Just got off the phone with the guy I got my plane from.

We're headed to the field and he's gonna show me just how different the real thing is from the sim.

Beautiful day here in Des Moines, no wind, almost 70 degrees, slightly cloudy....

Got bubbagates' checklists printed out and everything's ready to go.

Excellent!!!

Fastsky Great pic!!

Wraith,
Good luck man! letus know how it goes!

Good luck. Don't do anything u dont feel comfy with

Did fine once I got over the shakes.

We did six flights, I think. My friend/instructor did the take offs, got it up to altitude and handed me the controls. From racing cars and flying the sim, I already knew not to "yank and bank", so no real suprises there.

He had me doing right-hand ovals over the field and got to the point where he told me that if I was comfortable with right turns to go ahead and start some left turns. I went to change my pattern over to left hand turns, and It happened. I don't know if I was getting out of range or what, but the radio glitched and the plane nosed over and headed for the ground. After I wet myself, I though "great, let's see if we still have control". I pulled back on the stick, expecting nothing, and the plane pulled out of it. As it turns out, my first aerobatic maneuver, unintentionally, was an immelman. Got it headed back in the right direction and continued my circles. All of this happened in about the space of 10 seconds. He was still reaching for the radio and I had it recovered. After that I started throwing in the occasional roll on the "straightaways" of my ovals. Last flight of the day, I was taxiing around on the ground, looked over at him and said, "Which way do I take-off?" His response was, "If you feel like you're ready, that way>". Wasn't the prettiest take off I've ever seen, but I got it in the air and it stayed there. Still didn't have the cajones to land though. I let him do that.

I now understand why they call this an addiction, not a hobby.

Pucker factor for the day 8/10. [8D]

Wraith,

Welcome to the Dark Side. I am only a week or so ahead of you. Did my first landings on Monday and have practiced them every-day since. I am on a business trip for the next 3 days, including Sunday. I have already looked up all the clubs on my route and plan to get a lesson from at least one while I am gone. (I keep an old trainer in my truck, along with my Tx, a field charger, my field box and my buddy-box).

Sad,....but I am hooked!! Just wait until you get that feeling of accomplishment you get from bringing it down in one piece. Landing is hard, but very do-able. I need lots of practice and you will too, but trust me it pays off. I can't wait to practice landings again, and you will be there soon!!

Good Luck and happy flying!!

Your in for it now!!! ($$$$$$$$$$). Remember, the more models, the better!!!!!

Dave...

I'll pass the same advice given to me a year ago.........go to your local hobby shop and introduce yourself to the man who you'll be giving all your dispensable income to. (and even non-dispensable funds).

I know, I know...

Already decided I want either a 4*60 or a BTE Venture for my next plane and then we got to discussing warbards and giant scale planes... That's alright. I'll have my bachelor's in about two years. I managed to find about $3000.00 to tie up in my cars and I didn't have a degree and was married...

Already did that.
Got my field box, Tx and Rx batteries and first gallon of fuel from him Monday. One of the owners of the shop helped me out, looked over the plane, gave me a few pointers, helped me carry everything back out to the car and said, "I'll probably see you at the field someday." He showed up about an hour after I did. Helluva nice guy.

Glad to see you had a good day. Welcome to the madness. Also nice to see your LHS guy actually flies, mine doesn't have a clue. Work with the trainer and get real good with it before moving on, don't rush.

Re: "Work with the trainer and get real good with it before moving on, don't rush." < Ya, I'll second that. Once you solo. Fly the heck out of your trainer. Learn how to fly it in windy conditions. When your flying has become automatic and can fly it with no surprizes without having to think about what you are doing. Then its time to move on to another plane. Not before.

Congrats, I was waiting on your response. Thats awsome you took off. They are harder then they seem. Another thing to also remember is to also never pulll back too much on takeoff like i did.

Have a good day
Chad

And if you do pull back too far, it's even more important not to push forward too far to get the nose back down. The ground will be waiting for you.

Good advice bruse

Hehe...

I ain't got a trainer. I'm learning on a taildragger Sig Midstar 40 with an OS .40LA turning a 10x6 prop.
Once I'm comfortable with it, it's getting an engine with more balls...er ball bearings, yeah, that's it....

Right now, it's nice and slow and composed and just about perfect to learn on.

Here it is, next to my monster truck w/blown tranny...

I got news for you. If you are learning on it, it IS a trainer.

Point taken.

Admittedly it is not your typical trainer class plane and you seem to be doing well. Just be a bit cautious for a while so it doesn't turn into a pile of sticks too soon. We all just want you to succeed.

Yeah. When I decided to try taking off, I figured I was going home with a bag of toothpicks. I throttled up, it slewed to the left, I overcorrected to the right, finally got it straightened out and airborne. The right wingtip cleared an orange traffic cone sitting at the end of the field by about 3 inches. I knew better than to try it, but I got cocky...

Not unusual for a first take off with a tail dragger, no wait, actually it is. Most new guys end up ground looping first try, so you did pretty well.

Just be sure to have your instructor teach you some rudder on landing before you solo and you'll do well.
Dennis-

Okay, I've heard the term several times, but can't figure it out. What's a "ground loop"?

I think it is either
A) where you do loops on the ground or
B) where you go take off stright into a loop.

Most likely a

I got a trainter about 4 months ago and I had a h3!! of a time getting going. I have a buddy that is a experienced flyer and we couldent get the stupid eveloution .40 engine to run for crap. so we straped a os .46 to the arrow I think it was. long story short I crashed it after about 20 min and there it sits as a pile of tooth picks. Hope to get back going soon tho.

A word of advice if I may...

Listen to these guys, they know what they're talking about.