Learning to fly alone

[Alex Hasell]

Good point Eric have done that now, just so your aware i live in Shifnal which is in Telford Shropshire

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Nigel Wyatt]

Alex,

If you must try to learn on your own please remember, learn the basic safety points first, such as restraining your model when starting etc.  Also make sure you get land owners permission and INSURANCE. (available from the BMFA) 

However much you dont want to join a club to learn there is no substtute and you will more than likely find it far more expensive to learn alone.  Anyway Good Luck and please tell us how many pieces you take your model home in after the first flight!!!!

[Phil Winks]

Here's hoping you don't need the black bag Alex. as indeed it is a humbling experience that I've suffered many times  the point about joining a club is a good one but one that's not been mentioned is the use of flight sims. not necessarily terribly expensive and you can crash as often as you want without any further expense

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Andy Harris]

Eric

  Sim's mentioned on page 1 of this thread.  I think they are really useful.  I still use mine.

   Just at the moment I'm trying to get a properly slow horizontal axial roll.  I could practice this in the real world but it would take many batteries and evenings of repairing ground rash.

  I know the inputs required, my thumbs need to know the amount and get the sequence progression right.

 I'm monitoring this thread to see how Alex Hasell gets on, I reckon if he had 100 hrs of sim time logged it the bin liner could stay rolled up!

 Regards .... Andy

[Bruce Richards]

One of my great joys is just sitting and watching other club members fly. I have learnt a lot by doing this both from more experienced pilot and from less experienced. It helps to show me that the maneuvers I do need a lot of work to make them smooth and accurate. I can do a huge loop but it is far from pretty.

[BB]

I am a lone flyer. Started last year with an 'all in one' foamie.  To anyone starting out, BMFA insurance is a must.  I got permission to fly on Council property between 0500 - 0800 hrs, which suits me as Im a night worker.  I load up and charge up during the night and fly before I get home.  This morning I flew at 0530 - 0630, uninterupted; And thoroughly enjoyable.

At home now and after posting this little ditty I will switch on my G4 flight sim and practice somemore.  I got this piece of kit just after it came out, and as a new flyer I can recommend sims as 'a' way forward. They are a good aid especially to a newbie like me. 

The newbie lone flyers biggest mistake will always be in the application, or lack of, applied discipline coupled with overconfidence at the most inappropriate time, ( inverted too close to terrafirma).  I've bounced a couple of planes,broke one because I was too impatient to fly after a prang and repair.

This morning I cartwheeled my Typhoon 3D, (foamie), and contray to some comments I have read.  It didn't turn into packaging foam.  A quick check of control surfaces and another 15 mins of flight time achieved.

Learning to fly on ones own isn't for everyone, and it can be exspensive, moreso than learning under the guidance of a tutor, who can generally save a mistake from turning into pile of wood or packaging foam.

Perhaps I have been lucky.  I can stick to flying circuts or go nuts with 3D'ing. When circumstance allows I will join a club, fly 'proper' planes after getting the 'A' cert and hopefully go on to get the 'B'. Till then Im a happy lone flyer.

[Lee Burke]

One element of learning on one's own which I believe has not been touched yet in this thread is the difficulty of correctly setting up a model without any experience.  The collective years of experience and mass of knowledge that can be bought to bear at a club is one of the great benefits of joining one.  A beginner above all has need of a model that is correctly trimmed - not simply CofG but all the other parameters - he starts with a huge, and sometimes insurmountable handicap if the aircraft itself is a pig to handle and he doesn't know why.

[cymaz]

I joined a club a saw what the were doing and talked to all the members and then bought a trainer based on what I had learnt. Some of our club members have been flying for 40 years ( they still are up there!). What a wealth of talent and experience. Also if you get stuck with a problem or need a help holding a plane there they are.

We have a great bunch of fliers and a really good club membership.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hdAWrf5ulK8 

If the link works then you'll see where we fly, great camera work from Ollie and his Cougar 2000.

[Michael Arwas]

I have learnt to fly models without the aid of an instructor.  I have done so by learning on electric parkflyer types and am now up to the warbird/scale stage at which point i think i am going to join my local club. Not just for space etc but also to get a chance to look at other peoples models and here their experiences!  So yes in my opinion it is possible if you understand the principles of flight etc..

[Andy Harris]

Having started some indoor flying I've found the Hornet from Flying Wings to be strong and easy to fly.  I reckon it would  make a good start for anyone learning to fly solo.

The carnage, mid-airs and wall bouncing are certainly good for building reactions!

[Aussie Bob]

 Old Timers make great solo trainers as they fly real slow but are very fragile.

