I went the self taught route, built and rebuilt. I know you will crash. I'll put it in writing. Trees, powerlines, AND small pond. If at all possible fly from land first, with help. AMA and club membership is cheaper. Sim helps, but is not 100%. I've got a RF 4.5, still not the same. Get a blow dryer to dry electronics too!! Take the servos apart and the reciever. Been there done that, after I could fly off land. Floats are a whole different story. Turning my back to the plane as it came towards me was a help for me, as mentioned. But it doesn't work for everyone.
PLEASE TAKE VIDEOS!!! CRASHES ARE THE BEST!!!
No disrespect meant, but your in for a trip, and a surprise! No matter what ratings you have. All that you know is what the control sufaces do, and power management. PUCKER factor won't help either, you'll over control.
Again, NO Disrespect, Best of Luck,
Red

You should take up a different hobby; this is really the dumbest idea I have heard in a long time. You are really taking a foolish chance on injuring someone or causing damage. You have been given a lot of good advice, I hope you heed it.

Dear Cleared
I thought you might like to hear from someone who just got into the hobby.  I just solo'd this summer so I am a ROOKIE.  I spent countless hours on my G4.5 simulator  last winter, as I am working in Northern Canada.  Of course I tried some water takeoffs and landings on the simulator.  Not Pretty.  I did  approx. 20 flights with my Instructor before I solo'd.  I can guarantee that without my instructor at my side, and taking control numerous times, I would have a pile of sticks and electronics.  As it is, I still have an intact Nexstar to fly.

Good Luck!

Go for it Let us know how it goes.

Did you teach yourself to fly full scale?
Did you teach yourself to fly commercial?
Did you teach yourself to fly on instruments yourself?
Hopefully you are getting my drift.
Do you really want to do this?
GET AN INSTRUCTOR.

(22 years instructing)
Bob K

HI WHEN THE PLANE IS FLYING TO YOU -ALWAYS PUT THE AILERON STICK TOWARDS THE LOW WING TO LEVEL THE PLANETRIM INTO THE WINDAND REDUCE THE THROTTLE FROM TAKE OFF -GOING SLOWER WILL HELP YOU TRIM AS THE PLANE WILL BE MOVING SLOWER THAN AT A HIGHER THROTTLE SETTINGWHEN LANDING MAKE PASSES TO DETERMINE THE PLANES DECENT RATECOMES IN TOO FAST -GO AROUND AND SHUT IT OFF SOONERWHEN FLYING GET THE PLANE UP HIGH-SO YOU HAVE ROOM FOR ANY ERROR YOU MAY MAKE-USE SOME UP ELEVATOR ON YOUR TURNS-HAVE THE PLANE BALANCED IN THE SHOP -LEFT TO RIGHTAND FRONT TO BACKSLIGHT NOSE HEAVY IS REQUIRED-NO FUEL IN TANKBE SURE YOUR CONTROLS ARE WORKING IN THE CORRECT DIRECTION-SETTING UP AND KEEPING YOU GLO ENGINE RUNNING CORRECTLY W/B ONE OF YOUR GREATER CHALLENGES !!-THAT A GOOD TRAINER WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL WITH- IF YOUR ENGINE QUITS YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE TO THINK FAST TO GET HER DOWN IN A SAFE PLACE- IF YOU CAN- MAY I SUGGEST-GO TO YOUR CLOSEST CLUB-WATCH-ASK QUESTION-LEARN TO FLY-THEN GO HOME AND FLY ALL YOU LIKE THERE -THE HELP IS FREE AND WILL SAVE YOU A LOT OF MONEY AND FRUSTRATION-I AM FLYING 20 YEARS-TOOK ME A YEAR ON WEEKENDS TO SOLO BUT THE LAST 19 HAVE BEEN GREAT FUNGOOD TIMES-GOOD FRIENDS ALWAYS SOMETING TO LEARN AS THE TECHNOLOGY ADVANCESENJOYING THE GREAT OUTDOORS-ALWAYS SOMETHING TO DO IN THE HOME SHOP-JUST LOVE THIS STUFF ENJOY REGARDS TONY "the omega man " think pink

All the threads like these. No one ever posts videos though!!
What a shame. Would serve as a good answer!!
Red

ClearedForTheApproach:

Being a single, multi, or commercial pilot doesn't cut it when flying R/C.

My buddy was a ExNavy Fighter pilot, and he had a very hard time learning to fly R/C.

Even after you learn, be prepared to Crash, and Repair, things happen, and practice saying (I got shot down) great excuse for pilot error!

But the cheapest way to go is seek out an instructor to teach you, go to your nearest Hobby Shop they usually know of Clubs in your area.

Would you have gone to the local airport and climbed into a real plane and attempt to take off and teach yourself to fly?
Same principal here flying R/C, but whatever you decide, good luck!

