The first thing that will happen during takeoff, is the plane will turn sharply either left or right, and nose in. You'll end up bringing the plane back, restarting it, and then trying again. After a couple attempts, you'll get it up. Then it's likely to bank immediately in one direction or other, and you may over control it. In that case, it'll dip one wing into the ground and you'll end up with the wing broken in half and the front part of the fuselage damaged with the motor hanging off of one bolt, with a lot of dirt thrown into the engine by the prop. The front fuselage will split, and perhaps there'll be damage to the firewall. You'll need a lot of epoxy, CA, and time before getting out to the field again if you want to fix it. Or, you may opt for another ARF and try your luck again.

If the plane you buy ends up perfectly trimmed right out of the box, you might have problems during the first few attempts at takeoff, and then finally get it up in the air. Or, takeoff may be the easiest part of the flight depending on the circumstances. Then you may have problems with orientation, especially with the plane coming towards you after the second banking turn since the ailerons will seem to be reversed. Then it'll get nosed into the ground and re-kitted. Or, you'll forget to use a bit of up elevator during a bank and the plane will dive and nose in, don't forget to bring a plastic bag. There are people who have trained themselves, with no simulator or instructor, but ended up rebuilding their trainer several times before finally getting it right.

If there is no instructor or club available, my recommendation is that you get a simulator and practice on it first. In fact, you could get a Hobbico Nexstar Select which comes with a simulator. Spend a good 40 hours practicing on that before your first flight so you get to know the orientation and how the plane is likely to behave in different circumstances, and be sure to play with the weather settings too. After that, you may have some luck doing it yourself but I wouldn't bank on it. On your first flight after practicing on the simulator, you may land it hard and have to fix the landing gear, but it's better than trying to fly with no experience or practice on a simulator. If the landing gear gets ripped out of the fuselage during a hard landing, you'll end up spending a few nights at home, on the bench, with epoxy and some hardware if you're good at fixing stuff. If you don't like glue, then you can always get parts for the Nexstar (a fuselage costs $60.00) Again, my advice is to find a club and get an instructor. I wish you the best of luck.

NorfolkSouthern