[Gemma Jane]

I taught myself, loved every minute of doing so and still have every model I've owned in flying condition (I've stopped counting how many since it got past 10). Some got pranged along the way but,

cheap foam models = cheap foam spare parts

and a good crash is a good excuse to rebuild with some upgrades

So it can be done, it is fair comment that trimming and set-up are the keys, if you have some idea of the principles chances are you can have early success teaching yourself to fly models. If not it all might get very expensive and frustrating. I had the principles pretty well covered so for me learning to fly the models was an enjoyable way to put the pinciples in action and see that my grasp of theory could be put into practice. If you don't know a lot about the theories of flight, it could be a bit more difficult to understand how to set-up a model in a way that it behaves well and is easy and predictable to control or even to recognise that it is harder to fly than it should be!

My first ever R/C model was a Firebird Freedom, that was bad until I had the tail set-up right, completely unflyable and many were supplied in that condition from the factory which a brief search through some of the American forums will confirm. Once trimmed though it was perfectly flyable, but only in a very big space. Very many people who bought them never got to see that though.. it could have so easily put me off as it would nose dive into the ground on every launch so the flights were lasting less than 2 seconds! Fortunately I knew enough to realise (eventually) it was the angle of incidence of the tail and not my launching technique that was causing the problem and so a few adjustments later it was away, but not without some frustration, replacement parts and a lot of head scratching.

Simplest model I've ever flown (apart from an MCX which doesn't count unless you want to start with a heli) was the Hobby Zone Cub which I made a lot of my early flights with, I still have a modifed one which I fly regularly, if you are going it alone I personally think it is a good first model as it will fly out of the box and is very forgiving and pretty tough, just remember your best  friend on that first flight is height, use it!

[Richie P]

hi eric, like a lot of others above i've tought myself, but it did cost. i started in jan 08 by buying an electric powered glider that cost £120 with transmitter, and a basic fiight simulator £20, the simulator i found good enough to get used to the sticks, it also allowed me to change models and has different settings for the sticks, then i  proceeded to fly crash glue,fly crash glue until it could fly no more, that was the expensive part. so i then decided to buy a  jamara ara ready to fly electric powered glider, from gliders newark they advertise in the rcm&e, this should have been my first choice as a novice, i found this glider very forgiving  when i  made mistakes and easy to land, i think it's a very good starter for us new kids on the block, and it was't very long before i got the hang of it, the body is made of plastic and the wing/ rudder/elevator are made of some kind of compressed foam (not elapor)  with a outer covering,      i found them very easy to repair, and replacement parts are also readily available, this model allowed me to get the experience i needed while teaching myself, it's now in the hands of my nephew. within a few months i bought the multiplex easystar which is a very nice plane to fly, and recently have bought the multiplex easyglider electric. and yes i am a huge fan of multiplex .                                                        i've found these forums a mind of information and very helpful when you need basic questions answered. hope it all goes ok for you.  

[Malcolm Fisher]

I am one of those who learned to fly R/C by myself, but had years of flying C/L before that.

My first R/C gear was a "Wee Mcgregor" single channel super regen reciever with an Elmic Conquest rubber driven escapement. This gave sequential left, neutral, right, neutral rudder control and I could only fly alone as any other radio interfered with my Rx.

Later I acquired a Flight Link "Duette" with which I improved considerably and could fly with other people.

For a long time, I only flew slope soaring gliders but went on to power after joining a club and being asked to teach other peole and test fly their  powered models. I felt it prudent to learn to handle power with a model of my own first.

Initially I had trouble landing with power on  - dead stick landings were no problem as every landing with a glider is "dead stick" so I used to fly until the engine ran out of fuel.

[David Strawhorn]

Hi

My 13 year old son has been interested in RC flying for ages but I made the mistake of buying several "flying" toys rather than part with some good money for a decent trainer. He has been flying Microsoft flight sim  and Clearview RC simulator for ages so got to grips with the basics of flying with no input from anyone else. Just before Christmas, I bought a 2nd hand Hobbyzone Supercub having done some internet research on its suitability for beginners. With some trepidation and excitement we made our way to the local playing fields and within minutes he was throwing the Cub around the sky like a good 'un! The joy on his face as he flew this brilliant wee plane was worth its weight in gold. Within 10 minutes he had switched off the ACT (without telling me) and was looping the loop. His faith in RC flying (dented due to the "flying" toys) was restored and he has been out flying nearly every day, weather permitting. I have encouraged him to join the local flying club in order to benefit from the vast experience on offer but he enjoys lone flying and the learning curve involved. Sites like this and similar ones are invaluable for the hobby. Already he wants to move on to converting my old Thunder Tiger 40 (mothballed for 7 years) into his first alieron trainer (any advice on this welcome!!!)

