Howdy yall!

Recently returned to my country of birth after living in the US for 18 years and all I can say, "WHAT A DUMBO AM I!" The problem is that I have a few trainers and I really want to learn to fly, however I am unable to find anyone in this place who will assist me and as such i am on my own. The plan is to learn to taxi, gradually increasing taxi speed, then I will seek a long stretch of wide land within which I may gradually increase my taxi speed to flying speed, getting off the ground for a few seconds at less that 5 feet altitude and then returning to land. If after practice I am able to become proficient in this phase, I will then move on to higher altitudes of straight line flying. If the planes still exist after this phase, I will seek a wider field, and then move on to slow wide turns and then onto a full turn after which reverse control will be the issue of the day. It is the only thing I see possible as I am unable to find an instructor in this hell country and I am unable to afford a puter simulator.....things in this country cost at least twice as much as identical items in the US and salaries here are about one sixth of that paid in the US. So I am in a great predicament and seek advice from you guys.
Anyways, great to know you all and I hope to be in this forum for as long as I am in this lovely hobby. At least I can look at my beautiful thunder tiger trainers and see the beauty in them and appreciate their size and majesty.

Thanks yall and have a great year!

this is a very quick way to re-kit a plane. you are combining the two most dangerous portions of flight, and not allowing any room for error between them. (takeoffs and landings...) by doing that hop, you are risking a low speed stall into the ground or a very hard landing.

also, the field you should ALWAYS be in should be large enough to fly in. what happens when you make the 5 foot hop, and a gust of wind catches it, and now it is at 25 feet and turning. if you have the engine started and the wing attached you should be in that field.

anyway, assuming you can't find a club or instructors of any sort, you may want to go with a duraplane or some other spad type plane. nearly indestructable, at least compared to a balsa trainer.

Since you have a computer, you might want to take advantage of one of the fine flight simulators. They provide a good introduction to flying many of the problem maneuvers. To name a few,

-taking off
-landing
-flying toward yourself
-making loops and rolls, if you feel so inclined
-coping with stalls
-flying different types of planes.

Just a suggestion,
Dave Olson

I wouldn't put the TT in the air yet...
a flame out on take off would be the end of the plane
it's not going to be easy to repair like a wood trainer.
try looking a the SPAD section..maybe you can get some ideas.
you can even make a plane from card boards if you have the know how.
you can even use a couple of yard sticks as a fuselage.
it might be a brick....but it's a tool
a duraplane is only out of PVC water sprout and an alinumiun tail boom.

reserch on flight theary might help also.
more reserch on r/c flights,radio signals, nitro engines, and etc

viedo game, not the best thing in the world
but at least you would get the feel of what the right stick
would be like. older micro soft flights sim are only $10 u.s

in r/c...your not sitting in the cockpit with all the instruments.
beats me...what air speed i land at ?
and i can't feel the wing's root shacking before the tips stall in r/c

it can be a very dangerous situation..
lord forbid if the prop should bite you.
how far is the hospital?

other factors....
little things like...should you take off up wind or down wind ? (up)
the posistioning of the sun.(behind)
why do i have to get up in the early morning to go flying? (less wind)
are the ailerons control different if the plane is inverted? (no)
what is the right thrust for? (enigne's torque)
why do i to hold the air plane nose up and tune the engine? (set for flight altutitude)
you i lean or richen the engine on a cold day? (richen)

but if you're up to it...
your brain needs input from the controls to strat with.
it will adjust accrodly in time....that's why an instructor or sim are needed.

the problem for beginners are to over control of the sticks or to much input.
panic and over input. pull up to stall even more instead of gaining air speed
or add power.
lift theary will help you ...wind over the flying surface to generate lift.
from the prop or gravity

the sticks will feel very sensitive at first.
pretend like your driving on a freeway....no evasive manuvers.
my instructor showed me how input was required....i couldn't even tell if his thumb
was moving.lol

make pre flight inspections

what ever you do....don't panic
try to keep the plane in front of you at all time.
let the plane claimb to 200-300 ft..don't pull too much on the elevators.

minor input to (ailerons)bank the plane . make the trun in segments (big beuatiful truns)
add a little elevator to retain altitude. breath as you doinmg this
when the nose of the air is pionting to you.
TRUN THE STICK IN THE SAME DIRECTION THE WING IS DIPPING to level the plane.
you are not sitting in the cockpit... don't try to figurd it out

lower the throttle to cruzing speed ,under 1/2
now that you slow everthing down
with plenty of altitude...trim the plane for level flight.
if you're brave....put the tx down and watch the plane fly 200-300 yards
you can eat lunch if you have a senior kedet

with a self recovery air foil
if set for level flight. let the wing do its job ..you must have plenty of altitude thou.

