I tired RC planes many years ago after I got out of the Army. No training at all by anyone. I had phone U Control when I was a kid and built a few too.
My first attempts were met with disaster. Too much in the way of a plane and control surfaces. I crashed on a regular basis due to my impatience and got out of it entirely. I suppose the only thing I did right then was building my own control transmitter from a HeathKit that I bought. (Electronics was my trade) That was the only thing left of value after numberous crashes.
Anyway I am now retired and determined to learn the right way.
I went out to a local club field today and met some people. They recommended that I get the RealFlight software and learn first there so I just got it.
After that I think I will start by building a park slow flyer, and electric, and give it a whirl.
Then I will slowly move up.
I know that learning right and taking your time does not mean that you are not going to crash. I have seen experienced flyers crash many a time in the past.
Eventually I would like to have a bigger gas model but I know that is not the place to start until I get some real experience. The good thing is that this time I have the time and the patience to do it right. No kids to bother me and all the free time I can use.
Wish me luck.

Good luck

Been there done that

Welcome to the world of Rc planes w7wv! You're starting out in the right place. I just found rcuniverse recently. I live in the back woods and couldn't find a lot of help when I started flying. Been flying about 2 years, about 8 months ago I started a ministry at my church teaching kids to fly. Wish I had known about this place when I started, lots of information and help here!!! Starting with the similator is definitely the smart way! I will leave you with my two cents on choosing a first plane,

If you do well on the simulator and you have friends that fly gas/nitro, you might consider starting with a gas trainer and buddy box system. This is what I have started doing with the kids! If you go this route, I reccomend the Hobbico Avistar for reasons I'll share later if you want to know!

If you go electric, I reccomend the Hobbyzone Super Cub. This is what I started teaching the kids with. We now have six and they are all still flying!! (Kids have crashed some of them a lot, but they are cheap and easy to repair) If you decide to go this route, I have lots of tips! Good luck in your new pursuit, let us know how it goes!

Thanks. I may get back into gas someday but right now I am very interested in the electrics.
The new batteries work well for flight.
The bad news is I found out my old computer was not good enough for RealFlight so I am now downloading the latest stuff on the newer computer which should work fine.
The program would not even start on my old laptop so I took it off.

Real Flight is a good starting point. Once you have an airplane ready to go, do yourself a favor and get an instructor to help you. Good Luck, Dave

Real Flight is a terrific starting point. Thats what I learned on. I would sit and just do patterns for hours. When the time came to fly my trainer, I started on the buddy box, and two flights later we unlugged and I was on my own.
The simulater really flattens out the learning curve. Good luck. Keep us posted on your progress.
John.

Yes I am learning that on my computer.
Of course I did not read the instructions and I was on intermediate for hours of playing.
I found one plane in there that is self correcting that I had read about. It's not bad to fly at all.
Take offs are a breeze for me and flying in not bad so far. I found the binoculars pretty handy so I can see the attitude of the plane on the inset. My eyes are getting old and on a smaller laptop screen that plane gets hard to see in a hurry at distance.
The problem I have now is lining up with the runway. On screen it's hard to tell where you really are whereas in person you could of course have more perspective and a better overall view.
I think this will work though and it's a lot easier since I moved the controls to beginner from apparently intermediate the last 20 minutes or so.
Where were computers and software like this when I was crashing in the early 70s????

OK, this morning I graduated from the trainers with auto controls to more planes and learned more about control.
It's amazing how fast this thing can teach you.
I can see that the fit and feel of this is very real having done this years ago.
I really like the YAK-54 too.
I think this software is great and with it available today I think you may be a fool not to get it.
It's a lot cheaper than crashing the real thing.

While the simulator is a good tool to use for training, it should in no way be considered an instructor tool. I have seen many people use the simulator before ever contacting an instructor and often they will pick up and develop bad habits from the simulator. Often times these bad habits will have to be "un-learned" when an instructor is contacted. Don't get me wrong, I think that they simulator is a great tool to help decrease the training time needed when learning to fly. But this must be done properly It should be used to PRACTICE skills that are taught each training session. When done in this manner it is indeed a cheap and safe way to practice these new skills.

There are some things that most simulators aren't as accurate on as in real life, and these differences can often times give new pilots a false sense of security as to what they are capable of. A simulator is nothing more than a teaching tool, just like a buddy box is. It has a specific set of circumstances where it's use is applicable and it needs to be used properly like any other tool.


Here's a list of some of the "bad" habits one can develop:
1) Failing to keep the plane straight during takeoff run.
2) Climbing out too steep.
3) Not maintaining a constant altitude while turning.
4) Turns that aren't smooth, too sharp, etc.
5) Forgetting that there is a left stick.
6) Not lining up with the runway during landing approach.
7) Using ailerons instead of rudder to make course corrections when landing.
8) Using the elevator to extend the landing when you realize you're short.
9) Failure to learn the signs that a plane is about to stall, and what to do to avoid it, or recover from it.


