When does the nevousness stop?
 

Ive had about 5 flights and my hands still shake and its getting
in the way of flying the plane.

I know in my mind I can control it but I still get
real nervous. When does it stop?

Jimmy

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

I've been flying for a few years and consider myself a decent flyer of both planes and helis. I still get nervous. I find the nerves to vary depending on the cost of the plane. My tribute doesn't get my heart racing unless I do something crazy, my 30cc sbach onthe other hand, about gave me a heart attack when I maidened it the other day. You'll find that your nerves will calm a bit when you get a second plane. Because in the back of your mind you know that if you crash you still have somethin to fly. Embrace the nerves! They make this hobby fun! If there wasn't a risk, there would be little reward

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

G'day

I think for me it stopped when I reaslised I could build another plane. I had quite a few disasters early on but I recovered from them and went on.

But, it was not until I discovered the Kadet Senior that I really found confidence. Here was a plane I KNEW I could fly and land anywhere, anytime.

That was some years ago. Recently I maidened a largish Spacewalker and that gave me a few jitters but once I had flown it a couple of times I settled down.

Gliders also helped me to settle down. Electric ones. And the Dynaflyte Butterfly which just floats around.

So if I need to settle the nerves, I reach for a Kadet or an nice floaty glider. If I want some excitement, there's the Somethin' Extra or my Stick with a Jett 46 in it.

Mike from Oz.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

For me, usually after the second flight of the day, after I am comfortable with the way I am responding to the aircraft performance and after I've done about 10 touch and go landings.

In other words, for most of us, it never really goes away. We just get comfortable and fly the plane. There always is a slight nag in the background that tells us that we have to be careful... or else.

CGr

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

I was nervous off and on for most of the first year of flying and only once in a while after that and that usually when I am tired and really don't feel like flying. Most of the time I find that I am just not nervous anymore. After you put about 400 flights or so on a plane the nervousness subsides, your confidence builds, and you really start to have a blast flying, especially with the cheaper planes.

I rarely get nervous anymore and I am not sure why. I will rarely fly a plane that I don't feel comfortable with or that is way out of my skill range. My Revolver 59 is about my limit, but I can really take it to the limit now.

I just feel so much more comfortable flying now and I have only been flying a little over two years. In the late fall will be my third AMA membership renewal so just a little over two years flying at this point.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

I have to force myself to not get overconfident, and take my time.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

Ain't it cool!:D
That's adrenalin and/or endorphins, the rush, a natural high. After a while, if your lucky, you wont totally loose it, but get use to it, even crave it. Some guys push the limits to keep it......... or to get it back.
I've been flying ten years and I still get it when I fly my 180 mph speed plane with over 300 flights on it. After landing, I show my hands to the guys in the pits and we all get a good laugh out of it.
That plane is flown with 100% expo to fly smooth yet still have full defections, even so, when I get the yips I can see it in the plane....funny.

At 5 flights your still a newbie, but it sounds like you know you got it so you should settle down soon...... when you reach the point, don't think about it, Just Do.;)

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

I've had days where I've spooked myself good.  Not always sure why - but some days I can just tell I'm not on my game.  Seems to be with the hotter or squirrelier models, but not always so.  What works for me is a short first flight and then, by the time the model is refuled and checked over I'm usually calmed down. 

Certainly when you're first starting out you're entitled to be a ball of nerves.  It will pass.  The good news is that the times I have dorked a plane it's usually not the day I'm cautious.  It's the day I'm feeling hot or just being careless.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

I am in my 6th gallon of gas, so really a beginner.
I still get nervous although I am very comfortable with my planes.
Getting a second plane helps, knowing if anything happens, I can have another one ready to fly.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

If your really lucky it will never go away. I lost the feeling some time ago, even on maidens and I miss it. Once in a while I will just be off a little bit and I get a little of it back for a while and I enjoy the bit of shake in the knees.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

When you start flying your buddies planes :) ........ jk

It will not take long, but then you push a little to learn something new and the nerves show themselves again, you start flying lower and lower and the nerves show up again. You get really good and get a sponsorship... nerves go away.


