To me, the shakes stop about 5 minutes after I get the plane down in one piece. I've noticed that I shake for 2 distinct reason. The first of course in pure unadulterated nervousness. The 2nd is that since I don't get to fly too often (only get to fly on weekends, SOMETIMES), it's just downright excited. So, don't think of the shakes as necessarily a bad thing.

I shake all the time. It has never gone away. I am not a great pilot myself. I build more than fly. I would give a hearty yes to having another pilot especially an experienced one standing by your side. Haveing a clam voice there and thier presence helps tremendously. I also find with gentle persuasion I am able to push my piloting skills. "Go ahead you can do a hammerhead" in a calm voice helps you overcome the fears and just do it. To those who stand there and help God bless you all.

Mark Shuman

I don't get plastered much anymore and my shakes have all but vanished.

Being nervous is actually a good thing in my opinion, so you will be more cautious and feel less arrogant.

Got the shakes so bad today after a bad move and almost planted my somethin' extra in the bean field. [X(]

I had to do 2 circuits and then come land, packed up, and watched others for awhile.

I love the shakes....I pay alot of money for the shakes....The only way I can keep them now is bigger planes....it's a drug I tell you.. [X(]

If it's this bad now with a simple trainer, I can't imagine how bad it's going to be when I finally transition to my 4 star LOL

qwazzy,
I don't get resentful towards the hobby when I crash, it simply makes me more determined to "get it right".

You say you haven't crashed yet, so I'm guessing that you haven't been flying more than a year or so, and I'm glad you said "yet", but saying "I don't intend to" is pretty funny. How many of us do you suppose DO intend to?

Connery,
I've been at this for nine years now, and have crashed my fair share of planes. Most have been repairable. I still shake sometimes, but a LOT less than I use to.

Shaking for me now involves something like flying in 20 mph winds with gusts to 25 or 30. Or like yeserday when one of the best scale pilots in the country (Charlie Nelson) was standing beside talking about how good my aerobatics were getting.

I also still shake a bit when putting a new plane up for it's maiden, or taking a student's plane up for them, or trimming another club member's new plane.

So the shakes never stop, they just become less frequent.
Dennis-

You like how your new bird flies?!

A lot different than the LT-40 I bet!


Wings

I usually feel the butterflies when I'm taxing out a new plane for the first time. As soon as it starts rolling down the runway, they're gone andI'm concentrating on flying. They come back just a little bit when it's time to land, but usually as soon as I start the turn on to final and concentrate on my approach they're gone.


Andy

There is no compairison between the Somethin' Extra and the LT-40. The SE is such a fun plane to fly!

I am so glad that its made for hard maneuvers, almost dirt napped it 3-5 times today getting used to the "point and fly" aspect of it.

Talk about the shakes !!!!!

hey dont feel so bad. i just destroyed my plane at a school yard. this was my 3rd plane. the shakes wernt as bad as my first plane or the 2nd one. but i had severe shakes let me tell you. altough i lost my poor easysport 40 from great planes. im like saying tomyself. oh well what goes up must crash against a school wall. lol.

FlyBabyFly, at least your's stopped at the wall! I had a Hobby Zone Firebird of mine crash land on top of a school building before! Seems like I always crash my planes above the ground like in a tree or something. I can fix them if I can just get them back!

I have been flying all my life (My dad was a flier since I was a toddler almost 50 years ago). I have also spent the last 35 years heavily involved with live theater (you think you get nervous FLYING? Try Acting!). So I thought my days of getting the shakes were WAY behind me.

But last Summer, I was asked to fly a Seaplane at a local town's "Waterdays Festival". The event was held as a warm up act for the Ski Show (The town has one of the best ski teams in the nation). The area we had to fly in was TIGHT. Only about 200 yards wide with very tall trees on 3 sides. My dad and I were the only two in our club who dared to risk it.

Between the tight arena, and the crowd applauding every maneuver, my knees were shaking so bad I could hardly stand.

We were asked to do it again next weekend.... Can't wait!

I walk around when I fly..... harder for everyone else to see that actually, yes I am shaking - just like everybody else. It's definitely worse with a brand new plane, or when "pushing the edge", but sometimes just cruising around in a trainer (less often!)will do it too. [8D]

I was flying my Funtana 90 this past weekend and after rolling inverted and pulling down to come out level it got all twitchy....well after leveling out and letting my heart rate return to normal I brought it in only to find one of the servos in the wing went south.... so I brought it up put it on the bench and we were talking about it while I was cleaning it up and the other one let go! YIKES! I came real close to make a kit from a ARF!

So I know when I take it up again I know I will be as nervous as a long tail cat in a room full of rockers!

John

I get the shakes right before launch (I'm flying my first full-house, composite glider using a pretty beefy winch for launching) and on my downwind leg of the landing pattern. With gliders you can't open the throttle and go around again if you botch a landing. Hell, EVERY landing is dead-stick!

