Hi guys,

I started my RC hobby about 4 years ago with the Park Zone Cub and was trying to learn it on my own. I flew it a few times, but after about the 4th time, it crashed and was unfixable. I haven't flown since then.

I'm a real world pilot (private pilot with multi addon) and enjoy all aspects of aviation. I usually fly the Warrior or 172. I can tell you that real world aviation knowledge helps a bit, but RC flying is a whole different animal. However, I am up for the challenge.

I'm looking for some knowledge about getting back into the hobby. I've researched my local flying club and plan to reach out. I could also use some suggestions on a good electric RTF that is no more than $280ish. What would you guys suggest?

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXCKWL&P=ML


This is the absolutely most popular trainer for electrics around these parts and what I most recommend for new folks who wish to first start with electric. In this package which includes the Attack radio system if you purchase a buddy attack or find an instructor who will uses one then it has a tremendous advantage over most of the mainstream radio systems and that is the cordless buddy system.

Here locally we have gone to great lengths to use these systems on some Hitec and some Futaba and although most instructors do downplay the idea at first It has proven to be a substancial phychological advantage for the student .

John

The Sensei has a good reputation no doubt, but the best trainer honestly is the one that your instructor is most familiar with and most comfortable with. The budget you're giving us to work with will get you set up in a park flyer type plane, but if you can increase it a bit you can step up into the larger balsa planes that fly so much better. I budget for myself about $600 a year to spend on this hobby. That includes both things I buy to maintain my fleet and new acquisitions around Christmastime and birthdays. Sometimes I don't spend nearly that, and sometimes I spend a little more if I can and really want something. $600 for your first year of flying will get you a good trainer plane and a computerized radio along with all the field gear you need and your club and AMA dues. IMO, the latter are not optional accessories to the hobby, but rather a central expense that gives you a whole lot more than they cost you. I'd forego buying a new airplane for the year before I'd drop out of the club.

The money discussion aside, for now the very best thing you can do is meet an instructor at the club and find out how they go about training new pilots. Ask what equipment they would rather you use and see if you can make the money side of things work. For that matter, since you're a full scale pilot, you might manage to trade a few joyrides for some used RC gear and get started in the hobby very cheaply.

I agree, completely.

Local help is the best. A local instructor can suggest an airframe that he feels is the most suitable. He will be able to assist with any problems that may arise. Your radio equipment will then be compatable with his, allowing the use of a boddy box and trainer cord.

I have always provided the trainer and all the equipment for the first day then asked the student to provide there own fuel. That way if they don't want to go any farther in the hobby they aren't out any money. Several of the pilots I fly with that instruct do the same thing. I only have one electric plane and it isn't a trainer so I use a 60 size glow powered plane. I like electrics but have never had a trainer. Once you solo you will have a better idea of what you want and how deep you want to get into the hobby.

When you bought your first full-size airplane and started off all alone to teach yourself to fly it you had the advantage of keeping the ground in sight and being in the aircraft. Or didn't it happen quite that way?

Models are quite the opposite of full size for technique and reaction. You seldom fly a real aircraft at yourself to land.

Seriously - having someone with knowledge and experience teach you is worth much more than any three models you might buy and crunch on your own. Join a club or at least seek out an instructor. Having someone do the first trim flight for you will be helpful if nothing else. Full size models seldom come from the factory with the ailerons reversed. That's very common with models because the transmitter determines it - not the receiver.

I'm going to take Charlie's school of thought one step further. When you look for an instructor, look for one you are compatible with. If you start taking instruction from someone you:
a) have a hard time understanding/communicating with
b) just don't like
c) have no chemistry with
you're not going to do well and may not stay in the hobby. Spend some time talking to the various instructors and find out who you can and can't work with. Don't be afraid to ask the hard questions like:
a) what kind of results have they had with other students
b) what kind of teaching style they use
c) are they willing to spend some extra time if you have something you're struggling with or will they cut off the lesson at the preset time.
Once you find one that you can work with, it's a team effort to get you to the point of being a proficient flyer. Be sure you do your part when it comes to learning because it's not just the instructors fault if things go badly. If you have something you don't get, ASK FOR MORE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd be careful about asking questions like that. Nearly every club instructor is a volunteer, and many expect a lot of appreciation from students because of that. I wouldn't mind a guy asking questions like that, but I know instructors at my club who would get pretty offended if a student gave the impression that he's interviewing the instructor to decide if he's adequate. The truth is that some instructors have no idea how to teach. But it's better to just get what you can from them and then work with the better ones when you get the chance. I had a terrible instructor, but he was available so I worked with him and never complained. I gave him a small gift when I was done in appreciation of his time too. I soloed eventually and went on to keep improving on my own and with the advice of much better pilots in the club. So the point here is to remember that these guys are all volunteering their time for students, and nearly all of them are amateurs at both flying and teaching. Do work with multiple people if you can, but don't get aggravated if the experience is less than stellar.