[Alex Leigh]

Interesting thread. To try and add some perspective, let me try this. I ride Mountain Bikes (used to race) and - as a hobby - it has some parallels with RC. Mainly in expensive bits of kit that share space with squashy people But everyone can ride a bike so why would they need training? Problem is MTB's go fast (30mph easily) and share trails with lots of other users. It's easy to get into trouble on a modern MTB and hard to get out of it.

Sound familiar? I can see both sides of the argument. I ran a club for MTB's but got sick of it, too many rules, too much admin and the fun of just riding with my friends went out of it. I have insurance through CTC and recommend that to anyone who rides, especially off road. But many of the clubs I've been too have similar issues to those mentioned in this thread. Especially for beginners who are sometimes looked down upon.

I taught myself to fly (but am now joining a club as I want to go IC and I can see you need a field/training/rules for that) and I've flown foamies with some friends on common and private-ish land. We've had a great time. So I sincerely hope that moving back into a more disciplined environment is not going to take the fun away.

There is probably also a point about how your actions affect the perception of the sport. We definitely have that in MTB. 

I guess my summary is we live in a small overcrowded island,  so have to take responsibilities towards safety absolutely as a priority. I just hope that doesn't ruin the fun that got us into a hobby in the first place.

[Malcolm Fisher]

Alex,

Even flying power models can be managed if you have access to suitable private land, but I would recommend that you read as much as you can about it first. 

Much depends on the club and its members as to whether joining will enhance or reduce your enjoyment of the hobby - which incidentally is officially recognised as a sport by the Sports Council.

 Flying with others can help someone who is self taught see if they have developed any, for want of better teminology, "bad habits".

 Third Party Insurance is always a good idea, and the easiest route to this is via a BMFA affiliated club or individual "Country" Membership of BMFA, and I think new members might still be able to get the training manual "Up and Away" included with their first membership package. This is full of useful information and is a recognised training scheme used by many clubs. 

HTH

 Malcolm

[Alex Leigh]

Malcolm - thanks, useful stuff and I'm reading it all now

[Joe Mellon]

For info the "Up and Away" manual can be downloaded for free from the BMFA site link below

Zipped Up and Away manual

Joe

[Patrick Adams]

Hi yes it can be done.  simple realy get yourself a flight sim and crash as many times as you like on the pc first till you master it.  But remember dont run. good luck......

[Hugh Coleman]

This is a question that I have been asking my self.

Do I buy my self a foamy with a transmitter and hope to hell that my basic Aeronautical Engineering knowledge will get me by, or do I join a club and do it the "wise" way.

 In the end I have decided to join a club and have been in touch with the VP of the Croydon Aeromodellers club and sent off a membership app.

The VP was ultra helpful and keen to share his knowledge and experience and also more than prepared to put aside time each month to instruct me.

In stark contrast, I was in my local hobby shop yesterday and they were actually actively discouraging me from joining a club and told me that all I really needed to do was purchase a foamy and a sim and get on with it.

Like some of the respndants above, I too like the social aspect of club membership (I have been a member of IPMS for years and although I only attend meetings infrequently, I enjoy the sharing of experience and information when I do).

 Cheers,

Hugh

[Gemma Jane]

I think one of the things that is really interesting about this thread is that what might have been a very ill advised thing to do in the past such as going out and teaching yourself R/C flying is actually now possible and quite practical and perhaps, just perhaps for some, even more rewarding than having instruction.

I've found it difficult to join a club, membership application went in, well it went in over 6 months ago and I have heard nothing at all. The club is I.C. orientated in any case which I have no interest in.

So in my case I'm glad I did not wait and threw the full force of my Aeronautical Engineering knowledge (M.Eng) at chucking lumps of foam in the air, it has been a massive amount of fun and somehow I have to own up that it has awoken a latent aeromodeller in me. I keeping thinking about white dust and sticking things together in a shed surrounded by lots of technical drawings of aeroplanes, boxes with strange sizes of brass tubing in, and various obnoxious substances in tubes and jars.

I agree on the social side, I'm negotiating a private model airstrip at the moment, a big part of me is thinking 'club' rather than 'private', it would be great to turn up sometimes and talk to people who are more experienced at the hobby than I and see what they have created, I just have not had a lot of luck with finding that locally at an already established club.

Best of luck with the future Hugh and happy landings.

[Hugh Coleman]

This is why I have decided to go the club way.  The VP intially said that they were full, but after doing some investigating called me to tell me that he could get me in... And I didn't even have to beg.

To me, learning to fly is a means to an end... Aside form the thrill of being able to chuck a piece of foam, or balsa and covering through the air in full control, I want to build those aircraft that have always been my dreams (Supermarine Stranraer, Felixstowe F2a and DH92 Mosquito... Notice how they are all twin engined, and two of them are flying boats) and I want to be able to fly them safe in the knowledge that barring unforseen circumstances, I will not destroy them on their maiden flights.

Cheers,

Hugh