I learned how to fly from my dad. He used to fly pattern competition in the 50's. He is a great pilot, although as he gets older, I can tell it gets harder. He taught me the basics. How to turn, how to take off, how to land, even more complicated stuff like competition aerobatics. One of the biggest lessons he taught me was, FLY THE PLANE. Just fly it, don't let it fly you. If its not going where you want it, force it to go where you want it....but do it smoothly. My dad hates flying where the pilot jerks the plane around the sky in a random, wild erratic manner. He is of the mindset that there is only ONE kind of flying. Pattern. He says "good flying is precise, and smooth." Herein lies my problem.

See... I don't want to fly pattern, never did. I have absolutely no intention of ever becoming a competitive pattern flier. My sole interest in flying model airplanes, is in the relaxation and fun I have doing it. I couldn't care less if my slow roll was perfectly on axis, or if I lost 6" altitude in that last turn, or if the plane wasn't perfectly vertical on my stall turn, or if my loop was not perfectly round. I don't care if the guys from the club, didn't like my last maneuver.

I'm not flying for them, I'm flying for ME.

For this same reason, I don't want to be told how to fly, how to build my airplane, how to perform a maneuver, what type of plane I should fly, what style of flying I should choose. If I want to roll it up on knife-edge and whip it around on full up elevator, instead of a slow smooth 45 degree turn, thats my prerogative. If I was flying for anyone else's enjoyment, I would fly how they wanted me to fly. Since I'm flying for my enjoyment, I will fly my plane so that it makes me happy. If making me happy requires slamming it into the ground at full throttle (while not really anything I would intentionally do), who is anyone else to tell me "thats not how you do it", or "thats wrong", or any other negative comment. I've grown extremely tired of a few model aviation guru's chastising other fliers for not doing things their way. If the pilot wanted your opinion or comments, he would ask for it.

Think about it. Anytime you as a model aviator wanted to know something, what is the first thing you did. Seek out someone that knows, and ask them. If you wanted to figure it out for yourself, you don't want some know-it-all coming up and saying "do it like this".

I'm of the opinion that if someone wants my comments, opinions, or help learning something, they will ask. I'll help them as much as I can. If I see him flying, and he does a maneuver incorrectly, I'll leave it up to him if he seeks advice on how to correct it. I WILL NOT go to him and tell him "You did that wrong". When you do this it completely destroys what ever fun he/she got out of flying it.


In conclusion,

Its not what you fly, or how you fly....its THAT you fly.

From the beginner to the expert, the pattern competitor to the prolific crasher, the scale pilot to the 1/2A pilot, R/C to free-flight. ENJOY FLYING. If you just want to fly, just fly. Don't let petty differences, opinions, and comments from others ruin your enjoyment of just putting something in the air and flying.

JUST FLY.

ummm, sounds to me like you have a problem, by not landing your plane, turning around and tell that person, to please mind his own business.