Learning to fly

[andy watson]

ot sure if you want to move this to beginners or elsewhere, but I thought instead of all the build blogs maybe a learning to fly blog would be of interest.

Lesson 1 was on Sunday.

I have joined Bury Metro club- about 20 minutes down the motorway.  I'd popped in before and met a guy called Andy Monks who kindly agreed to take me under his wing, so to speak,  He'd test flown my jumper and sucessfully landed it under half a dozen dead sticks as the engine kept cutting out, so I had proof of his ability to fly!  He'd also spent a lot of time kindly messing with the set up trying to get it running reliably.

Sunday was pretty windy, but I popped down thinking I could get some help running in the new engine.  Andy was there and he agreed it was too windy for my first lesson.  Anyway, we got the engine running to his satisfaction, and he took it up.  After a couple of minutes he asked if I wanted a go .  I spent the next few minutes managing to do something that really looked like circuits.  I had been messing around on FMS flight simulator, which proved really helpful as even when I turned the wrong way I saw quickly what I had done wrong and corrected it straight away.  In fact I don't think I had to hand the transmitter back until it was time to land.

He asked if I wanted to refuel and do it again, but I felt drained by the nerve shredding experience! , and figured it was wise not to press my luck in what were still windy conditions.

Link for the sim if anyone wants it: FMS homepage It's free, but I spent a tenner on a lead so I use my tranny as the controller.

[andy watson]

Lesson 2 today.

Perfect evening for flying- little wind and overcast so no sun in my eyes.

At the field was Andy again, so we had another bash.  I realised last time that although I had never felt out of control, I probably should have handed over the transmitter when Andy asked for it after I made mistakes last time, I don't have the experience to make that judgement yet- so I made a note to myself.  This resolve was tested fairly quickly when I got myself out of orientation shortly after taking the transmitter today, and promptly handed back control for Andy to get me back on track.

More circuits- it's strange just letting the plane fly away from you- I was a bit worried about how far away it could go before I started to lose control, but he assured me it was a couple of miles so I relaxed a bit!  The circuits were a bit raggedy today if I say so myself.  Not been on the sim today or yesterday, and I think that daily refresher is important.  Whether that was overconfidence from a sucessful first lesson, or because I have been very busy, I'm not sure- but I will try make sure I get 5 minutes at least every day, 

We reversed circuits, and it was strange how going the other way is enough to just make you move slightly out of your comfort zone.  A few of those, then we started swapping clockwise for a couple, then anti. 

Land for more fuel, then back up again.  Except this time I did the take off!    Climbed up to circuit height and back to circuits.  He'd asked if I wanted to try some loops, and although they are simple on the sim (pull back.........that's it), it was a bit harder on the plane!  This was the first time I had had to use any real throttle control.  The first couple were a bit rough, but I started to get the hang of it, and they became a lot tidier.  Andy asked if I wanted just to fly around, rather than stick to circuits, but I told him I preferred him telling me where to go(!) as it focussed my mind on being accurate.  I had noticed some of my tuns seemed to be anywhere between 60-120 degrees rather than a crisp 90 and I was spending much of the leg then getting back on track. 

So 2 flights tonight, and whilst it didn't feel that I was as good as lesson 1, I did feel much more relaxed and able to talk a bit as well as concentrate- in fact I actually enjoyed it!

For the record I am flying a Seagul jumper 25, with an OS46LA and a futaba 6EX 2,4GHz set.

[Tim Mackey]

Well done Andy - and a nice idea to Blog it too ! I will leave it in this section as it gets a little more hits than others.

[birdy]

Great idea! Perhaps I should be unoriginal and copy you! Only thing is, the old memory is playing up! Now what was I going to do?

[andy watson]

Lesson 3.

Another fine day for flying with little wind, but the farmer was bailing hay on the field so there were more obstacles!

Down at the field in the afternoon.  No Andy, but another guy I had met called Warren took me up instead.  It was a bit awkward swapping instructors- nothing specific, but just slightly different flight patterns- Andy seems to prefer higher and wider circuits, Warrens seem lower and closer in. 

