Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

What is the best way to learn how to fly? Buy a $150 slow stick plane or buy the realflight g3 sim? Thanks in advance

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

If you can only do one, I'd say buy the plane and find an instructor. Sims are supposed to be great, but lots of people have learned without them, and there's no substitute for learning from someone who's experienced.

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

I think when I do decide to get a real airplane, in about a year, I am just going to buy the plane and take it to my local flying field, and have an experienced pilot do a buddy system with me, so incase I make a mistake, the buddy can take over controls.

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

I will relate my experience. I bought an LT-40 ARF and started learning to fly. I got nervous close to the ground on final with the reverse controls as the plane came towards me. Before I soloed, I had to get out of the hobby for 4 years. During that time I got G2 and practiced landing a lot. When I went back to learn to fly I soloed in about 6 flights. And it would have been less if we could have found a day without crazy crosswinds. After having practiced on the sim, I was very comfortable with plane coming toward me on final. The sim allows you to learn the controls as an instinct without thinking and without crashing a bunch of planes.

In my opinion, if you are sure you will stay in the hobby, and you want to do more than fly in circles, you might as well buy a sim right off the bat, assuming you are not on a tight budget. That way you can learn a lot of the motor skill memorization and you will be able to practice aerobatics with it latter as you progress without risking your expensive model. Look at it this way, if you save yourself one crash, it has paid for itself.

With all that said, I started with G2 and it was fine, but I got board with the plane selection and didn't want to spend more money on the addons. I recently bought Aerofly Professional Deluxe. With AFPD, the aircraft editor allows people to design new aircraft, including the appearance, so, you can download tons of aircraft for free. I also like it waaaay more than I like G2. I haven't tried G3, but I have heard mixed reports from people who have upgraded from G2.

You can learn without a sim though. As far as the slow stick, I have no idea. I have found learning to fly to be very easy. Not everyone can say that. So, one person would be best to start with a real trainer like the LT-40 that I started with. Other people can start with a more advanced trainer and be fine. As much as I love my LT-40, I wish I had started with a more advanced trainer, only because I have outgrown it so fast.

So, that is my take on it anyway. I am sure you will get a bunch more opinions.

Good luck and welcome aboard,
Patrick

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

It's up to you. The sim will let you practice when you want, as much as you want. Learning with an instructor can take a lot of patience. Personally I don't like the sim--I'd rather be flying. But I've seen a lot of first-timers at the field solo their first or second weekend, so I guess it works.

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

Well see I am worried about getting out there and trashing my plane. I am going to have to teach myself everything. So I probly should just buy a simulator and get really comfortable flying.

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

Use every learning tool you can. Go to the library and see if any books or videos are available on learning to fly RC. Great Planes has a pretty good one. When I was building my Senior Kadet, at first I was just using written materials and whatever videos I could find. But considering all the work I had invested, the Real Flight sim was without a doubt a very important learing tool. Initially I had thought sims were just toys, but the reality is that they really can be very beneficial in learning to fly RC. Also, an experienced RC'er is really a good idea. They can spot trouble areas that you wouldn't even suspect.

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

Get FMS. It is free, so not as good as the best sims, but it will teach you a lot.

http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html

I think Hitec and GWS makes adaptors so you can use a regular Tx. Otherwise you could use a gamepad with 2 analog sticks. That is what I did and I programmed the throttle on a slider on the gamepad.

Learn to fly the basics with this (taking off, landing, left and right circles, figure 8's, climbing and descending circles) with the wind settings up without any close zooming, you should be ready to fly the slow stick.

When you do maiden the slow stick, please do it when there is no wind or else you will wonder why it flies so wierd. It is a very light plane with a lot of wing area--it gets blown around easily and you won't know if it is you or the wind that is making the plane move and that makes learning more difficult.

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

I bought my self a cheap RC car to get the hang of radio control and mastered it first. You want one that uses a joystick for steering.

Then I bought a Cox EZ BEE, back then they were two channel propotional. It was cheap and disposable, important qualities for your first plane or else you won't dare fly it. I had no problems flying this plane provided there was plenty of space to land.

Then I went on to a Kadet Senorita.

With this learning route, I did not need to use a buddy cord.

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

I would go for the plane. I dont like simulators, they only show you how to crash. And since i never touched one, i still ahvent crashed in this hobby.

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

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If you never tried one how do you know you don't like sims ?

FMS was my first sim, it was free, then I bought G2 lite to really learn some good maneuvers.

