I am just wondering because after countless hours on the sim I imagined doing more than "practicing left hand turns". Was I wrong to hope for more? What did you learn or what do you teach on the first flight?

I learned to fly in a circle, both directions. And near the end to do a loop and a roll.

Me to..

This varies depending on how well the student is doing and how many flights are made.
Lessons start with examining the plane together for proper assembly and balance. Then safety items, preparation for flight including buddy box set-up and starting. Next COULD be him taxiing to the runway depending on conditions at the field and field rules. A quick explaination of final run-up and control checks before I make the first takeoff while he observes. Once I have the plane at a safe altitude and trimmed I have an experienced pilot trim the buddy box the first time and finally hand it to him.

Finally he begins to fly steady (hopefully) left hand (or right) patterns around the field whild maintaining altitude and control during the turns and reasonably straight and level flight. Then the turn directions are reversed for a while. Once both turn directions are being done well figure eights are introduced.

Once he consistantly performs the above manuevers practice approaches are made. Takeoffs are introduced as soon as I feel he won't dive into the ground immediately after takeoff. This can begin on the second flight or take longer.

Oh yeah, I have them do a loop or roll on every flight too because I know that's what they REALLY want to do. It's good for their morale. I also do some aeorbatics with their trainers to show them what they will be able to do with it when they learn some more. Inverted flight, spins, snaps, cuban 8's.

I totally agree here. Every one of my students do a loop and a roll on their first day. It's great for moral of the student. I am sorry if your instructor did a little differently, but every instructor is different and has a different method for instruction. One quick comment on what you said about your time on a simulator. When I have a new student that says they have "tons" of time on a simulator I usually ignore that statement completely. Why? Because even though they have spent a lot of time on the sim there is no way of knowing if they learned and practiced the correct things on the sim. In cases students with a lot of simulator time with no proper instruction need MORE instruction than those who don't. In many cases I have had to unteach the bad habits that they student picked up on the simulator before I can start teaching the the proper way to fly. That is one of the bad things in my mind about a simulator. They are a great teaching tool if used properly, but when used improperly they can do more harm than good.

Ken

I was hoping to get to do a loop and roll. we just circled and he had me try and fly over the center of the field, but that was hard 300-400 feet up.

As someone who has acted as an instructor I can tell you that the main things I look for is ability to fly the plane in a safe manner, in the proper pattern and to follow my instructions. One reason for that should be obvious - the safety of the other fliers/members. A second reason that may not be so obvious is for the preservation of the flying site and that goes hand-in-hand with safety. You may be able to loop, roll and spin the plane just like the best r/c pilots around, but how well can you control the plane when you're turning onto final into a gusting crosswind? Give your instructor time to get to know you as the r/c pilot you will become. Btw, the last thing I teach is take off.

Edit: I agree with Bruce and RCKen. Your instructor could have let you do at least a couple of loops and rolls.

DON'T rush it !!! Just take your time and let the instructor do it his way. You don't have to do everything on the first flight. As said before it's nice to do a couple extra things but maybe the instructor feels different about it or maybe YOU weren't ready as far as he was concerned . I can't imagine why but I'm not your instructor, I also like to have the new student do a couple loops or what ever but sometimes I just DON'T.

I also like to take the student up pretty high and just let them do what ever, but that's down the road a ways when I feel they have earned it. ENJOY !!! RED

Play the game and pay your dues, you'll have better self respect. You'd be surprised how many experienced guys could not fly a simple traffic pattern if their lives depended on it.

Well spoken... I met one of thse guys mid air last week...... Maggot, take your time and listen to your instructor. You will progress as fast as he feels you are ready. You need to do the easy things and do them with out thinking before you get into the not so easy stuff..... Planes cost money.. time is cheap.....there is no reset on your transmitter....

I just gave my first lesson yesterday, so I was also a student . My first lesson was freindship and the rest just fell into place.

