I took out my Avistar for its maiden voyage yesterday. I have NEVER flown a plane before and didnt have a trainer. I had spent a couple hours on G2 Lite simulator though. I was scared to death. After taxiing the plane around for a whle I said "forget it" and forced the throttle to its max and pulled back on the elevator. After about 20ft on the makeshift runway, I thought, "OH NO,, ITS NOT GOING TO TAKE OFF!!!". Then, seconds later,, the plane perfectly took off. WHEW,, WHAT A SIGHT!!! My stomach dropped into my shoes. I kept the plane at about 20ft of height. Slowly I banked left and began to make a circle. The plane looked enormous even in the distance. I could feel the wind (which was a strong enough to keep the flag blowing straight) blowing my plane around slightly but was able to keep it under control. I almost welcomed the wind thinking to myself "Come on wind,, you cant stop me!!!" I began to bank right and left, back and forth, making turns and felt perfectly comfortable in its movements. After a couple minutes I decided to land the plane to check it over and make sure everything was holding together good. Talk about a perfect landing. I was amazed at how effortlessly this plane landed. Not a bounce, skip or anything.
My brother then came running out of the house and couldnt believe that I had just flown my plane. He has several electric planes and couldnt wait to try out the power of the O.S. 40 LA. He took off and let out a loud "YAHOO!". Now my stomach was out of my shoes and on the ground. He was doing flips and twists and turns. Obviously, he knew what he was doing. With a grin on my face I turned to look at my wife through the window. Her smile quickly went to a look of horror. I turned to see my plane flying upside down about 3ft off the ground. Just as he began to pull up,, the wing caught the ground and it dissolved into a million pieces.
I was now stepping on my stomach that was on the ground and grinding it into the soil. The "YAHOO!!" turned into "Oh My GOSH!" I couldnt help to start laughing. I was glad that it was him that wrecked the plane because I felt that even a experienced pilot can have a "off-day". But, I knew the day would come sooner or later and assured him that it was fine. I was grateful that I got to fly it for at least a minute though.

I am now in search of a new plane.

How come so many of these "first flight stories" sound like "I never thought I'd be writing a letter to..."

Congrats on your first flight, but sorry about your plane it happens, at least you can laugh it off.

ROTFL

LOL, ya. Pun "intended"

That was Great"

I was thrilled reading Your post, almost like I was actually there"

I am very sorry though for Your loss, But feel You did the right thing with Your brother. That was very big of You to laugh it off.

Many well seasoned Pilots Fall victim to NOT enough altitude, and NO room to recover.

And ConGrat's on flying a step two trainer with such ease, thank's to the sim. Next plane? Pitt's are realy nice" IMHO

Dan Z

I think I have decided on another Avistar. It was a blast flying and for a beginner plane I think it was pretty impressive as far as stunts go. It is a very versatile plane too, it can change into landfill VERY quickly.

LOL' I never heard it put that way before, But I agree with Your choice.

Happy flyin"

You have to admit this story sounds like trolling.

First flight with no instructor and only a few hours in with a sim.

Greased the landing despite hurricane force winds.

Flying close enough to the house for the wife to see out the window.

Well qualified brother immediately turns plane into pile of sticks.

Near joy at turning plane into pile of sticks.

Certainly seems to violate almost every "good practice" espoused on the boards.

Good point. In my defense however.. "Well-qualified" is obviously an overstatement. But he does NORMALLY fly well. And as far as flying near the house.. I wasn't the one flying, I was merely ducking for cover. Actually there are many acres near the house and it was flying very far away. I wouldn't dream of getting too close. I will admit however, that I should have spent a little more time on the sim and had a instructor with me. I have contacted a local model aircraft club and have made arrangements for someone to help me as soon as my plane gets here. Joy about the pile of sticks??? I wouldn't call it joy.. I call it,, DUH. The obvious state of not knowing what the heck to do but laugh.

I would be asking your so called well qualified brother why he let you break almost all of the rules of learning to fly? And if he did try to tell you what you should and shouldn't do then bigger fool you for not listening to him. Oh well at least the second time around you will know what not to do.

Regards,

Troy.

TROYP,,, did you not just read my last post????

yes I did...... okay so he isnt well qualified but as you said that he normally flys well I assume that he at least knows the basics that every begginer should know.

Until you are a stamped pilot you should not be flying without an instructor and probably should only be flying at a club field.

Why all the anger towards people who try to go it alone? He was on his own property, as long as you use common sense, should be fine.

I agree that instructor is the way to go, I tried go it alone, from kit building, engine breaking in, first flights, etc. It was not pretty. 3 flights, one landing, 2 crashes, one of them fatal to the plane.


15 years later, I got an instructor, buddy box, joined a club, and soloed within two weeks, landing no problem.

Remember folks, some people have their own land, and if they can get away with a busted model, there isnt any laws against it. I am moving to an even bigger farm, will have a runway and a pond, and regardless of my skill level, I am going to get my brother flying.

Mill

What anger????.......... I was merely making an observation.
if my brother had some flying experience and was around when I was trying to fly I would hope that he taught me the dos and don'ts of flying and didnt let me fly by myself, and if he did tell me and I didnt listen then that would be my own fault. As it is I too had to teach myself to fly and flew by myself on my first flight because I didnt have any instructors or clubs where I live. As I said to TYCER if his brother did tell him and he didn't listen then bigger fool him, but thats his perogative... "each to his own" as I say. Some people can afford two or three trainers and others can't.

regards,

Troy.

Agree on the instructor stuff Troy, really do. I am just wondering why every single person who posts a witty, funny story about trying to learn alone, kind of gets bashed all over for endangering people. I would much rather be blindfold around a smart guy trying to learn alone then some of the whacked out club people I have seen. Club does not = intelligence.


People who live in Rural areas, like me, have a really tough time finding instructors. I lucked out last year and am thankful, but was very close to having to try it myself.

Personally, I think it is ballsy to fly without an instructor, I have tried it, it didn't work for me in the least. I didn't have G2 15 years ago either though, I think sims really help.

Mill

You have a point Mill, I suppose there are many factors to consider before having a go at someone for flying alone. Many city folk probably cannot imagine that some of us have access to acres and acres of empty space and limited instructors or clubs in the area. I to live in a remote town of only 14000 people and did not have any instructors around at the time I was learning to fly. I flew alone and without a sim and did crash but only minor. 5 months later myself and another guy have started a club in our town, have about 8 members and have been on the local televison news and radio.
Heres a photo of our flying field.

I always seem to have trouble with this photo thing. Here it is again.

You know troyp, If you could "insert picture of Tycer's crashed airplane" here,,, then it would look more authentic.

Troyp, How do you manage to avoid hitting all those trees? LOL

Show us a pic of you crashed airplane TYCER and i will visulaize it...

In my case, it was much harder for me to ask for help than to just go it alone.

Attempting to fly without an instructor means you can ignore whatever good practices you want. I have a hard time classifying that as ballsy.

I think most people on these boards just want the most people safely integrated into this hobby as possible.

Cheers,

GB,

How do you think people first learned to fly RC. Pretty hard to find an instructor for something when you are one of the first.

Have you ever lived in a rural area? From your response I'm asuming no. Your agruements about the dangers involved don't hold as much water when we are talking about rural areas.

I'm not saying one should try it alone if alternatives exist but to make such a big deal when somebody states that they did do it is getting really tiring. Remember its their property, their plane and their life!!!!

Man TROYP, I think I might actually be able to fly at your field and avoid a crash with most non-moving objects. I might have to come there. Sure would be safer on my planes. At my field I have a pond at one end of the runway and trees on 2 sides that I have to avoid.