I have a shoestring that I got from someone waiting to be flown [link=http://www.greatplanes.com/reviews/gpma1325-rcr.html]shoestring[/link] when would I know that I am ready for this plane, I feel very comfortabel flying my Tiger and mytrainer, but I would like to know some skills that I would need for that plane or one like it.

Thanks

Jon

If you have Realflight 4 or 4.5 add-ons 5 is now available for free download, and it has the shoestring in it.

I don't have the most current real flight, maybe for Christmas

I have tried the Shoestring on RF 4.5 and it will get away from you. I put the meter up and it says it runs at 100+mph.

Best advise I could give you after flying the sim, get one of your fields experts that is comfortable flying the faster planes to maiden it for you so you can see the speed of it, and maybe buddy box it for a few flights.

I still remember having someone maidening my Kougar. My first thoughts were, "Holy Bat ____, that thing is fast." And then after it was back on the ground, I cleaned it up and took it home were it is safe. And then I went back to flying my Kavalier.

I decided I was ready when my second plane both became boring, and had traits that I felt were limiting my flying capabilities and/or progression. It's really up to you to decide when you're ready. The first thing that comes to mind to watch for is stall characteristics. The plane may stall at higher airspeed and may be very unpredictable in a stall. As always it's a good idea to get the plane up high and practice stalls. There is absolutely no shame in asking to be on a buddy chord while learning your new plane. You may feel totally comfortable with it and never use the chord again, or it may feel too twitchy and unstable, in which case the both of you can land the plane and decide if you want to keep it on the back stove.

For practice you can get your current plane up a few mistakes high and practice stalls in all different attitudes, even inverted, and practice recoveries. I had the experience of getting a plane in a stall and not knowing how to recover that particular plane. It crashed but was not lost (luckily...a bit of devine intervention on that one!) but this was something I wish I had practiced more.

I had my friend fly is for me a year and a half ago, I am sure he would buddy cord it with me if I asked, I know I could fly it, but I really like your ideas Joe, I am not limited with my current plane, except I want it to go a little faster at times. I will spend more time trying to do stalls and more pratice.

I am the type of person that wants solid answers, such as "if you can land your plane at half power, then you are fine"

Since I can't buy the arf anymore and I got the plane for a good deal, and it is currently the best looking plane in my hanger, I will wait to fly it until I fly a few more planes.

Jon

That's funny. My instructor once said one is ready for a new plane when he can do 25 consecutive landings (or touch and gos, I forget) without a prop strike.

Landing my Dolphin never prepared me for the death spiral I got my Decathlon into.

Good question, not sure if there is a solid answer. Joe hit on something that one of my friends stated to me after he was flying a plane I built for him, you can't fly um until you can land um. Drove me nuts doing touch and goes but he did bring up a very good point. How do you feel about landing a hot little plane?? If you can take them off and land them then you should be ready for a step up.

This sim has me wondering about a bunch of things.

Super Sportster:
Takeoff speed about 35, Landing speed about 35, Top speed about 105 - 110.

Shoestring:
Takeoff speed about 45, Landing speed aboout 45, Top speed about 98.

Ultra Sport:
Takeoff speed about 35, Landing speed about 35, Top speed about 115 with landing gear up, and 110 landing gear down.

Of these the Super Sportster is the easiest to handle and the Shoestring is the hardest.

One of the things that I am having a hard time doing is flying the plnae down to landing, I understand the concept, but I am having problems not having the plane float too much, I just need more pratice.

Thanks guys

Jon

I wouldn't touch the Shoestring until you can go in with a positive attitude that you can fly it. If you feel that it is too much plane for you, then it probably is. If you are doubting yourself before you fly it, that will carry over while you are flying, and psych you out.

JR, the sim is good for a lot of things and I use one but they really aren't very good for comparing planes. Next time I fly a plane that handles anything like the sim plane will be the first time. I use mine a lot learning new stunts so I have the stick controls imprinted in my brain so I don't have to do very much thinking when I'm at the field and really flying the plane.
I like to turn the wind up with heavy gusts just to get my reactions up to par.
Now for a debate on Sims!!! We had a few before!!

I agree with you, I have Phoenix sim and I think it is very close to real, but I can always fly and land every plane on the sim a lot easier then in real life, I also turn up the wind and the gust, but it still is not quite the same.

Maybe when I feel rich, I will take the stuff out of the shoestring and put it into an comparable arf that I really don't care as much about and fly that.

Thanks guys

Jon

Greetings from South Carolina

Have someone that is comfortable to take you up with this plane, see if you can find a comfortable height, then find out what the stall characteristics are at this height, pratice landing approaches and keep in mind that the further you get away from trainers the faster the landing speeds need to be in order to keep from stalling this airplane.

It is all about maintaining control of your aircraft, you already have the tools in place to determine the pattern and approach needs to be in order to take off and land a trainer, once you move away from a trainer, you have to learn what will happen when this new airplane stalls, then keep the speed above this speed.

I hope this is of some help, keep up the pratice.

Tom

If you want something that is still in production that should fly similar, try the Cosmic Wind Minnow.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXKAG2&P=0

Both the shoestring and the Cosmic Wind Minnow were Pylon (Reno) racers, and both being shoulder wing aircraft should have similar flight characteristics.

Minnow has larger wingspan and more wing area so it will be a little slower on landings, and maybe a little less agile than the Shoestring.

Original question?
when do you know you are ready to go to third plane?

Answer:
When ever you have crashed the previous two planes.

I have flown the shoestring plane on my 4.5 sim, even that we all know that it is way different than the real feeling, I can tell that this one will keep your sticks very busy, and needs to come hot on landigns because it is easier to stall than any other sport plane. It is a really nice plane but I think that it is in the limbo, I mean it is not exactly manufactured by great planes as a racer performer and it is not a reliable sport plane, but hey that is my opinion.

And a more appropriate answer might be that you may be ready for a third plane but possibly not the one that you want yet.

Some pilots progress to a more advanced plane too fast and do not get the skills honed as well as taking smaller steps.

A possible answer is to ask to fly someone else's plane that is similar. It know it sounds far fetched, but many folks in clubs will sometimes allow newer pilots to fly a faster or more aerobatic plane to see how the new pilot can handle it. I'm not saying take-off and landings, but up in the air (three mistakes high!) I have been on that route, and it really opened my eyes and those that have flown my planes. The Shoestring can be a handfull. They like to fly fast and can be a pain to land if you are used to a floater. Or, have someone with more experience in your club fly it for you and let you get some stick time on it. My 2 cents

Thanks again guys, I am confident that I can fly it, I maybe would not have much fun flying it (to worried about crashing it) and if you are worried about crashing something, you won't fly it as well. I will keep my eyes for something like it, but since I can't get parts for it, and I think it is a pretty plane, I will keep it in the hanger for a while. Unless I sell it

Jon

I HAD A ULTRA SPORT 1000 HAHAHA THAT DIDN'T LAST AND NOW I HAVE A SUPER SPORSTER HAHAHA FIXING IT NOW THESE LOW WING PLANES ARE EXTREMLY FAST AND AGILE IN THE AIR YOU BETTER BE GOOD ON TRACKING THEM IN THE SKY I PERFER NOW A HIGH WING PLANE OR A MID WING PLANE I AM NOT ABOUT HAULING A'' I ENJOY JUST FLYING AROUND PLAY THE SIM AND YOU'LL HAVE A GOOD WARM AND FUZZY ON WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE SHOESTRING AND POSSIBLY TRY FLYING WITH FLIGHT FAILURES