GOING IT ALONE
 

OK I LIVE IN KY IN THE BOONIES AND WHEN YOU MENTION RC PLANE TO ANYONE THEY LOOK AT YOU LIKE YOUR A IDIOT! SO THERE ARE NO INSTRUCTORS WITHIN 70 MILES OR SO SO I REALLY WANTED TO LEARN TO FLY SO I BOUGHT A SUPER CUB AND MORE OR LESS TAUGHT MYSELF I HAVE A OPEN 400 ACRE FARM BUT I DID CRASH AND DO SOME TEARING UP! MY QUESTION NOW IS IM WANTING TO MOVE ALONG AND IVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THE NEXSTAR IS THERE THAT MUCH DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO THAT I CANT FLY IT ALONE? AND IS THERE A TRAINER GAS PLANE OUT THERE THAT WOULD BE SIMILAR OR BETTER TO GET?

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

To give you a reasonable answer, it would be very helpful to know what kind of super cub you learned on. If it is a glow model, then it is probably a step above the nexstar when it comes to flying skills required. If its a park flier model, then the nexstar will probably be a suitable step up. You will need to be aware of any control differences between the two planes, such as having aileron control. So in summary, let us know what kind of super cub you are flying and then it will be possible to gauge what your skills are probably like at this point.

P.S.: Please turn off the caps lock. Its a bit difficult to read a message in all capital letters.

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

ITSNOTHARDTOREADMESSAGESWHENEVERYTHINGISINCAPSITSM UCHHARDERWHENTHEREISNOSPACINGBETWEENTHOSEWORDS

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

:eek: Luckily for us, there is only a select few that choose that writing style.

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

I think a nice P-51 is in order here. Fly real well.

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

if you are going to teach yourself then i would say a next star would do good. i have never flown a cub of any kind so i dont know how they fly. but i would say just about any flat bottom wing trainer like that would be good. to help you out try a simulator. i have flown those quite a bit and when you crash all you do is hit the reset button. i have seen people teach thereself on them and i would say in your position getting one would be a good idea. i'm sure someone else will chime in and prolly agree.

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

[:@] yeah you guys are funny:D actually i learned that tid bit of e- manors here once upon a time.

DO NOT BUY A NEXSTAR!! please. get a simple basic trainer such as a Sig LT 40 without any bells and whistles and travel a couple times at least to a club for help. the money you spend on gas will be saved 5 times over in planes. a trainer cord is worth a minimum of 5 new planes.

if you must (and it is a poor idea at best) teach your self. go with simple electrics. check with the electric forum for best e- trainers.
you want standard 4 channel set up just like a glow plane but in an easy to repair model...cause you will be a fixin'. read up in this sites "rc community""rcuniversity" "rc beginners" print out all you can on how and why we teach .... this will at least let you know what an instructor tries to do for a new pilot. other wise you'll flounder and quit. most atempts to self teach flying result in a pile of balsa tooth pics and a very fustrated ex rcer.

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

Ive heard great things about the Sig LT-40

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

This sarcasm is not lost on me:D

However, we have a newbie here that wants to give it a go. OzMo is absolutely correct. It will be worth it to take the drive to a club and get some help at first. The difference is a life long hobby vs. a short expensive fling. A quality simulator is in order here too as Dirtmagnet sudjested. Go to the club talk to an instructor or two. They may even have a club trainer to intro you on. Get a simulator such as Real Flight G3.5 or FS One. Order a KIT plane and build it while you practice on the simulator. By the time you finish building you will have the sim experience to go to the club have an instructor go over your plane and assist in the engine break in. Then a few weeks on the buddy box you should be ready to go it alone.

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

ok sorry russian flyer about the caps this was my first time posting i have a park zone super cub and i do have the g3.5 simulator i can handle the super cub pretty well now and i know alot of you pros will say its not a real plane and i realize that but i still fly carefully and feel comfortable with it but i just want to eventually learn to fly a gas plane and i want to know which would be the best next step! in your opinion russian flyer whats the biggest difference going to the 4 channel flying wise? thanks for replying everyone

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

I'm completely self taught. Get a slow stick, or two, and a simulator. Fly when ever you can and use your sim as a tool. It'll teach you orientation and get rid of your "dumb thumbs." If you have any questions, please PM me. I also can give you pictures of my home brew slow flyer that can be made really cheaply. I have attached the picture of the "foamy trainer" that I built and learned to fly with. Now, I instruct others in the joys of RC flight, I'm 27 by the way. Been flying since I was 23. 100% self taught.

My first plane was a SPAD BUHOR. Big and slow, and I could not control it. Built my "foam trainer", flew it and never looked back. My next plane was a GWS EStarter. That plane taught me how to use ailerons, I feel that it makes a great second plane. I know you wanted GAS to start, but that's asking for stress.

