Briguy18241

okay, the plane I have is a Hobbico SuperStar Select Trainer. I wanted to learn to fly it, so I asked my neighbor about it. The only flight club near my house only teaches beginners on tuesday nights. Thats a problem for me, because Im a sophmore in high school and I have lacrosse practice every day until 6, and then i gotta do homework when I get home. So... I cant go after school on tuesdays. Because of that, my neighbor gave me his r/c flight simulator. Its made by Great Planes. Anyway, ive gotten pretty good on it; I can take off, fly it, and land it on the runway with no problems at all.

Every few weekends, my family goes down to my grandparents farm. They have a really big flat open field there. I wanted to know if the simulator is alike real flying enough so that I can go out there and fly it... without an instructor.

So, if you can help me on this, please post what you think.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

No. Go to your club. Tell them that you cannot get there on a Tuesday night, but that you have simulator experience, and I'm sure that they will make an exception and let you buddy box with someone on a weekend.

Simulators are good, but it's not the same (if nothing else, simulators don't simulate your "Pucker Factor")

Lightfoot

My Feedback: (1)

They don't simulate repair costs either.

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

"only fly beginners on tuesday night?"

That has to be the all time stupidest rule I have ever heard. Find a club instructor, tell him you want to learn to fly and set a time to go out and do it. There has to be someone there who will work with your scedule. Geez, now I know why some people want paid instructors. That is amazing.
They are probably the same people *****ing about not enough new people in the hobby. You have to wonder about clubs like that.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Many clubs have a night devoted to trainers. This is a great idea.

Unfortunately, some people will always take a good thing and find a way to ruin it.

Good Idea: Have one day during the week devoted to training. That's not to say that a regular flier can't fly, he just has a lower priority. And that doesn't mean that a beginner can't be trained on another day, HE just has to take a back seat.

Bad Idea: Having one day during the week when ONLY trainees can fly with their instructors, and they can't fly at any other times.

I know that I was in a club like that once. And I got out when they told us that we SHOULDN'T use store-bought cleaners on our planes, because THEY decided that amonia and water with a drop of detergent was all that was needed. "So let's not see any of those bottles of 409 out there anymore, OK?"

Some people out there are just so regulated that they ruin things for others (My years in the military come to mind).

But this ain't the military... Fight Back!

Montague

Your club regulated cleaner? You're kidding, right? No really? Oy!

Oh, yeah, on topic, talk to guys in the club. Chances are you'll find someone who will take you up on other days.

pixelator

Are you talking about the Shawnee Mission RC Club? I noticed you are in the KC area.

nedyob

My Feedback: (67)

Hello Briguy18241,
Thr RF Sim will help you with your hand & eye cordination. One thing the sim doesnt give you is the total view of the horizon. And like Minflyer says pucker factor. Also there is no space bar on your TX to reset your plane.
I work mostly nights and weekends and have the same problem as you. I ended up devoting a week to a flight school and now Im at the Intermediate stage.
I don't know if the other guys will recomend going this , but if you cant get an instuctor to help you. You can always buy a co-pilot from FMA. This will keep your plane horizontal with the horizon when you let got of the sticks. That way if you get disroientated you let go of the sticks and the plane will right it's self.
I would still try and get on the buddy box with a good instuctor.
NEDYOB

Mindwarp-RCU-delete

Hi there Briguy18241,

I'm going to have to add my voice to the chorus here. Although I think that simulators are a fantastic learning and training tool, they're no substitute for REALLY flying. That 'pucker factor' that MinnFlyer talks about truly exists and has been, certainly with me, one of the hardest challenges to overcome. When you're on final approach that $600 plane is dropping closer and closer to the ground which, by the way, would like nothing better than to leap up unexpectedly and smash your pride-and-joy into hundreds of little matchsticks. You couldn't simulate that without a complex interface setup involving electrodes, clamps and high-voltage electricity

For those first flights where you're really 'finding your thumbs' the safety-net provided by a buddy box and an experienced instructor is invaluable. Even if you don't need them (and you almost certainly WILL need them at some point) just knowing that they're there is a great help. Plus of course you're going to learn a HUGE amount more from an experienced flyer than you will from flying the simulator, not to mention the fact that you're probably going to make a few really good friends at the same time!

