Who says flying is difficult?
 

One month back I purchased a 46 size trainer, built it and took it to the flying field. Since I have no access to any instructor in this part of the world so I decided to give it a try. 45 seconds after take-off I crashed. Went home and ordered the Aerofly pro. Practised for 2 days on aerofly pro and went flying yesterday. 5 succesful takeoffs and 5 succesful landings(3 deadstick and 2 with engine idling) not even a dent on the plane. My point is that when I joined Rcuniverse people scared me that flying is difficult and you need instructor to teach you for weeks before you can even think of going solo. Now I seriously disagree and encourage all new pilots to go buy a simulator, practice in your cozy room for few hours and go fly solo.

Who says flying is difficult?
 

Good for you! I did the same thing with G2. Except my first plane was the QHOR! After about 10 great flights with the QHOR I took out my brand new UCD3D and have been tearing up the sky ever since. Of course, on the sim I practice all kinds of crazy stuff very low to the ground with very little chance to recover. Great training.

Not hard at all
 

If its not so hard, Why did the trainer crash?, If you had enough trainers you would eventually learn just like on a simulator :D . I am very in favor of using simulators for training although I don't have much fun on them. The time it takes to learn R/C flying is purely on an individual Basis, some have a natural talent for it, some have to develop the skill for it. Much depends on the person coordination, Eye sight ,and ability to judge depth. There is no rule of thumb to how long it will take. Glad to see your having fun, good luck with your next planes.

Who says flying is difficult?
 

No but ive read that people fly for weeks with instructor before going solo. My point is that 2 days on simulator and if you can go solo then isnt it better than spending weeks with an instructor?

Who says flying is difficult?
 

Congrats on your soloing.

Please realize that you are definitely in the minority when it comes to learning to solo in that amount of time. Am happy for you.

Simulators do help a bunch. Sadly, RF planes almost land themselves so landing is the more difficult part to flying for most. It's a great hobby and I thrive on it.

Ed

Who says flying is difficult?
 

well I have almost the same story here but I learned fixed wing with an instructor, (now I know when, why and how to use the controls as well) but learned to fly a heli on aerofly in two weeks. I only had my training skids on for 5 flights ( two days )

I'm not the best heli pilot and still need to learn, but now I have more that 10l ( +- 2 gal) on the raptor and no damage. All done solo.

So there is a big difference between someone that has a sim and someone that doesn't.

If you fly for the first time, even with 800 hours on any sim.. please ask the club instructor and safety officer to have a look at your plane and take it up for a trim flight. these rules are there for a reason,, and others safety.

Who says flying is difficult?
 

5 flights with 3 deadstick? :confused:
Hmmm, what engine are you using, I should stay away from it. :D

Who says flying is difficult?
 

I too used a sim to get my coordination up to scratch. In my observations a lot of first timers don't know much about planes, or how to control them. Plus they have trouble with coordination, as they tend crash when flying towards themselves.
I had a trainer and taught myself in no time with only one crash in bad conditions.
While its easy to fly a trainer, wait till you get into low wing fast planes. It gets harder and harder. Just make sure you understand what you're doing and learn from your mistakes.
I have just got an Extra 300 and the first few flights were hair raising due to the speed difference and agility.
After five or six its now a lot easier.
Its great when a hobby can constantly challenge you.

Simon J

Who says flying is difficult?
 

Where did you get AEROFLY PRO from?

Who says flying is difficult?
 

As Divesplat said you are definitely in the minority. There are many people who can fly with only a few lessons on the sim and these people are probably good at computer games and other hand co-orrdinated activities. However there are also many that are not. It wouldnt be good advice to say to a newbie "You might be one of those lucky ones who picks it up easily, go and buy a sim and practice a bit then fly solo." That person is going to blame you straight away when he crashes his brand new trainer. Better to suggest they use an instructor who will then be able to gauge the newbies skills before letting him fly solo.

Who says flying is difficult?
 

almost the same here but i use an instructor (i didnt need him) used g2.....solod 3 flight

Who says flying is difficult?
 

Congrats, but i think i will stick with my insructor.

Who says flying is difficult?
 

Here at RCU we give advice. There is good advice and bad advice.

Telling people whom you don't know, and who's abilities and talents (or lack thereof) you are not aware of, that they do not need an instructor is bad advice.

You should be commended on your sucess.

You should also be repremanded for your thoughtlessness of assuming that everyone has your ability.

Many MANY people do not pick it up as quickly as you apparently did. Please do not suggest that because you did it that way, that everyone should.

THAT is BAD advice.

Who says flying is difficult?
 

Very well said, I would have to second that!

Who says flying is difficult?
 

Congrats...you are definitely in the minority.....

I do totally agree with what MinnFlyer said, however.

Question on the dead sticks....did you run out of fuel, or did the engine stop running? If the engine quit 3 out of 5 flights, it needs adjusted......this is an example of something that a simulator WON'T teach you.

Who says flying is difficult?
 

MinnFlyer has it exactly right. I doubt anybody here said it couldn't be done (learning without an instructor), just that it's unusual, and not a safe and reasonable alternative for most people. For example, a lot of us live in crowded urban areas, and a 45 second flight that ends in a crash is just not going to make you friends at the flying field. Also, there are a lot of things a sim does not teach, that are useful, like how to keep your engine running, and how not to chop your fingers up.

