ORIGINAL: bradley.jewell
Hey all,
I was literally yesterday given my first RC airplane ever. I am a current student at Michigan Institute of Aviation and Technology and love aircraft. My Dad bought me a Hangar 9 Alpha 40 trainer plane.
I have about 9 years experience with driving RC cars, and about 4 years building them. I understand there is pretty much no similarities in RC cars and planes.
I am here posting to basically ask if there is any kind of broad tips anyone can give to a completely new pilot that only has maybe 30-45 minutes flying time on a real simulator at the Hobby shop, and about an hour or two on the RC air sim game ont he xbox 360.
I guess one of my main questions is how can I prepare for that first flight, or to even feel comfortable to take my plane on that first flight. I do have some time to get a hang of things as it's pretty much winter now here in michigan (in relationship to the snow we now got ).
The guy at the hobby shop gave me the location of a local rc airfield and said he knows there are a few guys there that would be more than happy to help out in flying the plane. Is it true there is a beginner switch on the controller that my plane came with, that would give someone control if anything were to happen in the air?
I feel like this post is pretty large, and for that I apologise, but I do have a couple more questions that if you know the answer to or have an opinion I'd greatly appreciate a response:
Is the XBOX live RC air sim "game" any good as far as helping with just the orientation aspect of flying? It seems like the other rc simulators, but obviously on a much more BASIC level as far as plane selection, and you cant input any weather etc.
Next question would be what is the best software to look for if I were to pick up a more realistic RC air simulator? Are there only a select few that would have the Alpha 40 trainer in them (i think hangar 9 has a program??) or do most programs have the option of selecting most models?
Last question: Are there any things to look out for with the Alpha 40 trainer?? Is this a pretty good starting plane? Go ahead and leave any feedback or personal experiences with the plane if you have any.
Thanks again guys.
Brad
Brad,
Your Dad gave you a very good starter RC plane.
There are similarities between RC Cars and planes. That is, when the car/plane is coming at you vs. when it''s heading away from you, one reacts differently. This will take a little time to get used to with a plane vs. car but should be a benefit for you.
Xbox and other games will help but will not prepare you adequately for an actual flight. Probably the best flight Sim out there is Realflight, and even this will not get you totally prep'd for the first time out, though it will be helpful. There's no red button to put a new plane on the runway for you in real life, as you know, and this is the thing that causes most students to react differently in a real life situation. Fear of losing the plane causes over-reactions in controls that actually lead to crashes. Most of the differences in flying flying outside of a Sim environment vs. real life are mental, which again is probably pretty obvious.
A local RC field and an Instructor is a great way to go. This will save you at least one plane and a lot of aggravation. That said, as an instructor, lessons are difficult to come by sometimes. Persistence is key as is patience prior to soloing.
I have the DSM2 version of the Alpha and all I can say is that it does not fly like the RealFlight version of the same plane. It's heavier in the nose than the RF version while being well balanced and trimmed. The RF version will allow you to screw up too much and still show a good landing, IMO. The landing is smooth once you get the hang of flaring, probably the most difficult and counter-intuitive of things to teach a new flyer. A little power while landing works wonders with mine.
Good luck with this new venture. Keep at it and you should learn to love it.