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Hi,

I'm new to this stuff.

In my 50s I have decided to have a go at flying an RC electric plane and after much research settled on a Hobbyzone Super Cub LP.

As I hadn't flopwn before I also bought an E-Sky FMS simultor kit to train before I flew the real thing. I managed to download an FMS HobbyZone Super Cub LP simulator model and have been flying it on and off for the last month but I am still crashing more times than landing successfully. This is just in simulation remember!!!

I'm now wondering if I should stick at this and risk flying the real one soon - given my performance on the simulator to date, this doesn't seem promising. Or whether I'd be better off selling it before I break it and at least get some of my money back.

Maybe I'm not RCpilot material after all!!! Any suggestions?

Cheers,

Tony,

Perth, WA

Sandgroper, Stay with the sim and keep practicing! I am 56 and I got a cheap sim (E-Sky FMS) about this time last year and kept at it. When the weather broke and I could get outside I bought a Super Cub. It's a tough plane and good to learn with. I have run mine into a brick wall, nosed dived into the ground, but with some CA glue and some spare parts it's still will fly. Parts are pretty easy to get for it. Keep using the simulator to get the feel of flying.

no don,t sell keep practicing with the sim also if you know anyone who could give you a couple of lessons as well
won,t do any harm . i,m pretty new to the hobby(just over 12 months)and it cost me nearly £1000 in crashed planes before i got a couple of lessons best thing i ever did .stick at it because when you can get aplane airborne keep it there and then land it the sense of acheivment is something and you'll be hooked

Lots of good advice given already. Personally, I've NEVER landed a simulator plane properly. Two dimensions ( on the simulator) are not the same as three dimensions ( real life).

If at all possible, get an experienced person to help you for your first flights. Have him/her take-off and land..then let you fly when the plane is at least three mistakes high. Oh, three mistakes high was the one thing that I didn't do when I started out self-teaching myself. Seemed to me that lower and slower was safer...Nahhh...didn't work out that way.

You will get it. You might spend some $$$$...but...that is to be expected. Rich

I flew a Parkzone J-3 BL for the first time by myself in a small field that I had to circle in to climb and to land due to the close trees. It's a lot easier to land a cub than to land any plane on the simulator. I own a couple of Super Cubs also and they are the best to learn on.

Hi Sandgroper,

DO NOT SELL THE SUPERCUB!!!

The SuperCub is designed to be flown by beginners, even if they NEVER had any simulator experience. Do not equate your problems on the simulator with real life flying. The simulator is a tool to help you fly. Its primary benefit is to get you used to the controls and to get you used to control reversal (when the plane is flying toward you left is right and right is left). For everything else the simulator is only a rough approximation of real flying. Some people do great with it, others do not. I started flying when I turned 50, which was five years ago. I had no help and I did not have any planes that were nearly as beginner friendly as the SuperCub, yet I was able to learn with little difficulty. I never touched a simulator until this Christmas, when my wife bought me one. I have a hard time flying the planes on the simulator and almost never land them correctly, yet in real life I'm at or near the expert level.

Set aside the simulator and go fly your plane. However, before you fly it make sure that you read and study the advice given by Ed Anderson: http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18

As I said before , stick with it Sandgroper! You'll love that feeling when you have the SC up in the air and flying and it will handle the rough landings!

All good advice , If I had to start again I would do the sma thing I did in the first place . I would go find someone to help me if at all possible it is the easiest way period. If not possible the Super cub is a super nice light flyer and easy to land under minimal to no power at all . This plane is a floater so once you get in the air use the throttle as low as possibly so the plane moves slowly and you will have more time to react to it , be aware if you go too slow it may stall and you will have trouble but if you get it up high enough you will learn .

I was like you, and had all the trouble in the world, but i joined a Club, and got trained, the best thing i did, that was 5 years ago, i,m 68.

I don't believe I ever really tackled the landing stage all that well, but after hundreds of flights thats plus 200 on my first Super Cub, dang am able to land this puppie, but landings are still my weak link, this darn plane tapes right back together and keeps flying good as new ! But you should get the help from a club and experienced pilot will push you onward with alot more success, patience is the winning key here...if you really enjoy it you won't give up...<>..I stayed away from simulators at the start, huge mistake as they help tremendously, when your practicing note whats happening and step by step eventually will improve things, some have a built in feel for flight, but rest of us simply keep trucking...with enough practice you will fly, but its up to you ...<>...hang in there ...you picked the correct plane, take it as a great adventure, trust me it is, infact its awsome !! Well worth the effort..<>..


BEST ..<>..

Well said Phillipmorris

Hi Folks,

Many thanks to all for the heartening advice and encouragement.

I have been eyeing the Super Cub (still in the box) and wondering whether I should take it out for a first spin soon (when it gets a little cooler with less wind).

I am thinking of carefully placing some packing tape on the wing leading edge just in case.

However, I think I will try one more month on the old simulator and see how we go - maybe I'll get the hang of it a bit better by then.

I'll let you know when I finally make a first flight.

Thanks again folks!

Sandgroper

Landing is one of the hardest parts of flying RC. I've seen many guys in this hobby that can fly around pretty well, but screw up the landings more often than not (including me a few years ago). This can be made more difficult in a simulator if you have a hard time with depth perception and judging altitude looking at the 2D computer screen. And FMS doesn't have the high quality graphics that other sims do, which can help give you that 3D "feel" on a 2D monitor.

Different planes will have different landing characteristics as well. Some can glide in slowly with no power, some need some speed and power or they'll tip stall. From what I've seen & read about the Super Cub, it is a relatively easy plane to land. I wouldn't be surprised if you find it's actually easier to land your Super Cub than some planes in the FMS sim.

For your first flight, make sure you have plenty of open area with no trees (or other obstructions to hit), and make sure there is little to no wind. This will make your maiden flight much easier and "uneventful".

As mentioned above, the Super Cub was designed for beginners with no experience, so if you put in several hours of sim time before your first flight, you should do fine. The main thing to learn in the sim is how to fly the plane: away from you, towards you, overhead, inverted, etc. Knowing which is right/left or up/down when the plane is in every possible position is the first thing every newbie must struggle to learn, and a sim teaches this quite well.