Newbie Super Cub first flight ever
 

Well...I decided to learn on an electric...one with some power and the hobby zone "Super Cub" seemed to be the best place to learn for me. I had absolutely no experience with r/c airplanes and was I humbled!! I'm very fortunet tha I have a local county park with a dedicated airpark with runway and a really nice setup. I bought this plane acouple of days ago....read up on things....checked it all out for trim and controls and was ready to fly.

Well lucky for me there were a couple of guys putting away their heli's when I showed up pretty close to dusk...the sun was still up and it was actually the best time to fly right now here....it's so hot!!! Anyway....one of the guys is a plane expert so he decides to stay around and watch the fun of a newbie....lol.

I was smart enough to let him get her airborn for me and then he handed over the controls and off I went. I flew her for about 10 mins. finding out just how difficult it is to fly towards your direction and just getting used to the controls and throttle. Well I did pretty good...did my first roll.....it was cool. So I decided to start trying to bring her in down close to come into the wind for a landing....about that time my new friend tells me "If you want to live to fly another day...let me land her for you"....well I'm coming down and wanted to see if I could get her in position in one pass and if not just give it over to him....well bonehead me all of the sudden pulled a straight nose down dive straight into the ground at somewhere between 30-50' in altitude....at full throttle.

So we head over to the grassy area where she is....he's letting me know my plane is probably trashed...but to our surprise...she was very much ok!

The wing got alittle crooked with the bands shifting...landing gear bent just abit....and the engine cowling was pretty broken up.....but the prop was just fine and all seemed great!!!

We started her back up and he had me toss it and off she went back up and he flew her around for a couple of minutes and brought her in for a PERFECT landing..even with the bent gear.

I know I was really really lucky...but my hat is really off to the folks at Hobby Zone....this super cub is built super tough and flys wonderfully....I just need LOTS of easy going practice. My new friend is going to come out and fly with me the next couple of days so I hope to learn alot.....Once again.....if your a newbie...get a super cub...you won't be sorry and you'll have a good plane to start with...imo.

RE: Newbie Super Cub first flight ever
 

I'm glad you had such a pleasant first experience despite your crash. One trick when flying toward yourself is to "put the stick under the low wing" to keep the wings level. When I occasionally get disoriented I still use this method. I'm not sure about the Hobby Zone cub but in my experience cubs are very difficult to take off and land until you master the use of rudder, so use care when learning to land.

RE: Newbie Super Cub first flight ever
 

I'm glad your plane survived. I know you had a good time & feel that your first outing went pretty well, but I hope you realize that the best thing that happened was meeting your new friend!! It's really hard to just go out alone & learn to fly. Most planes don't survive the first 30 seconds of these kind of flights. I would take in as much instruction as your new friend is willing to give & fight the urge to go out there alone again until he gets you soloed. The RC Gods only give us so many chances per plane & you have now used one of those chances up.[sm=wink_smile.gif] Good luck with your new Cub & have fun learning to fly it. Welcome to the greatest hobby I know of.

RE: Newbie Super Cub first flight ever
 

I'm with ya completely....if my new friend wouldn't have been there my flight would have lasted about 30 seconds. I'm trying to learn the down wing to stick when it's coming at me....just a really different experience than I antcipated. I do love it...but I'm now scared of it abit...lol...so don't worry....I won't be trying to solo anytime soon. My new friend gave me his cell number and told me to call up anytime....he says he flys all the time.....I could tell....very good pilot...fly's heli's too. Anyway...thanks for the advice and the encouragement....this is a tricky sport to master...I can tell...

RE: Newbie Super Cub first flight ever
 

That's great that this guy gave ya his phone number & is willing to make himself available to you. Sounds like you just found an Instructor.:D This is a great hobby & you'll find that most people you meet in it will be like your new friend in that they are more than happy to help in any way they can. You'll find that to be true in here as well so stick around!! Lot's of good knowledge in here, free for the taking from some very experienced flyers.;)

RE: Newbie Super Cub first flight ever
 

i had a similar accident with my aerobird challenger a year or so ago and it was just fine. props to hobbyzone

RE: Newbie Super Cub first flight ever
 

Well after the first flight and crash last thursday evening.....I got back in the saddle today....but with the head instructor pilot at the airpark I go to. Well....with a couple of literal slaps to the back of my hard head....this man had me launching, controlled flying and landing just about perfect in a total of 10 mins.....lol. Once he said...your good to go and left.....I flew her 10 different times by myself...trying out different flight profiles and getting better and better feel of the controls and how she acts....well my landings started out really good and just got better and better......my last three landings in this grass field were totally perfect. I never lost control or had a hard landing at all and she still looks pretty darn new....lol.

I can't say enough about getting good instruction in this sport to get started....or of course you could just waste alot of money....lol....

Anyway.....I'll be practicing as much as I can...and want to build a really nice F4U Corsair in the future......I'm looking forward to getting to the point of feeling ready for a plane like that......I will be getting a 7 channel full programmable radio and plan on making her really nice.....it just takes patients....

Thanks for all the encouragement and hope I can help someone later when I'm a good seasoned pilot....

Purpletdude

RE: Newbie Super Cub first flight ever
 

Congratulations on your SOLO :D
I too want to fly an F4U that I hhave siting in a box on a shelf but I know it will be quite a long time and a number of different airplanes before I even consider it.
From what I understand the Corsair is one of the more difficult warbirds to fly.