GaryHarris

No guts, no glory! Just go for it.

Another self taught.

psuguru

Nope, I don't think so.
It's whatever floats your boat....This is for your amusement and interest, not ours.

But as one who has been doing this for a long tme, I can say that I enjoy flying much more than repairing!
I found that my full-size flying experience translates into model experience very well. I use trims a lot more than some RC only pilots, preferring to fly with neutral stick. this aids accuracy on the approach in particular. You may find the same; but landing will be a challenge!
What I did find difficult initially was the problems of orientation relating to when the model is coming towards you, passing through the overhead and then away.
One tip I could recommend is do not turn the model through your overhead. You can develop extreme angles of bank without realising it until too late. Spiral dive, smoking hole.

A trainer won't be capable of removing limbs, unless you thrust your fingers into the prop at full blast, but it could hurt you badly. Please don't be tempted to fly alone, at least for a time.
At my own club in the UK we had two serious accidents in the space of a week involving lost fingers. (with big engines) One fellow nearly died from vascular shock as the prop sliced into his thigh too. He was saved by the people who were around at the time. The paramedics arrived in 7 minutes and were only just in time.

Best Wishes for your return to the hobby.
Carole

rednekk58

i'm self taught also. two channel ace wizard with a cox golden bee borrowed off a u-control threw the plane. crash. fix. throw the plane. crash. fix. throw the plane,. it climbed slowly!! trimmed rudder, now it was going straight too! gave small "blips" of rudder to fly big circles. SUCCESS! that was about 1977 or 78. it can be done. instructor would have been easier. didn't know of any clubs back then. used the looking over the shoulder trick when it was coming towards me. have taught others that trick too! not all like it. trim it to fly itself, then interupt it's flight path with small blips of control. flown full scale too. everything but the checkride before running out of cash.
have fun. buy lots of glue. don't get discouraged. i still keep a garbage bag with me for the toothpicks, or rekits. i've had plenty of planes. crashed dang near all of them. flying the edge. if i ain't pushing myself, i ain't hav'in fun.
good luck!

redfox435cat

way back on the day RC's were merely guildable free flight gliders so there wasn't much to learn if you could build a straight flying glider. They spent allot more time fiddling and building than they did flying.
Most started with free flight, then u-control and slope soarers then powered RC. With digital proportional control bought some better gear and eventually better engine. In those day you basically passed the transmitter back and forth. The main difference now is peoples impatience, They'll go out, buy a model, want to fly it now, crash it and never come back to the hobby. In your case your on your own land and are willing to spend the money so have at it, that isn't the norm.

Steve Landron

Go for it. I'm self taught and I figured it out without an instructor. Not the easiest way to go but what the heck. What will set you appart from the many people who have gone before you is your shear determination to pick up this hobby. I've said it before, RC aircraft (Fixed and Rotory) is the most rewarding hobby I have ever been involved with. Aerodynamics, electronics/robotics, and flying the darn things! Where else can you take a few pieces of wood, electronics, a bit of glue and determination and make it fly!

Best of luck and most of all stick with it!

Steve
[8D]

joeheren

My Feedback: (11)

I AGREE 100% WITH STEVE LANDRON! Good luck !!!
p.s. i did have help......but either way you go you will be hooked!!!

Joe Heren

chili300

My Feedback: (1)

I'm self taught too. No buddy box or sim. Here's what I did:

Practice your controls using yours THUMBS and your BRAIN. You can do this anytime, anywhere. Just pretend your holding your TX and visualize your plane flying. UP (right thumb back)..... DOWN (right thumb forward)....left turn...right turn... throttle...etc.

You can gain a lot of valuable "flying time" without out any equipment. This really helps to build up your "muscle memory" and doesn't cost a thing (except the funny looks you get if you're doing it in public!).

Best of luck with your maiden, and get some flying time in before you leave the ground!

Chili

FlyingIreland

Good luck. I am also self taught since there are no flying clubs or instructors around where I live. I did crash a few planes in my time, but I did learn from them! I am back in the hobby after a 5 year break and I've downloaded FMS free flight simulator to practice on. A lot of it is getting your hand and finger reflexes to know automatically which way to go in a given situation. The flight sim really helps with this. When the plane is actually in the air, theres not much time to think which way to push the sticks.