I also get varying degrees of shakes depending on the situation; like when I thermalled through a cloud. I actually had to sit down.

The hardest part for me is to remember to breath!![sm=spinnyeyes.gif] Very important for the survival of your rig! I highly recommend it.



t

Even though I can't imagine having to make every landing count with a glider but the one thing I do know is that you have to breath. I solo'd many years ago but the instructor that I was learning with still teases me about my first solo flight. Per his account, I held my breath for five minutes. I know that ain't so, but I do recall his gentle, constant urging to breath.

The best way I found to get rid of the shakes is to go out to the field with one other pilot (you shouldn't fly alone). Hopefully it will be a time of day when no else is there. With just the two of you, fly the wings off of it. If you can remove the spectator factor, you will be able to build your confidence level much faster. Thus the shakes will go away.

I think I might be done with the shakes on my LT-40 after my two deadstick landings on Tuesday.

The first was the simple problem of having too much fun at 75-100% throttle, ran out of gas. I turned onto the base leg too soon and I was floating past the flight boxes still at 15' above the ground. I executed a tight turn away from the flight line toward the heavy grass, intending to level it out and land it in the grass. The LT-40 is such a good glider that I was able to bring it around to the runway line and landed it that way. It was NOT a smart move in that it would be a really bad idea with a plane that isn't so forgiving.

The second deadstick was a scarier one, the engine just quit while climbing out from takeoff. Again, the plane had no problem gliding back to the runway. My (post-solo) takeoffs are always fairly level, the emphasis being airspeed gain over altitude gain. The problem: forgot to plug the pressure line back into the muffler (yeah, "whoops" ).

-Jeff

I never get nervous. I hear people say it all the time and it makes me wonder.

Been flying a little over a year now and have moved on to owning a handful of 1/4 scale aerobatic planes (Cap/Extra). Recently flew at our fun fly - first one to take off with about 150ish people looking on (most non flyers) and all eyes were on me. The only time I might approach nervousness is after I fly and I find something that was on the edge of breaking, but never during - that would severely mess up my concentration.

The only other time I might "approach" being nervous is when I'm flying and someone else in a pilot box is doing something stupid - like they can't control their plane or try flying close up behind me (behind our flight line) then I just land and let them have it till they're done.

Flying regular helps I think - I fly on average 3 times a week and good weeks I fly 4-5 times a week or so. 13 months now and counting and the biggest ding was a flameout on takeoff that ripped the gear off my second plane - last deadstick and last ding up of a plane for me - tho I know the day will be there when I take out 2-3 1/4 scale planes in a day/week or whatever.

Bob your "never" assertion indicates either that you're lying, primarily to yourself in a presumably immature attempt to impress others because you're deceiving no-one here of any experience, or you lack sufficient intellect to be nervous. I sincerely doubt the latter as that'd prevent you from finding your way here.

Why mention this here at all? Because I don't want your "it never happens to me" nonsense to impress innocent others who might actually believe you, then trapped into thinking that they must somehow be the 'odd man out'. To experience moments of nervousness associated with uncertainty and its effect upon confidence occasionally is completely normal, particularly within the first 12 months of R/C.

In instructing and check & training whilst flying professionally in full size, R/C and control-line over 30 years, it has been my experience without exception that everyone with normal human emotion and intelligence will exhibit a healthy, cautious and naturally defensive apprehension at a minimum, or present as an outright shaking bundle of nerves at worst whenever they experience that lack of confidence or doubt which invariably accompanies that inner intelligence which recognises their own inexperience, fallibility or lack of currency. Converting to or test flying in terms of R/C relevance a new type should also present even the most experienced with a heightened sense of preparative apprehension aka a mild nervousness. If you don't have a little healthy apprehension under those circumstances, your sensibilities and survival instincts are seriously deficient. Don't ever try riding a motorbike.

sigrun: it's time to switch to decaf. The guy uses hyperbole and you let him have it with both barrels.

[sm=confused.gif]

I think it is far fetched too that one would not get nervous at all on the first flight. Guess its possible though. Some people are just low key and apethic about things.

I'd say those people are few and far between unless they have unlimited funds.

the first time I let an instructor take my plane up it felt like I tied 4 1000 dollars bills on a rotten kit string. It was made even worse when I heard him say he could not turn it. This has happend 2 times since then I have not touched the controls yet. I have had the plane for 7+ months. Yes it is NEXTAR

I've been nervous but have not experienced the shakes. But then again I've only been flying solo for a month. The first time I flew solo my instructor said " theres nothing that you can do to any plane that money and glue can't fix" I think of that every time I go up and just have fun. I have to wonder if you experience the shakes all the time if this is the right hobby for you. You really shouldn't be that nervous, how can you be enjoying flying if you are? I crash from time to time and then I fix it, no big deal. Hopefully, once you realize this your shakes will go away. I've got 7 planes and they all cost less than $100.00, maybe thats the answer.