How the Hobby has Changed
I’ve been thinking of this for a while since driving home from a jet meet after watching the big new generation models fly, and after some discussions at my local club field, about how the hobby has changed over the last 15 or so years. The current RCU thread about the new models prompted me to air my thoughts.
When I flew my first turbine flight, back in February 2004, most of the models were either converted IC ducted fan kits or the first generation of pure jet models, but in the same vain – fast, high wing loading and relatively unforgiving models which needed a high degree of pilot skill and model building knowledge to fly and to keep airworthy, with engine, fuel, gear and air systems being prone to continued problems and needing almost continual adjustment. Engine spool up times were measured in many seconds compared to todays’ almost instant throttle responses. Wave-offs had to be initiated very early on finals to have any hope of going around whilst milking the model for all it had to keep it from stalling.
A fellow modeler at the club just got his waiver flying a loaned Havoc, and he only took a couple of ‘fam’ flights to get used to the model (and engine response) before flying his waiver flight. Whilst he was an experienced model pilot, it struck me that the current, new breed of giant aerobatic jets are almost too easy to fly and that starting with one of those does not really prepare a new jet pilot for the rigors of flying a high wing-loading jet, scale or sport (I’m thinking Bandit, Bobcat, F-16 etc.)
I certainly feel that the current ARF/ PNP models has diminished the building and preparation skills of modelers, not limited to jet pilots though – this applies to all types. Have we also lost the ‘learned’ skills that came with the hours of building and tinkering needed to get those early models into the air, and the empathy towards them of what aggressive maneuvering, or high speed flap deployment etc. can do to the airframe.
The new range of models certainly helps open up this niche area of the hobby to a wider range of pilots, but did the apprenticeship of the earlier generation of jet pilots, having flown ICDF and the more challenging models produce a more capable pilot and modeler better prepared to handle a wider range of turbine models?
This in analogous to learning to drive with an automatic gearbox Honda (or similar) then then buying a high-performance manual gearbox Porsche (or similar) and expecting to have no issues.
Not intended to start a flame-war, but interested in thoughts/ experiences.
Paul
Last edited by JSF-TC; 10-27-2017 at 12:33 PM.