Opinions requested.

I know........That leaves me wide open.........

There are a number of people at our field that have shown some interest in jets.
I was thinking of a day, possibly at a fun fly where I could set up my R54 on a buddy box and just let everyone take turns flying it. Of course it would only be people that I know can fly good enough to trust with it.
I am one of the clubs flight instructors so I am familiar with using a buddy box and to know when to take control back cuz there was something I did not like.
With the buddy box I can disable the "students" ability to drop gear, flaps, kill the engine, mess with dual rates or even take away throttle all together.

Does this sound like a good idea?

What are some of the pros and cons that I have not thought of here?

I have done this with a Facet2300. It has created a few problems in my club:

Several of the guys I buddy-boxed had trouble getting back into the covered pit area because their heads had swelled up.
A couple of them are thinking about adding a jet to their fleet
One of them has trouble flying props now because all he can think about is jets (he's purchased 3 jets since then)
I think I might be on a hit list put out by some of the wives.

It was a lot of fun.

That's exactly what I am worried about.......


I'm already on enough wives hit lists.....Including my own.........

Now that's funny!

Jeff, my concern would be a 'student' that suddenly decides to throw around the right stick to the corners... kinda like the way Average Joe flies a mid-sized prop.... having no regard to airframe/load stresses

..... at least that's what I see at a few of the clubs I belong to.

Be super selective to who you have on the other end of the cord.... as you've already suggested in your post.[8D]

That is one of the nice things about the R54. I do a lot of flying with the right stick in a corner. It is that type of flying that is generating the interest in jets.

The other jet fliers at our field all fly the same way, Takeoff, 6-7 laps around the field with maybe 1 loop and/or roll thrown in, 1 high speed pass, and land.
Don't get me wrong, I am not condemning any of the other pilots, they are having a blast and that is all that really counts. At the heli end of the field I am that boring uninspiring pilot but I have fun and that's all that matters.

If I only give the "students" low rates and a max of 3/4 throttle, it is not possible to hurt the airframe from aerodynamic loading.

But we do agree, the "students" would be selected as responsible capable pilots, and they would only have low rates and reduced throttle to work with.

That was my idea behind this turbine Skymaster 337,I gave all the menbers of my club a chance to feel the power of a turbine, come in low pass then full power and full up elevator,goes up like a rocket.
This is powerd by a Ram 500.

http://youtu.be/3TnelK6dnWE

Gio.

Dean Whichmann did this with a Reaction last year. Think he timed out a turbine in one season buddy boxing a BUNCH of guys. At least 2 are in deep already.

Agree - wives have contracts out on him to....

PaulD

Well I finally did this at our club picnic.

13 flights burning 5 gal of fuel in just a few hours. That was 118 minutes on the turbines clock.

I did not count how many different people got there first turbine flight, but I am guessing it was close to 20. There was even one heli pilot that never flew an airplane before.

Everything work perfectly without any issues at all. The only complaint was when I had stop to recharge batteries after every 3rd flight. I also needed the rest, it got to be a bit draining mentally having to be ready for anything and not a lot of time to deal with that anything.

I gave the "students" only Aileron, elevator, and rudder, the lesser pilots were limited to 1/2 throttle and low rates, and some of the better pilots were given up to 3/4 throttle and some even got to play with high rates. Most were amazed at the "extreme high speed" (yes an R54 at half throttle) that the plane flew at. I had the system set up in mix mode, this allows the instructor to help the student out with out actually taking full control. Most were not using enough elevator in the turns and the nose was dropping, so I could just help lift it a little as required. The student never knows that you helped unless you tell them.

Yes we will need a bigger shelter for some of the heads ........
Time will tell if I get put on anymore hit lists. Building and buying season is getting close for us up north.

We try to do the same with our turbine foamies. It brings a smile to every face and not the least education in how a turbine plane is to fly with throttle lag and the missing torque. I guess that's one reson more and more turbine foamies are popping up here.

That's why I just built a Shockjet. I wanted something I could just throw around. Sure... I still have to think about stress... but I can fly it more like a "Sunday, Fun-fly" model.


Jeff... I'm glad it worked out so well at your club. I just left my club at the beginning of this year, because they were anti-turbine. But I often thought, if I let a few of the guys fly on a buddy box... they would be more excepting of my turbines. (I was the first in the club to get into turbines)

I liked my old club... and it was close to my house. I may contact them, and see if I would be allowed to fly some demo's at their open house next spring.

It is sure worth a try letting some members fly on a buddy box. Who knows you might set the hook on a couple and then you will no longer be a voice of one.
I am the only pilot that has flown a turbine at our field in the last 2 years, maybe 3. There is only one other member that has a waiver.
I used the other approach to ensure that my flying preferences are not tread upon, I became the club prez.

[QUOTE=gio;11076391]That was my idea behind this turbine Skymaster 337,I gave all the menbers of my club a chance to feel the power of a turbine, come in low pass then full power and full up elevator,goes up like a rocket.
This is powerd by a Ram 500.

http://youtu.be/3TnelK6dnWE

If you cant say something nice...

"I had the system set up in mix mode, this allows the instructor to help the student out with out actually taking full control. Most were not using enough elevator in the turns and the nose was dropping, so I could just help lift it a little as required. The student never knows that you helped unless you tell them"

Flyinfool, thanks for your post. Great job, and the jet segment of our hobby owes you a debt for your ambassadorship.

Question: The only training Setups I am familiar with are "all or nothing", and your mix mode is something I haven't stumbled across until now. What equipment are you using? Thanks again for your efforts.

It was not an effort, I had fun doing it.

The setup was my Futaba 14MZH as the teacher, and a Futaba 8FGH as the student using the FASST Wireless Trainer System.
Each channel can be set to Off, Normal, Mix, or Function.
Then of course there is the master trainer switch where the teacher can take all control from the student as in most other trainer systems.

"OFF" mode;
Student side has no access to this channel

"NORM" mode (Normal mode);
Student side has no control of mixes and
settings in Teachers radio..

"MIX" mode;
Student has full advantage of all setting in
Teachers radio, plus Teacher has the option
to change any setting while Student has
control.

"FUNC" mode (Function mode);
Student has control of mixes and rate settings
of Teachers radio.

Hats off to you sir! Well done!

We had our club meeting last night. The guys are still talking about having flown a jet and how nice it flew in the wind.
I think I will be on a couple of more wives hit lists soon......

Besides, In the last 2 years I am the only jet pilot left at our field. We need a couple more.

I have not realized that it has been 5 years since I did this.It sure does not seem that long ago. I am thinking of trying it again at the club picnic in a couple of weeks. I need to shovel some dust off of things and get new batteries to make it happen......