Be exceedingly carefully about trying to learn to fly initially by committee, it simply does not work and if you do there is danger that you will still be trying to learn even years down the line! And that's the truth.

Do ask all the questions and Hydros Junkies list is a good start and don,t be shy but make an informed choice at stick with it for a reasonable time. If you expect the instructors to start playing musical chairs well the only one that is getting screwed is you.

Just a few days ago I noticed a gentleman that two years ago came out to fly and was going to be instructed by his friend and that went sparingly at fist then tapered off to nothing as his friend sort of blew him off without ever getting near solo and wreaking the first airplane; So now he show up with a new airplane looking a little lost and I offered him help which he seemed to want.

So spent several hours that day helping to get his airplane set up right and made an appointment to fly first thing in the morning and start getting him back on track. Next morning after bringing my wireless system charged up and ready he said oh what time is So and So coming and I said Huh. He thought and was told by his friend that he could just fly with a different instructor every time if he wanted. Well sorry no, that's not the way is ever is and a mistake by the student.

Now if there is a legitimate reason to make the change sure I welcome it but not on some whim.


John

Kind of a flip side to the instructor, I had one instructor and stuck with him and him alone. When I got into more advanced flying I had another instructor, a complete opposite of my basic instructor, no fun at all but he got me pretty good into pattern flying.
After I had soloed my basic instructor was asked to teach a young student, fine, we flew every Sunday from 8 to noon. The kid showed up a couple Sundays in a row at noon just as we were leaving. Soccer practice, Church and soft ball practice. He never learned to fly, you have to work within the instructors hours. Few years ago I had the same thing happen with a guy down the street. Every time I could go flying he couldn't.
I had another student with all his own gear. He had the time but he always had something new happening to him, back pain, foot pain just all kinds of pain. He just couldn't find the time when he felt good.
I'm retired and have the time but the student has to make the time too. I'll work around there hours but you can't learn if you can't get to the field.
My basic instructor was really good at it and I use the same methods as he did with me. I have had young students that soloed the second day and older students that took a couple months but they all learned if they put in the time.

Jester, if the questions are asked tactfully, where's the harm. If someone has an "I'm the boss and my word is law" attitude and teaching style, I'm not going to want to be treated that way and won't go back. I want to know this kind of thing before I agree to anyone teaching me anything. If I asked how his last student did and was told he didn't finish, just stopped showing up with no explanation, I'd be worried as well. Tact can make the most direct question look like friendly conversation if done right.

Sure, a guy with good social skills and a skill for putting things the right way can avoid coming off as judgmental when asking questions like that. Of course, that only describes about 10% of people who get into RC. My point is that the instructor is volunteering his time to you, and asking questions like that can be tantamount to looking a gift horse in the mouth. If you're paying the instructor then a thorough questioning is certainly in order, but hardly anybody does. The instructor I originally worked with wasn't very good, and would have lost interest in helping me had I scrutinized him. Then I wouldn't have had an instructor at all because he was the only one who could meet me when I was able to come out to the field at the time. The new pilot has to remember that everything the instructor does is a favor to him, so if it's not perfect that's just going to have to be ok.

To re-iterate a few of the above suggestions:

Don't buy anything until you visit the club and hopefully line up an instructor and see what he uses. As Grey Beard said, some instructors actually supply the trainer, at least for the first few sessions. Visit the club, see what people are using and what plane(s) they recommend before you buy. If you run out and buy a plane that happens to use a different transmitter protocol than your instructor has access to a buddy box for, you're pretty much out of luck without investing additional money.

Instructors are volunteers and quite frankly I'm not sure they need to be very good teachers or your best buddy either. The biggest thing early on is to get stick time (and a lot of it) without the risk of crashing every 15 seconds. The minimum an instructor needs to do is take off and land for you, and to be able to save the plane from crashing while you learn the basic control movements and develop some muscle memory. Anything else is gravy. Most instructors will be far better and teach you safety, setting up the plane, trimming, basic aerodynamics and aerobatics (eventually), etc but my point is that you don't need the RC equivalent of the Teacher of The Year at first, nor should you expect it.

And, you have to invest the time to learn. Unless you're naturally gifted (or young), you need to be getting several flights a week in until things start clicking. Once a month is a waste of your and your instructors time.

On solo day I just unplug the cord and hand my TX to the student and let them use the trainer until they get there own plane and gear. No rush to run out and buy. So far I have only lost one trainer so I guess my system works. Because my radio is so old not one student has ever gotten the same make or model I have. Most of the new radio gear on the market is outstanding but some of it like the Spektrum gear I haven't kept up on so when a student has a problem I just send them over to one of the other guys that uses that brand. Most the bigger clubs even have the trainer plane and buddy box on hand so there should never be a rush to go out and buy anythng until after the big day.