But for the record, I think maybe 10% of the folks who want to fly RC, if given a durable plane, an isolated airfield, an agreeable engine, a lot of motivation, and a few hours of sim time could probably solo on their own. However, I loved being out at the field for all the friendly weeks with my instructor (also my best friend), and I think the sim is deadly boring. So no, for me, 2 days on a sim would be no where as much fun as spending weeks with an instructor.

Who says flying is difficult?
 

I don't think anyone meant to scare you by saying flying is difficult. If I had to guess, what we're trying to say was it greatly improves your chances of success if you find a qualified instructor. Instructors also help you to not develop bad habits.

You probably wouldn't try to fly a full scale aircraft without an instructor would you? Not that you couldn't but with an instructor it greatly improves your...............

Who says flying is difficult?
 

I have been flying for only a month!! and I'm already doing all sort of maneuvers on my SIG Somethin' Extra.
I didn't use an instructor but I would have if I had found one. I learned on a OLD beaten up HOBBICO 40 superstar with an even older FUTABA AM radio, all courtesy of a friend that had no use for it. All I had to buy was a engine (webra speed40), now on my Somethin' Extra. I never crashed the plane only the occacional hard landing bending the front wheel.

The field where I fly is completly isolated, my plane could fly for miles and not hit anything but trees so at least I knew I wasn't gonna hit a house or a someones head.

I have to agree that it is very simple but it also depends on your abilities and coordination. There are people in my club who have been flying a trainer for months and still can't fly anything else.

Who says flying is difficult?
 

I bought a avistar select as a trainer, got my AMA, joined a club.

Now i'm waiting until someone at the club will teach me how to fly.
One instructor took my phone #.

I stopped by the field every time it's nice outside and on weekends. Nobody is ever there. Everyone fly's in the daytime and is retired.

I cannot help it that i'm only 27 and have a 7-4pm job. I practice on FMS for over 50 hours.

If this keeps up, I'm going to have to learn the hard way.

Who says flying is difficult?
 

Personally, I don't think anyone is trying to scare anyone away from the hobby by making it sound hard. It is a fine line on what advice to give as Minnflyer suggests since you don't really know who you are providing the advice to. However, I think it is more what you need to know to get out of trouble rather than what to do on normal/routine flights. Frankly, I would not want to be anywhere near a flight line when an uninstructed beginner flies for the first time, simulator training or not. Since you are 12 time zones away from Tulsa, fly your heart out.

Who says flying is difficult?
 

joop, is there an "instructor night" or something to that effect at that club?

Mike

Who says flying is difficult?
 

joop1987,
Have you checked around to see if there is another club in the area? I don't know exactly there Mercer is, but much of NJ is the kind of area that usually spawns piles of small clubs all over the place. You might find a guy at another club, or some folks are members of multiple clubs. We have that here, many of the guys here fly at multiple fields depending on their moods or other factors. If you can get some guys' phone numbers, you can ask them where/when they might be around to help you.

When I was learning, I was in a simular situation, it was really hard for me to find a place and time where an instructor was available, so I know what it's like.

Who says flying is difficult?
 

There is a guy at the field who has been buddy-boxing for over a year now. He concluded that it must be the LT-40 that's the problem and bought an Ugly Stick.

If the wind is dead calm he can track the LT-40 fairly straight, as long as he doesn't touch the sticks. The moment he touches the stick the plane is all over the county. He is still putting the Stick together, perhaps we'll soon know the truth... him or the plane. I 'll give you three guesses as to which one my money is on.

If a person wants to teach himself to fly then more power to him. Just as long as he isn't trying to learn near me, my plane or my truck either for that matter.

Who says flying is difficult?
 

After playing computer games with joysticks for years I have to admit that my EYE to HAND coordination must have gotten pretty good... Learning to fly R/C planes was a breeze.

Flying wasn't the problem: I have four stitches on my thumb and a ugly cut on my index finger, both from the prop. Maybe what I needed was a safety instructor... had to learn the hard way.

Who says flying is difficult?
 

In my oppinion, learning to fly is not that difficult. And by the terms "learning to fly" we understand be able to take off, fly in a constant altitude and land. I did this in very few time, landing adn taking off by miself after the fourth flight or so, but that depends A LOT on too many things:
1-Personal skills: while many people seem to learn fast others are stuck on the same things for ages, thus not being able to solo. This tends to happen more often as age is increased.
2-Model: it is VERY different to fly a TTiger MK II trainer in comparison with a Pico Cub. Speed, inertia, nervousness, etc.
3-Previous experience: with other RC hobbies or simulators.
4-Others: instructor, kind of person, etc.

You say it's not difficult to fly, that's right. However you also say you had a crash after 45secs of flight, althought it was easy.
If hobbists RECOMMEND simulators and instructors it's for some reasons, and its that most people simply can't master the basics of taking off, landing and flying the very first time they try it. You are one of the lucky guys who need fewer practise, enjoy it! But you just can't say everyone should be able to do it. And after all, you should learn a bit more about engines, its just not normal to have so many deadsticks. I still have to help a buddy take off and land his plane, although he has been "flying" for a year (not continuosly, that's right also). This is my point of view IMHO.