Cheers,
Steve

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

Same with me. Though I have been flying for nearly 4 years now, I still get nervous. Most of the nervousness is before the first flight and, strangely, in the 2nd flight when I ususlly shake in my thumbs.

Probably I am too focussed in the first flight to shake and in the second, I usually do all my aerobatics and most of my mistakes. When that happens, level your airplane going into the wing and tell yourself "Relax, relax". I found it helps. It also helps if you take risks (aerobatics) progressively rather than all at once

Ameyam

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

When does the nervousness stop? When does the heart stop? Basically, same question.

No, seriously - it really never does. I've been flying these things for decades (since 1955) and there are still days that my first flight brings the nerves out - - and that's on a plane I've been flying since 1974, a plane that has NO surprises for me anymore. As time goes on and your experience grows those days will become fewer and farther between. If you fly enough (several times a week) it might even simply vanish for awhile. But let a winter go by with no flying and that first spring flight will bring them right back again, for at least a flight.

I came to the conclusion that it's a tiny little gremlin in the back of my head. I know my plane's OK, I know that I'm OK - he knows that there's a lotta $$$$$$ up there - and that's the whole thing. Not to worry, my friend. When ALL the nerves go away is when you start worrying that you're not paying enough attention.

BTW, welcome to what I've always considered the greatest sport on Earth!!!!

Dave

(pic - my 1974-built/flown Goldberg Sr. Falcon)

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

Nerves come from lack of experience. Experience comes from lack of nerves!
Seriously though, just keep putting the plane in the air, flying it, and you'll relax. Learn to "get in front of the plane" rather than just throwing the sticks around, and you'll build confidence faster. Have a plan when you fly. If you just go up, keep the plane from crashing for a few minutes, and then land, it will take longer to build the skills it takes to have confidence in your skills. Have a constant preflight routine that includes a thorough preflight and post-flight inspection, and you'll gain confidence in your equipment.

Brad

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

Still get nervous once in a while after 15 yrs., but a tray helps me. I was always nervous holding the transmitter. Hard for me to hold the xmtr and make precise inputs. Things get sweaty in Alabama in the summer. After I got a tray, I could relax(and concentrate) more with nothing pulling on my neck and the tray holding the xmtr. Also try putting the fuzzy part of peel and stick Velcro on the back of the xmtr. Better than slick plastic. If you can relax with the xmtr., that is one less job to do while flying.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

Going on 7 years of flying, first take off my thumbs shake especially right one for aileron+elevator, after gaining a safe altitude it goes away, second flight is full of confidence. First flight would always makes me nervous and maiden flights too.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

They never go away. Been flying for almsot 5 years and it still happens. Sometimes alot other days not so much

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

haven't left for me yet. Yr number 4. Get into heli's if they ever leave. They will come back then, I guarantee.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

What is nervous? It's an inanimate object. It does what you tell it, unlike a woman. Now that should make you nervous! Think about it this way. If you destroy it that gives you a reason to build another plane.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

If you're lucky, you will always have some nervousness when you fly. Professional entertainers will tell you they always have a bit of stage fright before performing. Flying an RC model is one of the most mentally draining things we can do. In time we get more acclimated and it doesn't seem as prevalent as earlier. Stepping up the complexity or investment (time or money spent) renews the jitters for me. When testing a new model, I find it helps me to spend some time thinking out my sequence of events before the flight. I think there is less pressure if you always know what you want to do next.
I had a professional musician once tell me that eating a banana just prior to a performance always tends to lessen the jitters. I don't know if it was putting some solid food in your tummy, blood/sugar balance, or if the content actually made a difference but it always helped me. When I used to compete, I would keep some bananas in my cooler for use just prior to my flights. Even if it doesn't work for you, bananas are a good wholesome food. Can't hurt.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

Buy yourself a used trainer that won't bother you to crash. You should be able to relax so you can hone your skills

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

It's all part of the hobby. Practice touch and goes untill you can do them in your sleep. Your confidence will get stonger as you get better. Give your self goals like 3 touch and goes per flight then later 5 per and till you can do like 20. Remember It's a fun hobby. It's been a fun journey for me.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

