. Most of this I learned from observation and crashing planes and not from an instructor - all of which could have been avoided with proper teaching.

Don't get me wrong they did their best but this was just not part of it due to a number of reasons. They did comment freqently about safety though and that was worthwhile. There were things that occurred that I just did not understand and proper training would have prevented many of those from happening. Not too mention saving me quite a bit of hard earned dollars. In hind-sight I see there is really no formal or standard approach for club instructors.

I see guys that have been flying for years that still struggle with basics and if they had proper instruction and applied it they would save many planes. Looking back if we had some rc school in my area it would have been worth it if it were quality instruction because I spent much more than a week's cost.

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

Guys lets face it. Where else do you get something for free from a stranger? 

SeamusG

Free?

Once hooked (and we are all hooked) ...

Cost of more planes ...
Cost of more parts to repair planes ...
Cost of club membership ...
Cost of AMA membership ...
Cost of electronics ...
Cost of building stuff ...

Advertising is (almost always) free.

Hey - it's the RC "cloud"

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

Minus $700 of cost of flying school. Someone at the club will teach you for free

SeamusG

round and round you go - seems like a merrigoround to me.