What a great hobby! I'm teaching a 747 captain to fly RC models. He's having many of the same problems that most of us had when learning to fly while standing on the ground but he's learning fast and will soon solo. Like me, he loves flying, in the plane or out of the plane!

That sounds cool. I bet there's a lot to talk about huh? Ask him if he's ever rolled his 747.

Treetopflyer: good for you. As former full scale pilot I've tried to explain to some of my friends that RC'ers live in a different world. I learned the hardway too. One advantage was I had years of experience in rubber power, free flight and U-control. The only advantage for a full scale pilot trying to ascend to the wondeful world of RC is he knows what makes an airplane fly and what each control does. It's usually just orientation that gets them.

Wow! Once he gets the hang of it he might build a 1/4 scale Boeing 747 ... Cool.

As you can see ....I love the Boeing 747. Its a like a ship in the air and so comfy to travel. I love that noise of the hydraulic motor for moving the flaps. Unfortunately for people within US they cant fly 747's for domestic travel (well unless you re the president!). Its a great plane...

As an actual flight instructor for some forty years, in addition to being a model airplane "pilot", I have had occasion to teach R/C model "pilots" to fly. Operating a model airplane in no way prepares you to fly actual airplanes. A model "pilot" is just as confused in the cockpit during his first flights as any other student. There is really no comparison between the skill and training required to toss a little model around an open field and making an approach to ATL on a dark and stormy night with an engine out. It's like tossing a nerf ball around the front yard vs playing football in the NFL. I flew model airplanes for years before becoming an actual pilot and will continue to fly them whenever I lose my medical and can no longer fly the real ones, and I enjoy every minute of it. But before you get too smug, remember that "going solo" means you are the sole occupant of the aircraft.

too smug? well now before you get too offended i think the point here is the original poster is excited and honored to teach a commercial pilot about the ways of the modeling world. tossing a little model around yeah sure get off it lol. maybe he flys 46% extras. and one more little thing going solo only means sole occupant in the full scale world in the modeling world it doesnt assume any occupants. in the high school band the solo is the one playing you guessed it alone. i think maybe you have your proffesion and your hobby mixed up. flying a model is not the same as flying the real thing but the real thing isnt the same as a model and no one said it was so relax a little take a deep breath you'll be alright

TreeTopFlyer,

Just so your pupil will feel at home, before landing, remind him that his seat back and tray table must be in an upright position.

I don't think I'm the one who has the two mixed up. Why is there never a post saying, "Guess what? this account executive came to me to learn to fly." or "did you know, a brain surgeon can't fly a R/C model without instruction?" The post is always "Did you know? A "pilot" came to the field and I had to teach him how to play with model airplanes."

I'm merely pointing out that it works in the other direction too. A model "pilot" who flies 46% extras would have to start at the beginning just like a school teacher or anyone else to learn to fly. I have been building and flying model airplanes since I was nine years old including R/C from the rudder only, escapement days, and I can't imagine a more enjoyable hobby. However standing on the sideline watching as we control a little flying machine is worlds apart from actually flying.

LouW,

The interest and humor of a 747 Captain learning to fly RC is pretty obvious. There is not much interest or humor in hearing about an accountant learning to fly RC. This is not a show of disrespect for a 747 Captain's ability to pilot a jumbo jet. In fact it is quite the opposite in that most of us get a kick out of the fact we can do something that someone with such extensive flight training and skill has to go through the much the same process we did to fly RC. I do not think you will find any RC pilots that would claim they could fly a 747 as a result of their experience flying RC planes.
Surely you can see the humor in someone who pilots 747 getting help learning to fly RC. Humor does not imply disrespect for the individual, just the irony of the situation. Consider the following and see if you find it humorous. I'm teaching an RC pilot to fly a real plane. Not funny as it is pretty obvious that flying RC does not qualify you to fly solo a real plane and one would need training.

dz is correct.

I have come across the occassional 'pilot' who assumes that flying RC will be child's play simply because he flys the "real" ones.

On the other hand, although RC pilots sometimes speculate that they might have a leg up learning to fly a "real" plane, I've never met one who thought they could without training.

There IS a bit of humor involved, but I agree that Treetop seemed more excited about training him than "smug".
Dennis-

If you think being a pilot means moving the stick around and make the plane go where you want to go, then you don't know anything about flying and piloting (or difference between a plane and a toy).

Pjtg0707,

Pilot, verb, to direct or steer. Pilot, noun, one who pilots.

What term would you suggest for someone who moves a stick around and makes the plane go where wanted? Most of us think we fly the RC plane and understand it is a not a 747 or even a piper cub. The term pilot seems appropriate and does not imply we think we are licensed or even capable of flying a full scale aircraft.
If someone were to write he was teaching an F15 fighter pilot to fly RC I would find it interesting and perhaps humorous. If an RC pilot were to claim he could fly an F15 as a result of his RC experience I would find it hysterical.

