I just bought the hangar-9 alpha .60 and i have no clue how to fly it. The simulator it came with has given me a general idea of how to keep it in the air but i don't think it will tell me how to fly, So i need some help. i know your all going to tell me to find an instructor and believe me, if there was one in the area i would go but i live in a very small town and I am probably the only one in town that even owns a plane, let alone knows how to find one. so i would like any advise on flying and plane care anybody has to offer. it would really be great.

Well, learning to fly is not extremely difficult, but learning by yourself is probably the hardest way. It is hard for those of us who know to explain everything involved.

First, it's great that you have a simulator! I tried to teach myself many years ago before they had simulators, and most of my flights were less than a minute at first (they gradually got longer though). So, first I would say to fly that simulator as much as you can! Don't just zip around aimlessly, decide on a 'flight plan' and see if you can get the computer plane to go just where you want it to go. For example, say to yourself, 'OK, I'm going to take off, fly three oval circuits of the field, line up with the runway on each pass, and then line up and land on the runway.' Set yourself goals and practice until you can do it. Practice ovals, figure eights (left turn, cross in the middle, then right turn), line up with the runway, loops, etc. Practice a lot with the plane coming towards you so you get used to that 'head-on' disorientation (when coming towards you, you move the stick right and the plane goes to your LEFT).

When you are ready to try the real plane, you will need a very large, wide open area. Stay far away from houses, trees, power lines, SPECTATORS, ufo's, etc. Try to remember to bring everything you need; plane, wing, CHARGED batteries, fuel, ni-starter, tools, etc.

Keep reading in these forums, it's one of the best places for helpful information. I'll take a break here and let others chime in with their opinions and comments about the actual process of learning to fly...[8D]

Check the Canadian equivilant of the AMA, there should be someone within an hour of you that can help....that being said, there are some who will say get a .40 trainer and an instructor, and those that will say practice on the sim...I would tell you to put that Hangar -9 trainer in the garage..and get a GWS pico stick that you can fly at a schoolyard or open field, nothing replaces actual air time..ie sims are for kids...so its only 3 channels , you can learn more later.. it is a slow process going by yourself, I know...and you will crash your parkflyer too , but it is waaaaay less expensive to by a $10 foam wing than a whole new glow trainer..right?...Rog

There are actually 44 registered flying clubs listed for BC and Yukon on the MAAC website:

http://www.maac.ca/clubs/clubs.php?zn=3

You'll know better than I would if any of these are actually near your particular town.

Practicing on the Sim will give you a pretty good bit of practice. There is also a video called "One Week to Solo" that might be helpful to you. You should be able to order it through most any large mail-order hobby supplier.

Find a club that's not too terribly far away. If you can't, practice on your sim a lot and watch the "One Week to Solo" video a few times before your maiden flight.

If you get a 2-meter, 2-channel glider you can learn to fly by yourself. You start with hand launches then try turns to the right and then turns to the left. Finally you go for a U-turn. Then you use a hi-start launcher to get it up in the air see how it handles. Not much chance of breaking anything as it will go so slow.

Nice area you're living in there buddy. Watch out for the mountains when ya fly. I was looking on the MAAC site and it looks like you are fairly far away from any club(at least I don't see one too close by. The closest ones that I can see at least are Kelowna/Kamloops and then Calgary on the other side. I wouldn't be surprised if there was something going on in Banff either but I didn't see a club there(may have missed it). Maybe, just maybe, it would be worth contacting someone in one of these clubs and arranging to go meet with them once or twice if they'd have an instructor available to at least get ya going. First, to test fly the aircraft and then second to get you soloing. I'm sure if you explain your situation they'd be willing to get you up and trained in 1 or 2 sessions to at least give you the basics.

Just a thought.

