I started flying glow RC the third week of this June. I tried my hand at flying a Zagi foam wing during the fall of the previous year without much luck, but I did learn a lot about radio gear and push rods ,and batteries. I started using a Sim on my PC hooked up to my TX and decided to try My hand at motor planes.(I have to say the hours and hours of time on the ism helped a lot when I got to flying real RC) I finally found a place to fly and the following are My thoughts about FMA Co-Pilot:


I have used FMA co-pilot extensively over the last few months to teach myself how to fly RC. First off ,do not set it at 100% gain. If you get inverted at a low altitude the auto correction can and will do some bad things to right the plane and send it into the ground. 50% gain is plenty of sensitivity for the beginner. Secondly if the preflight IR check results in a reading of 1 the copilot will still level the plane ,but here again the lack of IR contrast between the sky and ground can confuse the unit and again bad things can happen. An IR reading of 1 occurs during weather you would'nt want to fly in anyway.(fog,low overcast, drizzle) Thirdly, set the unit up to utilize the remote feature on an extra channel, that way you can get it up to a safe altitude, turn the co-pilot off and learn how to fly. Fourth, do the leveling procedure accurately as this will improve the trim of the plane and greatly improve the dead stick quality of the plane(I use a small two axis bubble level on the horizontal stab. and a prop stick to get it right).

I started out using the co-pilot on My trainer(GP PT40),learning by Myself ,and I can say it really does help the new pilot. At 50% gain you do not have to fight the unit to fly. The copilot is great in windy conditions, and landings. I think it can only add to the safety factor of a beginner because if you loose control or contact with the plane and center the right stick, it will recover and fly level. So if your heading for the pits, panic, let go of the stick the plane will not fly into the pits but over them, giving time for you to recover your wits and start flying again.

The more sensitive the control surfaces on your plane ,the less gain you will need. I tried the co-pilot on My Extra Easy and turned the gain down to 30%, My Sig Something Extra needs less than 20% .

At present I use the co-pilot mostly for windy landings and "panic" situations the rest of the time I turn it off. I removed it from My trainer and can now fly this plane the old school way with out any problems.

The most valuable aspect of this unit is maiden flights. It will pay for itself many times over on the first flight of a new plane. the co-pilot reduces the pucker factor for Me on a planes first take off. You can get the plane up to a safe altitude, slow it down and trim it with out drama.


Larry Moore
Charlotte, NC.