Adui

You know, I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum from Kennelmaster. I cannot afford to destroy my planes and do not have a private area to fly so I went with the recommended instructor path and now fly quite well.

However, I have been silent all this time because of this single point: IF i had the $$ to throw into the hobby that way, and IF I had my own acreage to do it on you better believe I would have done it on my own, and crashed multiple models doing it. But it would have been an enjoyable learning experience none the less, so go for it! if you haven't already, and when you solo, let us know! (preferrably with video / pictures!)

The best thing, (and yea, I am bit petty here) is when you make it, which I believe you will, you can come back here and say "I told you so!" to all the naysayers who believe it cant be done without an instructor.

Just one peice of advice, you are most likely in for a long road with multiple crashes, please please do not get discouraged by this! FLY!!

AndyW

My Feedback: (1)

The trouble is, these days you can buy a Yak, whatever size, assemble it and try to fly it cold turkey. The inevitable happens and one more radio and engine hits that bay thingie. A good trainer is needed, not a glider but a full function airplane that has stability so that if you get in trouble, you just let go of the sticks and a couple of zooms later, you regain control. There are many trainers out there that are NOT.

You don't need tons of money and you don't have to crash. Just the right airplane and some tips on that first ever flight. Look up the original, RCM trainer and you'll see what I mean. I should have a picture somewhere that I can digitize and post. I shortened my story for clarity but there was one other plane that I built before the RCM trainer. It was advertised as the ideal trainer. You could build it with a symmetrical airfoil or as a flat bottom, Clark Y. If you did it as a Clark Y, the airfoil came out too thin and that resulted in a fast plane no matter the wing loading or throttle setting. It too HAD to fly fast just to stay in the air. Anything below 7/8ths throttle and it sank like a rock. Some of the magazines gave it glowing reviews.

One of the very best trainers was the Carl Goldberg Eagle. A close second was the Sig Kadet. It comes in second in my opinion only because it was built from sticks. Lots of unfamiliar work for many beginners. The Carl Goldberg plane used Liteply with many cutouts and it came out with a low wing loading just like the Kadet without all the work. Both had sufficient amounts of down and right thrust to alleviate trim changes with throttle setting changes. That's where many trainers fail the test.

TruBlu02

I am surprised by some of the responses given here. When i read the first post he made it quite clear that he knew what he was doing and the risks involved with taking that particular route. Yes I learned on a buddy box and I am glad I did. I was a 13 year old kid with no idea what I was doing. Kennel here is a grown man using his own money on his own land. Some of you guys need to lighten up and just be happy we are still able to draw people to our hobby. Especially in this economy. Is the buddy box the better way to go? Maybe. but I think determination and patience is probably more improtant than having a buddy box. Good luck Kennel I hope it works out for you!!

Gooseman240

This is the best advice right here!! This is how this self taught pilot learned. Very well stated Jimmy, you get a rating boost from me . Slow and easy movements till you see what works (but not too slow that your plane goes out of range and altitude of course). Did the same on the flight sim that came with the plane (nexstar Select) first flight, thought I was having a heart attack

Kennel, accept all advise with a grain of salt. Eventually you will learn to filter out (skip over) the negative feedback like I have. Just a waste of my time reading all the negative stuff.

Let me add:

Crashes are not guaranteed to happen, only kidney stone(s)

rlipsett

I believe kennelmaster is pulling everyones leg. My reasons for saying this is that he joins rcuniverse on the day of his first post. The usual user joins first and lurks a little bit before posting something as controversial as this subject. If he was as headstrong as he appears in his posts he would have already flown first and then posted. He only seems to post to wind things back up. His son can fly and he asks him for help to get it in the air but not to help him fly it. And lastly he is suggesting he fly at a paved rural school which is another hot topic even though he says that he has large fields where he lives. this whole subject just seems like someones attempt to stir the community up using an assumed nickname

WestCoastFlyer

My Feedback: (1)

I'm sure some of us have noticed details that may not add up, the reason I posted in this thread is because Kennel = 1 person. The number of new people to the hobby reading this thread greatly outweigh 1. People new to the hobby will get the same things out of everyone's comments as Kennel would.

