RE: When is a beginner not a beginner??
 

I would highly recommend that you NOT fly that plane in a Park with people around. You have absolutely no control over what adults, kids or pets are going to do. Hit one of them and you can kiss your ass-ets goodbye. The dangers are just too great.
Dennis-

RE: When is a beginner not a beginner??
 

hehe 3 out of 4 of the airfields in 'my' area are surrounded by people in a park. And now that I think of it, I have never seen an airfield without it being in a park. ONly one so far was far away from the 'normal' traffic. The one I am at now, we literally fly over walkers heads all day. :)

ce le vie.

btw, then why am I paying the rather outrageous AMA fee cost for then? If someone driving recklessly hits someone, their insurance still pays. And I am not flying wrecklessly. Just not lucky enough to have a large open field anywhere close to me. To many hills and trees. If there is a field, there are people and it's always goign to be in a park setting.


S

RE: When is a beginner not a beginner??
 

here is a pic of my airfield, drawn expertly by me using MSPAINT! Lol. The sad part is I actually do drawing work to a precise detail level using a cad based program platform with very little to 0 level margin of error allowed. Fortunately, I have the proper tools at work. :)

Note the thing is nowhere near to scale. But you get an idea basically of how things are. Everything looks pretty close to scale actually IN GENERAL..

Tell me what U think. The pavilion is about 3 airplanes wide. (trainer 40s) and the runway is about the proper scale to the pavilion etc. The distance between the trail and the runway may actually be a bit closer in some spots and further in others..not sure really. I would post a pic, but I don't want my secret to be known. :) When it is not crowded with people, it is a nice place to fly at as there are few other flyers there.

S

RE: When is a beginner not a beginner??
 

Your sketch makes me believe that this is at a club site, which wasn't obvious earlier, when you said, 'the park was full of millions of people'.

All I could picture was some public park, with kids and swings and dogs running around, and there you are with your glow trainer in the middle of them, throttle wide open, just barely in control. [sm=eek.gif]

Dennis-

RE: When is a beginner not a beginner??
 

LOL DBCHERRY.

Sorry. sigh. No like I said it is FULL of people...but not that full hehe. To us, a park full of people is you can't look in any given direction and not see someone. In other words, public nudity would probably get you arrested. :) Mostly walkers, but kids draw interest...(and rightfully so) in the RC field. It is a club site, and it even has a paved runway. It takes about 3/4 of the runway to takeoff with a trainer to give you an idea of the length.

I hear alot of complaints from visitors especially about the size. Not comments, outright complaints! So imagine how they would react to a busy day at the park. Needless to say, if they would just move the walking trail OVER a bit, it would give us two approaches. At the moment we can only takeoff and land in one direction...regardless of the wind (which matters not anyway because there is ALWAYS a crosswind at our backs)

S

RE: When is a beginner not a beginner??
 

the purpose of ama is that if you do end up flying wrecklassly or your plane somehow goes out of control, and you hit someone or something, ama has an $8000 insurance payout i think. and, it is even more important in your case than most others, becasue the more people are there, the greater the chances are. the private club i fly at is the next door neighbor of the 118 freeway. it is REQUIRED that you have ama to fly there.

RE: When is a beginner not a beginner??
 

I was a beginner for 10 yrs! I was finally able to get out of that stage when I found a club that was a 30 min drive away(and got someone to train me) and I bought a radio that was reliable. I just heard not long ago the great flyer that trained me at that club is now almost blind.[sm=frown.gif]

RE: When is a beginner not a beginner??
 

I think that a beginner moves up a notch after they can come to the field and can do everything by themselves safely without help. Today I just flew my second plane (a super sportster) without assistance from anyone and felt that my beginner days have gone away but are not forgotten. I have only been flying for a few months and have learned so much from my instructors and from this forum. You will know when you are not a beginner anymore.

RE: When is a beginner not a beginner??
 

me personally, i stayed on my trainer for a year. partly because i couldn't afford another one, second of all because i wanted to make sure i had it down and could recover from any situation my trainer could offer. then, i went to a gp easy sport. great plane. not too sporty, but a great plane. like a trainer until you cranked up the throws. i considered myself a beginner until i got my cap. however, now that i have mastered it (it's a piece of junk) i feel a lot more expert than i know i am, and i know i had better watch it.

