Yesterday I met with another member of RCU for some instruction. He’s been self taught, wanted to check out or flying field since it’s a rather large treeless area, and was having some problems with his landings. The weather was clear, temp in the low 80’s and winds variable up to about 7 mph (absolutely perfect weather). The plane we flew was a Hanger 9 trainer with a Magnum 4-stroke. Since he flew a different radio brand than mine, we didn’t have the luxury of a buddy box. Here’s how the flights went:

Flight 1: He took off, was very erratic and over flew the pits. He was really over controlling and basically all over the place. I took the box and found the plane was severely out of trim. I trimmed the plane and then demonstrated how to do smooth, coordinated flight maintaining altitude control and keeping banks at 45 deg. Then I showed him some of the capabilities of his plane (how it will fly basic aerobatics) – and how to fly smoothly. Since my student has depth perception issues, I shot several approaches and touch-n-go’s and showed him how to fly a good rectangular pattern by counting when between banks. This works on keeping the plane in a fairly parallel course. During this flight I had him watch the transmitter to see how little stick movement was actually required to fly his plane smoothly.

Flight 2: I took off and got the plane to altitude. Gave the box to the student and guided him on how to make smooth, 45 deg. banked turns while maintaining altitude. When we decided it was time to land, he said he would do the landing. He was erratic and over controlling on his pattern, and stalled on short final at about 8’. Luckily only the prop broke – the rubber bands on the wing saved the day.

Flight 3: I took off and got the plane to altitude. Gave the box to the student and he worked on the left hand rectangular pattern. After about 10 minutes he was tired and I took the plane back. I did a couple of loops on the way back to set up the pattern and just as I pulled into one loop it ran out of fuel. I then showed him the maneuverability of his plane dead stick with a quick stall turn and landed at our feet. During this flight I could see his confidence come up and he did good maintaining altitude and keeping 45 deg. banks. He also was getting a feel on when the plane was flying parallel to the runway.

Flight 4: I took off and got the plane to altitude. Gave the box to the student and he was starting to work on the right hand rectangular patterns when the engine started surging like it was running lean. I could hear it, but due to his limited experience he couldn’t. I took the box back and the engine immediately quit. I then trimmed the plane for a good glide (we where at about 450’) and demonstrated how well, and long the plane glides with gentle control movements with another landing right in front of us.

What was the effect of a self taught student getting some instruction? While he already knew the basics of what the controls did, here some my observations what I think he learned on these flights:

• Overall he really improved on his flying ability. He was flying a plane that was really out of trim and didn’t realize it.
• He learned how to do smooth, gentle control movements and also saw some of the capabilities of his plane under controlled flight.
• He realized there is a lot more to properly flying RC aircraft and you can learn a great deal from others who have a lot more experience.
• He learned that his plane flairs and lands on the main gear at a very slow speed, with a short rollout.
• He learned when you get too slow in the pattern or on short final bad things can happen very fast.
• He learned several safety issues on starting and ground handling a plane, range checking the radio, and a quick control check just before taking the runway.
• He learned how, when dead stick, you may have to re-trim a plane for a better glide.

I recommended he not fly solo until he can work more with an instructor. It shouldn’t be very long before he’s ready to solo, and he’s very patient about it. He does realize it’s not the easiest thing to learn to control a moving object in a 3 dimensional environment, and little bit of instruction made a huge difference.

He did remark that it was very hard to judge the plane on short final and when landing. I remember going through the same thing when learning - the plane is not where you think it is in relation to the ground. Developing this perception takes time, patients, and having a good instructor as landing is by far the most difficult maneuver to learn.

Hogflyer

It's great that you were able to lend a hand. I'm sure he will catch on quickly with some help. Depth perception is a toughie to overcome but it can be done. I recall a member who wrote the other day about having only one good eye, this will definitely be a problem for him but it can be done. I know of a full scale pilot in Houston that flies a Lear jet with only one eye. Actually he's probably retired by now. Good luck to both of you.

Hogflyer,
Good job helping him out. I'm sure you'll have him solo flying in no time at all.

Ken

Hey Guys, I'm him.... So Hogflyer about those take offs, can I stand on the runway and watch the plane take off that way? I've done plenty of take offs that way. I can hear you all now....saying no way!

I would think it would depend on club rules (exceptions could be granted) and who else is on the flight line with you at the time. You would want to be sure it was OK with all concerned.
You will quickly learn to do it from the "normal" location if you try. Is there a centerline marked on your runway? Paved? Maybe you can start your takeoff from the near edge and angle your path slightly across the runway too. Lots of options IMO.

im not an instructor but the idea of standing behind the plane on takoff doesnt sound bad to me thats how i learnd just make sure no one else if flying and make sure if they are you tell them whats going on so nothing happens

pywackit,

You’re not supposed to be out on the field with planes taking off and landing. Some do it, but it is against the rules. That's why I we set the plane down and walked to the pilots stations, then I taxied out and took off. Did you also notice I kept a close eye on the plane the whole time we walked there, even though it was just sitting in one place? The club follows the AMA safety guideline which is why we have the individual pilots’ stations. Did you notice the longer grass in front of the pilots station - that's to give some distance between the stations and runway. They are also spaced apart to help against radios on adjacent frequencies interfering with each other.

bruce and FF,

The field we fly from is a turf field, so there is not centerline. It’s a reclaimed land fill the closed in the '70's. The actual runway part of the field is about 600' X 150' so it's a pretty good sized field, so there is some room to take off angling away from the pits, or if the Field N*z* isn't there, then straight across the field like I did which is about as close to directly behind the plane as you can get.

