gpd4,

Welcome!

CL is about the ONLY kind of model flying where it makes a lot of sense to have buddies with you for flying. You get the expertise to check out your model and discuss what to look for. You get the important familiarization with what it feels like these days; if you ever did it before, it will come back to you almost immediately. If not, the help you'll get is absolutely essential. You'll get another important item - a buddy 60+' away to launch your model... You'll also develop enough respect among your buddies that they trust you to launch THEIRS!

You'll get all this and more - great friends! - because in CL, more than any other model flying, we HAVE TO depend on each other, or we (almost always) CAN'T fly! I can't remember ever meeting a CL flier who wasn't great to be associated with, and to have as a friend.

And, flying CL is physical. You feel the air against the controls. You feel the forces acting on the model, and they tell you when things are good - and even when they are NOT good. You don't need to try something, then wait to see what the model decides to do about that. Control is direct and immediate! YOU stand in the center of the flight of the model, not off to the side, watching like a spectator, only with SOME influence on where it goes...

I've flown most of the different ways, over the past 50+ years, and CL is still the most satisfying for me. The fine people in CL only add to the joy of the flying...