The sim is NOT:
[ul][*]Going to teach you how to tune your engine [*]Going to teach you how to correct fuel system problems [*]Going to teach you how to set up your linkages [*]Going to show you about lateral inbalance and surface warp [*]Going to locate errors in assembly [*]Going to teach you how to maiden a plane [*]Going to trim out your plane [*]Going to simulate other flyers at the field [*]Going to blow a hard gust of air at your plane at just the wrong time [*]Going to simulate that hard sink thermal just off the runway threshold, though doable in G4 [*]Going to have a bird come out and attack your plane in the air [*]Going to give you the weak knees you'll get the first time you fly [*]Going to throw a bug in your face and the sun glare in your eyes at the wrong time
[/ul]

The best way to assure success in learning to fly is to locate an instructor and work with him to help set up a training schedule.

I do realize that you have flown before, so you are familiar with much of this. But I wanted to put this info out for others that may be reading this post and consider using the simulator to try and "teach themselves" to fly.

Ken

I have been flying since I was 7 with U-control. I have in fact been into RC on 3 different occasions and flew combat at one time. I started of building plastic models the the late 1940s. It was part of my chores as such as my folks had a Mom and Pop store. They hung the planes and ships from the ceilings for display to attract buyers. I built kits from plans at the hobby store (the old fashioned way) and balsa. I think I could handle a basic kit today without a problem.
I have rebuilt engines and done custom work on cars and planes, real and models. Motors, either electrical or mechanical at not a problem nor is tuning them.
Needless to say this is not the first time I have flown RC. I was just impatient before.
I have trimmed my own planes out for both balance and adjustable trim using the controller. I did this without any help before.
Weak Knees, I don't think so. Been there and done that many years ago.
I fully realize that this sim is nothing but a tool
I am far from a child without life's experiences.
I have already been to the local flying field and met the club president and many of the locals. Lots of their own rules are not followed there I noted while there.
This is rural AZ and I may just find a place to fly on my own.
Unlike many, I am a survivor. And I hate to burst your bubble but I have met many so called self proclaimed experts that are too quick to judge others and their abilities. Enough said.

W7wv,
If you read the last line of my post you will see that I did acknowlege your prior experience in this hobby, and that this information probably didn't apply to you. I posted this information in order for those that have never flown before to see that a simulator isn't the ONLY thing needed to learn to fly. These threads on RCU are always available long after the discussion is finished, and somebody later on may read this thread and think that because you used a simulator to get back into this hobby and think that they could use one to learn to fly. This is why I posted this informtion so that the "pluses" and "minuses" of using a simulator when learning to fly are out in the open.

I am not judging your abilities at all, in fact I did state in the last line of my post that your experiences would probably help you realize the hazards of using a simulator so I am sorry if this statement upset you. I have been an instructor for 10 years now, and have been helping out in this forum for almost 6 years, so I've got plenty of experience in this area. I've seen more than enough people think that the simulator is all that they need to learn to fly, and then find out the hard way when they try to fly that it wasn't enough to prepare them. There are many regular members that participate in this forum that want to help beginners avoid these types of circumstances, and this is why I posted this information. We do not "judge" anybody here, but rather simply try to help. That's what this forum on RCU is all about and that is what we are trying to do here.

Once again, I am sorry if you are upset at this because it wasn't my intent. But this information will help others that read this thread.

Ken

w7wv

It was sad to "hear" you say you would find a place to fly on your own. From my own many years of rc flying, I offer my 2 cents.
Half of the fun I get from this hobby is from flying. The other half is from talking about flying with my buddies. At our club field, if a plane goes down in the woods, eight guys jump up and search through the bush looking for that plane. If one of the guys can't get his engine running right , eight more guys come offer him advice on how to adjust his needle valves. What I am trying to say is, if I was the only person in the world flying rc, I would give it up in a second if I didn't have friends to share it with. My advice.......join a club, make some new friends, make some friends on this forum. Good luck w7wv, and let us know how you made out.

Lm

Duplicate

Actually I would rather fly alone.
I don't have to wait to fly or worry about interference from others.
But from what I observed at the local club's flying field the other day in the way of safety problems I think I would rather just find my own field in the many acres available to me here in AZ
Along with several other things I saw that I did not care for I saw people flying over the field and in some cases coming within just a few feet of the heads of other pilots while "showing off" or stunting. I have seen someone hit with a larger model and it's pretty nasty.
Couple that with the fact that I am retired and can fly anytime and the club's field is some 20 miles from me and there is lots of open space that I could fly from within just a few miles of my home. I also found out that the club demands two people at the field "just in case of a problem."
It's rather like fishing and hunting. You cannot always depend on someone else to show and I never did like trips being canceled for one reason or another at the last minute.
Besides flying alone also means you don't have to worry about what someone else is doing or where they are in the air.
I don't hunt anymore but I still shoot targets alone too.
I guess some people just don't like company. I new a guy that used to love to take his very large slope glider up on the top of a hill and lay down on his back and fly. He said it was very peaceful and relaxing.