Be patient, my instructor had me doing more on my first day but every guy is different. As well as every instructor. That is why if possible I believe multiple instructors is best. But as a curtesy to each instructor you should do as they say. It is there time as well as yours. I was/am lucky to fly with a group of guys that are great. I have learned something from every instructor as well as any guy I have flown with. I pay attention when someone else is training and manage to pick up things every time. The neat thing is talking to another newbie and sharing the help that you recieved. (Very rewarding)

Del

ahhh grasshopper you must first learn to walk before you can run,,,,if you were my student, first flight, left turn, right turn. if you could do those I'd be very impressed. I try to keep the first flight very short. You're nervous and unsure of things so we'll shorten this one.
I wasn't there so I have to ask how were your turns? Can you turn 90 deg without loosing altitude? How about 180 deg?
Good Luck

my first few turns, thanks to the sim, were like I was pylon racing. (I shouldn't have started playing with the events) but I quickly learned to make a nice and easy turn with little to no loss in altitude.

With a great simmulator comes great responsibility? lol.



MY first flight experience with a simm was different. i spent a few hours at it and picked it up quite easily. Ive been into gaming hardcore for years up to the competion level even, and ive been a heavy equipment operator for those same amount of years, working with almost any piece of equipment you can think of. I've got hand eye cordination up the wazzu. So.. What the simm taught me was ignorance and emphasized arogance in my belief that rc flight would be a breeze dispite never actually doing it...

After some hours on the simm, doing controlled flight, touch and goes with all sorts of aircraft on there, even some manuevers after going thru with the virtual instructor and watching with own radio controls while doing them, i started to become impatient. And even though i knew i had not completely mastered the flightsimm, I felt i could take on real flight, dispite the fact i havnt gotten myself a instructor of any kind yet.

So it wasnt too long that i figured i actually learned something. What i didnt learn as alot of these guys here have said befor, is a proper pre-flight. I set up the plane, fired it up and took off. I guess i was lucky because the plane actually flew well. No problems with the plane itself. The problem was ME. I actually made another post on these forums called "self discovery" which outlined my bad flight aswell.. So.. What i learned on my first actual flight:

1) I should have probably listened to the advice from the peeps at RCU and got myself an instructor first.
2) I need an instructor to help me through the details.
3) the flight simm is a flight simm... its way diferent then actual flight.
4) I learned that the plane looks like its a good size while on the ground, but for me, it got small fast. Im sure with more flights with an instructor i will overcome this problem easily though..

Bottom line is i got lucky. My take off was decent, my flight sucked.. i damn near lost sight of my plane completely due to my arogance and newbiness and when i did finally get it back to where i was standing my landing was nasty and hard. Ill definatly be gettin and instructor to help me soon hopefully. So, all i can say is, no matter how slow your instructor wants to take things with you, it will always be better then tryin to do it yourself without him. Take yer time i guess, I know im goijng to start doing that myself.

Nnoodles couldn't have said it better. My first flight was a accident waiting to happen. I swallowed my pride(bought another plane) and joined the local club. I've had 2 different instructors and have learned a lot from both. Once THEY were comfortable with my flying they taught me how to do aerobatics at 3 mistakes high. This was on my second(buddy-boxed) flight. I currently have 24 flights but I'm not solo yet. The key thing these guys taught me was patience. And I WILL solo soon thanks to all the people at our club!

What I do with a student the first few flights depends a lot on the student.

I usually won't do a loop or roll with them until they demonstrate an ability to fly a striaght line, make a turn, and get the wings back to something close to wings-level.

Some guys do this naturally, some students are always s-turning their way down the field, and never do seem to hit a straight line.

If a student asks, I'll usually set them up for a loop and/or roll. If I don't think they can handle it, I might say "No", but that's going to be rare, since I can pull it out if things get out of hand.

I've had students who were always pushing, and I had to slow them down. And I've had students who were too timid and I had to push a bit to get their confidence up to match their flying ability.

YMMV of course.