The circuits were ok, but again a bit raggedy- although in part I do think this was because I was trying to fly Andys circuits and then correcting to Warrens!  I did manage to get the nose up coming out of one turn and stall it- possibly a gust of wind, probably pilot error!  Handed across quickly and the situation was quickly retrieved!  Not sure if I was being a bit ham fisted today, or if Warren set the throttle up differently but he decided to adjust the radio.  This meant a movement on the stick had less effect in the air.  It took a few circuits to get used to the change but then things became much smoother, although I am worried in case it will then be hard to remove this later.  If I am used to making relatively big stick movements for minor plane movements will this become a hard habit to break?  Maybe I should go back to full effect and make it harder now for a long term benefit?

Warren knew I had done a take off yesterday, so on our second outing, after a refreshing coke and fag, I tried to take off.  Note the word tried.  The plane veered off to the right, I just stopped and watched it drive into a pile of hay awaiting bailing.  Warren told me I needed a touch of left rudder to counteract a natural tendancy of planes to go right (yesterdays just went straight, so I don't really understand why it went right today).  I tried again and promptly turned left into another pile of hay.  Plenty of soft landings at least! .  My third effort was slightly more sucessful as at least I managed to stop the plane before hitting yet more hay!!  Not sure why it went so badly wrong today, when yesterday was very straightforwards.  Warren took off (just to prove it could be done!) and we did some circuits in both directions.  I think I coped better with the switch today than yesterday, so that was good,

So another day done, and another inch of progress,  Warren showed me what was needed for the A certificate, and it doesn't look too hard- although I know I still have a long way to go.  It was nice to see what my target is.  I am also under no illusions that, like driving tests, passing will only be the end of the first part of learning.  It was very interesting to see the different demographics at the field today.  This afternoon I was the youngest there by about 20 years (I am 39), yesterday evening I was possibly the oldest, but we were all similar.  . 

Anyway, back to the sim before I carry on with the DIY!

[Bruce Richards]

Andy,

This blog is a great idea keep it up.

Do not expect linear progression in your learning you will find that sometimes you feel you are going backwards. I am not sure why this is I think it is to do with overconfidence and at other times lack of confidence also a big slice of good/bad luck. You seem to be progressing quickly keep it up

[Former Member]

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[andy watson]

Fortunately, being a teacher, I am prepared to find things difficult and understand things will sometimes "click" whilst other things take longer for no apparant reason!  Of course, that won't stop me getting frustrated from time to time like everyone does.   At least I will have this blog to vent my frustrations on!

Anyone got any theories on the change in rates on the transmitter?  I was coping with it on "normal" but as I posted, today they were dialled back quite a way.  Once I adjusted it definately made things easier- but will I inadvertently develop bad habits of throwing the sticks around too much?

[Former Member]

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[andy watson]

Cheers for that. 

I'd kind of got it into my head that they were like stabilisers on a bike!!  Of course since I don't have any plans to be entering aerobatic competitions I suppose I could fly like that forever and not tell anyone!! 

I guess adjusting to the rates changing will not really be any different to getting used to different models or weather conditions in the long run, but it's good I can get clarification on things here when I have questions.

[andy watson]

Lesson 4

Been very busy keeping the other half happy with progress on the garage, and whilst I have managed to sneak out to the field there hasn't been anyone there to take me up until today.  Done a little bit on the sim, but not too much.

Andy again today.  He is really generous with his time, as when I turned up he was finishing with someone else!  Then again he had been there since 8:30 apparantly, so maybe that's why he gets there so early!  I explained the problem I had been having with take offs, and he wondered if I had been trying to take off slightly cross wind before.  Whatever the reason was, there was no problem today as I did half a dozen without mishap.  I do seem to have the tendency to be gentle on the elevator as instructed) but too gentle, then give it a bit of a yank at the last minute!  So I need to smooth that out.