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

Actually THE BEST WAY to learn how to fly is with an instructor AND a "Buddy Box" setup.

The simulators are excellent tools for helping you, HOWEVER, THEY WILL NOT TEACH YOU HOW TO FLY.

I strongly suggest going to your local flying field and talk to an instructor or two. If you are primarily interested in electric, tell them that since not every instructor works with electric planes. (Instruction from an instructor is FREE. The majority of clubs do require you to join the AMA [for insurance purposes] and join the club.)

I also suggest following their advice on airplanes, engines/motors and radio equipment.

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

You can have your sim and airplane too! I used FMS (free) as a training tool, spending about an hour a day for a couple weeks while I was under instruction. I soloed in 4 lessons, each lasting an hour or too. I probably could have soloed faster, but the instructor wanted to make sure I was ready. He finally got bored holding the trainer switch. To have the plane, consider a SPAD Debonair. Inexpensive to build, tough as nails, very forgiving (as good as any ARF or RTF trainer). And if you order the plastic, for around $60, you'll end up with enough leftovers to build three or four more planes. Ad in $80 for a Thunder Tiger Pro 46 engine, $125 for a radio kit with 4 servos, $50-100 for other miscellaneous gear you'll need anyway (Wheels, axles, landing gear, push-rods, fuel tank, fuel tubing, 4 oz fuel bulb, glow starter, props and your on your way. Its what I learned on, and I'm still flying it, along with a couple other more exciting planes I've built from coro. You won't be doing IMACS with them, but it'll get you flying.

As for instructors, there are a number of clubs listed on the AMA site within 30-40 miles of zipcode 76240 (gainesville). I'm sure at least one of them will be willing to help you out. It may seem like a hike now, but its worth it to go find an instructor that can check out your plane and help you get in the air. Gas is cheaper than replacing an airplane after a 30 second flight. Go out to their fields and talk to them, watch them fly, get their advice.

Good luck!

Brad

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

Smitty,

Your question is what's the BEST way.

The best way is with an instructor on the buddy box. Period.

A sim is great for practicing specific things as far as flying the plane but it cannot and will not teach you how to trim the plane for flight, how to trim the plane during flight, how to tune the engine, balance the plane both CG and laterally, repair the plane, and a host of other things.

A sim will help with orientation, maneuver practice, but most sims have the plane all setup nice and perfect so all you do is chose and fly. FMS is a good sim but it is lacking in very major way. It does not even come close to real flight dynamics. G3 is closer and Aerofly Pro Deluxe is even closer yet. All I'm saying is do not expect a sim to be the learn all, teach all thing. I personally use Aerofly Pro Deluxe to practice maneuvers with and once I can do them well on the sim, I then start to do them on the plane. This way I have the mental part of the flight down pat (stick control), the rest is watching a 1500 dollar plane do it for really. That's when the nerves really kick in

The idea of this hobby is to have fun, you cannot have fun where you are crashing allot and spend more time repairing planes than flyings. Eventually you will get frustrated and quit. This is a very fun hobby and it can and will become an addiction.

Now as far as a instructor goes, it's a known fact that most instructors will do everything they can to save a plane from certain disaster but in certain situations it's amost impossible. One such situation is during landing, low to the ground, very slow speed, and a go around is needed, you throttle up, the engine dies from running out of fuel and yada yada yada.

As an instructor, I have seen quite a few people come to the field with slow stiks, park flyers and such all bent up where they tried and tried to get it to fly and found that once the plane got into the air it rolled, climbed whatever and they just kept crashing and they finally decided that maybe they should get some instruction and it has turned out that some of these have become excellent pilots and gained a ton of new friends to boot.

If you need help finding an instructor, look on the AMA's web site for clubs fairly close to you. Ask the local hobby shops.

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

I am a club instructor and I have worked with people who have purchased their plane and came to learn and others who have spent !QUOT!MONTHS!QUOT! on a sim and came out with their equipment. Every person who has worked with a sim for 4-6 months has shown sufficient skill to control a plane through an entire flight. 3 have soloed on the day they came out.

Nothing replaces a sim.

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

I'm with Geistware on this one. I've seen students who have logged 100 hours on a simulator come out, fly well in the first few tries, and solo in a week or so.

I practice new maneuvers on sim before I try them at the field. I recommend to my students they get a simulator and practice regularly. This is especially useful for the students who can't get to the field on a regular basis.

Learning from an instructor with tandem controllers is great, but there is a place for simulator practice. It's an excellent tool.