"You Can Lead a Horse To Water, But You Can't Make Him Drink It......."

Godspeed fledgling aviator, godspeed.

Don't know if it will help or not, I’m self taught at flying RC Planes and have been flying planes since 1983. Most of the time I can usually bring the birds down in the recommended number of pieces (Glitches aside!).

My best advice, like many others here in the forum;

1. Get a flight simulator/Instructor.

2. Use small inputs take it slow.

3. If you can't/won’t get an instructor (got to do it on your own!), these are some of the tricks I have had success with while I was learning: One of the most difficult tasks flying an RC Aircraft is when you start to turn the plane around to come back towards you, most (if not all) beginners get disoriented and loose control. (The aircraft controls are now reversed).

With plane is coming right at you, move the control stick (ailerons) towards the dipped wing, this will level the plane out. Practice this allot, it works like a charm.

Another method controlling the plane while coming towards you, turn your body in the direction the plane is traveling and look over your shoulder. This might work.

Hope this help’s; the people who succeed in flying RC Aircraft are those who are persistent. If you can get an instructor it will ramp up your learning curve, save you allot of time, money and frustration. If you go it on your own, a lot of money, patients and C.A. will help!

Good luck, Steve

[8D]

I found the best way to learn Solo is on a lake winter time with skies. the snow is more forgiving you don't need a boat but make sure the plane doesn't have to much white on it. I still went through several trainers and two Cubs. The problem on the water is your electronics will be history if you crash. At least on land the pricey stuff is salvageable. Good Luck

I learned how to fly myself. Just stay calm and use the basic physics of flight.

On the day I had my first flight, guys asked me after I brought my trainer plane down safely how long I had been flying. When I told them it was my first time, they said I was lucky.

Then I had an "instructor' show me how to fly, he crashed my trainer. I learned that if I crash it, I rebuild it, if an instructor crashed it, I rebuilt it also. So I never had anyone show me again.

So, the question is, do I fly well?? I fly many scale warbirds, small over weight stuff at times. And they mostly come back in one piece. I'm not bad.

I like the fact I taught myself. I got into rc just to fly scale warplanes.

Steve

ahhhhh, flashback. my first winter flying, hard ice no snow. to land all i had to do was keep the wings level and flare. longest landing strip ever!!!
red
rc since 76? 77? can't remember... lol

I am a self taught RC pilot. I learned by flying a 2 meter glider. I was cheaper than buying a plane with a motor. My best advice would be to take it a step at a time. Don't forget to break in the motor. Perhaps the first time you take it out just taxi around the pond and get used to how it handles. A simulator is a great idea. The sim will teach your thumbs what direction to react when the plane is coming at you or going away. The simulator will not teach you how to land. Since you can't see where you are going out of the side of your eye. Learning to fly yourself is entirely possible. I even met a guy this year that taught himself to fly on a small electric jet. So always have a goal for each flight. Like the first time out taxi around on the pond. Get some speed but not fast enough to take off. The second time just try to get up and fly in ovals. Do this for a few flights and try to make your turns smoother and more level each time. Don't panic if the engine dies in flight. The plane will glide just don't expect it to climb without power. Like most people have suggested find an experienced pilot with a buddy box. The least this will do is allow you to learn faster since you shouldn't have to fix your plane so often. Good luck and let us know how it goes.-Hank

If you are determined to go this route please at the very least have someone capture the event on video so it can be enjoyed for more than 15 seconds.

I flew control line planes about 30 years ago... just start a Cox .049 up and hope it runs out of gas before you get too dizzy to fly. Then I got a fully remote control glider. I got tired of the hobby pretty quick and quit.

30 years later, I wanted to get started again, looking for a way to spend some outdoors time with my son, then about 6 years old.

I went through so many planes, so may repairs, so many parts and pieces... but every flight and crash was the most fun I'd had in years. Eventually, the crashes started coming farther apart, I could actually land, and the brain and thumbs eventually came somewhat reconnected. I had absolutely no idea how that connection had deterriorated over the years!

whether you don't have access to an instructor, or you're just one of those "learn it the hard way" kind of guys... remember to keep safety first, and be glad that you aren't in the cockpit when you come in for your first landing!

Oh, and like someone said earlier... get some R/C simulator software.... crashes are free! It's a little challenging the first few times to find the runway, and you have to avoid the desire to change to the "in plane" view, because it won't help you land a model plane... but RealFlite or a similar program are very valuable training tools.

It can be done.

I picked up aerofly PRO deluxe sometime in April of 06'. I spent approximately 3-5 hrs/day using it.

By July I was confident I would have no problems whatsoever with the real thing and I was right, I found the real thing much easier than the sim.

I took this route with both airplanes and helis.