I understood the comment on soloing pretty well. I thought I'd have a leg-up on RC flying because I flew full scale, not much! The understanding of the purpose of the flight surfaces, stalls, etc. helped some but not as much as I'd have hoped. That said, I remember my first solo better than I remember my first assisted sexual experience. At first I was just elated to finally have the plane to myself, but I've never again felt so lonely as I did coming in over the fence for my first solo landing! Something about knowing that your whole future, and the future of someone else's aircraft, was totally in your hands is a severely humbling experience. I presume my shirt-tail is still hanging on the wall at 3DW in Springfield, MO., at least I hope it is!

btw i think that there already is an R/c boeing 747. hehe it looks good

Ken Willard, the former well known designer, and RCM columnist, said that he was at an RC Floatplane get together and a friend was there in his full size Cessna. Ken bet him that he could fly his Cessna, but he couldn't fly Ken's RC floatplane. His friend
took his bet, and they climbed into the Cessna and once airborne Ken took the controls and flew around a while. They landed and Ken launched his RC plane and when three mistakes high handed the friend the transmitter. The full size pilot managed to keep things together for a few seconds, but when things went terribly wrong Ken took the radio back and landed the model.

Another story: A friend of mine (an RC pilot) lost the signal on a ten footer and it flew out sight. He and two friends rented a 4 place Cessna the next morning to go look for it. The pilot must have misunderstood and thought my friend was a full size pilot wanting to go find a full sized plane, so when out on Active and lined up for take off he asked my friend in the right seat if he wanted to fly the plane. "Sure!" my friend said, and as he often did when taking his model off, rammed the throttle to full power, sending all to the seat backs, the Cessna's nose 90 degrees to the left and heading for sugarcame off the runway! The pilot quickly retarded the throttle, and hit the brakes to keep from harvesting any cane, straightened out and again headed for take off. As they left the ground he said to my friend, "Don't touch a Da___ed thing until we get back and that better be just your door handle!" One of the guys in the back caught it all on tape. Got a huge laugh at the next meeting. Oh yes, they found the lost Yardstick, 8 miles away in a tree top, unscathed.

We've had full scale fighter pilots who took a long time to convert to RC. We've had full scale pilots who took to RC in practically no time at all and some who just gave up on RC and never did get it. The main difference is the instructor in the right seat or on a buddy box. Either way when you "solo" you are solo. The fun part of teaching a 747 pilot is that he is probably wise enough to know what makes the thing fly and will in most cases learn a bit quicker than a non-pilot. I'd been in modeling since I was 9 too, when I got my full scale ticket I knew what made the airplane fly and it speeded up the process. I soloed sooner than any other student my instructor had. All that being considered I think the idea of instructing a pilot who has great skills in another facet of aviation is great and the humor of it all is just great. Treetop flyer is enjoying the moment without putting the 747 pilot down. I'm enjoying it with him.

This started out as an innocent post and has been turned into a pissing match..geesh

I've noticed that most people here are really helpful, but some are really really really touchy and pissy.

I'm learning to fly the real thing now.I told my flight instructor that i was building a RC plane, he told me he had one and crashed it while trying to take off the first time! so he must have assumed the same skills were needed to fly the model and full scale.So i say good on that 747 captain!!!

From my view, rated pilots have more problems learning some things than some banana
on the street. Meaning every rated pilot learning R/C thought he knew it all, thus causing him more problems. After a few trainers in the trash some went on to be excellent pilots but most quit in embarassment. I remember back in military flight school. Those who came in with a rating were last to solo because they also brought with them bad habits which they had to break. I remember a guy who brought out as his second plane-a P-51. We asked if he wanted help trimming but nope, he could handle it. Plane lasted couple laps of uncontrolable flight but nothing more than simple trimming could fix. he went out to pick up the pieces, went home and never saw hm again.

I can't believe this has turned in to a serious discussion. From where I am sitting it is obviously funny and very cool that a guy who flies these huge magestic icons of transport is learning to fly little ol' RC planes! I think the original poster was just being lighthearted and taking pleasure in sharing his skills with an accomplished real life pilot!
Photoniq.

Hey Treetop, I think it is great having the opportunity to teach a "real pilot" how to fly RC. It is somewhat ironic isn't it? To think someone who flies for a living has to be "trained" to fly a toy :-).

For those who are offended by calling an RC airplane (even a 40% 3D that cost $6000) a TOY, think about this -->. If a 747 pilot flew "his" plane the same way "you" fly yours, would you want to be one of "his" passengers? I certainly wouldn't! If the 747 pilot doesn't think of a RC plane as a "toy" he is in the wrong line of work!

While Webster defines a toy "as something children play with" and "to amuse oneself" they aren't really "something of little importance; trifle." to many of us. But when compared to other things in our life (job, car, house, spouse) they should be considered trifle shouldn't they? <fire extinquisher at the ready--fire away>

Yep, you right Trials_mania, there is a 747 RC model. What is more, there is a 747 WITH Space Shuttle on top of it. 747 goes in the air, then Shuttle gets separated and they both fly independently...

Gee, another irony... In real life Space Shuttle does not fly...