They usually come back when you say to the judges "The first maneuver will be takeoff" and the wind is blowing at 20mph

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

after a few beers :D[8D];)

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

  I am back in the hobby after a 15 year break been flying steady for a year and a half, I don't get to nervous with my toledo special after picking up the pieces when I decieded to put it in the only tree on the final approch and rebuilbing, and flying much faster planes I am confident with it. I am sure this confidence will cause another rebuild.  When the nerovsness goes it is time for more plane I think.</p>

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

Nerves? I just finished building a plane from a kit. 18 months of work! I was nervous about the maiden but worked through it. Took the plane off and it was a bear! Wanted to do nothing BUT stall! Got it back on the ground, took a day to repair a couple cracks in the cowl, readjust the CG (NOT according to the manufacturers specs that were WAY off!) and get a new prop. 24 hours later I was standing at the fields edge, engine running and hands shaking...ready to try it again!
I've been doin' this for over 10 years and still get the shakes. But there is no feeling better than when it all comes together and your big ol' ME 109 comes rippin' down the runway on a full throttle flyby, you tip the wings slightly and get a full view of the top side as it screams by...it's worth every nerve racking minute!

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

Interesting read. I'll be taking to the skies here within the next few weeks for the first time myself...I do want to put forth that even with cars the jitters are there a bit. Every time I fire it up I'm a bit nervous, and the jitters are the strongest as I slip the last body pin in and set it on the ground. They disappear pretty quickly, though, when I give it a blip and it starts scooting about, and by the time the engine has warmed up I'm cool, calm, and amused.


God I hope I'm not a jittery mess when I'm handed the controls to my plane for the first time...hahaha

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

Every maiden.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

Hi

Now this is a fun thread ,................ good reading

Michel

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

After solo'ing, when I put something new together, I really had the jitters about maiding the darned thing. So, I asked my trusty Instructor if he would mind doing it for me. He gladly accepted, saying that it was always a thrill for him to maiden any model, his, mine, anyone's. Especially someone else's.. :D Perhaps he realized that if it crashed, HE wasn't out the bucks, I was. [:o] ;)

Anyway, after a couple of those, I thought about it a bit and said to myself, "Why should he have all the fun". So, I set everything to minimum, applied quite a bit of expo to the controls, checked that all deflections went in the right direction... [X(] and started the thing up. Once I taxied it out and straightened it preparing for take-off, it seemed that all thoughts of maiding a new plane went away and all I was doing was flying another plane.. well, almost.

I took off carefully and carefully climbed to altitude. The first order of business is trim. So, I set the throttle at a comfortable point and carefully set the trims. I flew a few orbits and quickly landed it and checked to see how much of the trim could be dialed out mechanically to re-center the sticks and did that.

Then, after about 20 to 30 minutes of messing around with the trims, I re-checked everything to make sure I didn't accidentally reversed something, and put it in the air again and re-checked the trim.

Then the fun began. Loops, Rolls, Inverted, Hammerheads, Reverse Cuban 8's, and so on..

But, I must admit, even though I said that the jitters went away when I lined it up, they were really there, I just focused on the task at hand, and that was to safely maiden the plane. After about three tanks the jitters were pretty much gone and I really was learning the handling characteristics of that new plane.

Needless to say, they, the jitters, never really go away, but we learn to deal with them as best we can. The folks that I see crashing a lot are those that simply take things for granted and fly with over-confidence and ignore that little voice in the back of there minds that are saying "you really should not do that..". How do I know? I've done it. How many times have you said, Oh, hell, just one more time.. and, well, brought things home in a basket? My opinion only here. I'm sure that some will object to that observation.

Aaaanyway, I thought I'd add that.

CGr.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

Yo Bro, I think I like your idea a lot more than my bananas! I guess that's why its called a six-pack of courage. After three or four, your inverted passes are a lot lower!! ;-)

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

G'day again

I learned to fly (the basics) at one club then had an eight year layoff. Then I started again at a second and learned a bit more. And then we moved again and I joined my third club. My first two clubs flew Mode 1 and so that was what I had learned but my current club is really mostly Mode 2 so when I built new planes there was no one to test them other them but me. Si decided that if anyone was going to crash my planes, it might as well be me.

