Well I thought I would share my first flight experience with everyone here at RCU. Yesterday I flew my superstar 40 for the first time and got to solo all in the same day. It was exciting, rewarding and worth all the time spent preparing for that first flight. I followed the advice of my instructor and did a fair amount of research, talking, and asking questions before I spent any money. The local rc club
where I live is FIRST CLASS. Everyone I have met so far is extremely kind and helpful. I was able to solo on the first day not because
I am *a natural*, but because I had prepared for success by getting help and spending some time with the simulator. The simulator made a HUGE difference. I was amazed how true to the sim my plane was. When I took control of the plane for the first time, there were no surprises, I had already experienced it with the sim. I flew with my instructor several times, performed some take off's a few times, performed a few landings, then made a solo flight. If I had tried to fly on my own, I have no doubt that it would have ended in failure. Even if someone has the skills to fly, I think it is unlikely that they will be able to properly set up/trim the plane. (I know I could not have)

At any rate it was well worth my time to get an instructor, get some advice, and fly the simulator for a while.

[8D]

Congratulations and well done. Welcome to the hobby and remember to hold, hold it, hold it, hold it hold, hold that elevator.

wow
My instructor really is on top of things !
Do you know who this is ?

Well, looks to me like Roger is (was) your instructor.

Nice going on the solo, and thanks Roger for giving another new guy a great expereince!

I have a student that should solo tomorrow. He doesn't know it yet though.

My brother could to if he's able to make it to the field.

I hope others read your post and take the advice you've mentioned. Too many new people come here seeking advice and then get upset when we recommend Sims and instructors.
Dennis-

good job, i have the same plane, but i put a .46 in it, it flys alot better and you can do more with it, but that is alittle later on, but if you do, if you move the battery back dont run the wire through the servos, it killed my plane four days ago, the servo unplugged the battery and went full throttel strait into the ground, crushed the inside of the wings, broke the firewall, cracked the fuse., but i should have it up by next weekend, asumeing the engine runs

Hi there " J ".... yep, I though that was you. I saw Al. which kind of gave things away, but your comments regarding your solo experience on the first day helped. This doesn't happen very often as many on here and DBCherry will tell you.

It really was a pleasure working with you and I look forward to following up with you as you continue to develop. We still have a few things to work on, but you really did do a great job and the first day solo flight was as legit as they come. Yes, the simulator does help a great deal, especially if people approach it like you did; as though it's really your model airplane and not just another video game.

Guys, please allow me to brag on this new solo pilot. He did the best take off of any new pilot I have seen and better than many that have been flying for years. Nice and straight down the runway, with a nice slow climb out and then nice banking turn outbound. His landings were just about as smooth with very nice control of the airplane. It's rare that I solo someone in one day and in a matter of hours, but Memory Jack really does deserve an 'atta-boy' on a job well done.

yeah dbcherry, I was just wondering if Roger knew it was me

As for the flight sim, at first I wanted to skip it, but I went ahead and bought it anyway.
After a few days of driving planes into the ground on my computer, I knew it wasn't wasted money.
(as the alternative would be driving real planes into the ground)

Sorry to hear about the unplugged battery. Roger (my instructor) gave me a couple of parsons safety clips to prevent the battery
from coming unplugged. Just shows another reason to have an instrucot I guess, because I didn't even know there was such a device.


Happy flying
-Jason

Thanks Roger, looking forward to more flying.

Jason, you are more than welcome. I was wondering if you picked up on the Parsons clip benefit after reading about what happened to â»±?ä*®. If ever there was a perfect example of what we were talking about when we were going over this very thing, well this was it.

0?0, here is a link on Tower that shows a picture of Parson Clips if you aren't aware of what they are. This inexpensive item will save airplanes. Sorry to hear about your accident. Good luck.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=++&search3=Go

Congratulations, MemoryJack! Now the fun really begins!