Good luck
Dave Olson

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

One more thing to consider. I had as much or more fun learning to fly as anything I've done since in this hobby. It took me a whole summer. Lots of trips to the field, talking to flyers, looking at planes. Lots of crash repair, and lots of proud moments. I would've missed all that learning to fly on a sim.

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

Bubbagates said it all. Period

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

The problem with a begginer flying RC is that he is essentially learning two separate skills at once. Flying and airplane and controlling something by remote control.

A simulator, even if it does not accurately reproduce a real airplane's flying charactoristics, at least lets a beginner learn and get practice in remotely controlling something. Now when he is flying the actual plane, he only needs to learn how to fly.

Even practicing with a RC car helps. That's what I did.

Please don't skip the trainer plane just because your club has an instructor willing to buddy cord you for months and months. This is an abuse of the instructor's time and patience. These guys like to fly their own planes every once in a while and don't always want to be baby sitting someone who is flying something that a beginner has no business trying to fly.

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

The sim is the way!
I am also an rc instructor. I too have seen both types of students, those with previous sim time and without. After being in this hobby nearly 20 years, I have seen many inthusiastic new pilots spend thier hard earned 300-400 bucks on a trainer only to crash the first or second time out and never fly again. This does not build our sport. Teaching your brain subconsiously how to apply correct inputs with hours of sim time is a very valuable tool, and will no doubt give the new rc pilot confidence and shorten the learning time required to solo.
This is money well spent not only for learning basic maneuvers, but to continue learning advanced flying. Also learning new types of aircraft.
examle: My 15 year old son practiced(played) on my simulator as though it was a video game for about 6 months. He never wanted to come to the field and learn. Well, last month he decided he might like to try it. He and myself put together a superstunts 40 over the last couple weeks. Last weekend, after I maidened and trimmed her I landed it. He fueled her up , then he taxied out, took off, flew 10 min, and landed without a buddy box.
Best money you will ever spend!

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

I'm also and instructor and I agree that the simulator CAN be a very valuable tool, but only if used correctly. I've had new pilots come out to learn to fly who had spent a lot of time on a simulator before ever going to the field, and there were a couple of things they had learned that was almost impossible to teach them to do correctly. If you are going to use a simulator, please make sure you have seen or talked to an instructor first. Simulators are great teaching tools, but they can teach bad habits as well as good habits. If someone does something wrong on the simulator they are going to repeat that at the field. So in that case they can be a very bad thing.

Ken

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

Lots of comments from instructors here -- so I'll add mine. In my personal opinion, a sim, PLUS an instructor/buddybox combo is the best way of all. The sim sure can't do it all, but the student definately benefits from sim time. The instructor not only provides face-to-face real-time instruction, he/she provides immediate feedback, discipline (in the sense of requiring the student to follow specific flight exercises), and numerous "saves" that the sim just can't do. The fortunate student who has all of those aids available, will have a much higher liklihood of success than with a sim, or instructor alone.

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

smitty4
As a newneb as i am i found that it's both.
I biult a telmaster, found an instructor an dove in. Two years later "crashed twice on buddy box" Ive been soloing. Last year I got a sim then practiced a lot, showed up at the field soon as i took off my instructor looked at me an said you've been on a sim have,nt you. So enoungh said. PS get a good sim
Rich

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

I also have to agree that Sim time can be very helpfull in the learnig process and agree that if you can spend time on one, you should. The one thing that folks have missed in this post is that after the time on the sim the time with an instructor will teach you the things the sim CAN'T ie SAFETY, starting, tuning, radio checks, proper taxing, where's the pattern, how to set up an approach etc etc etc. I think by now you get my point.. Using both sure won't hurt.
A little negative comment : I've seen a few people come out to fly that had spent a lot of time on a sim and they did great controlling the plane but either had all kinds of problems or caused all kinds of problems. Most of this could have been more enjoyable for everyone if they had just spent more time with an instructor. The sim doesn't inform you about the use of the FREQ. board does it????? And if you blow it there --- you could be buying a very expensive pile of junk. ENJOY !!! RED

RE: Best Way To Learn To Fly???
 

Ok here is my decision. I am going to buy one of the sims and then read a book about learning to fly and then watch a video on how to fly. So hopefully all of that should help me out. I have also found someone here that knows how to fly helicopters and someone that used to know how to fly airplanes a while back. He has a glow engine airplane that is huge. So I think I will be alright. I think I am going to buy a park flyer first and fly it around whenever there is no wind like early morning... I wont but anything until I have read, played, and watched about learnig to fly. Thanks for all of yals help.