I made my maiden flight the other night with my EasyStar and an instructor. He basically launced the plane and brought it up to a safe altitude and then gave me the controls. What struck me the most is even though it wasn't very breezy the wind, especially at that altitude really fought the plane. All in all, I had the control for about 1-2 minutes before the instructor took them back and brought it in for landing. We then checked the battery and he suggested taking it home and giving it a good charge before using it again (the LHS said a 30-minute charge was sufficient before 1st use but now I know better).

After the flight he suggested I go to the local high school football field and practice launching at full throttle and then landing at the far end of the field. This sounded like a good idea to me but I was wondering what other techniques can be practiced in a smaller confined area. I probably won't use the field as there's another open field adjacent to the football field that's a lot more wide open.

Anyway, it was good to get some flying under my belt and I'm looking forward to getting out to the field again next week and hopefully, give my 9-year old his turn at the controls!

Good to see you had a fun first experience. Even a mild breeze can noticeably affect our models. Real airplanes are affected and we fly in the same wind as them but with an airplane 1/6th (or less) the size of the real thing! [X(] Have you ever seen a real airplane land in a headwind that is almost as much as its cruising speed?

I would not try to fly in a more confined space. Students should have as much space as they can get. With a larger area you can make turns more gradually and have more time to think about what to do next.

PS: The guy at your hobby shop should be shot for recommending an initial 30 minute charge.

Find a new instructor

Most of us leave everything on the charger "OVERNIGHT." Just because their is some goofball behind a counter selling something does not mean he knows anything about it.

One more thing... wind is VERY different on the ground and at 100', 200', 300', etc. When I started flying full size, i remember how i had to get the winds at 3000', 6000' and 9000' to pick the one closest to a tail wind. And at those different altitudes, the wind blew so much different in direction and speed.

Just climb to the top of a 10 story building and see how the wind blows compared to the ground.

As far as the LHS, find another one or if you have any questions, talk to someone else (here's the perfect place). And your instructor seems like he just doesn't want to put any effort into teaching you.

Actually, the LHS is well known in this area for their experience with RC planes which is why I went there. Unfortunately, the information I got was from the son who admitted he had more experience working with cars than planes and his father was not in. This was the day before flying so I wanted to know if I could do an overnight charge and he said 30 minutes was fine. I now know better.

However, I'm wondering if I have the right charger to do an overnight charge. The unit that came with the kit is a HiTec CG-207 5-7Cell 2A Peak Charger. Should I be looking into a different charger?

Regarding the instructor, he didn't charge me for the time he spent with us (checked the CG, checked the range, went over basics, etc.) and he suggested that anyone would be willing to help us when we went back for our second flight. He also didn't recommend that we actually fly at the school, just practice gliding to a landing after starting on full power.

Thanks for all the advice. This is a great place for information!

When I teach students, take off/launching is the LAST thing I let them do. First I work on actually controlling the plane in the air until I'm confident they are flying the plane where they want it, not just keeping it from crashing. Then we work on lining up approaches, then actual landings. Finally, once I'm convinced they have sufficient reaction speed to handle the plane in low speed flight and can correct, then we work on take offs. Your instructors advice to work on full power launches with subsequent landings is probably not sage advice.

Brad

The issue with just taking off and landing at the local high school, is that you are really risking damage to your plane. If you haven't been properly instructed on takeoffs and landings, then you risk stalling, porpoising, and nosediving.

The typical sequence of instruction seems to be 1) get used to flying the pattern at constant altitude, 2) practice your turns in both directions, 3) practice going high, cutting power, and gliding in for "low" passes, 4) landing, 5) taking off.

I may have things a bit mixed up, being in the middle of this process myself, but I do know that taking off and landing are the hardest parts, and it doesn't seem right that an instructor will just send you off on your own to do these.

CORRECTION:

Sorry, I just looked up the Easy Star. I thought you were talking about a high-wing trainer (NexStar, ElectriStar) type plane. This is a foam pusher, which won't damage as easily on landings.

Good luck