How did you learn to fly??  
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All Forums >> Radios, Batteries, Clubhouse and more >> The Clubhouse >> How did you learn to fly??
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How did you learn to fly?? - 12/8/2002 12:25:46 AM   
Iflyit


 

Posts: 437
Joined: 1/10/2002
From: Zebulon, NC, USA
Status: offline 		How did everyone learn to fly?

< Message edited by Iflyit -- Dec 7 2002 7:44PM >
       Post #: 1

How did you learn to fly?? - 12/8/2002 12:34:29 AM   
AJF--2


 

Posts: 2064
Joined: 2/8/2002
From: Snow Hill, NC, USA
Status: offline 		I was about 33 at the time and my instructor was 11--(a friends son-grew up and became a good friend of mine) Neither of us knew anything about the AMA--They lived in a Trailer park--He would take off with my Newly Released PT 40 with a FP 40--- right between the trailers--I SHUDDER TIS DAY TO THINK WHAT MAY HAVE HAPPENED. I had a fuel foaming and would always go deadstick after a few minutes of flying. No problem-he would just glide it between the trees, power lines, and homes. IGNORANCE IS BLISS!!

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The Road Goes on Forever and the Party Never Ends - Robert Earl Keen

(in reply to Iflyit)
       Post #: 2

How did you learn to fly?? - 12/8/2002 12:35:25 AM   
Johng



Posts: 1821
Joined: 1/24/2002
From: Deland, FL, USA
Status: offline 		Taught myself to fly a glider. Flew only gliders for years until I got some instruction on a buddy box/ Trainer40.

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John

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       Post #: 3

How did you learn to fly?? - 12/8/2002 12:41:10 AM   
BalsaOvercast



Posts: 229
Joined: 2/8/2002
From: Platte City, MO, USA
Status: offline 		My brother and I bought out a guy's collection of old radios, beat up planes, and tired engines. After we crashed or destroyed everything but the radios, we built kit after kit and bought engine after engine. Needless to say, we never consulted an instructor and flew from a big field behind our house. It was a very expensive training course, and it's also why, to this day, I am a jmajor advocate of joining an established club and seeking the advice and assistance of a qualified trainer. Nowadays, I train rookies and help more advanced pilots whenever I get a chance, and have soloed over 30 students to date. If you're in the Kansas City Area and need an instructor, give me a ring!

(in reply to Iflyit)
       Post #: 4

How did you learn to fly?? - 12/8/2002 12:50:13 AM   
Jim Messer



Posts: 1165
Joined: 1/28/2002
From: Sebring, FL, USA
Status: offline 		The hard way - single channel - 1957

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Jim Messer

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       Post #: 5

How did you learn to fly?? - 12/8/2002 2:58:59 AM   
pinball-RCU


 

Posts: 501
Joined: 9/22/2002
From: Garrett Park, Maryland
Status: offline 		This could be an interesting poll (if only it were scientific!).

It would be nice to distinguish between qualified instructors and unqualified instructors. I learned to fly with my friend on the buddy box, but only after the first few sessions did I learn he had never taught anyone before! No problem, we had a blast. It probably took me longer to learn and more planes, but now I have a life-long friend.

(in reply to Iflyit)
       Post #: 6

How did you learn to fly?? - 12/8/2002 3:33:54 AM   
digger.10



Posts: 222
Joined: 5/31/2002
From: Beaver Dam, WI, USA
Status: offline 		Taught myself control line flying with the early Cox Skyraider (if you can call what that thing did "flying" , when all the plastic screw mounts finally gave up the ghost (didn't take long) I started building balsa airframes for the engine and flying them free-flight, a much more revealing lesson in aerodynamics.

Got help when I finally advanced to using a radio, and again when I switched to mode 1 after starting to fly in Japan--wish I had a recording of THAT... :


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digger.10

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       Post #: 7

How did you learn to fly?? - 12/8/2002 4:35:13 AM   
Tattoo



Posts: 2124
Joined: 2/10/2002
From: Wichita, KS,
Status: offline 		I had one lesson, enough to break the engine in and get the plane trimmed out. By the end of the lesson I could fly the pattern without assistance. Self taught after that day. No one to help the next day at the field, so I gave it a shot and succeeded using the "point the antenna the direction the plane is flying" method. Forgot to pull the antenna out on the second flight that day and spent the rest of the afternoon looking for airplane parts in the cornfield. That was in 1977 flying a SIG Colt. My next plane was a Balsa USA Swizzle stick. That is a very sweet flyer and I had no trouble flying it. It lasted almost a year.