What is really encouraging though are the circuits.  I am really comfortable with them, and whilst I still make the odd mistake it isn't serious and I can easily correct it.  I do need to invest in some sunglasses though!  I still need to work on getting my turns a nice sharp 90 degrees, and watch the elevator a bit, but they are ok.  I guess the accuracy I am after will come with flight time.  I did some figure 8's today, and whilst from above they will have probably looked like they were written by a chimpanzee they were fine and I was crossing more or less in front of me.  Certainly the left/right turns didn't prove any problem.

"So lets have a go at some landings"  Andy doesn't like me to get too comfortable!  Throttle control is awkward for me at the moment- probably something like clutch control when learning to drive.  Up until now I have basically been flying 1 handed, and messing with the speed is new to me.  Also the idea of height is being brought in more and more.  Before it was simply a matter of high enough for safety and low enough to be seen.  I did a couple of low passes which were actually very nice, but how much was luck and how much judgement I wasn't sure.  3rd time and it was coming in perfectly- slow and flat.  Unfortunately a bit too slow and I did my first landing!   It was a perfect 3 pointer, but 10 feet short of the field (the grass has just been cut so it looked good still) and it should have been a pass- but I was still delighted to have taken the plane up, round and down all by myself!!!  I've flown solo!! .  So I was pretty happy, but aware that actually it was a mistake!  We went back up and I tried a landing proper- came in too fast and a bit nose down.  Fortunately all that was wrong was a bent nose landing gear, which I straightened and took back up.  I managed to turn another low pass into a perfect 3 pointer but this time 20 feet to the right of the strip; and I also had another proper landing which again was too fast and bent the nosewheel for a second time! .  In this description I have ommited quite a few low passes that were fine, and lots that were too high or wide! 

[andy watson]

Still lesson 4- thought the last post was getting a bit long.

 All in all I really feel good about this.  I obviously need more practice, and the plane took a bit of a knock about today.  I think a few circuits where I think about getting into position should help, but I also need to work out what to do in the event of wind coming from a different direction to get my visual markers and feel for where the plane should be.

Next lesson might be monday as Andy is off to a show at Chester tomorrow- selfish git

[Former Member]

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[andy watson]

As long as I am aware of it I don't think it will be too much of a problem, and I can (normally) correct it to bring it back to where I want it to go; but being out by 20 feet isn't as important at 150 feet up as it is at 19!

[Former Member]

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[andy watson]

I did forget to mention one minor mishap yesterday.  Couldn't get the engine started, and after several minutes of messing around with it and trying different glow sticks and starters I realised I had connected my pipes up the wrong way round!

No B certificate fliers at the field today, so a perfect day goes to waste.

[Former Member]

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[andy watson]

I might well have been tempted if there wasn't anyone around, but there were a number of people flying, just no one that was a recognised instructor.  Wouldn't do to get banned.......

[Andy Pickford]

Andy

 I might as well cut and paste your blog. I'm at just about the same stage as yourself. Landings are a bit bumpy but guess that's to be expected.

Good luck with the rest of your lessons

Andy

[David Martin 2]

Hi All,

Keep up the good effort Andy, the best confidence booster for a smooth ride is to keep within your comfort zone and always take home the model in one bit. The more sessions you pile up, the easier it will all get and the more confident in your orientational skills you'll become for aerobatics.

Taking home a bent/broken model is a real emotional and time consuming setback and is best avoided at all costs. Also, even taking home a fully functional model, will still need a little look over for wear and tear and any slop creeping in.

You sound like a quick learner and have a nice set up you're using. I'm teaching someone at the moment with an electric Easystar and personally, I think it's an awlful model to begin with. Nothing wrong with the model, in fact it's a very smooth flier, but a rudder/elevator model to the beginner is a recipy for over controlling through all the turns. He applies rudder and nothing immediate happens so he applies more, then he's round more than the 180 we wanted. Nice smooth co-ordinated aileron/elevator turns at a sensible 2 mistakes up altitude will always work IMHO and let the learner develop their skills with the model responding immediately to their commands.