Since then I have test flown about 30 planes; mostly my own but a few others. I crashed two of mine. One was just WAY out of trim thanks to warped wood and the other was, I suspect, tail heavy but the instructions were so poor I really don't know. The rest were fine and these days I am pretty relaxed about it but being too relaxed leads to trouble. Like the time I forgot to pull the antenna up on my beautiful Four Star 60. It went about 100 metres then suddenly rolled right. I realised what the problem was, ripped the antenna up, rolled back level and applied full up and almost missed the ground. As the angle of attack was pretty fine, the damage was light.

So I guess that it means that when you feel confident all the time, and never feel nervous - WATCH OUT. That is when things go wrong. That's when you don't check things properly.

Mike in Oz

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

Never.

If you're not a bit nervous you're not pushing the envelope....or it's time for a new scale warbird : )

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

I see most people say never. I used to have my advanced instructor do all my maidens for me so when I got the plane it was all trimmed out for me. After he had a stroke I looked around and decided there weren't any pilots that I trusted better then I trusted myself. After my first maiden flight I did myself I lost all the shakes and sweats and just don't get the jeebees any more.
I'm thinking maybe it's an attitude problem on my part?? I don't worry about it, the planes don't do anything I can't control and if I do something stupid then OH WELL. I'll just build another one.
I don't like to maiden other peoples planes, it isn't nerves, it's because I can never be sure what they have done or how the plane is set up. If it's something I have built or set up for them I have no problem with it.
I really do miss the shakes though, it added that element to flying that kept me on my toes. I have a bad case of the HO HUMS when flying, maybe that's why I like building better then flying??

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

Ha!!! Oh man I remember those days! For the first couple years, I would be so nervous at times my back would start to seize up and I'd have to shuffle back to the pits. Stomach rumbling, feeling all jittery... man I'm glad I don't have that anymore. The more flying you do, and the more types of planes you fly, it will become less and less. There'll always be a tiny bit of jitter, but that will typically show up when you're flying a new plane, flying in windy conditions or conditions you're not used to. But they, the jitters, will be nowhere near as pronounced as you experience now. Recently I maidened my 1/3 Paulistinha, never flown a plane that big, and have only flown maybe once this year. Was I nervous? Naw... I have confidence in my building abilities and confidence in my flying skills. Besides, you'll come to understand after a few years that it'll either fly well or crash, so come what may. Confidence will kill the jitters and it only be obtained from experience. So while wasn't nervous, I was 'aware' and made sure I had everything nailed down and it was ready to fly. Once you set onto the line, no biggie.. time to fly!! You'll get there, they will pass!!

Dittos to gray beard. I don't fly anothers on maiden either. Happy to assist and spot, but they or someone else can do the flying. It can bring a bad mood to otherwise good friends if it turns out wrong, not to mention I'd feel horrible if something went south and dug dirt with it.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

Great thread!
3 years flying, two in GS gassers. I still shake almost every time I fly...

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

It's never really left me, either, though I'd describe it as a "heightened sense of alertness", rather than nervousness.

'Cept if it's a new model, of course. Then it's a mix of apprehension and reluctance and determination and fatalism.

If I haven't flown for a while, something marvellous happens. As I drive to the flying field and catch sight of models in the air ... oh, do I get a buzz. And then the smell of burnt fuel in the pits. Whoa! Absolutely the most fun you can have with your clothes on.



Or, perhaps, I'm a bit odd? 26 years and counting.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

HI
every first flight until she is trimmed-and every maiden flight-for 20 years
ENJOY BEST REGARDS TONY

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

In 5 years of flying it has never stopped for me. I get nervous just before I fly, but after I take off it tends to go away. Unless I fly my war bird then it is another story.

I also get nervous hand launching planes I was never good at it and I still am not good at it.

RE: When does the nevousness stop?
 

When you are toes up! :)