Another question!
What is the average distance and altitude for flying a G/P trainer .46 ? The reason I am asking this, is I am extremely nearsighted. I wear contacts. I would love to get into flying, but I am very reluctant as I don't want to loose a plane simply because I can't see it. I especially have problems with direct sunlight. I have no problems like seeing a baseball in the outfield, but I like to play golf, and often loose sight of my ball over 230 yards. Thanks guys for your patients!
Rich

Rich,

I am normally only at most a hundred yards out. That's a guess but our area that we fly in is about a 1/4 mile stright out from the pilots stands and 150 yards right and left.

Color of the plane is important and is having a different color on the top versus the bottom. Allot of people have stripes, big letters, geometric shapes, etc... on the bottom. I have been told that geometric shapes are esier for the eye to pick up.

Size is very important. I started out on 40 size and now do mainly 60 size to 1/4 scale and I definitely find the bigger the plane the easier it is to see. Also big planes fly much better and handle wind easier.

I am also very near-sighted plus were bifocals and for me yellow seems to be the best.

Here is a good start on the subject...it's 2 pages but has good info on it. Just start at the top

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_29...tm.htm#2975543

If your vision is corrected to anywhere near 20/20 and you wear a decent pair of sunglasses you should have no problems. I imagine there are pro golfers that lose their balls (the little white ones) from time to time. Don't fly your plane near the sun glare, nobody should, and you should be OK. What is your vision corrected to?

Rich-

Your vision sounds a lot like mine. I don't usually have any problems. Just be aware of your limitations. It's another reason to get hooked up with an instructor and learn on a buddy box. That way you can learn your limitations while you still have a safety net.

-Scott

If you can see a golf ball out to about 230 yards, you will have absolutely no problem seeing that trainer out to 400 yards, and that's about as far as I let my students get from us. The field is a lot bigger, but I see no reason to use it. Geez, that's almost a quarter mile.

All kidding aside, if you have an instructor, ask to stay within your visual limits, and let the instructor know when you're reaching those limits. Clear communication is essential, and it's a two way street. Get your instructor's evaluation, and give him any information that helps - like your visual limits, things that push your comfort level, etc.

Good luck!
Dave Olson

Baseball cap, sunglasses, and good color selection on your plane and you'll have no trouble.

Oh, and learn to keep it 3, not 30, mistakes high.

Thanks for the "insight" (yuk, yuk). Been involved in nitro for about 5 years, never really got into the possibility of a plane, many times thought about it, again my bad eyes was an issue (I thought). Now that I have this trainer, I am so into rebuilding it and wanting to see it fly, and I don't even care if it's me flying it, I just want to see it go!!! I am just trying to gather up info on reassembling the plane, and the electronics (I'm only a "2 channel guy"). 4 is complicated. I basically told my buddy (who is funding the rebuild) I am in NO WAY flying this plane without a teacher, but it's his plane, and he seems to feel the same way, so we are dillagantly seeking to hook up with a club to get some prior training.
Rich

go to the nearest club and watch..... that will give you the best idea...

most pilots are very open to have an observer stand by and watch (ask first)

watch a few different to get the idea and that should tell you how well you do....

also the visibility is VERY different from a cloudy day to a sunny day.... for me, I can actually see better on a cloudy day (better contrast)
on really bright sunny days it can be tough to tell up from down on the plane.....

im betting you suffer from erlin's syndrom to(i thinki spelled it right). try to make shure you fly at times when the sun will be mostly beside you(i dont like to fly (even with an instructor) until high noon(the real noon not noon by the timje zone.......) when the sun is overhead and headed behind me

I am nearsighted, though corrected well, but my problem is color-deficiency (I see the wrong numbers on the dumb eye-test dot thinghys). My planes all have totally different wing panels top vs. bottom. I like a dark solid underside and a multi-colored top.

Invest in a good set of prescription polarized & UV coated sunglasses. World of difference.

My SK/50 had a solid dark blue underside, and the top has a very visible red/white pattern.


The red spats under and the big white rudder over make a good visual clue, also. The bigger the tires, the easier to see them.

My Contender is solid orange under, black & yellow on top with a dark canopy (my wife picked the colors - I make no apologies ;-) ). You couldn't loose that one in an unlit cave.

Keep the plane in front of you as much as possible, tipping your head too far back can actually restrict the blood flow and reduce your visual acuity.

Doing one maneuver at a time and correcting to level between can also help you keep ahead of the model.

For many depth perception seems to be a bigger problem than distance away or color. Besides everyone flies 20’ further than they can see.

Bill

Re: "go to the nearest club and watch..." < great advise! If you can see most of the planes most of the time then you should be ok. A lot of flyers when they started out had trouble telling what the plane was doing. A 6 foot wing at 500 feet away looks pretty small but you get used to it. Thats why trainers are 60 to 70 inches so that you can get used to how the plane looks in the air at the same time that you get used to flying it. Once you get experience and used to the look of the planes you may be able to get into smaller planes such as the World Models Super Sports with a 56" wing. I had a plane with a 48" wing. I could keep track of it but it was a bit smallish for my liking. 56" wing planes are the smallest I will fly now.