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

joco1, You can teach yourself, but it will be hard. Crashing and rebuilding will be a big part of your learning curve. Not to mention preflight ,triming and a bunch of other stuff , that you did`nt think would have anything to do with flying.
But ! You can do it , it, depends on how bad you want it, and don`t let anyone tell you you can`t. { which some will, }
Get a Sim, No it is not the real thing, but it will teach you stick correction and save you big bucks in the long run.
P.S Welcome to R.C.U. and our world. LOL! Good luck on your flying, keep in touch.
Insane

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

joco1 - given your situation with minimal access to training, I'd dig a bunch on this beginner board. Folks have inquired about self taught flight before and they've recieved a lot of replies. Some great advice in those threads about good habits to learn to use to fly well and safe but still have a blast doing it. Good luck!

Few pieces of advice I'll throw out here...
- fly a few mistakes high whenever trying something new so you have height to recover if it doens's go as planned.
- keep the plane in front of you at all times(don't rotate around on your feet to fly the plane around you) Here's a satellite view of my club's field. There is a dark line there which seperates our flight line from the pit area. We have a rule that no one flys behind the flight line. This is standard practice and a good habit to get in if you're flying by youself in a field since you won't have to worry about pivoting around and such - just concentrate on flying and you can pan aroud to watch your plane.
- establish a standard landing strip area so you know what to expect when taking off and approaching for landing(minimal suprises)
- if it's windy, practice a run down your landing strip except a few mistakes high above it so you can know better how the wind will treat your plane and be able to know what to expect to do to keep it straight once you're on final and landing.

Good luck!

somegeek

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

if you already have a G3.5 then the nextar arf isn't a bad way to go, then get a OS 46 AX its a great engine and will do for at least a couple of planes as you progress as well as a advanced radio, lets say a 6or7channel so you don't have to upgrade as you become more proficent it will cost the same as the ready to fly plane and you will end up with better components in the long run.
I found the NEXTAR to be a easy plane to learn with, its a stable plane, and lands easy when you get close to the ground just cut the power, and it will float right in.
if your flying already, then you don't need the brakes and droops,after I got boored with the trainer I turned it into a float plane which I will be maidening in a week at the lake our club flys at for float flying.
the thing I liked about the NEXTAR was that it looked like a actual plane not a flying box like so many other planes the hardest thing about flying glow without help ie;is knowing how to tune your engine, and recovering from trouble when you get into it.

the sim is a huge help for me, without it I wouldn't be flying the planes I do today.
if you can find a club thats close enough to go to a couple of times, then you can get some trimming help and you get to meet other flyers that may live closer to you than you think.
the first flights are the tricky ones getting the plane to fly strait and level,having a knowedgable pilot looking your plane over for the first time out is a major benifit of having a club memebership,even if your not a memeber of a particular club there are alot of clubs that will give you a hand for the first timer, after that, you will have a much easyer time of it.
the benifit of a cub is all the great help they can provide its the little things that can kill a plane.
things that our obvious for the advanced pilot a beginner might miss,after about 5 flights I soloed my NEXTAR thanks to some help from my club members I also crashed the plane which does happen even with help.

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

Correctomundo about the Slow Stick. Flying a Slow Stick is a great way to learn how to fly. One of the things I did with a slow stick was to get it high in the air, position myself with my back to the wind (5 mph or so) and shut the motor off. My goal was to keep the wings and fuse level. This gave me a tremendous amount of confidence. Although I lost some of my confidence when I drilled a 4*40 in but that another story.

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

back before the days of the sims.
Even with an instructor it was still tough.
i got sick and tire of waitng for 15 mins of flight time once a week.
Flying was actaully easy ,its the landing that I need to learn.

the best investion I ever made. i got a durastick, it's ugly and the fuselage
is made out of pvc water sprut. But I crashed and crashed it. Hit fence, trees,
kartwheels..But i got my flying time in. I logged in over 500 fights within a couple
of months, Doing proceesure truns, touch and go. Most people don't practice
doing that. they can fly decent, but man o man..their landing proceedure is something
else. why ? a wood model can suffer crazy damages just from minor landing mistakes.

Sim might be helpful in flying, but it's a bit difficult to try to simulate landings.
or flame out on take off.lol
camera angles, cross wind. If you flown a while you'll know when the wing stops flying it'll just drop.lol


simply hints in structor will give you. it happens to fast sometimes, if you think about it,
it's too late.

when the aircraft is coming to you, trun the stick in the direciton the wing
droping to level the model.

Do be careful with that prop, Not sure where the nearest hospital is.
That's want makes going in it along dangerous. Have a freind or GF
watching you at least.

make a Y looking thing of ma roo and stake into the ground and use it
as a modle holder. You'll need it during starting

starter, tx, model, glow plug driver...you only have two hands.lol

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

ok thanks for the help !when i fly my super cub i hand launch it of course and then when it gets in the air and is flying left or right i adjust my trim to fly straight so when you say i might need an instructor to help adjust my trim is the adjustment similar or completely different? and is there alot of tuneing to be done on the nexstar engine its sounds like it shouldnt need much tuneing according to what all i read? and finally i guess i have to show how much of a newbie i am and go ahead and ask what do you mean by a "slow stick"?

