it should be the instructors decision when he/she is ready to solo. a lot of students will not have the confidance until their instructor says there ready.

When is a beginner not a beginner? Well, for me it will be when I stop learning.

But then, my Grandfather always maintained "The day you stop learning is the first day that you're dead."

One can be dead in mind but not necessarily dead in the physical sense. (please refer to 1/2 of the population)

i would say more in the major cities such as new york, chicago, los angales, washington dc etc.

naw, you just need to come out to where I live. This is the order of mental processes for most of the people around me.

1. drink
2. cause drama
3. drink some more
4. figure out a way to go on disability
5. walk ass backwards into prosperity over and over only to pi** it away, GOTO 3, return to 4 or 5.
6. when you hit 50+, think a bit.



Any decent person I have met since I moved here, says the same thing over and over (man I gotta get outta here)

If I drive even 1 hour toward the city, it seems that the people are more 'attuned' with reality. And they do think.

And of course, most rc'rs have a good head on their shoulders. Cept those darn heli pilots (j/k of course)

S

or just look at our president

yea, he doesn't seem very quick but many say he is savy. I call it sly, and sly doesn't take guts or brains. It takes selfishness and practice. But I actually kinda like him. Mostly because he doesn't mince words really. But at the same time, this 'war on terror' thing really hasn't anything to do with him. I don't want to engage in a political debate, but let's just say the president has much less power than we think he does...are far too much in other instances.

S

To get back on topic, I have a question:

I solod for the first time today (true solo...noone to grab the controller and bail me out)

Stupid of me as there were millions of people in the park, and the wind was picking up quickly with that hurricane on the way.

Last year I flew about 8 times. Of which a bit over half of the time I didn't land it or take it off. Sometimes I would do one or the other but only 1 time did I do both. This year I only flew once but someone took her up and down for me. I just played around in the sky for a few minutes.

Today's solo was a NERVOUS victory for me. But am wondering, am I to expect success from here on in or should I still seek the help of a trainer?

S

first of all, what kind of park flyer are you flying? that will makea difference. second of all, i think you will be fine. just don't get too confident too quickly. that's a big mistake. i once did that, and during a field fun fly, i was doing an inverted pass abotu 5 feet above the runway, had a brain fart and rolled over onto the other side, over the pitts. i managed to power myself out of it, but man was the field master pissed. lesson learned, pace yourself.

'when is a beginner not a beginner"?
On the second flight of my new "6 months to build, $1000.00 airplane" or the first flight of someone else's plane..heck..I don't have a penny in that one!!!



Tom

I think a beginner is no longer a beginner , when he stops Running from his own plane when it is landing ! Coz this happened to me and I even got hit (LOL!) and it hurt but the plane was fine![sm=biggrin.gif]

Not a park flyer. Flying a Eagle 2 die cut kit build with a Enya .40. If it were a park flyer, I wouldn't be worried about solo'n. I did that my first flight flying one of them. Good times however. Quickly switched back to gas though. My 4th flight with my park flyer, I got shot down or I took it too far away from me and it spiraled straight into the ground. I had no control Now that I research it, I think I only had 900 feet of reception. I thought I could go further. Guess I was wrong! HA

Ok noted: Spectators, inverted flight bad if brain farts are expect. Check. I'll keep that in mind for when I get to the inverted flight stages in about 20 years hehe.


S

don't be so negative. you will be going that in 6 months. at least you will be capable by then. the problem was, i had gotten so sure of myself that i made a mistake and probably scared away about 5 prospective members. that was at a time when our club had been hit with a real crisis; and engine size limit. i am not saying don't ever do anything fancy, you will get bored i assure you. just don't get too confident. however, all trainers are pretty much alike, and almost all trainers are good. you should be fine. keep flying. the more you do, the more you love it.

I did a 3 loops last year. On my 2nd flight I did a loop but didn't land or takeoff on that flight. My first solo (with someone near) I didn't do much. My first REAL solo (this year...yesterday) I took it up and wanted to bring it down IMMEDIATELY just so I could say I did..to myself mostly..and others. I was happy, but the tiny bit I flew is a fading memory. I didn't really fall asleep thinking of my flight. But I woke up wanting to go flying . Until this hurricane goes away and the weather clears up, I won't be doing much of anything.
My brother was doing touch and goes on a really small runway on his 3rd flight. But something tells me he flew many more times than he says he did before then.

Well, we shall see. I don't want things to get boring. I figure if they do, I'll buy a jet. MUAHHA


BTW I you are right I guess I should have confidence. I watch the same guys go out to the airfield every time I am there almost, even if I am just passing by with no plane which usually is what happens...they are there in the evening. With the trainer, using that buddy box thing. I never did that, but the second these guys get the planes in their hands they have problems if for more than 10 seconds. The one guy was so proud of himself, after 40+ flights he finally landed one. I didn't have the heart to say 'yea well...' hehe
Honestly I wish I did know about the buddy box thing earlier. I would have solicited that opportunity to learn even faster. However not having an instructor is kinda nice, because YOU decide when you want to fly alone. Our airfield instructor is kinda unofficial and cool. He believes that I should do it all so, I guess I shall



S

an instructor is a good thing though becasue you will have a lot more confidance when your instructor tells you you are ready, and he probably knows best. confidance is what this hobby revolves around. without confidance in yourself or equipment, all your flights will be a nervous wreck, and this hobby will be no fun. you want to know your equipment until it is second nature. once you have established that, you will never worry aout your engine dying because you know it so well. like my os four stroke, geat engine. i dont't worry about it becasue i know it will not cause any problems, and i have cared for it and watched it break in, and now is running like a dream. i just reccomend the instructor thing. remember though, a lot of first flights are going to be that way. my first solo, i had my instructor standing by me, but put on the neckstrap so that i couldn't chicken out. force yourself on that flight, but after that, you will want to fly again and again.