RE: When is a beginner not a beginner??
 

DB I did a ROUGH estimate when I was last out there. The field is 9x60 large paces (which I think is approximately 30 feet x 180) ??

Flew two more times yesterday. Not ONE person at the park! It was a beautiful sunny day. Go figure. My first landing...I hit the runway a bit long...got scared and pushed it down when I THOUGHT it was in the grass already but unfortunately it just barely skimmed the wing tip and the tip of the prop a tiny tiny little bit.

Second landing...BEAUTIFUL approach...then I thought I was going a bit fast...and notched down a bit on the throttle. It stalled at about 10 feet...glided in, then bounced 3 times down the middle of the runway lol. sigh. I managed to keep it on the runway and turn it RIGHT at the end to head back toward me and it stopped right in the middle like it was ready for another takeoff. Unfortunately my radio was showing 60% at that point so I decided to fly another day. :)

When I took the plane up, I was thinking to myself. What happened to the rush? :( But today I want to go again. So I think it's always going to be there, but never like the first time eheh. I guess that is like anything. One thing for sure, I am glad I am not as nervous as I was my first flight. Shaking afterwards for hours hehe.

S

RE: When is a beginner not a beginner??
 

you know, i had a real rush until i becan to discover that my cap was a piece of crap. i still want to go flying, but i don't have near the urge anymore. the plane i want to get that i know will last me years will not be out on the market until early next year. also, i have to really save up. i am only 13, so it is all off of allowance, lawn mowing, and aluminum cans. in short, i bottom feed for everything

RE: When is a beginner not a beginner??
 

lol 13! geesh. At least your parents don't give you everything you ask for. This way when you get something you worked for,...you enjoy it much more. Ever notice how the rich are never seemingly happy with their stuff? Of course, a bit of money in the accounts sure makes life pleasant also. :)
Well, good luck saving to get your plane. I hope it all works out for you. You should try to get some light home improvement work in your area for payment 'under the table'. I know lotsa old people are looking (at least in my area) for someone to work for 5-10 bucks an hour doing pretty easy stuff. You could have that in no time.

GL

S

RE: When is a beginner not a beginner??
 

hmmm. i wil lolook into that. it is much more satisfying when you have to earn the plane, but when it turns out to be a piece of crap and you saved up for a long time, it is a lot more dissappointing. i have no other plane that can satisfy my aerobatic needs.

RE: When is a beginner not a beginner??
 

Im too much of a newb to help you out buddy :(

A friend of mine swears by this one they sell at tower hobbies. But when I looked up the price, it was the cheapest one. SO for that reason alone ( I know it's a lame one) it lends me to believe that it's just kinda basic.

Yea you have a point there. Kinda makes you feel like you are doomed to fail when you pour your heart, soul, and $$ into something and it turns out flat.


What kinda plane you looking at? How much is it? Is it a kit or arf?

S

RE: When is a beginner not a beginner??
 

any trainer, cheap or expensive, usually flies really well. all trainers are pretty much alike. tricycle gears, downthrust, high wing with lots of dihedral, light weight, low wing loading, simple to build, andi f you are lucky, thurough instructions. a lot of the trainers charge more because either they are big brand names or they used a more expemsive wood to build. the more expensive wood is not necessary because unless you fit it with a huge engine, nothing you can ever do will snap it, break it, or structurally damage it in the air. the ground is a different story. if you aren't going for the buddy box method, get the cheapest stuff and upgrade if you feel it is necessary. however, the only hting you will notice more of on the trainer is more power so i suggest you just get a big enough engine to power your way out of trouble, and save the upgrading for another plane. for instance, if it is a .40 size trainer, a .46-50 two stroke will suit you fine. a four stroke is a waste of money on a trainer, so don't even think about it. you are only doomed to fail if you do something stupid like try to take off with down elevator or something like that. i would reccomend just getting the plane and putting large, low bounce wheels on it. use bent music wire gears. the solid aluminum or fibergalss aren't near as shock absorbing. also, streach a rubber band or two from one end of the gear to the other so it springs back into place better. when it is sitting on the goround, you want the nose pointing down so if you forget to flare, you don't ruin your nosegear, and break your prop.