Hi guys... maybe you can give me a little pep talk, and some advice.
I bought a Supercub... very nice plane from what I can tell. The issue is that I have had 2 outings with the plane and both times have been a disaster!

The first outing, I did a ground take off (I know not recommended for beginners), and immediately overcontrolled into a nose up stall, followed by a crash and roll which snapped the tail off clean.
I have since repaired it and went out for a second foray again tonight. Well, not much different than the first time... but no permanently broken parts this time. I even tried hand launching and rather comically nosedived into the dirt a couple of times.

I called it a night, because my brand new cub is getting a little dinged up now and I have barely left the ground!
I am getting a little discouraged, because I feel like I have NO control whatsoever of the aircraft. I dont even know if its totally me that is the issue, or if the servos are not aligned properly or something.
I suspect maybe 75% me and 25% plane set up (after the crashes and all).

I went over to a local RC field tonight looking for instructors only to find out that its Helo only... so I dont know what to do?
I was thinking of first off taking my plane to a hobby shop and paying them to check out the control systems and adjust if necessary... and also ask them if there are any clubs around.

Any advice for a noob?

1st: Don't let it frustrate you to the point you give up.
2nd: there has got to be another club fairly close to you, go to your LHS as you said and ask around about clubs.
3rd: If you absolutely have to go it alone, stop and analyze what has gone wrong. You over controlled; learn from it and use more gentle stick movements next time.

Sorry to hear your having a bad time, but what you're going to start hearing is put the cub up someplace for future use, it's not a trainer. You're also going to hear, "buy a trainer and join a club". I don't know what you mean about ground launching. That's the only way to really do it effectivly. Take off from the ground, into the wind and land on the ground into the wind. It almost like you're not getting enough speed to fly and stalling out plus maybe some setup problems and also maybe some balance problems. If you're determined to go it alone, get someone to at least help you set up the plane or look it over. The path that you're taking is only going to lead to you being discouraged and wasted time and money. It really is a lot of fun to fly, but you're going to beat yourself and your aircraft up so bad that it's going to seem like a full time job that you hate.

You can also look into flight simulators. After using one for a while you will see your flying on the screen improve but most importantly your thumbs are beginning to learn what to do.

Ditto on the Cub not being a friendly beginning airplane. Would suggest a Trainer with a big wing similar to the Kadet Sr. to learn on. They are a blast to fly, make one of the very best float planes later on, and will teach you all the skills you need while being a forgiving airplane. I have turned mine into a taildragger and it has taught me all the skills for crosswind landings with a tailwheel. I now fly down the field on one wheel just for fun. In fifteem minutes I can turn it into a float plane and enjoy it that way as well. Do not overpower these if you get one. A 40-46 2-stroke or a .56-.72 4-stroke is all the plane needs. Currently flying mine with a Saito .56. Have had Cubs and Decathlons and can tell you that unless you are comfortable with these types of planes they will tip stall in a heartbeat and ruin your day quickly.

If he's flying the Hobbyzone Super Cub, it actually is a "trainer." Hobbyzone designed the plane so folks with no previous flying experience could teach themselves to fly with it. By most accounts, it's very well suited to the task.

As for giving you a pep talk, well, if rc flying were easy then I guess everybody would be doing it.

My first attempts at flight were similar to what you're experiencing. I purchased a Hobbyzone Aerobird Challenger (later nicknamed the aeroturd) and proceeded to pound it mercilessly into the ground over and over. What was more frustrating was having experienced pilots offer to help me with it, and watching them fly it perfectly without any of the problems I kept having.

I went to a local club and bought a glow trainer. After I learned to fly my glow plane, I found I could control the aeroturd much better as well.

Learning how to control an RC plane without overcontrolling it simply takes practice, and it's difficult to get much practice in when your average flight is 30 seconds or less. Just be patient and keep after it, things will start to click.

