My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

Well, my son and I soloed today (Eagle63_Flyer and Maverick_2). What an experience! I would like to thank Excap232 for all of his help in the training. He worked with us tirelessly until we were greasing them in. He advocates use of the rudder and it really helps on the landings. He also has shown us how to manipulate the throttle right before touchdown to make the landing more smooth. What a great day. We are on cloud nine!

I would also like to thank everyone that helped us get the Eagle flying good with all of our rudder and nose wheel problems.


MinnFlyer, do you think we could have 2 solo certificates? One would be for Matt Hostetter and the other for Dave Hostetter.


Thanks. :D

RE: My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

Congrats to both of you, Eagle! Now be prepared to see your son start flying circles around you!!! ;)

RE: My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

Not only do you get two, but you get the first editions of the new design!

(now let's see if I can work this multiple post)

RE: My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

Thanks MinnFlyer! We will frame them.

Also, thanks for all your tips along the way.

RE: My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

Congrats to you and your son from another new RC flyer. I also soloed Sunday, Sept. 7, 2003, with a Hobbico Superstar 40 (but have a .46 Royal engine in mine) from a grass strip. I have been flying full scale planes since 1971 and have a 1947 Bonanza that I got in 1978. Found it challenging to learn and fly the RC.

RE: My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

Congratulations on your solo. I had a rough time transitioning. I destroyed my LT-40 2 flights post solo. Take it easy and have fun. And fly your trainer until you are bored. I did this and I think it has helped me move up. By the way, I have only been flying since June, this year.

Just my 2 cents.

RE: My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

Update:

My son and I have gotten many solo flights in since our solo date. We are having a blast. We both love to do touch and goes, and takeoff and landings. My last 3 flights I was doing loops, rolls, tail slides, and some split S's. It was a lot of fun.

Some things we have learned:
1. Don't fly when it is getting close to dark. VERY easy to loose perspective.
2. My son can't fly when its semi-dark rain type clouds out as it is not bright enough for him to see the plane well and he looses perspective.
3. Never look or fly directly into the sun.
(I needed to save the plane for my son when he made this mistake)
4. Our low-end idle adjustment gets richer on certain days requiring more time for the throttle to spool up on transition. (you need to account for this when landing)
5. Rubberbands can lose strength throughout the day. I now pre-flight the strength of them EVERY flight as my plane will hook to the right if the bands are loose at all.
6. Different days require different landing approaches depending if the air is dense or not. Sometimes the plane will float, other times on different days it will not float as much. You need to adjust to the changing conditions.

We are learning and have a ton of fun. I'll keep you all posted as time progresses.

Update II (soloed on another model)
 

I soloed on my Falcon 56 last night. It is
a rocket (.46 OS FX in the nose). I fly it at about 1/10th throttle. It took off in about 15 feet at 1/2 throttle! I put such a huge engine in it because I want that engine for other models in the future. I love that OS FX, it is a sweet running engine with tons of power.

I'm looking forward to flying this upside down and doing other aerobatics with it. It has a semi-symmetrical wing and a lifting tail. Should be fun.

I am bummed when the sun goes down and the flying must stop. I guess this is a good thing! :D

RE: Update III (my son does first tail touch)
 

Update:

Since my son and I have soloed we have both built Zagis and
3DX's. Both are a blast to fly and we have fun flying combat with the
Zagis and 3D with the foamies.

I am really proud of my son who is starting to get pretty good at torque rolling.
(Dad is still working on it). He can torque about 4-7 times each time now and is
doing the torques about 3 feet off the ground. Last evening he did his first torque roll
tail touch! I was very proud of him (he is 14 years old). Kids learn sooooo fast.

RE: Update III (my son does first tail touch)
 

Glad to hear you guys are doing so well!

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the "Nintendo Generation" pick this stuff up!

RE: Update III (my son does first tail touch)
 

Thats so cool, I can't wait untill I can solo it sounds soooo awsome, unfortunately I am still training. Really looking forward to soloing though...:D

RE: Update III (my son does first tail touch)
 

hi Eagle63_Flyer, what tips did your instructor give you on how to manipulate the throttle right before touchdown to make the landing more smooth?