What makes learning to fly an RC airplane so difficult is that we are not only learning to fly an airplane, we are also learning to control a vehicle from outside the vehicle. Have you ever tried to fix something that you could only see by using a dentist's mirror, or tried to shave or apply makeup using a video camera and TV monitor for a mirror? This will give you an idea of just how alien RC can be to someone who's been in the cockpits of full scale aircraft all his life.
If you have to learn by yourself, learn these two separate skill one at a time. Get a cheap toy RC car, preferably with a stick instead of a wheel controller, and play with it until driving it towards you is completely instinctive. Don't just blast around in a big open field, discipine yourself to stay on a road marked out with pylons.
Now that driving an RC car is completely instintive, you will be way ahead when actually trying to fly.
Airplanes do not steer like cars. An airplane turn is a combination of aileron and elevator inputs. The rudder can be left alone for now. Most beginners give the plane left aileron expecting the plane to turn left. When the plane does not immediately turn left, they figure that it needs even more left aileron and now the plane is nearly upside down and losing altitude fast. This loss of altitude causes the beginner to command it to go up by pulling back on the elevator and the upside down plane does exactly as it's told. By the time the beginner figured out what went wrong, it's too late. Another thing that's different than cars is that when you want a car to stop turning, you just return the stick or wheel to the center and voila!, the car goes straight. With an airplane, to stop a left turn, you have to give right aileron until the plane is level and then the stick can be centered.
Not realizing that you have to give opposite turn command to stop a turn leads to the beginner's "death spiral". A turn becomes a spiral dive because returning the stick to the center does not halt the turn. Pulling the elevator back in a panic only tightens the turn and the plane usually ends up being destroyed.

Have I convinced you to find an instructor yet?

Tell ya what...I didn't learn completely on my own. I got with an instructor twice and then went at it alone. I got a sim with my aircraft too and spent a month or two playing around with it. I got pretty good on the sim and it got a bit boring. I was fairly confident that I could fly it alone but I was worried about one thing, especially after talking to a friend from work who had just tried to fly his by himself....my question was this....are my control surfaces setup just right and if not, what will this thing do the first time it breaks ground and can I get it safely trimmed out to level flight on my own during my first flight....if not, can I get it back on the ground in one piece? I didn't know what to expect on my first flight. So, I got with an instructor and sure enough, it flew like crap on the first flight. The instructor got another guy to run over and trim out the trainer box while he trimmed the other one. After landing, he made some adjustments on the servo control horns etc. and the plane flew okay. A few more flight with the instructor was all it took and I'm flying around the house here on my own. I never actually soloed with the instructors but I was confident enough to go it alone from that point.

[color=#FF0099]F-18,
Just a thought, but even though there are no nearby organized clubs, perhaps there is a fellow RCer. Try contacting MAAC and asking them if there is anyone in your area. They may not give you the contact info, but I'm sure they would be willing to pass yours on to anyone close by.
The guys have all given you good advise here, but left out one detail....don't forget to breathe!
Best of luck and welcome to the addiction!!!
Bev

go to the top of this page and click on "member list". Search by "city" and you will eventually get down to 899 RCU members in BC. You're the only one in East Cootnay unfortunately. However you may be able to find someone in a city near you. Just run through the list.

I think flyinrog has the best, and most inexpensive, solution if you are indeed that isolated. Keep practicing on the sim, and get an inexpensive GWS or E-Flite trainer type. Much better to crash and re-crash on the cheapie, until you get the hang of flying well enough to fly the 60 size. You not only have to worry about getting it off the ground, but getting enough altitude on an un-trimmed plane to allow you to trim it for straight and level; otherwise, you'll be fighting an out-of-trim plane, and it will double your frustration.

If you have no other options, get as high as you can comfortably see the plane, on the calmest day you can pick. I'm assuming you have read about charging batteries, fueling, pre-flighting, starting procedures, etc. Once you are off the ground at a "safe" altitude, throttle back to about half, give yourself plenty of time to think, and just practice how to control the plane and make simple turns. It might actually help if there's a slight breeze for landing, always land into the wind if possible. Control attitude (nose up/down) with your elevator, and altitude with your throttle on approach. Between fast and bouncy, or slow and smooth, go for fast and bouncy the first few landings, don't risk a stall so close to the ground until you are comfortable in the plane's response to control inputs.

There's so many little things that a post could look like a small book. Although I have found sim time to be fun, and I have picked up a few things from one, it (to me) is severely lacking when it comes to learning to fly solely from using the sim. Good Luck, let us know how the maiden goes.