First, forgive me for asking questions in new threads that might be connected to my other threads.

I love restoring, recovering, rebuilding glow trainers, I flew U-control as a kid. I've yet to fly RC, yet alone solo.

I have tried the simulator over and over when I visit my only two local hobby shops in this large metro area who are still alive for airplanes in Kansas City. (Hobby Haven in OP and Charlie's in Raytown). Two for a whole city! There are a couple of HobbyTowns which seem to do well with the RC car/truck people.

Anyway, I crash over and over again on the simulator in the hobby shop. I've yet to buy a simulator because it would cost more than another trainer I can buy on Ebay and enyoy restoring. I doubt my skills to actually learn to fly! Every time I go out to the local field and ask questions, while there are very helpful people, I feel like I'm imposing on their time since our nice days are few and far between. There have been people who are willing to train, but I just know my skills are not ready.

Should I spend the $ and practice on the simulator? I have an idea that learning via buddy box will actually be easier than simulator, because the plane gets so small on simulator I can't tell which way it's going.

Is there any hope for me actually flying or should I just keep taking my enjoyment out of modeling?

If your skills were up to par. you wouldnt need someone to train you or need a simulator.. but since your skills arent (not insulting.. going off what you said). if someone offers to train you. go for it. its the best practice. and ya got someone to bail ya out. the sims. are nice but just cause you master a sim, doesnt give you a better feel for flying compared to real life flying. (with the buddy cord and a experienced pilot.) and besides whats the worst that will happen?? you wreck. just said you love fixing repairing and recovering.. so.. kinda kill 2 birds with 1 stone? heh

Well... at least you know not to go fly your plane alone with no help now. I love my simulator, and that's where I got all my training. Although, I'm young and apparently from the generation of video games, so it was an easier transition for me than someone like my father. He's been trying to fly on the simulator for months now and still can't fly the plane when it's heading towards him, let alone line up with the runway and land.

Most people never used a simulator in learning to fly. No instructor expects you to show up with skills and experience. What they want you to show up with is a willingness to listen and learn. They'll make sure you get the skills and experience you need.

Everybody starts from zero in this hobby. We've all been there.

mbilar1,
I go to Hobby Haven in OP quite often. I have flown the G3 sim in the store, no problem. You sir, need some practice. OK, you want to fly. That's great. However, if you don't have the patience to learn you will never fly. Ask Brian, Doug or Monte at Hobby Haven to assist you with the G3 sim once. They won't mind. They are terrific folks. I suggest you spend the 200 bucks and take the sim home to practice. I still have my G2 sim and even though I have been flying for 14 years, I still practice on my sim. I am a member of the Hillsdale R/C Barnstormers. I fly at Hillsdale lake at our great flying field. Soon our "Trainer Nights" held every Tuesday from about 5:00 P.M. to dusk will be starting. There are plenty of instructors to get you into the air and on the way to becoming a proficient R/C pilot. Don't cheat yourself out of a great part of the hobby, FLYING! Good luck to you.

FREE simulator you can dl on your pc http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html <the first link great sim for a freebie wont eat at your pocket

you can get one of these cheapo gampads and use the analog sticks the same as a 4 channel just no trims.. but youll learn http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=5044147 link to the one i use

im recently out of flying due to lack of a place to do it "just moved no areas around really to fly" and that setup is what i learned on 2 years ago when i started flying
there are tons of models to dl for it and all that even some weird stuff like scooters lol have a look enjoy and hey .. its a whole lot easier on your pocket 14$ to learn to fly.. not bad

Simulators are useful tools, but if you want to learn to fly then you need to go fly. Training with an instructor on a buddy box is more valuable than practicing on the simulator for a number of reasons. Simulators can't answer questions for you. Simulators can't teach you how to pre-flight check your plane or tune your engine. Simulators can't crack a joke that makes you laugh when you weren't having that great of a day.

Simulators can help you learn control orientation. They also give you flight practice over the winter or during the rain storm that cancels training night at your club. Even the best R/C flight sims don't truly model realistic flying conditions all that well, however. I also agree that planes on the computer screen become impossibly small all too soon, and I found simulator flying more difficult than the real thing when I first started flight training a couple of years ago.

Your skills are good enough to begin training on a buddy box. The only prerequisite is that you need to be able to see a plane while it is in the air, and that you can hold a buddy box in your hands and move at least the right stick around to control the aircraft. Getting comfortable with tracking the plane while it is in the air and turning it smoothly will come with practice. Much later, take-offs and landings can be attempted after your basic flight skills have been improved.