Not bragging, just a confidence inspiring story to remember should you go through with it. Good luck [sm=thumbup.gif]

Pete

Cleared,
I respect your desire to learn on your own. That is how most of the early aviators got started and pioneered full scale flight. I would like to give you a list of things to consider so that you can make this endeavor the least risky as possible:

Water: Float planes add a fair amount of complexity to taking off. Things to consider: 1. Wing incidence with respect to floats. The Wings should have positive incidence of between 1-3 degrees. 2. Step placement. The step should be even or 1/2" behind the CG so that on plane the CG will sit just forward of the step to maintain proper incidence. 3. Float width. The float stance should be about 25% the wingspan. 4. Prop clearance. The prop should have about 2" under it before hitting the water. 5. Take off distance. You may have to double or triple the distance it takes to be able to successfully takeoff from water compared to land. How much runoff room do you give a full-sized plane in the event of an aborted takeoff?

Air: Being new to R/C planes, means that you don't have a good estimate of how much room it would take to properly fly the airplane. When I was learning last winter, I would use Google Earth to map out how much room I wanted on the lake to fly. Usually picked a radius of about 1000 yards.

Orientation: Just this alone kept me from properly getting into this hobby when I was younger. My planes would last about 15 seconds at most then I would crash. The simulator was an immense help with this.

Safety: Make sure until you feel you are proficient, that there are no bystanders nearby.

Landing: If you can get the plane off the water in that distance, and you can make some good circles, landing will be very tough in that short of a distance. 1 acre will seem like a postage stamp, it would to me. I think I would maybe be able to hit something that size 50% of the time if I was lucky right now and I feel pretty proficient.

Good Luck, this was not meant to belittle or demean, but I wish all the best of luck and want people to be successful with this hobby, because I know how fun it can be.
Curtis

I say get you good flight simulator and learn , learn, learn. If you can fly on it and land without crashing you might stand a chance. Being a pilot is really a bad handycap. I have tried to teach full scale pilots to fly without much luck. I learned to fly models first then it was easy to get my full scale license.


Good luck

Take up bowling instead. The wood dosen't break when it gets driven into the hard stop. Good luck!

The best advice here is get an instuctor! I learned very fast with an instuctor but if had not been there my first few flights waiting on the buddy cord there would have been no way that the plane would have servive! I only had about an hour first day but walked away thinking there is no way he could teach me. Next day I had more time to fly even a couple of touch and goes and the very next day I soloed! Nothing but pure joy since, Just get an instructor, there are so many that will teach you and once taught you will meet the best folks in the world going to the fields and fly-ins! Just save you money and posibly your health and do it the right way. I promise you that that first landing will still be has great as if you crashed a hundred planes doing it your way then made a good landing! But if you do have to still do it your way please video tape the crashes to put into the next I think its crasher 6? Here is the phone number for Prop wash video's 702-731-5217 that way you can make sure you are in thier next crasher video!

Like many others, I'd suggest you have someone train you. If that isn't going to happen, get a simulator. I have an old Realflight Deluxe, the original version which is at least 10 yrs old now. It is more than adequate to train on. You may be able to pick up an older version of Realflight here on RCU or eBay. Even the original version of Realflight is so good that, if you can take off and land on the on-screen landing strip, then you're ready to solo. Make sure you're not alone but that there's not a lot of specators. You'll want someone there in case you hurt yourself but not so many that you have a chance of hurting someone else. Last; I would highly recommend a 40" span Lazy Bee with a .10 engine. This is, by far, the easiest plane to fly you'll ever find. Its so light and flies so slow that you have a lot of time to recover from mistakes. If you're 6 feet up you've got enough air under you to afford a mistake. Also, because its so light, it won't break when it crashes. I once flew mine into a concrete garbage container at a schoolyard and only collapsed the leading edge between two ribs. It took about 10 minutes to repair. I still have this plane and it'll be the first plane my son flies.

I'm self taught as well, but I went through some planes in the process. As a kid I had to learn to fly at a field within walking distance from my house; getting an instructor just wasn't possible. Crashed a .25 sized Sureflite foam cub, a .40 size Flitecraft Solo 1 trainer, and a Cox Canario...I wasn't successful until mounting an .049 power pod on a Cox Eagle glider with a Hobbyshack glider wing (but still crashed it many times- it double it's weight in epoxy), then moved on to a Duraplane. We didn't have good sims back in the 80's though- take advantage of that new technology if possible. And, get the supercub like I said earlier. It costs more without an instructor, whether you pay up front in sims/easy to fly planes or in repair/replacement costs.

That sounds like fun. I have been flying since 69, an have instructed more guys than i can count. send me a e-mail or pm. ill help you.
Falcon

AND WEAR A LIFE JACKET!