Nnoodles.... From your descriptions I see you and myself being near identical twins. I've been a competition level PC gamer for years... I'm a techie and can build a complete computer in 8 minutes 30 seconds (during my last computer building tournament) and have modded many computer cases. I started gaming back when the Atari 2600 first come out and I've competed in big money tournaments. I have also volunteered/staff for Quakecon for the past 9 years. Yeah, none of that has anything to do with this post, but I can honestly say that.... My hand and eye coordination is definitely not something that I would EVER blame for crashing a plane or anything else.

I'm just starting to get into this hobby and have never flown a powered aircraft except on Realflight. Like you I can pull off some pretty nice turns, banks, rolls, snaps and near perfect landings on the sim without any issues. I have never flown a powered plane, but this Thursday (hopefully, if this damn rain and wind will stop) I am supposed to buddy box with an instructor. I am afraid that my first experience might end up closely related to yours... I have a question... based on your 4th comment.

"4) I learned that the plane looks like its a good size while on the ground, but for me, it got small fast. Im sure with more flights with an instructor i will overcome this problem easily though.."

I could be completely off here, but based on that comment it sounds like you might have gotten used to having other visual aids on your screen. Like the zoomed window that shows aircraft orientation, or other flight helpers. Did you use the visual aids in the sim and tend to look at them more then your aircraft?

In G3, I force myself to use only the view that keeps an eye on the plane while keeping the ground in view. Just as in real life... I use NO other visual aids... This allows the plane to get extremely small (even with playing on a 65" HDTV) like it would in real life. Doing this has forced me to learn to picture the orientation of the aircraft at all times based purely on the movements of my thumbs. If the plane goes beyond my point of view or around a tree/building I am still able to picture orientation of the aircraft in my head.

I'm just trying to get a feel for what I can expect with my first buddy box, and based on your posts and background experience I can closely relate to you...

In the flight simm i use the ground view aswell. No other flight aids other then the default view.


Ive mentioned my problem with gettin too far out with my plane to the peeps here and they have suggested to me to keep my thottle down a bit and try to keep it closer in untill i get some actual flight time in and get used to it a bit better..

The plane i am flying is a arrow 40 with a os 55 ax engine. when i was flying it i pretty much had it cranked right out except when i was coming in for a landing. Something that Ive done on a continuous basis in the flight simm and never thought it would be a problem. This would probably be one of those "bad habits" somebody was referring to.

I believe just because the plane i was flying is just a bit more agile then the flightsims planes ive been messin with i was over turning when the plane was at the edge of my sight. big time. I believe i was gettin nervous once the plane got out there, then tryed to do a sharper turn to get it back, but i would either dip it too low, maybe even do a half a roll and then the thing would take off the other direction. get even farther... To be honest, it got where i was gettin a lilttle anxious and didnt know wth it was doing, it was literally gettin to the point where it was a dot to me.

All in all, because i was without an instructor, and i had everyones warnings cruisin through my head, i probably pumped myself up for it too much and messed myself up. I think if i went out and did it all again i would be ok. especially if i take the advice and cut the thottle back some. I will be gettin an instructor for next time though despite my confidence.

I know what you mean. I have one student that I've flown with about 20 times now. He won't, absolutely refuses, to fly below 10 mistakes high. He's up so high that I can barely see the plane. I'll take the plane back and bring it back down to a good altitude and give it back. Bang, back in a climb as fast as he can. He enjoys flying but just way up high.

That kid souds like he would be a shoe-in in fhe glider scene. Thems guys are always trying to get as high (the planes I mean) as possible.

My instructor had me doing left and right turns for about my first three flights.... There were a couple of loops in there too....but lots of flyin around. He told me as we were going though, and I noticed, that he ws watching me more when he gave the instruction than my plane. As we went on we were coming lower and lower. He offering me to come down when I was comfortable. He was merely making sure that should I get into trouble that when he have a verbal command that I would follow his instruction instinctively. Kinda bad to be in trouble low, hear left and turn right because you may have gotten disoriented.

I got my wings after only about a month and a half of instruction and very rarely bobble a correction because of all the practice I had lining up on the landing pattern. Once you get free you'll appreciate the repitition and the practice and you'll find your legs shake a lot less near the ground