continue to fly in an oval or big rectangular pattern wiht plenty of altitude
the pattern should always be in front of you.
if you are making left truns..then stay with left truns. do this as many times
as you need ..you should have 20-30 flight time if set on cruzing speed

wiht that pattern...try make the plane fly over the land zone when the in
the straight path of the pattern.

lower the altitude as you get more comportable

the straight flight path over the landing zone is to set you up for landing
you can pretend you're making landing approches 200-300 in the air.

when attempting landing approches...set the throttle trim on HIGH
do this when the plane is still 200-300 ft high, not while it's on it's last leg.
some people set the elevator trim down a little at this piont

lower the alutitude before you the get to the last 2 truns.
cut the throttle after you complete the last trun..
level the wing...
use the thrttle trim to reduce power wiht out killing the engine
it easiser if you let the plane get beyound you or (the nose going away from you)
let the plane fair itself in....pull the elevator a little ,little bit if you need to
the stick might move 1mm if that much.
stall the wing when 1-2 ft off the ground (pull elevator)

you can also abort the landing if the aprroch is bad.
ADD POWER, NOT UP elevator when air speed is low.

good luck and have fun

You do have a puter and internet so download a free flight sim called FMS and give it a try. At least you can crash lots of planes without having it cost you every time. To make it easy I have included a link to the site for you to check out and/or download. The FMS works well and you can find lots of free different planes that FMS useers have made for the program. Just another thought. If there are local hobby stores that sell RC equipment, they should be able to direct you to experienced pilot or if lucky, an Rc club. Hope things work out for you, Fast!

http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html

I agree 100% with Scar. Go with a sim. After I had 3 instructor flights, and all winter off, so I bought a sim. Realflight G2. I practiced at that for 2 months, and still couldn't get time to go to the "field". My job has me on call 24/7, nonstop. I finally bought a roller and started rolling my field every time I mowed. I took the plane out and taxied it 4 or 5 tankfulls w/o the wing attached. Got bored. Attached the wing, took off, and spent the next 5 minutes checking out my lineup on the runway with my knees knocking, but the most huge grin on my face. ( I already knew the setup would fly, and spent quite a while making sure everything was taken care of, trims, idle, etc.). I backed off the throttle, and finally set down on my runway. You can learn on your own, just make certain that you learn everything you can by reading and fully understanding everything that you can before you take off. Good luck.

Antonyall... I agree with everyone when they suggest a sim. Spending time and lots of it on the sim really gives you the stick/plane movements. There's really nothing like flying but the sims DO give you a lot of help.

The only other suggestion I would strongly make is to find a field, dry lake or a huge flat area to fly in. Make sure it's not surrounded by people or things. If you can find something like that, it'll give the the advantage of pointing your plane into the wind for landings and takeoffs, no matter the wind direction. Standing directly behind your airplane when taking off gives you the opportunity to see exactly what the airplane is doing. It also lets you get the feel left/right up/down while watching it from a pilots point of view and not a sideways kind of view that most people learn from.

When landing, make sure your airplane is pointing directly into the wind. Light, steady breezes can actually help slow your plane down and make it more controllable, as long as it's pointed directly into the wind. Again, if you've got that large, large area to fly in, try slowly flying it past you so you're directly behind it when you land.

When a person is first learing how to fly, the first thing they think of when the plane is airborn, is the landing. The landing is enevatible. This is easier said than done, but once your plane is in the air, concentrate on flying it smoothly. These will be the same stick movements you'll need when you land. So take the time to enjoy learning how to fly while you're flying and worry about landing when it's time to land.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the rapid response mr Rkramer. I see the logic in your advised approach but as I mentioned before, the price of hobbyists equipment at the local hobby stores here in Trinidad, make this type of hobby affordable to the wealthy and not as in the US and Canada, where practically any person may become involved in any interest. Thanks for the info though and trust me, I will heed your warnings. Thanks so much buddy!

Thanks so much to all of you as you have collectively pointed me in a better path. As you all been advised, life where I reside right now, my country of birth Trinidad, is very costly and as such, I am unable to afford crashes and repairs. The local hobby shop here caters to the wealthy and the model flyers here are more affluent than I and so I am unable to obtain an instructor or a friend flyer....I am quite poor if you have not realized by this time. Fastsky has created a great option in the free flight simulator and that is where my journey will begin. Bingo Field has a lovely back yard, something that is only possible in the Northern beautiful countries but his encouragement is heartfelt. As Leftnut said, the Thunder Tigers are my babies so I should really try to get a cheap disposable trainer and unfortunately, yes, leftnut, I have real flight time and a CPL, but model flying does take a lot more than real airplane flying, so the theory is under my belt, but the speed is not in my hands and fingers as yet. Scar thanks for the thought and as you may see, Fastsky found me a beginning option. Cap tain thanks for the thoughts and I just cant seem to get the landing phase out of my mind, possibly because when i began learning to fly in 1978, I had many problems with the landing phase of the flight although I did manage to get it down, somehow. Thanksa lot yall and I hope to have great news for you real soon.

antony,
How many trainers do you have? Do thay all have engines and radio equipment?