A Cub is nothing more than a nice looking trainer. If the model is overweight, balanced incorrectly, or with the controls not set up correctly, then you will have a difficult plane to fly. Otherwise they should be able to practically fly themselves if you don't interfere too often. We're talking about the kind of plane that you can set to circle the field while you make a sandwich or "take a wiz" .
If your model is a little bit too heavy, it will take more experience to fly. Any high winged plane with a lifting airfoil will fly [and land] like a dream if built light enough.

Are we talking about the HOBBYZONE Supercub?

If so then how can some peeps say it's not a trainer, it's one of the best ever first planes you can get!

About joining a club - I don't recall seeing the link for the AMA anywhere, so I'll put it here. Go to this link, it will help you find a club based on your zip code. There are hundreds of clubs in the country, so I imagine there's one somewhere within a reasonable drive to you.

http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx

A club is the best, and right, way to learn. Second to flying with an instructor is using a flight simulator. Get one free (FMS) here:

http://www.rc-sim.de/index_en.htm

Good luck.

Take a look at this thread, the people over there can help you out with the supercub,

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4371835/tm.htm

Yes you need to get someone to show you how to fly. Its not simple. If you have no knowledge about the principles of flight it can seem impossible.

Since he is in Canada, AMA will be fairly useless.

terrabit2001
If your hobby shop cannot point you to someone who can help, take a look at this site
http://www.maac.ca
They are the Canadian group that promotes RC flying and they have a club listing.

oops, sorry, didn't realize he was in Canada.

Contact Bob Hudson at [email protected] 905 858 2396

Bob is the MAAC zone director for the area you live in and he can guide you to club locations.

Trying to learn on your own is going to likely result in frustration and failure as you are already finding out.

Are you making sure you are taking of INTO the wind? This is very important.


Its kind of hard to check out the operation of your plane over the net, but you can check this [link=http://www.hooked-on-rc-airplanes.com/rc-airplane-controls.html]page to see how the controll surfaces should move.[/link]


Here is a [link=http://www.hooked-on-rc-airplanes.com/flying-model-airplanes.html]general outline for a typically first flight.[/link]

For taking off be sure that:

1. you are taking INTO the wind
2. you have the motor at FULL throttle
3. When hand launching, toss it straight out. Not upward or downward.
4. Don't give too much up elevator or the plane will stall. Give just enough elevator too keep the nose slightly upward.

Good luck, hang in there. You will get the hang of it.

Is this plane a 4 channel plane with ailerons? You can try setting the throttle at 3/4 open (up) and flying only using the right stick (elevator and ailerons). Once you are able to get the plane away from the ground you can try using tiny rudder inputs to get a feel for the left stick. I don't really suggest flying without the rudder, but if you are not on a buddy box and not with a trainer, flying with only the elevator and aileron might be the way to go until you get the plane in the sky long enough to take a breath.

Try sitting on your couch with the radio (off), and imagine the plane rolling in either direction, and control the stick accordingly. Imagine take off (remember, set the throttle at 3/4 right from the bat and leave it alone) the plane rolling, and you gradually increasing elevator until the plane just gets off the ground. Keep the elevator right where it is. Imagine the plane rolling a little to the left, correct it, with very, VERY small aileron inputs (push the stick a tiny bit to the right and back to center, do it again, little push to the right, back to center, until the plane is level).

Yeah, this sounds hokey, but you need to get some time with the radio in a state where you are not in a panic, are breathing, and your heart isn't trying to leap out of your mouth.

When I say small inputs, you are only giving maybe 1/16 to 1/8 of the possible range of the stick. A very small move on the stick will have an effect. If you are trying to roll in one direction, and don't roll far enough, you can roll a little more. If you roll too much right from the bat, you go into a state of recovery, and will have the tendency to over correct. Little movements will buy you VALUABLE time and save you from having to react.

Hope this helps.

Yes I should have been more specific... it's the HobbyZone SuperCub. 3 channel, no aelerons.
Seems to be a rather tough plane despite appearances, considering what I have put her through.

