My first RC flight was a solo flight with no help of any kind by established RC folk. I flew several loops and rolls on my first flight. I even remembered to throttle down on the back side of loops and added down elevator in the rolls. July 11th, 1998. I remember the date because I just happened to watch the video by chance earlier this week. I'm proud to say I even did preflight checks of control surfaces. I flew a Durastick Trainer with a OS40LA and a Futaba 6XAS radio. The flight went well, but the landing wasn't that great. I didn't break anything, but it was a bit fast and hard. Absolutely no help in setting up plane or flying, etc. I did have my AMA as I was planning on joining the local club, but decided to fly off 20 acres a buddy of mine owned as opposed to going to the RC club. I believe I flew five flights that day. Hope this didn't come off as too pompous, but that is what happened.

However, I did have some control line experience when I was a pre-teen in the 1970's. I also raced RC cars in the mid 1990's. I think the combination of those two experiences helped a lot. The control line experience gave me a grasp of 2-dimensional flight. The RC cars helped with the 3rd dimension and knowing how to deal with the left/right issue when flying toward oneself. I also did a lot of research on RC via the web and other sources before my first flight.

I have no regrets, and I would do it again, but self taught is not for everyone and if asked by a novice, I'll tell them to get an instructor. The only thing I would change if I had to do it all again today, knowing what I know now, is that I would have purchased a RC flight sim. I did however really want an instructor for learning more advanced aerobatic maneuvers. That was difficult as it was hard to locate someone who knew what they were talking about at my local field.