If so, you might consider selling one (for a lot of money over here), hen ordering Aerofly Pro from someone here that will ship to you. It's a very good sim and will probably help you learn to fly and NOT crash, which may cost you one of your trainers anyway.

Is there also a huge "class" system over there? Are you sure one of those "rich" RC'ers won't help you?

If the above is not possible, then spend a LOT of time with FMS. It's not all that good, but will help you get the right/left thing before you try your real planes.

I wish you luck.
Dennis-

antonyall,

A SPAD (Simple plastic Airplane Design) can be built very inexpensively from found materials. You can use the motor and radio from one of your trainers and not risk the balsa airframe while you are learning. If you do a search here on SPAD you can find links to step by step instructions for building. The corrigated plastic used for the wings may not be available but if it is the only other thing you have to find is a piece of PVC square pipe.

Lack of funds can be overcome by inventiveness.

Good luck.

And by all means keep us informed on your progress

BINGO,24/7?
You know what they say..."all work and no play"[sm=lol.gif]

Leftnut,
Very precise explanation. After reading your instruction, I feel like taking my trainer out and fly as per your instruction but too bad it's nearly 11.00 pm in the evening!!
I already had 2 lesson which spread in a 2 weeks span and each lesson lasting only about 15 minutes. the problem at the field where i'm flying has only 1 instructor and there's a queue. So a second lesson on the same day is impossible. Moreover I can only go to the field around 5.45 pm in the evening on weekday(6 plus, the sky will start to get dark) as my work required me to work late. I have 1 or 2 days on weekday that I'll go off at 5.00 pm. On sunday, the instructor only come in the late afternoon and as usual, there will be quite a number of students waiting. Even if I'm in the first queue, the most it can last is again 15 minutes. I'd thought on the ideas of making a few friends at the field and learn from them but the problem is that this is a new field and there are no expert flyer at this field. So I'm left with 2 choices which I'd like you guys to help.
1. Get a sim, say G2 realflight and practise at home and at the same time, still learn from this existing instructor. Do this sim really help? I'd not try it yet but i'm willing to try if you guys say yes.
2. Get a personal instructor and set timetable for him or HER to teach me. or
3. None of the above but your advice.
P/s: the cost to buy the sim and to get a personal instructor is about the same.
antonyall, need to apologise for squeezing my problem into your post

Well, I have had a total of 6 days off this year. That's why it's a major advantage to be able to fly in your own backyard. Somedays, you can get up in the morning and get in a flight or two before calls, some days, you can catch the afternoon flight. A lot of days, you're gone from dark till dark. I m looking for a regular job, more 8 - 5, but the oncall pay and overtime aren't there, so it would have to pay better up front, and around here, that won't be happening for a while. It does make my day when I get a chance to fly 2 or 3 flights without any interuptions. I just take them when I can.

Howdy again yall!
Thanks for the continuous replies as i need as much info as possible. I just wish I had a back yard that is like that of Bigo Filed's and yessir, you are very blessed. Bemyself, thnaks for the input as your info was assistance to me. I am really trying to keep you all informed so that i may rely on you as my questions arise and thanks for the invite there Bubbagates. P40luvr really sums it up in his message. CommanderDrake I will go down to the hobby store here as they have a SPAD for about 100 US dollars so i may invest in that and thanks for the input. DBcherry there is a class difference in this wealthy little nation in which I reside and I do have two Thunder Tiger 60, and a Hangar 9 Alpha and as they are my first RC planes, i do not want to part with them until I crash em...real soon I bet. Leftnut, again your advice rules as I taxied one of the TT today and I saw the upper side of the rear fuselage is plastic so i bet it is expensive to replace. I did get the SW that Fastsky recommended and of course I do not have the transmitter interface, but believe it or not I contracted a virus last night an dhad to restore my computer info to an earlier date, 13 September, and as such i have to redownload the sw once more. The engine on the Thunder Tiger is shutting down way too frequently so i cnat even taxi it properly, but I sure love spending time with them there planes. Thanks again you guys and I really am very appreciative for all the advice you guys are giving me....wish the people in this country were as nice as you guys are and that is why i miss the US so much. So long!

About that engine failure thing... we all had to learn to adjust the carburetors on our glow engines. It can be frustrating. It involves making sure the two screws (a "low end" adjuster, and the "High RPM Mixture" screw) are adjusted, in different fashion.