BTW, I think the old "Hands on" and antenna pointed in the flying direction" method of training is a lost art and that is such a shame. In my one and only lesson, my instructor stood next to me and put his hands over mind and guided the sticks. In minutes I had a feel for how far to move them. He then told me to always point the antenna the direction the plane was moving so that my left-right brain connection never got reversed. To do this right, it looks like you are "steering" your Tx and you find yourself twisting and looking over a shoulder as the plane comes towards you...BUT IT WORKS!!! I was able to solo after one lesson, and it was pretty normal for guys to get the hang of it in one afternoon. It didn't seem like starting out was as much a big deal back then as it is nowadays. Today I see guys spending days sometimes months with sims and buddy chords and making very little progress. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's as if something is missing with all the hi tech stuff we have now. It's almost like we now have a safety net, and it's too easy to use it.

(in reply to Iflyit)
       Post #: 8

Taught myself ..... - 12/8/2002 5:55:43 AM   
Jimbo the Greek



Posts: 17
Joined: 2/8/2002
From: Charlotte, NC
Status: offline 		.....with a Piece o'Cake glider and Cox Black Widow .049. Had about 2 minute flights, never damaged it. Had a couple 45 minute flights with thermals. I finally destroyed it after moving on to Goldberg Eagle. Snapped the wings doing dives!!

(in reply to Iflyit)
       Post #: 9

How did you learn to fly?? - 12/8/2002 6:30:21 AM   
Hypter



Posts: 284
Joined: 9/23/2002
From: Masontown, WV, USA
Status: offline 		Played pass the Transmitter with a 40 sized trainer

(in reply to Iflyit)
       Post #: 10

How did you learn to fly?? - 12/8/2002 6:47:21 AM   
68v


 

Posts: 341
Joined: 6/4/2002
From: home
Status: offline 		Self taught on my parents farm. Crash, rebuild, fly, crash again, rebuild, fly longer, crash again, rebuild, want to quit. Finally got it figured out and have been flying ever since. Still have that trainer and it still flys(sorta).

68V
moderator

(in reply to Iflyit)
       Post #: 11

How did you learn to fly?? - 12/8/2002 6:51:03 AM   
Wyohi



Posts: 102
Joined: 1/18/2002
From: Laramie wyoming
Status: offline 		Taught myself to fly sailplanes,power, slope all at the same time there was no one else in the town fyling at the time. A lot of crashes & really taught myself how to rebuild from many pieces. Now when a club member crashes I ask him will it be ok if I take all the pieces & have it ready to go by the weekend. Most of the time you don't hurt the engine or radio. Sailplanes are of course faster rebuild. Several of my present planes in my hanger were given to me in a garbage sack. They all fly fine this has been going on for more than 30 years

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Takeoff are optional
Landings are mandatory

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       Post #: 12

How did you learn to fly?? - 12/9/2002 3:56:53 AM   
smokingcrater


 

Posts: 2353
Joined: 9/20/2002
From: Up north, ND, USA
Status: offline 		here's a question, what is the biggest thing to learn? from what i've seen, most people post the direction reversal and actually keeping themselves and the plane oriented, NOT the actual flying.

I'm self taught (electric, the only 1 on the poll so far), but have had quite a history with rc ground vehicles previously, the the direction reversal was a non-issue.

(in reply to Iflyit)
       Post #: 13

How did you learn to fly?? - 12/9/2002 6:19:49 AM   
ben flyn



Posts: 1463
Joined: 11/12/2003
From: Windsor, CO, USA
Status: offline 		Were's the button for " I learned on a flight simulator"?

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       Post #: 14

How did you learn to fly?? - 12/9/2002 6:27:52 AM   
ajcoholic



Posts: 4045
Joined: 6/22/2002
From: Kirkland Lake, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		Self taught, 1983 to 1988, too many planes to count, most 1/2A but then a 15 size pilot high wing trainer, and a telemaster 40 I flew with an old 29 finally got me going. I know now the biggest problem with all the 049 planes I had, was I set the throws MAX and now I know I had way too much throw. Easy to see after the fact!

I have friends that learned to fly in weeks, having some help is definitely a great thing. I was lucky when I started RC all alone in 83' (at the age of 12) I was persistant enough to keep at it. My dad thought I was nuts, and I regulary used the green garbage bag I kept neatly folded in my flight box. But now I look back and remember those years as "great" years! What a riot. Build, fly, crash, build, fly crash... it certainly kept me out of trouble!

Andrew Coholic


_____________________________

Andrew J. Coholic
Engine reviewer for FLY RC Magazine - andrewc@flyrc.com

(in reply to Iflyit)
       Post #: 15

Sorta Self Taught - 12/9/2002 6:55:18 AM