ICE_MAN

Ok here's the story.. One of my moms elem. school student dad saw me fly one day... I guess he found out who I was and contacted my mom.. No they want to hire me to teach him (the dad) to fly! I told her to tell him to come out to the club and they would teach him for free but I guess they want me to do it (mom said). I don't really care about the money but I really want to help this guy out.. Plus who knows? this could be a good opportunity for me since he works at the airport!

Only thing is I've never had anyone on the buddy box.. So does anyone have anytips for me? This will be a while off since I guess the guy doesn't have a plane yet... But I really need help with this one!

Lightfoot

My Feedback: (1)

There is an article on my web page that might help get you started. Go to the Beginner's Info section and look for Teaching R/C Model Airplane Flying. The article was written by Mike Lynch and has to really good information in it.

red head

HEY !!! There's no time like the present to learn. First off I would suggest that you get with one of the instructors in your club and have him/her let you fly them on the buddy box ( probably your plane ). Once you get a little comfortable he can start putting the plane in odd attitudes for you to straighten out. It won't take long and you will see what it's like and what you are going to have to do. Now once you start teaching there are all kinds of hints you will want to know but try this first.

When you finally do start teaching try to remember how you felt and what you thought you needed to help you along. What ever you do DON'T push a student but at the same time don't let them just do what they want, they won't learn much that way, make them do a set pattern and be sure you fly the pattern first to show them what you want them to do. One of the most important things is to set a good example with your own flying. I could go on for a long time but this should be enough for a few days till you try it. There will be a lot of opinions on this one so listen to it all and pick the fly S*** out of the pepper. GOOD LUCK !! ENJOY !!! RED

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Here's another good article on instructing

[link]http://www.palosrc.com/instructors/teachrc.htm[/link]

Lightfoot

My Feedback: (1)

It is the same article except that I edited it for presentation purposes. At the bottom of the article on my page, there is a place to download the article in Microsoft Word format and in Adobe Acrobat format so that it can be printed.

Fastsky

A few tips on teaching. First off go over basic controls with him on the ground and explain how the frequency board works. Then have the plane tied down and make sure that the buddy box and Master radio are doing the same thing (servos going proper direction) and have the same trim. Then adjust the engine and then make sure the throttle and trim is the same on the buddy box. Have the student slowly walk with you as you taxi the plane to position. Take off and bring the plane around. Make sure that you have lots of altitude. Slow it down to half throttle or a bit less and have the plane flying across from you from left to right. That way a right stick will result in a right turn (easier on students). Tell the student to set his throttle to about the same position. Ask him if he is ready to try flying. If he says yes then tell him something like "ok you have control now!" Flip the switch and watch the plane follow carefully. If the student flips the plane over, take over control immediately and straighten the plane! At the same time, tell them in a calm voice, "taking over" so the student doesn't panic over seeing the plane in trouble. Never wait for a student to ask you take over if you see the plane in trouble! A lot of times the new student won't even know that there is a problem. If the plane is diving or inverted, take over and correct it! If the student is flying ok, watch the altitude. Most new flyers may make turns without flipping the plane over but may lose lots of altitude during the turns. If they do you can tell them "ok your getting too low, pull on the right stick a bit". After a few minutes if they aren't flipping the plane over every few seconds then you can have them work on turning the plane and pull on the right stick at the same time so they don't lose altitude. When they can manage that ok then start having them work with different throttle settings, such as adding more throttle for flying into the wind and cutting back while flying with the wind. Also tell the student that it’s ok to ask you to take over or for a break if they need it. After a few flights, have them work on patterns. Then have the student do the taxi to the runway. Tip, have your throttle at idle! If the student heads for the brush or pilot stn. and you let go of the switch; the engine will throttle down and will slow down. Its the opposite for takeoffs, when the student can handle high speed taxiing and is ready to do takeoffs; flip the switch for the student and go to full throttle yourself. If you have to take over during or shortly after take off, you will at least be at full throttle setting! Then just go from there. Have fun, Fast!

Swager

My Feedback: (1)

Money? There's money to be made in R/C Flight Instruction?

-pkh-

My Feedback: (2)

Well first, you need to be skilled enough to help someone else out. If you are confident that you are, then the above advice is great. But if you can't keep the guys plane in one piece for him for his first several flights, you won't be doing him much of a favor!

Personally, I can fly pretty well, but I don't feel I have enough skill yet to confidently help someone else out on the box (on planes, anyway... helis are another story). If there was absolutely no one else in the area, fine... but I feel the best favor I can do for someone asking me to help them out is to just introduce them to one of the very experienced guys at our club that trains new pilots.

ICE_MAN

Fast,

Thanks for all the tips! Lot of help..

Swager,

Apparently if you find a full-scale pilot who like the way you fly you have the choice of being payed.. Or getting time in full-scale.. There's no such thing as them letting you train for free.. I Haven't talked to or met the guy yet but this is what she tells me. She apparently knows him..

