I took out my Avistar for its maiden voyage yesterday. I have NEVER flown a plane before and didnt have a trainer. I had spent a couple hours on G2 Lite simulator though. I was scared to death. After taxiing the plane around for a whle I said "forget it" and forced the throttle to its max and pulled back on the elevator. After about 20ft on the makeshift runway, I thought, "OH NO,, ITS NOT GOING TO TAKE OFF!!!". Then, seconds later,, the plane perfectly took off. WHEW,, WHAT A SIGHT!!! My stomach dropped into my shoes. I kept the plane at about 20ft of height. Slowly I banked left and began to make a circle. The plane looked enormous even in the distance. I could feel the wind (which was a strong enough to keep the flag blowing straight) blowing my plane around slightly but was able to keep it under control. I almost welcomed the wind thinking to myself "Come on wind,, you cant stop me!!!" I began to bank right and left, back and forth, making turns and felt perfectly comfortable in its movements. After a couple minutes I decided to land the plane to check it over and make sure everything was holding together good. Talk about a perfect landing. I was amazed at how effortlessly this plane landed. Not a bounce, skip or anything.
My brother then came running out of the house and couldnt believe that I had just flown my plane. He has several electric planes and couldnt wait to try out the power of the O.S. 40 LA. He took off and let out a loud "YAHOO!". Now my stomach was out of my shoes and on the ground. He was doing flips and twists and turns. Obviously, he knew what he was doing. With a grin on my face I turned to look at my wife through the window. Her smile quickly went to a look of horror. I turned to see my plane flying upside down about 3ft off the ground. Just as he began to pull up,, the wing caught the ground and it dissolved into a million pieces.
I was now stepping on my stomach that was on the ground and grinding it into the soil. The "YAHOO!!" turned into "Oh My GOSH!" I couldnt help to start laughing. I was glad that it was him that wrecked the plane because I felt that even a experienced pilot can have a "off-day". But, I knew the day would come sooner or later and assured him that it was fine. I was grateful that I got to fly it for at least a minute though.

I am now in search of a new plane.