If your local club can only train on Tuesday nights maybe you could look a little further afield? You might be able to find somewhere ten minutes further away that is more able to accomodate you? You can always return to your original club when you've 'got your wings' if you want to.

Good luck with the training and, above all else, enjoy yourself! I've only been doing this a few months and already I'm irrevocably hooked

Cheers,
Neil.

Iceman30

My Feedback: (14)

Simulators are good, but it's not the same (if nothing else, simulators don't simulate your "Pucker Factor")

ALL THAT NEEDS TO BE SAID, HARD TO SEE WHEN YOUR CHEEKS ARE SHACKING SOOOO BAD, BOTH SETS ON YOUR FACE AND YOUR BUTT !!!

necorc

Take it from my experience... simulators will get you so far but you need actual stick time with an instructor to understand why your plane does what it does when it does it. I've put more time in the simulator than on the flight line due to the one day a week rule at our club too. But as suggested, make different arrangements like I have, there IS somebody willing to train you when both of you have the availability.

I "saved" a plane a couple of weeks ago because of the simulator, I didn't freak and knew what to do to correct my error. (I'm finally off the buddy box!)

Good luck, I know where you are coming from, I "pushed" the training curve and my original trainer paid the price.

bsindel

Briguy,

Here's a thought, go to the 1/2a & !/8a forum on RCU and read up on what some of those folks have done with foamie gliders that they bought at Walmart /Kmart. Since you have access to a farm with a large field I would think you could have a blast learning to fly one of these by yourself. The planes are cheap and nearly indestructible. It would also be a chance to learn about setting up a plane for balance and glide. Another nice thing about these planes is that they fly really slow which will give you a chance to think about what you want to do with the plane before it can crash into the ground. Oh yeah, since every landing is a dead stick landing you will get really good at getting back to your takeoff point when the engine dies, or you'll do a lot of walking in that big field.
I would still recommend that you get an instructor to help you with the trainer as it will be quite a bit faster than the glider, but the pucker factor of flying it will be reduced as a result of the stick time you get on the glider.

Best of luck,
Bill Sindel

You never have too much fuel on board until your airplane catches fire.

gnyberg

I found that the simulator (G2) was unrealistic when it came to takeoff and normal flight (seemed like inertia was low and manuevers were much too instantaneous), but it helped quite a bit with the approach/landing sequence. After 50+ simulated landings the whole "controls are reversed when coming at you" thing is a non-issue.

rogwabbit

Well tell you what.. set the sim to have 90 degree crosswind, and a taildragger style plane.. practice take offs... Need to at least do 50 or so PERFECT.. then go back to the trainer plane, and practice harrier type landings... about 50 of those too..
If you can do all of that perfectly, try a diffrent wind condition.. if still on the runway.. GO FOR IT... Honestly... You will need the take off and landing experiance 1st.. the rest of the flying in-between is easy as long as you don't attempt to get too comfortable at it... My brother did this and he solo on the 3rd flight.. He could have almost done it on the 1st, but like everyone says... the pucker factor was there... he was a little afraid of it.. you will be too.

hookedonrc

I have a G2 and agree with everything said here. It is just not entirely the same. I think what it really provides is a chance to get your "thumb memory" partially in tune. It is no substitute for burning fuel, but does help when starting to learn new manuevers. I would buy one again if I was starting out. I think I have the most fun when it's Winter and flying is intermittant. Nice way to keep those thumbs tuned up.

nbcguy

This one's already been beat to death, but I'll chime in anyway. Anyone who truly enjoys the hobby will be more than happy to meet you at any time convenient, because it's another excuse to fly.

As for G-2... I bought it after already being an established flyer, and as a novelty item to try new moves and such, it's great. But there's no way you're gonna beat using the buddy box method. And IMHO, the copilot is a marketing ploy at best. A friend of mine tried to learn with one of these things. On liftoff, the plane went inverted on it's own. Total loss.

Get an instructor. At least you'll make a new friend.

Spaceclam

for the most part, yes, it is realistic