PKH,

Been flying planes for two years.. I'm flying 3D right now and learning from two of the best in our area. I'm very comfy down on the deck, in weird attitudes, Flame outs, mechanical failure etcetc... I'm nervous but I plan on asking another intructor to act like a student so I can practice on him.. Other than that yes i think my abilities are up to the challenge.

Thanks Guys!

-pkh-

My Feedback: (2)

Sounds like you'll make a fine instructor, then! [8D]

It's a lot of fun to help someone else out. I recently took on a heli student, mainly because there was no one else around with more experience that was willing to help, and my student would have just done it himself otherwise! Turns out buddy boxing with a heli isn't as difficult as I thought, at least in the hovering stages... although the throttle stick differences when you switch over are much more noticeable than on a plane when you flip the trainer switch . Got about 8 flights or so with him on the box, and so far his heli is still in one piece, and we both have all of our fingers...

ICE_MAN

Thanks PKH I hope everything goes welll with this one... Our club only has 1 real instructor.. and he's filled up! SO if this goes OK i'll start training people too.. Just have to find time to practice for me!

bruce88123

"Apparently if you find a full-scale pilot who like the way you fly you have the choice of being payed.. Or getting time in full-scale.. There's no such thing as them letting you train for free.. I Haven't talked to or met the guy yet but this is what she tells me. She apparently knows him.. "

Haven't heard that one before and I've flown both before too. I've also received a lot of full scale instruction from friends for free in the past and returned it in kind. The man who instructed me for my commercial, instrument and multi never asked for a dime. A couple of years later I had the opportunity to check him out on a turbine aircraft I was flying and did so, again for free. The expense of his instruction time about equaled what the turbine a/c would have cost to have rented, in fact he came out way ahead.That's the kind of thing friends do for each other.

rlipsett

don't forget ama membership or at least an introductory membership for your and his protection

ICE_MAN

Bruce,

I'm not worried about if he pays me.. I told mom to tell him just to come to the field one saturday morning and Joe would take him up for free.. And train him for free. But she said they wanted to Hire me to do it.. He flies fullscale so maybe we'll do a trade


[sm=bananahead.gif]

At anyrate I just want this to go well! But practice is out of the question for a bit for me because one of my rudder hinges broke!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the second time.. Robart hinge points coming![8D]

krossk

My Feedback: (27)

ICE_MAN,
Here's a novel approach - why not find an instructor that you are comfortable communicating with and have him get on your buddy box. Let him pretend to be the student and you run the master radio. If you get paniced, just hit the switch and let him take over. I'm sure that the process of discussing the flight in-process will help you to gain practical hands-on experience with the instruction process better than just reading about it.

Good luck, you may be embarking on a whole new aspect of this hobby.

PS - The new avatar is a LOT better, that old scary thing really didn't contribute to the perception of credibility.

ICE_MAN

Haha Thanks Krossk... I;ve noticed I'm getting alot more replies with the new one:>
I ill deffinatly try that though:>

britbrat

You have had some good advice -- follow it. When all else fails, keep him high, slow & not too far out.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Ken:

That's a great article. I use it to pass on to the students as well as instructors at our club (I am the training coordinator). They all like the way it's laid out and the information that follows a good path to completion of the solo flight.

DS.

ICE_MAN

Thanks Britbrat I just hope all the stories about full scale pilots aren't true with this one. From what I hear they're the hardest to train haha.. That of course would be my luck

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Ha.. I actually thought there were 2 Ice Man posters out there.. ha.. good choice (the new one).

DS.

ICE_MAN

Cg.. Nope just me:>

Well I'm glad everyone like me new avatar.. Thank Bubbagates for that one

bruce88123

Also be prepared to give him some ground school explaining how RC things work. You will have an advantage with THIS student in that he understands aerodynamics, perhaps even better than you. But he has no clue about RC, how it works or the disorientations he will experience. You're gonna have the job of explaining how to tune engines, range check radios, preflight planes, how many rubber bands & why. All of the basics that YOU take for granted as any dummy knowing, HE doesn't. It's going to require a lot of patience, trust me on this one. You will also have to keep him away from the field "idiots" that will try to take over and interfere with his training. Listen carefully to what they tell him so you can confirm or contradict what they say, always allowing for simple differences of opinion.

Above all else, you both need to have fun.

ICE_MAN

Thanks Bruce,

I'll be sure to take him through ground school. And teach him all that stuff.. Boy I guess I need to find out if I remember it! Nah it's only been a year.. I know I remember it[8D] I hope:>

Geistware

My Feedback: (16)

Put an instructor on the buddy box and teach him.
He/she will tell you if you are doing it right!

AlexF

One point: at most places I've flown it's understood that if something happens to your plane while an instrutor is flying it or instructing you, it's your loss. This is intuitive when the instructor isn't being paid; why would he accept the risk when he could just fly his own plane? But if you accept money, the student wouldn't be unreasonable in expecting you to take the risk.

If it's just an RTF trainer that you can replace with a couple hundred bucks, you might be willing to do that, but replacing somebody's kit-built baby could be a lot thornier.

Other than that, I'm sure you'll be fine. Make sure you know your lefts and rights; your students generally won't