The large thumbscrew is adjusted with the engine warmed up and running at full speed. RPM is maximized by turning the screw slowly, after which it is "richened" a click or two. The low end screw is used to make the transition from low to high RPM smooth. There should be instructions with your engine, and there are definitely better instruction procedures recorded on the Web!

To top that off, I'll relate a recent failure of that procedure. My new student is long retired, and has a plane he started building some 20 years ago. The old K&B engine runs fine - on the ground, at low speed. At full RPM, or in the air at mid-range RPM, it dies after perhaps 3 minutes. No amount of richening on my part would help.

Finally, in desparation, we pumped out his Cool Power 15%, and pumped in a tank full of my Cool Power 10%, and went for a 9-minute instruction flight. The longest it's run so far. So, I think it has something to do with the fuel, and perhaps the design of the engine.

Anyway, good luck with that engine, and your flight program.
Dave Olson

Hi

Let me tell my story about learning curve (which I made complete myself alone)

I bought an ARF trainer .40 class. Same time I bought Sig Something extra just because it looks so great hanging on the wall. My first engine was the cheapest I can find, GMS .40

With the free simulator FMS and some pc-games (like Novalogic falcon f-22 demo with "outside plane view") I got the basic idea and some self confidense that the plane will fly if I only manage to build and setup one.

I had soo much difficulties with the engine. I was told not to touch the idle needle, because it's best at "factory setting". However, as I noticed later, the damn "factory setting" was fully closed!!!

You can imagine, I can make the engine run only very high throttle. Not too nice for a trainer. So I re-kitted the poor trainer every day for a week or two. Finally I solved the engine and got it running as it only can. Same time the trainer was in a very bad condition and I was giving up, but thought, why not, I want to give this SIG SE a try. What can I loose? some sheets of balsa!

From the first seconds with the SIG SE (and fully working engine) I knew this will be my best hobby ever! After the simulator experiment and this plane, whic behaves like a symmetrical plane, I was like at home at once. Very soon I bought A saito FA-56 4-cycle engine (quite an improvement!) and built a new SIG SE. The first one had some hard landings, easy to repare, but its just so convinient to have some reserve in the shelf.

Nowadays, I can fly this plane allmost everywhere in the countryside. I can hand launch it and even land to long hay without breaking anything. This case best to remove landing gear and just gently drop it dead stick where the hay is at its longest. Sometimes I break a propeller, but mostly not. This 4-cycle easilly stops the propeller horizontal. My neigbours sometimes ask, if I have quitted flying. They just can't notise the silent 4-cycle in the sky! Btw Saito have payed the price back in fuel costs!

Now Im building my first heli, Hirobo Sceadu evo 50. Im also dreaming to convert it 4-cycle as soon as possible! www.labra.com/~jyrki/sceadusaito here is some pics as I trial fitted the engine.

For the simulator practising I want to give a tip: keep the viewing angle WIDE! fly the plane so that it looks very very small. So that you have to guess planes orientation from its response to sticks. This is what you need to do in practise later or sooner. Superwide angle also lets you see the ground level, which you want to keep on eye in the real life also!

Jyrki

suprised no one mentioned gliders to this fellow. cheaper & generally two meter make good trainers as long as high wind is not a problem.

Tony,
I wasn't watching the beginner forum close enough to see your new thread. A late Welcome. I would have pressed harder to train you if I hadn't understood that you wanted to leave the planes unbuilt and in storage for your move home. Since you keep writing me that you miss beautiful Kansas, I don't think you're in a proper mental state to fly. The photos you've sent me of Trinidad, how can you call Kansas beautiful ?
If you'll take to heart the suggestions of the experts here, it'll save you time and money. We've all been at the base of the learning curve. For some though, the curve is a flat line with a stone wall in the way.
Keep trying and I'll help anyway I can by e-mail and I'd be happy to mail anything you need to help cut cost. My advice and handling charges ain't cheap though.

Hey Randolph......rreis! Thanks so much for advising me to join the rcuniverse site because I have had more encouragement and great advice to get myself flying, untilizing the strengths of this forum, than I have received from human individuals in this, my country of birth. Thanks for your continued support and my eternal gratitude to all the swell folks who have been trying to assist me in becoming airborne and really beginnig to enjoy this lovely hobby and stimulant. Again my sincerest gratitude to all of you.

I'd go buy a nice 3 channel park flier, learn the fly the crap out of that thing, then when you can learn no more with that, then try your trainer ... at least with the park flying if you crash, minimal damage will insue ..... that cannot be said with the glow trainer, if you crash that thing like you would park flyer, only pieces will remain........ thats how i learned by myself ... went from a Toytronics T-Hawk to an Extra easy 2 glow trainer and have never had a problem ... the first flight with the trainer was scary, but i handled it well because I was already used to the type of controls. Something else to think about ..........