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

the RTF(ready to fly)version has a engine that has been run it so in most cases it will fire up right away and run fairly good,after a few flights 5-10 the engine will be fully broken in and will need to be leaned out for max performance and longer flight times.
the RTF does come with the engine manual I would recomend learning it forward and backward if your going to go it alone.
in most cases stuff like making sure all nuts, bolts,and screws are tight,control surfaces are lined up and move in the right direction as well as the fuel lines are hooked up to the right spots on the tank and engine( in some cases the fuel lines have been hooked up to the wrong spots)witht the ARF you get some assembly expierence,for the same $$ will be able to upgrade since you don't need the basic sim they give you with the plane with the discounts www.towerhobbies.com you could pare down the cost even more.
I always break my orders into chunks so I can maximize there discount program no matter what plane you end up getting good luck
ARF-100$
OS 46AX-109$
4ch computer radio-140$
6ch computer radio-180$

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

From what I've been able to find online, the Park Zone Super Cub uses a 3-channel single stick radio (correct me if I'm wrong). This is different from a full 4-channel setup you'd find on the Nexstar or another trainer. But, if you are using the G3.5 simulator and are able to fly with the full house controller that comes with it (I'm assuming it came with one), then you probably won't have that hard of a time stepping up to a glow trainer. Apart from the actual transmitter differences, you will need to learn to fly with the ailerons. The majority of people are taught to fly using ailerons only, so you may be a step ahead by having used rudder control on your super cub (rudder is useful on sport and scale planes. Trainers can also benefit from its use, but most people don't use it). I think the biggest hurdle when you are learning is the counter-intuitive control reversal when the plane is facing you. As you fly more, it'll become automatic and you won't have to think about your aileron input while heading toward or away from yourself. Also, trimming the plane won't be any different from your super cub. There is just one more thing to trim now (ailerons). Any glow engine you get will require a bit of tuning to get it running correctly. Its not as complex as it sounds and the instruction manual for the engine will cover the basic steps to get the engine running. A "Slow Stick" is an airplane:
http://www.e-flightline.com/products...th%20himax.JPG

I believe its made by e-flite (Horizon Hobby)
It's electric, but has full 4-channel control and as the name implies it flies slooow :) Plus its simple and will likely be easy to repair if you crash. If you are set on a glow trainer, be sure to take a peek in the Trainer selection thread at the very top of the Beginner's forum. Lots of information and choices explained.

P.S.: I didn't mean to sound terse regarding the caps lock.

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

A few things that helped me fly with little help.

On the simulator make sure you can land every plane in varying weather conditions on the runway without crashing. I would fly a plane in 35 mph winds and learn ow it landed on the runway in those conditions. Have someone mess with the simulator trims when you are not looking orput tape over it so you can learn to fly with the plane off balance. When you do get your plane take your time with the instructions, double check the control throws, the directions of the control surfaces and double check the CG.

On my first solo I was at the field by myself and I planed what I was going to do and how I could land. I figured that if I could not control it very well coming in for a landing, I could have a controlled crash in some tall weeds (I landed where I wanted :) )

One more thing I would wait for your first flight for winds less then 8mph.

HTH

Jon

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

thanks for the help im pretty set on the nexstar and will probably make the 70 mile trip this week to purchase it what other items do you recommend picking up while im there ?if you think there is a better gas trainer let me know im still kinda undecided!

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

I can't offer much advice on a better trainer since I've learned on a LT40 and flew a Great Planes PT40 for my brother, and both are great trainers. The Nexstar has a few extra flying aids and you'll get mixed opinions about their helpfulness depending on who you ask. As for the items you may want to pick up along with the plane, get props. The more propellers, the better as you'll probably bust a few while learning to land. A hand crank fuel pump will be a good investment, as well as fuel can fittings to extract the fuel from the fuel jugs you'll be using. I'd recommend an electric starter because it will make starting a new engine much easier. Along with the starter, get a glow plug igniter, an expanded scale voltmeter, and extra fuel tubing. This should be enough field equipment to get you flying. Of course, don't forget fuel. The type will depend on what the store carries, but about 10% nitro with a castor/synthetic oil blend will be fine. Get extra glow plugs, those like to go during the break-in period of the engine. Picking up some CA glue and epoxy is optional, but you will probably need the glues to fix things that break. That's about all I can think of. HTH

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

Look at the box, it will tell you what you should need. you may need rubber bands, get a couple extra glow plugs that fit the engine. you will need some basic ools, but you can get that stuff from any good hardware store.

HTH

Jon

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

One thing i would like to add, [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXZ850&P=0]this[/link] is an excellent book for everything you need to know on engines. Now obviously there is nothing that will replace a good instructor, but this book will help you get a good handle on your engine.

Happy tuning!

RE: GOING IT ALONE
 

Well it depends how much money you would like to spend!
Some of the essentials=
-obviously fuel
-elctric starter
-battery and charger for starter
-glow ignitor (glow starter) (glow stick)
-fuel pump
-extra props
-extra bands

Some things you DON'T NEED but are nice to have
-field box
-power panel
-after run oil

Good Luck!