I would highly recommend that you NOT fly that plane in a Park with people around. You have absolutely no control over what adults, kids or pets are going to do. Hit one of them and you can kiss your ass-ets goodbye. The dangers are just too great.
Dennis-

hehe 3 out of 4 of the airfields in 'my' area are surrounded by people in a park. And now that I think of it, I have never seen an airfield without it being in a park. ONly one so far was far away from the 'normal' traffic. The one I am at now, we literally fly over walkers heads all day.

ce le vie.

btw, then why am I paying the rather outrageous AMA fee cost for then? If someone driving recklessly hits someone, their insurance still pays. And I am not flying wrecklessly. Just not lucky enough to have a large open field anywhere close to me. To many hills and trees. If there is a field, there are people and it's always goign to be in a park setting.


S

here is a pic of my airfield, drawn expertly by me using MSPAINT! Lol. The sad part is I actually do drawing work to a precise detail level using a cad based program platform with very little to 0 level margin of error allowed. Fortunately, I have the proper tools at work.

Note the thing is nowhere near to scale. But you get an idea basically of how things are. Everything looks pretty close to scale actually IN GENERAL..

Tell me what U think. The pavilion is about 3 airplanes wide. (trainer 40s) and the runway is about the proper scale to the pavilion etc. The distance between the trail and the runway may actually be a bit closer in some spots and further in others..not sure really. I would post a pic, but I don't want my secret to be known. When it is not crowded with people, it is a nice place to fly at as there are few other flyers there.

S

Your sketch makes me believe that this is at a club site, which wasn't obvious earlier, when you said, 'the park was full of millions of people'.

All I could picture was some public park, with kids and swings and dogs running around, and there you are with your glow trainer in the middle of them, throttle wide open, just barely in control. [sm=eek.gif]

Dennis-

LOL DBCHERRY.

Sorry. sigh. No like I said it is FULL of people...but not that full hehe. To us, a park full of people is you can't look in any given direction and not see someone. In other words, public nudity would probably get you arrested. Mostly walkers, but kids draw interest...(and rightfully so) in the RC field. It is a club site, and it even has a paved runway. It takes about 3/4 of the runway to takeoff with a trainer to give you an idea of the length.

I hear alot of complaints from visitors especially about the size. Not comments, outright complaints! So imagine how they would react to a busy day at the park. Needless to say, if they would just move the walking trail OVER a bit, it would give us two approaches. At the moment we can only takeoff and land in one direction...regardless of the wind (which matters not anyway because there is ALWAYS a crosswind at our backs)

S

the purpose of ama is that if you do end up flying wrecklassly or your plane somehow goes out of control, and you hit someone or something, ama has an $8000 insurance payout i think. and, it is even more important in your case than most others, becasue the more people are there, the greater the chances are. the private club i fly at is the next door neighbor of the 118 freeway. it is REQUIRED that you have ama to fly there.

I was a beginner for 10 yrs! I was finally able to get out of that stage when I found a club that was a 30 min drive away(and got someone to train me) and I bought a radio that was reliable. I just heard not long ago the great flyer that trained me at that club is now almost blind.[sm=frown.gif]

I think that a beginner moves up a notch after they can come to the field and can do everything by themselves safely without help. Today I just flew my second plane (a super sportster) without assistance from anyone and felt that my beginner days have gone away but are not forgotten. I have only been flying for a few months and have learned so much from my instructors and from this forum. You will know when you are not a beginner anymore.

me personally, i stayed on my trainer for a year. partly because i couldn't afford another one, second of all because i wanted to make sure i had it down and could recover from any situation my trainer could offer. then, i went to a gp easy sport. great plane. not too sporty, but a great plane. like a trainer until you cranked up the throws. i considered myself a beginner until i got my cap. however, now that i have mastered it (it's a piece of junk) i feel a lot more expert than i know i am, and i know i had better watch it.

DB I did a ROUGH estimate when I was last out there. The field is 9x60 large paces (which I think is approximately 30 feet x 180) ??

Flew two more times yesterday. Not ONE person at the park! It was a beautiful sunny day. Go figure. My first landing...I hit the runway a bit long...got scared and pushed it down when I THOUGHT it was in the grass already but unfortunately it just barely skimmed the wing tip and the tip of the prop a tiny tiny little bit.

Second landing...BEAUTIFUL approach...then I thought I was going a bit fast...and notched down a bit on the throttle. It stalled at about 10 feet...glided in, then bounced 3 times down the middle of the runway lol. sigh. I managed to keep it on the runway and turn it RIGHT at the end to head back toward me and it stopped right in the middle like it was ready for another takeoff. Unfortunately my radio was showing 60% at that point so I decided to fly another day.

When I took the plane up, I was thinking to myself. What happened to the rush? But today I want to go again. So I think it's always going to be there, but never like the first time eheh. I guess that is like anything. One thing for sure, I am glad I am not as nervous as I was my first flight. Shaking afterwards for hours hehe.

S