The folks at your local R/C club aren't bothered by your questions. R/C flyers love answering questions, and they love helping new pilots dive into this hobby. They offer advice and make suggestions; they might even pitch in with maintenence or repairs when a new pilot is stumped on a project. If somebody doesn't want to take the time to help or answer any more questions, they'll get up and walk away from you or just go fly their plane.

With a decent flight instructor and a buddy box, it's impossible for you to crash a trainer no matter how bad of a pilot you think you are. The instructor will have total control of the aircraft via the main radio system, and only give it over to you when you're ready. If you get into trouble, the instructor can take control back in a fraction of a second and put the plane back into stable, level flight.

Get a trainer, a field box, and a flight instructor and spend the effort to get some stick time out at the field. There is no substitute for practice, and the more you try to fly an aircraft the more comfortable you will be with them. Great RC pilots aren't born, they're made.

if you had the skills to fly you wouldnt need an instructor would you.......i didn't know how to fly when i first started either....and i had been working on full scale for 30 yrs.......so get yourself to a field hook up with an instructor and have fun.

In just about every club I've been in there was at least one guy who loves to build. He brings his planes out to the field, lets someone else fly them (Just to say "It has been flown" ) then he hangs them up in his house.

Not everyone is a great flier, but that shouldn't keep anyone from enjoying the hobby

I spent 5 months almost eveyday for a few hours on the sim, did it pay off. before the end of summer I soloed. It seems like a lot of money but you wont need that seconded trainer. also be confedent in your self. if you never think "ah i shouldn't have done that," you wont be proud of saying "wow look at what i've done." i mess up so many times, i just try to remeber what i learned and say, I'm almost finished I will be happy with what i've done. If you have an instructor they will recover the plane for you, hopefully.

When someone offers an oportunity. Take it.

Dave Trimmer

mbilar1,

Man, do I have a story for you. I soloed in a very short 9 MONTHS!! It's true that I about gave-up and took several months off, but I was almost sure I would never be able to safely fly and land my trainer.

Since then, it's been 15 months or so and I am on my 5th class of plane, (trainer, stick, UCD .46, Mayhem, Showtime, 100 cc aerobat). I am moving to GS gassers and having a blast. It takes time, but it's well worth it. ANYONE, with some proper instruction and lots of practice, can learn to fly. That is, of course, assuming that all of the physical and mental abilities are present and average or only slightly below average, as in my case. []

I looked at my most-used transmitter which I bought last JUNE!! There are well over 200 hours of TX time. Subtract 10-20% for setup and such...still a lot of time.

You will get it, just keep on trying!!

in the days B.S."before sim " learning to fly was a slow and a sometimes painful process when I first learned, when I was in high school, a great flying day was tooling around the field a couple of times and a sucessfull landing without a crash.
coming back to it years later, there are trainers ready to go out of the box, almost and computer sim's to learn with as a package deal, I get my new trainer, load the sim and spent the next week crashing into everything after 2 weeks I am making my landings after 3 weeks things are getting smooth on the sim.
so I hit the field and after some much needed help with my real plane it took about 6-8 flts before needing help wasn't needed for flying, as for tuning a engine and the extra things that come with time that just takes expierence but I had the basics down, it takes practice.
if you can afford to get the G-3 sim GET IT! you won't regret it, if you go to www.knifeedge.com there is a bunch of planes you can download for free for the G-3 sim that guys design and post for people to use its great,just about every kind of plane you can think of.
going to a field and not having any skills is also OK, you are going to learn, just a bit slower is all and it will take a bit more time.
the one thing to remember, everybody was a beginner, and everybody crashes,some less than others but it still happens .
now this is what you will end up with soon enough here is just a couple I don't have photos of em all

Where do you fly in Kansas City? I am in Overland Park.

You know, Minnflyer, (Despite his inexplicable hatred for my bloved Packers and his even more inexplicable love for the Viqueens), has a point here. I HATE to build. I see it as a necessary evil. BUT, I LOVE to fly the TAR out of my poor airplanes. This dichotomy has led to my undying respect and admiration for those who have the patience and skill to actually BUILD airplanes.

There are guys at most of my six clubs who do exactly as Minn has said. They build incredibly well, museum quality stuff, but when they fly...it's over. Several months, hundreds of dollars and man-hours, love, dedication, blood, sweat, tears....all gone forever at the instant the derned thing leaves the ground.

This hobby has room for all of us. BUT...I believe that ANYONE who really wants to can learn to fly with enough proficiency to enjoy it. It took me MONTHS to solo. Once I did, I flew every day for over a year, did hundreds of touch-and-go's, simulated dead-stick landings, began to get interested in 3D and IMAC....blah blah......I can't stop.

This hobby is worth the effort, so if you are having trouble getting to solo, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. It takes time, effort and practice...but it's worth it.