RE: Update III (my son does first tail touch)
 

Just want to make sure of something.. If you are re-using your rubber bands be really careful. Glow fuel eats them. If they have any glow fuel on them they should be thrown out.

RE: My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

Congrats on the solos! I will be there with my son someday! He is 2 weeks old today and can't wait for the day!

RE: My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

i remeber when i soloed, ahhhhhh was flying circles around my dad the next day, enough about that but wow congrats and make sure you pass on the skill, do it for the hobby, and continue flying your trainers for the next couple months and practice those landings as much as possible trust me you it teachs you more than you think at first

RE: Update III (my son does first tail touch)
 

My instructor taught us to give a small amount of throttle right before touchdown to smooth it out. This will stop the bouncing.
Use rudder on final .... rudder is your friend.

RE: Update III (my son does first tail touch)
 

I solo'd on my NexStar Saturday, and all my landings were smooth. I think I landed her better than my instructor...he allways tilted her over on her nose after touching down...I even landed smooth as a deadstick and i only flown it 2 days! I guess those simulator really do work!!!

Update #4 (my son masters the torque roll)
 

Well, if I didn't see it with my own 2 eyes I would not have believed it.
This weekend my son made a flying break-through. He is now able to
torque roll his 3DX as long as he wants. It is quite a sight to see. He is also
able to tail touch while torque rolling and he now walks around the plane as he is
torquing it. I am improving my torque rolling skills as well as I can now get
up to 3 torque rolls. Its not easy, which I guess is why I am so impressed my
14 year old kid can do it so well. I am a very proud father as you can probably tell.
:D :D :D

Can't wait for warmer weather so I can get out more and practice!

RE: My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

Damn kids. :D

RE: My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

I started modelling before I could drive. My dad had to drive me to the flying field and go through all the emotions that I had (he doesn't fly). From the exhilaration of taking the model home in one piece and the disappointment of stoofing another one in. I now fly all sorts of models but the early learning stage was by far the hardest/biggest achievement.

Congratulations, you are both now well on your way. It's a fantastic feeling. Enjoy it and good luck with the rest of your flying.

RE: My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

Hey, let me throw my congrats in too on your solo. It's a great feeling, isn't it? I would suggest that you head on over to office depot and buy 1/4 lb of #64 rubber bands, they're about .89 a bag. You can use them once then throw them away. Cheap insurance, like the old song sez, "it don't mean a thing if you ain't got no wing" at least I think that's how it goes. Have fun!

RE: My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

Congrats Eagle,

I am still in training and dad won't even give it a go:D
Have to turn him around.
Minn- buy us the stuff and we'll fly it all day for you:)

RE: My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

Update #5:

The other day it was nice out so my son and I went out to fly our 3DX's. It was sooo
cool to torque roll beside him, it looked really neat. He can hold his torque roll longer than me
but I am starting to get the hang of it and I feel with some more practice I will soon have it down pat.

Next up is the Sig Somethin Extra which is our winter project. Mine is about 3/4 done and my sons is about 1/4 done.
They should be fun birds to fly with the Irvine .53's we are putting in the nose.

I am considering buying an OMP 540 or an Extreme Flight 540 fun fly 3D profile machine next with a Saito .72 in the nose.
That should be a blast.

Too many interesting planes and not enough $$$ !!

RE: My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

Tell me about it!

RE: My son and I soloed yesterday!
 

Update #6:

Wow, I saw another first with my son's flying last night. We both have made FFF Foamy Factory Extra 300's to replace our 3DX foamies. The 300's are more areobatic than the 3DX's and hence more fun.
They have an awesome roll rate. My son did several near perfect elevators last night! They were soooo good, almost no wing rocking and he actually belly landed from a 300 ft elevator straight down! It looks so cool. He is just amazing me with his emerging skills. He is practicing slow rolls and rolling circles now and can torque roll as long as he wants. He is practicing more control with tail-touching while torque-rolling on a beach towel. Once he perfects that he is going to make the target smaller and smaller.

It is really fun watching him learn. (he actually teaches me some of this 3D stuff!)