Your club probably has rules regarding the solo flying of a model by someone without passing a proficiency test of some sort and you may get into trouble if caught. Pity you don't have your instructor's number to pre-arrange a meeting at the field to save a wasted trip.

Good luck anyway, I'm watching your progress with interest....................

[andy watson]

I do have his number, but I don't like to pester.......besides there are other people that can teach me, so by going down on spec I hope to widen my range of possible teachers.

It doesn't help that the weather here seems significantly different to the field!  In fact I didn't realise how weather obsessed I would become.  It can be calm here and windy at the site; I set off today in calm clear blue skys and progressively drove into greyer and greyer cloud!

Ah well, back to the sim- which is far harder to land than the real thing!! 

[andy watson]

Lesson 5

Lesson 4 seemed like a long time ago, but a combination of work and weather has kept me grounded!  The good news is today I have found someone else to take me up- so now I will hopefully have more opportunity (not that there is anything wrong with Andy- just means more chance to get up).  Anyway, got to the field, unpacked, realised I had left the tx at home, drove back, picked it up and went back.

First attempt at a take off didn't go well- the plane refused to lift.  At least I remembered to throttle off before impact with the longer grass- apparantly I had switched the elevator rates switch on the tx, and since it's also dialed in on the computer I had very little movement.  2nd attempt and up we go.  Lesson 4 really did feel like a ling time ago, and it showed as I was a bit raggedy in perfect conditions.  At one point I flew over my head and into the sun, lost the model and had to hand over quickly to bring it back to where it should have been.  Gradually things started to come together again though, and I was doing relatively clean circuits.  I don't know if it was the new instructor, the earlier loss of control, or the time elapsed since I had last flown, but I really didn't feel confident about trying a landing, so I handed back and Mark brought it down safely.

Took a break and went back up.  This time the circuits were much tidier.  I can tell when I am more relaxed as I talk to the instructor.  The first flight was much more stressful and I didn't.  So a completely uneventful (therefore good) second flight, but I still didn't feel up to landing- Mark isn't as pushy as Andy so I handed over again.  Mark overshot the first approach (I had been very high) and came round again just as we ran out of fuel and had to bring it in dead stick.  Probably a good job I handed over!

Hopefully I will be able to get up again soon, but the weather forecast doesn't look brilliant!

[Fog Dart]

Great reading stuff like this, i have last week bought myself a multiplex mentor to learn with, just need the radio and motor and shes up!  Visiting my local flying site in fleet has been very helpful as the guys there give great advice and dont want to see me wasting my money buying the wrong kit.

 One of the guys called Ray has been kind enough to let me have a go at some circuits on his JP pretty glider and multiplex space scooter and im well and truly bitten by the bug thanks Ray if your reading.

 I will keep an eye on your blog as it seems you are a a couple of months or so ahead of me progress wise and gives me an insight into what i can expect.

[David Ashby - Moderator]

The Mentor's a great aeroplane, you'll love it

Andy - keep up the progress report - really interesting to see how you're doing - and you're doing very well sir!  

[David Martin 2]

andy watson wrote (see)

I do have his number, but I don't like to pester.......besides there are other people that can teach me, so by going down on spec I hope to widen my range of possible teachers.

It doesn't help that the weather here seems significantly different to the field!  In fact I didn't realise how weather obsessed I would become.  It can be calm here and windy at the site; I set off today in calm clear blue skys and progressively drove into greyer and greyer cloud!

Ah well, back to the sim- which is far harder to land than the real thing!! 

Hi Andy,

I had the same problem with my last Kent club that sadly, although a great 7 days a week open site, it was 30 miles away and near the North Kent coast and I always had to add 10mph to the wind I had at home. Very annoying the pack the car and set off for a good long session only to find a gale at the other end..!

Luckily I eventually found a local (to the club) yachting weather cam/station web page that gave live reports and made my life a lot less stressful.

Keep up the good work.............