Hi all,

How did you feel on your very first flight of your first build/arf/rtf in this hobby? My first flight was about a month ago. I was so nervous, shakey and had butterflies. After joining a club and finally had decent enough weather to start my first flight instruction, the nite before I had made a check list of what I needed to do. I charged all of the things that needed charging, had my flight box ready, fuel, etc. Everything ready for my first flight for the next evening. The next day i got home from work, and started loading up the car. Fuselage..check, wing..check, fuel..check, field box..check, transmitter manual..check, got in the car and got half way down the block. DOH...forgot my transmitter. I was so nervous. Finally got to the field with all my equipment. My instructor shows up, checks out my plane, equipment, go over the rules/processes. Then he says "okay lets fuel her up". Boy the butterflies are flying now. Get the plane fueled, and he says "okay start her up", I get my electric starter out and put it on the spinner and pull the handle............He starts laughing and says " you know it might help if you plug in your starter to the field box". Now the butterflies are really buzzing. So got the starter hooked up to the field box, pull the handle and the starter starts to spin the prop. Now we are in buisness. NOT....I noticed I didn't have the glow driver on the plug. I thought, why don't I just pack up and start all over. Finally got it started, he checked my engine settings, control throws, and range check. Now the weather was hot that evening, around 95 that evening. I was so concerned that I had not forgot anything, that now another thought made me have more nervous than I already was. WAS MY PLANE GOING TO FLY...AFTER MONTHS OF BUILDING!!! Well he got it up and trimmed out, and let me have control. Hands were shaking so bad he had to take over several times before I had calmed down enough to enjoy this first flight. WHAT A RUSH. Only had 3 nites of flights so far, due to the gusty winds, we've been having. But I'm hooked, thats for sure. So how did the rest of you feel and do on your very first time? Sorry so long.

CC

Welcome to RCU and welcome to the addiction. My first flight was so long ago I really don't remember how I felt. What field are you flying at? I usually fly at Chapin, but now have my pass to start flying at Beech also.

It wont take long for the butterflies to go away and you soon find your having more and more fun at it.

Hogflyer

Hey hogflyer,

I fly at Elm Hill in Mulvane. I'm with the Derby club. I've been to Chapin field several times this summer to watch everyone fly. I've probably been there the same time as you and didn't even know it. Maybe we'll met in person one of these days. I'd like to get to know more folks in this hobby.

CC

cc4ou:

I had a similar experience. I had not yet soloed when I brought out my first build. A Contender. With the help of my instructor we got it up. He trimmed it and then turned it over to me on the "buddy" box. I was quite a thrill.

It flew quite different than my Alpha 60 trainer. It did exactly what you told it to, and would stay in that position
until you moved the sticks.

On the second flight my instructor really wrung it out with all kinds of aerobatic maneuvers, and said upon
completion that the plane was a great flying plane. That really made me feel good coming from an
experienced RC pilot.

Congratulations. This is a wonderful sport and what makes it so great, is the people in it.

Picture of the "Contender" attached. powered by a OS .61 FX. Very fast.

Very nice post, thanks for sharing.
Congrats, your gonna luv whats coming!

Scared to death,

I was shaking like a leaf on a tree in a tornado. I still get that same feeling every time I maiden one of my newly built kits. After it is in the air I settle right down and have a great time. I also get this feeling every Spring after putting th fingers away except for the simulator all Winter here in Wisconsin. Thats about 4 months if you brave the cold a bit. I hate the cold and it doesn't like me either.

Gibbs

I soloed over a year ago. I still get nervous and I still get thrilled. .......... and I still forget to put on the glow plug before trying to start the engine!

I was sort of like that, except i didn't get the jitters at all when i was on the buddy box, but when the chord was unplugged thats when they came all at once. It's such a cool feeling to solo! Your gonna love this hobby, It's a blast!

Keep us posted, and good luck on that solo!

i was never taught on a buddy box so i was very nervous when i first started flying, even if i did get into trouble, by the time i had passed the transmitter to my instructor there was a good chance it would have planted itself, but after 5 or 6 flights i passed my A certificate and completed my solo after that. now i dont get any butterflies because even if its a deadstick with only 1 wheel i will fight it down to the ground keeping plenty of speed and searching for the softest spot available

ive been flying Microsoft Flight Simulator since '98 and numerous combat simulators and whatnot aswell, so i was a natural when i took to the sticks (my 2 years nitro truck experiance helped me with engines, starting and maintanence aswell

I got a flashback of a blonde reading the subject line...

Excellent description, cc4ou. I could actually smell the glow fuel as I was reading your post.

My experience was pretty similar to yours. My instructor also let me spin the motor for a while without a glow driver on the plug. Makes you feel a little dumb, but less likely to do it again.

I don't remember feeling too nervous while buddy boxing, but when my instructor switched transmitters with me and pulled the buddy cable, I felt like I was standing on a table naked. That landing felt better than any other.

I suspect that maidening my first kit will feel the same way. I have it ready to fly, but haven't brought it to the field yet.

I've settled down alot since the first flight, but looking back it was humorous. I'm looking forward to my solo, and getting enough experience so I can go fly when I want.

CC

My first flight was nearly 13 years ago. I didn't have a buddy cable or even a formal instructor. I did join a club though thanks to my boss as I got a saturday job in a model shop just before I finished my first model (kit).

There were a lot of people at the club the first time my dad drove me there (I was too young to drive at the time) and they were all very friendly and willing to help - though there was no formal instructor. One guy was a school teacher for a day job and he maidened my model for me and taught me to fly.

I'd had a few hours flying fullsize before then and a very good understanding of aerodynamics for my age as my father and grandfather were fullsize aircraft engineers and taught me a lot. I had the usual moments of confusion with orientation and spent a good few hours fixing that model over the next few months.

I don't even consider how easy a model might be to fly nowadays before I start drawing plans/building but I do consider the flight characteristics of the fullsize (scale models are my interest). If the real thing was doable, I'll happily build a model of it - I figure I can worry about learning to fly that particular model when the time comes.

I've never stopped learning and I get butterflies every time I maiden a new model. It's not so bad now, but I still need my dad or my best friend with me for moral support and encouragement

I have learned that no 2 models are ever the same, and the more models you build, the better at building you get, and the more models you fly, the better at flying you get. With the big scale jobs most have bad habits to some degree, and for me anyway, the difference between success and a pile of splinters is having seen most of them at least before on another model Not neccessarily in the same combinations or severity, but every model will teach you something you never forget - even if you don't know it until it's called upon in future [8D]

I'll ommit my first time, it was a feeling of dread after spending way too much on an RTF only to have it turn into packing material. What I'll tell you is the first time I "successfully" flew for the first time. I had no trainer, buddy box, sim time, just an easy platform to learn off of.

It's the same story with the butterfly's, utter amazement this plane is actually airborn and I'm the one controlling it, a real adrenalen rush, well, until I found out that carbon fiber rod supplied with the arf really needs to be there to join the wing halves together, so after a few minutes, one of the wing halves snapped and the plane plummeted to the ground.

Afterwards, I've been progressing, alot of the time, flying planes I'm not ready for to recapture that original feeling, sometimes I do, sometimes it's just, well, it's cool one of my creations are flying and that's about it, strip out the gear and time to build another...

If I'd had a lump of coal up my backside on my first flight, I'd have been rich when I landed. Still happens every time I maiden a new plane.

lmao! you could buy lots of arfs with each maiden! I LOVE GOOOOOOOOOOLD! (Austin Powers: Goldmember)

Um, coal makes diamonds...

When enough pressure is applied to it, yeah, that's the joke.