Since all the flying is basically parallel to the runway, along with landing, why not learn to take off the same way?

Hogflyer

GREAT JOB!!!!!

I will buy you a beer.

It's amazing what people can learn when they are willing to be shown how.

Well, 99% of those who go to airfields do not do this. This is a bad habit to get into. Plus the fact that do you want people talking about you behind your back? To me, it demonstrates a definite lack of training and skill. You may as well fly with training wheels. Now I have never read anything on saying what you do is wrong!!! But as far as safety goes, you'll get nail or cause problems for others. Around these parts, a deadstick plane has the right of way from any direction to get it on the ground safely---and you better not be on the runway.

Great job Hogflyer! And additional congratulations to pywackit for having the sense to get some instruction before he killed his airplane. This post only further amplifies the need to get some instruction while learning to fly RC aircraft.

Congrats all around!

Regards,
doubledee

Just to add to the mix, learning to fly is part of it. Learning to taxi and take off, then taxi after landing is another part of it. In my opinion, all should be done from the pilot's stand... but, sometimes..

Now with that said, when there is no one around, there is no harm in practicing taxi'ing while standing behind the plane then watching it turn right or left with the pilot's input.. keeping in mind that you are practicing the taxi not flying. This is important to remember because once airborne, a different set of rules come into play. Once comfortable with right and left turns from the rear, do it from the side so that you understand that turns are ALWAYS aircraft turns.. meaning a right hand turn is the AIRCRAFT'S right hand turn. It may seem odd, but if the plane is coming toward you, the tendency is to turn to your right which would be the aircraft's left!! You have to learn that difference and make it automatic, always 'putting yourself in the aircraft'.

Once you get that, then you can go back to the pilot's stand and then do it more but without taking off. Again, this is best done when there is no one around to irritate your taking up all that time on the runway. Once comfortable with the taxi, then wait for your instructor, plug in to the buddy box (if you have one as you said), then tell the instructor what you have been doing, demonstrate it so he is comfortable with your abilities, then have a go at it.

But, remember, club rules prevail. Safety is the important thing. I don't condone breaking the rules, but in the case when there is no one around so you don't have to worry about someone being in the air while you are practicing, then getting some of this taxi experience is good. I don't see any other way to do it. Just don't take off that way. Follow the safety of flight rules and fly safely.

DS.

I tend to think that learning to control an aircraft needs to start on the ground as well. Many years ago, I was a student at a Navy training base. To make a long story short, there was a guy in my barracks that was taking flying lessons from a local club's flight instructor. One day he invited me to come along to see if I wanted to get into planes(I was building a Dumas hydroplane at the time) and meet the instructor. Having nothing to do(waiting for epoxy to dry) I said sure and away we went. We met the instructor at a local mall's parking lot, where they unloaded the trainer and field boxes. After fueling and doing a full preflight, the plane was started and the student proceeded to taxi around a course of various height cones. The rules were that if he hit one, he had to start over, which happenned every time. After two quarts of fuel and what seemed like forever, the plane was cleaned up and loaded back into the car. Expecting to see some flying, I was surprised when the instructor explained what I had watched. The cones represented what you might have to taxi around at a flying field and, until his students made it through his ground course five times in a row without hittling a cone, he wouldn't let them near a runway. Being 19 and R/C stupid, I couldn't see the point in this since planes were designed to fly, not taxi. Several weeks later, I was invited to go again. This time we went to the field, where my host was told he was ready to solo. One more time I sat and watched the fuel up and preflight, followed by a taxi run toward the runway. This time, however, things were different. Someone was getting a plane ready for a maiden flight, only to have the new plane get away from him with the radio off!!!!!!!!!!!! Due to the extensive "groundschooling", the student was able to avoid the uncontrolled aircraft, chasing owner and all the field boxes along the start up area and shut it down at his feet. Without the training he had received at the mall, both planes would probably have been splinters. Sorry for the long post, but I felt this could be a valuble lesson for many new fliers who think airplanes are easy to handle on the ground.

Taxiing is proably the most overlooked part of instruction. I'm guilty of it as well. I have to admit I'm absolutely the most nervous when I'm letting the student do his first takeoff runs. This is when the plane is at full throttle (rather than idling for landing), and right/left confusion can take over and drive a plane into trouble very quickly. While not making them successfully complete a course, I have learned to let them taxi around on the runway for a few runs back and forth before making that initial takeoff run.

Brad