[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I am new at this sport and have just got my first glow plane which is a trainer.I have been hearing alot about flaperions,I have a idia what that means but not sure.Could someone set me straite on this in terms that the dummy,me can understand, Thanks

Flaperons are when both ailerons drop down at the same time. They basically act like flaps, adding lift and drag, which may help during landings and aerobatics.
The opposite is spoilerons (both go up), which decreases lift and adds drag, like spoilers.

You need a servo for each aileron to use either; there is no way to do it with just one.

For a trainer... don't bother with the flaperons. It just adds something to help confuse you more. (and you'll get in enough trouble wthout them...) Also, if using the 5/6 ch "master" box and a 4-ch "buddy box"... the flaperon function will be disabled while the instructor holds the trainer switch down. The aileron on the aux channel will go to FULL deflection (which way? can't predict until it happens the first time. It'll be the same every time for the same airplane and "Master" TX.) With one aileron at a deflection the other CAN'T match... the plane goes into an uncontrollable roll. (thankfully... when the insturctor lets go of the button things go back to normal. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] so the plane SHOULD survive. )

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Thanks guys,I now know I will not need that for along time.I live in the woods and we don,t have a club or knowone that flys here except me.I am learning on my own!! I have a Miss 2 electric with a speed 400 and I fly it pretty good.I feel I am rerady for my first glow and am now building a Kombat 40 trainer.I know I will need some help,do you all think I can make it fly on my own? I am not afraid to fly it,I just might need to ask alot of questions,hope you all don,t mind.I would welcome any input............Thanks...Swampthing

Its possible to learn without assistance... its just more likely for you to break a lot of airplanes while learning. (and then there's the stuff you could hit with the airplanes: car, house, cat... kids.)

I'm not familiar with the Kombat 40 trainer. The reports I've herd... its heavy. Heavy trainers make it harder to learn, because the plane has to fly faster. It gets to where its just a tiny speck REALLY fast when going with the wind. (very hard to fly that speck back to you...)

Also... an untrimmed plane with an inexperinced pilot means you don't know for sure if the plane needs adjustment or you're doing something wrong.

I've helped one person recently that really just needed the airplane trimmed, then 3 SHORT lessons and he soloed... This was after he'd destroyed 2 aircraft (one he split the cyl off the crankcase) trying to teach himself with un-trimmed aircaft. (under 30 sec each flight... those were a couple of EXPENSIVE flights!)

Even if you hav to drive 50 or 60 miles to get to a club flying site... it would be in your best interest to get at least one good session with an instructor. The plane will be trimmed, and you'll get some pointers on how to correct any bad haits you've started to develop.

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ALSO:There's a NEW design for a tainer made from coroplast... (just got posted.) It looks like the Sig LT-40. It Flys like the LT-40! It weighs almost the same as the LT-40. (In essence its a nearly indestructable LT-40...) Cheap, easy to build... Might be worth looking into.

Hello-the kombat 40 is not as easy as the manufacture leads you to believe-I own one-sure it is more crash worthy but a whole lot harder to fly than a regular triainer with alot of dihedrel in the wing-I do not want to discourage you though-I too was a guy that lived out in the" sticks" and after numerous attempts of tearing 4 airplanes to toothpicks and no one to help-I finally went to the model shop 32 miles away and told the guy teach me how to fly and I will buy your model-he agreed and turned out to be a real mentor-I just had to ask and I got help-now I am flying on my own for the third month after trying to teach myself since 1994-and I have been building for 20 years. It is a fun sport and I am glad that there are still some people that will help or I would still be crashing or lost intrest and would have got involved in something else-some flying fields have a arrogance about them-they should be ashamed to act this way-they do not promote the sport and we end up with a bunch of crashed arf's and people that will never participate in this sport-with no one buying r/c supplies-the accessories have a more limited selection than we did even 10 years ago.--I took my flying lessons 60 miles away from my home-but it was worth time and effort and also made a few new friends-thanks jim

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] Thanks guys for the info. Is there a site where you can find out where the closest club is to where I am? I haven,t found any. The nearest Hobby Shop is a good hundred miles from here,I order everything on line and have it sent to me. I will just have to work hard and find someone that can fly and get some help.

I know what you all mean about some fields having there nose in the air, I just went to a public flying field in Fla, Calahan to be exact and I was flying my electric the first day and it was on a weekday and only two guys were there and they were really nice. The next day was a weekend and this club was going to have a race or something so I had to wait until they were done,no problem but when they got done I was going to fly and they wouldn,t let me fly my little electric because I wasn,t a member of the AMA. I told them I was just visiting and I was going to join in my home state and all I wanted to do was get way down on the end of the field and fly but no go,they were very unfriendly and I got to thinking what fun they must be to be around!! I understand now about the AMA and the rules but I sure didn,t see any reason for them to be the way they were. I carried my plane all the way down there and got to fly about a hour on a three day trip.What goes around comes around!!!
Thanks guys for the input and it is nice to talk to such nice people for a change! We all can,t know everything when you first start out in this sport,we all have to start somewhere,I hope they crash!! Swampthing

Sorry to hear about your experience in Florida Swampthing. But I think you realize now that no AMA club will let you fly at their field without your AMA. Evidently you got away with it the first day. Nobody asked?

Many clubs will allow a visitor a one day freebie with no AMA membership. Its not condoned by the AMA, as the beginner is potentially uninsured. IF the field has site insurance, the site OWNER is covered, but the club could be held lible for an accident.

You want someone to blame for this situation... look at the nearest lawyer. If it weren't for the extreme awards in minior injury cases ($$$ millions for spilling your own coffee on yourself...) Then we wouldn't need to be sticklers about the AMA membership.

There is a way around the AMA membership, that can go on INDEFINITELY. An AMA member giving FREE lessons using his own plane is covered. The AMA member has to be "pilot in command" And the only way to definitely say that is to have him holding the master TX in a buddy box setup.
I checked on this by contacting the AMA directly and asking about giving lessons at a local park, where AMA membership is not required. By using MY plane, the flight is covered. If we use the newbie's plane, and he's not an AMA member, and I'm not in the Intro Pilot Program... (I'm not... the clubs i work with don't use the IPP) the flight is NOT covered.

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www.modelaircraft.org has a link for locating local clubs. Its not perfect (they list the whole state.. find your local clubs by using the browser search and the first 3 digits of the Zip code) but it will list all AMA affliliated clubs near you.