quote:

ORIGINAL: jester_s1

A plan helps a lot. Work out in your mind what your flight path is going to be and what maneuvers you're going to do. Also decide ahead of time what you are going to do if the wind throws you off course. Pick a day to fly when the wind is light so you know you'll have a predictable plane.

The second thing that really helps is getting a more experienced pilot to fly it for you the first time. That way you know you're starting with a properly trimmed plane and you can see it fly right before you get on the sticks.

quote:

ORIGINAL: countilaw

The best way to get rid of the   maiden flight jitters is to learn to fly,   and learn to fly correctly.   Too many  new pilots  get planes that are above their  ability  to fly.     I see too many  new  comers buying   mustangs,  P-40s,  and the like thinking they can fly them.   

It's best to start with a trainer and getting good with it.   Then moving to a more  intermediat plane and getting good with it.    Once you are good at the controls and you have cofidence in your ability,  the jitters go away.    You then  experience  ''excitment''.   

Frank

quote:

ORIGINAL: countilaw

I've newbys  flying  pattern in their  second year also.      But they didn't start flying pattern ships in the first  6 months of flying either.    They started out with the proper training,  the proper plane and the proper  technique.      You must learn to crawl before you can walk.     Too many newbys  start out with planes that are too far advanced for their owners  capabilities.  

When I am going to maiden a new plane  I  know it's  straight and balanced.  I know it's going to take off level and climb out straight.   I know that my installations are correct and air worthy.    I have confidence in my ability to fly the plane.   Therefore, I am  excited to fly it.  

With the world of   ARF   where someone else built the plane,  you don't know what's going to  happen when the plane leaves the ground.   But with close inspection and measurements,  you can take some of the guess work out of the results. 

How many people have we seen or heard of that purchased a    RTF and took it to the school yard or park and tried to fly it with no instruction?  Quite a few I'm sure.     They crash the  toy plane,  it breaks and they walk away saying, " Well,   there's a shot  $200.   They drop it in the trash and go play video games.   If they had purchased the correct plane, had so instruction,  and learned the correct technique, they would probably be enjoying a great hobby now.    

I am sure there will be some people pop on here and   claim that they taught themselves to fly.   Well good,  but at what costs?  How many planes did you go through?   How long did it take you?    

This is the internet,   so   everything you read here is always the truth and no one lies about their experience and how great they fly or how long they have been flying.    

Frank
 

quote:

ORIGINAL: JollyPopper

We have kind of an unwritten rule in our group. Somebody else checks the plane, especially for controls going the correct direction, and then somebody other than the owner flies it the first time. The owner of the airplane obviously has to trust the guy flying the plane but it seems that by the time the owner of the plane takes the controls, the jitters are pretty much gone. Sometimes that happens in the middle of the first flight, sometimes not. But we've been pretty good at picking up on reversed controls and successful maidens because someone who is not emotionally vested in the plane checks it and flies it first.

I realize that is not going to work with all personalities, but it is working in our small group. Bear in mind that ours is a very small group, only about a dozen fliers, and we are pretty close knit.