Congrats

I soloed for the first time about a month ago with only 2 sessions.....would have probably been able to the first day also but my flying time was a bit short. I also did much the same as you. I prepared for sucess by doing a lot of research and speending quite a bit of time on the sim before ever flying my plane for real. I agree, the simm time helped a ton. So far in this pas month or so I have put about 4 gallons of fuel through my plane without incedent . If your like me, you will be moving on to your second plane in no time. Currently I am building a 4 Star 120 from a kit which is about 50% done and will fly the trainer when I feel a bit lazy . Just remember one thing.....It's OK to start flying a bit more aggressively and try new things....But ALTITUDE IS YOUR FRIEND. I hope you have as much fun as I am .


Good luck,


Adam

Way to go Jack!

Congratulations, MemoryJack.
Now you need to change your Avatar to something more airworthy!

Hey, how come I never got a "Attaboy Certificate"?
I soloed SOLO on my third trip to the field. This was 2 years ago.

Luis

Luis, did you post the fact that you soloed here in the beginners forum? If so, maybe I just missed it (Or maybe I hadn't started giving them out yet). PM me if you'd like one.

I have noticed that a lot of new piolts both in fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft have used flight simulators to advance there flying skills. A trend is developing that shows a direct correlation between using the computer and the ability to control a model aircraft in flight.
What bothers me is the lack of knowledge required to keep this model flying.
I have seen these computer wizards first hand and yes they can fly. There flying ability far exceeded mine when I started in this hobby. However, they lack a through understanding of aerodynamic principles or mechanical comprehension. This is only an opinion of mine, A point in time will come where you will see a two man team to support the model. One the pilot and the other the mechanic. I have already noticed this at TOC events.

Memoryjack, Congrats. I to have done something similar except I bought the sim back in December and made sure I played around for at least 3 to 5 hours a week. Last night was my 5th flight ever on my plane and ended up flying with no one else around. no instructor either. With the instructors permision of course people. The plane survived and so didn't I so I called it a success. I flew about 10 flights on it and realized that I was much more relaxed?? well maybe not relaxed but not as nervous as I was the first flights. But like you, I attribute a lot of my success so far to the simulator and the rest to good instruction. For if it wasn't for the instructor I would have probably failed quite badley. I am still going to get the instruction because there is much more for me to learn.

Anyways, congrats.

David

David:

Be careful not to cut your wrist off with the propeller with no one there to help you.
Experience on the flight simulator does not include injuries.

Luis

LOL, Luis I will try to keep that in mind.

flycatch brings up a very good point. This is the very reason I stated in my response to Jason the need for more work with an instructor even after his solo flight. Flight sims have made the education process much more fun and easier for new pilots and instructors. Heck, I still use mine on a regular basis.

The very day after Jason soloed I caught my right knuckle next to my little finger in a prop while trying to adjust the carb on the flight line with another student pilot. It didn't look too serious, but it bled like crazy as I kept on working with the student pilot. I checked it after we got down and sure enough I had tore a good chunk of skin off the knuckle and was lucky I still had one. The knuckle turned black and blue and it's now pretty stiff and very sore.

There is no substitute for experience with the real thing and time on the real sticks with guided help is by far the best way to learn the hobby. The education process never ends though. It's an ongoing process. That said, we all need to be careful and take out time out there. I have had a good reminder.

Indeed , as Roger will confirm, I came closer than I care to admit to swinging my left hand into the prop after starting the plane. It wasn't because I was goofing off or not taking it seriously, it was just lack of experience and me worrying about what I was going to do after the plane was started. From that point on I decided that when I am trying to start the plane, I am absolutely not going to concern myself with anything else. No thinking about take offs, no thinking about landings, no thinking about how hard the wind is blowing. Safety is paramount, and I have a whopping 1 day of experience. I don't plan on flying without an instructor present anytime soon. My fingers are important to me, I
have been playing the guitar for 15 years.

Great Job and congratulations!!!

Lefty