So, it's not really about Kennel, it's about reading all the great comments people have made. If Kennel gets something out of it that's a bonus.

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

even his attitude seems wierd to me! If his son can fly why not buddy box with him! Is this all so he can say I did it myself! I am better then you! I still have my trainer and it will train again! I know folks can learn on thier own but why risk a plane or life and limb if you have a person that can teach you right there in your family that would for the asking! This has been a wierd tread in the way it started to its now finished for me! Bob


Want to keep from crashing? Take off and land higher!

Adui

Um.. why not? I basically did the same thing? One need not join to lurk, one can read the posts as a guest..

jester_s1

Looks like this thread has followed the typical pattern of controversial internet conversations: 1. Dumb question or untrue statement 2. Knowledgeable responses 3. Argumentation from OP 4. Defensive posts on both sides 5. Personal insults and misrepresentation of previous posts 6. Troll accusation

All anybody needs to know on this topic is that one's chances for successful learning increase greatly with help from an experienced flyer. If a guy wants to go it alone, then he can if he wants. It will cost him many times over what a club membership and training would have cost, but you just can't tell some people anything. Anybody can learn using any approach they want, given enough time, effort, and funding. The cheapest route for all three is a buddy box but to each his own.

GaryHarris

Truth be told, if I were a noob reading this thread and thinking about getting into flying RC planes, I wouldn't do it. The man said what he was going to do and some of yall made your point about getting a buddy box, finding an instructer yadda dadda... And now we have this big giant pizzing match of a novel going on where everybody is trying out do every one else with this philosophical drama.

It's just a hobby or as Barry Baker once said, we race toy cars for bowling trophies...

Kennelmaster

rlipset,

I'm not trying to pull anyones leg.  I said I was going to TAXI at the large paved lot because my son was ill.  And, if you would like my mortgage for a few months, you can have them.  Wow, gotta be concise here.  80 acres, I call that large, in terms of RC Flying.   I guess I did bring up a hot topic controversy but had no idea about it being so.  I just want to have fun and share it with you.  Take it or leave it.  I don't feel compelled to justify it anymore or have my ramblin's picked apart and scrutinized for errors.  To those of you who have privately and publically offered encouragement, thanks.  My "reports"  will continue and probably be sprinkled with a bit of humor 'cause this thing has taken on an unintentional life of it's own.

Paul

bkfamily1

My Feedback: (1)

Paul,

I am a surface guy and do not know a damn thing about planes. But I say it's your plane, your time and your $. And you sound prepared for whatever the consequences may be. What I do understand is your excitements about a new hobby. So get out there with your son, have fun and good luck. And as for all the naysayers, don't let the ba$tards get you down!

psuguru

Oh,
One thing: there's a product in the UK called a HAL autopilot (HAL2100 I think)
The basic idea is that you fit it to the bottom of the aircraft. There's an array of photo sensors that can detect the horizon. If you get into trouble, you release the sticks and the autopilot levels the wings for you.
They are about 35 bucks I believe.
Even if you're not too bothered about the financial side of crashing, at least it will save you repair time!!

glowplugboy

My Feedback: (17)

I just wish I owned a LHS near this gentleman

AndyW

My Feedback: (1)

Here's a thought. Could it be that RCU employees start threads to generate posts ??

pilot701

My Feedback: (22)

Gotta love Gary Harris's "No guts no glory" I taught myself on some S.P.A.D.s and it was a riot! I'd hate to say it and forgive me for being rash but there is alot to be learned from crashes! Like how to get out of a spin for instance... after several spin-induced crashes I keep my speed up on landings! Though I think a better way to learn is to get something that flys straight to begin with an have an instructor or buddy box... personally i think anyone can get the mechanics of flying a plane as long as they dont just give up after a small crunch... I'v only been flyin' a year now and i'm workin on a 50cc Extra right now, just keep it in the air and toy with how it flys slow before a landing, and dont give up its a brilliant hobby!

DopeMuggy

Kennel, you rock! I had never considered getting an airplane r/c before reading your posts. You and I seem to see eye to eye on alot of things. You have inspired me. My wife will be stoked when I tell her I'm getting a r/c plane to go with my trucks and cars!

Will