Well I did find out something that gave me a little encouragement. It seems that after I crashed from my first flight, the tailwheel had come out of it's little bracket and since it's attached to the rudder, the rudder deflection angles were skewed to one side.
So, it seems part of my problem is not preflighting carefully enough (for the record I DID preflight, just didn't catch that).

Don't worry about me giving up... I am not that type. I am more determined than ever to make my first "good" flight. After reading up before I bought the plane, I knew I was in for a learning curve. It's just nice to hear others that have been through the same thing and are now happily on to their 2nd or third planes and flying straight.

Thank you all for the info, encouragement and the links. Time to start using them to find a flying club now.

I notice you live in a place called "Stuffville" Coincidentally, "stuff" is our word for crash.

Really don't give up it's the most amasing hobby once you get there and i@VE BEEN EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE, MY 1ST PLANE WHICH WAS A xMAS PRESENT LASTED all of 6 seconds before I totalled it, my second plane was a Supercub.
Defintely get yourself a simulator, I still only use the FMS one and now practice 3D on it but what it / the controller cost you you'll save at least 5x's the amount in damaged planes and use it for a week before trying the SuperCub again and even then you'll find it hard but not so hard.
Get someone to check over the surfaces and if there isn't anyone you can ask then at least at home make sure everything is "in line" when there's no input to the TX and that everything moves freely the and same distance in opposite directions.
If you can find a club though it is the best way but I'd still get a simulator anyway !!!!!!!

Ditto on having somebody experienced at least check the airplane. Trying to fight a misadjusted airplane as well as learn to fly is almost impossible.

I know sometimes on the high wing planes you have to build up speed on the ground and use easy stick movements to get the plane going. I sometimes have to do that with my big-stik 60. I would also have someone experienced from a nearby club or LHS look your Cub over.

Woot!
So, today was a fairly calm day... bit of wind but nothing too threatening.
Took her out and CAREFULLY preflighted. I am flying from a dirt field which is a subdivision that they just started building, so there are paved roads but no houses yet. Great place but the ground is a little rough.

I throttled up gradually, fighting to keep her in a straight line ... and .... rotate! Got her into the air, made a couple of circuits around myself and actually put her down on the wheels!
Well it nosed over after but wow I got it into a controlled landing right side up.

To top that off, I did it twice!

Sorry to ramble off a story you guys have all heard a million times before, but I am so excited and can't wait to fly at a real field that wont be so hard on my bird next time round.
On top of that good news, I actually found out about an all-electric club just down the road.

Thanks for the encouragement gang!

PS - I am almost 99% sure that last time out my problems were caused by the tail wheel spindle popping out of its little bracket. Caused the rudder to skew to one side. So other noobs with HZ Cubs, check that.

I never tire of reading posts like this. Good work! [8D]

Excellent! Just don't fly in circles around you, fly in one direction in front of you. Don't turn around, if you ever go to a regular field to fly, that style won't do. You fly from the runway in front of you, behind you would be the pit area normally. Now if you find someplace smooth enough to land on with out nosing over, you will really feel accomplished. You probably found that it is easier to fly in less wind, until you get a little used to it, then you will start flying when it gets windier, and you will be able to control it. I find gusty winds to be the worst, I have that most of the time here.

Congratulations!
If you are self taught, keep doing what works for you, but like bingo says you will eventually want to learn how to fly the plane as it heads back at you.
A simple trick, kind of like learning how to back up a car with a trailer. You know how they say to turn the wheel towards the mirror that has the trailer in view? Same idea with flying. It is easy enough to remember that to level out the plane as it flys towards you, just move the stick in the direction of the low wing panel. After being given this advice I was flying a 6 foot spanglider on my own and the LHS owner was able to go back to the cash register.
Practice flying big laps and mentally rehearsing your stick movements before the need arises to turn. Pick a cruising speed that the plane is happy with, but no more than that.
Again, very good show dude.