Do I need Flight School?

[stan]

I just got my SC today and am waiting for the wind to die down. I have been reading alot on other forums about how hard it is to learn to fly RC planes (I never have) and how you should get expert help to learn, etc. Reading this forum it seems like you can learn by yourself with the SC. Is that true? There is a flight school near me that charges something like $60./hr and says you can "solo" after about 10 hours of instruction. There is a big disconnect here someplace. Are they talking about a much higher level of proficency? Perhaps with gas powered planes? Also, there are limited areas to fly in my area and the local club would be ideal. I think they have some kind of test to qualify to fly solo at their field and I might need professional traning to get that. Any opinions? Thanks.

[phuncadelic]

in short.... NO

for $60/hr if you wreck the cub on your first day you can by another one after about 3 hours of "training" I would have to think that training refers to a much more complicated model. Your best bet to learn to fly the cub is:

Find the biggest field you can 2-3 soccer fields would be nice
Make sure there is not any large trees or telephone poles in the flight path.
Wait until there is NO WIND... wind and trees are your enemies
Check the trim switches to make sure everything is set to center
put it on the ground and take off INTO the wind
always take off and land into the wind.
put the pane on the ground and take off!

put the ribbon on the remote it is hard to tell sometimes which way the wind is blowing

I like to fly in a counter-clockwise circle, with myself in the center So i can easily remember the controls

When landing cut the throttle at about the top of the trees and let the plane come down... right before your wheels touch the ground give it a little bit of up and you should be good.

Don't be intimidated it is alot easier than you might think...

Call or email your local club and see if someone will go out with you to help you maiden fly it those guys are usually pretty nice and won't charge you anything to go fly with you... its an excuse for them to go and fly.

make sure you tape your wings

YOU CAN DO IT!

Where are you located?

[swampfox201]

phuncadelic did an excellent job with his post. All I can add is don't overcontrol. Small control movements most of the time are all thats needed. Take a few minutes before your flight and in your mind think about what you want the plane to do and what the movements of the controller are to make it do that. After a few flights it will become second nature....like riding a bike.

Good luck
Todd

[60buick]

those guys are on crack. Tell them to stick there instruction where the sun don't shine. Sorry to sound harsh but thats 600 dollars to learn to fly. a flight sim is 200. I learned to fly helis and everything on the sim. For 600 you could buy the sim and a used lap top computer. Its stuff like that that keeps a lot of new people from entering the hobby. They build flying up as very difficult talking most people out of starting the hobby then line there pockets with money from those dumb enough to pay them. it really ticks me off to hear they told you this. My first flight solo was with a gas trainer. I threw it into the wind and it came natural. just remember small movements and let off the stick when you get the desired attitude. A lot of people freeze then get nervous when the plane keeps banking and over control. let the plane climb and be gentile and slow with the movements until you get a feel for the plane. it will take a little time.


If you have a computer a good idea would be to buy real flight G2 off ebay. I have seen it go for 50 buck. the best money you will spend. Once you play with the sim you will fly the cub like you have been doing it for years.

[flydiver]

If you start asking around you might very well find someone to help. I did. Turns out an old windsurfing buddy had taken up flying electric after a long time away from gas. It REALLY helped. Those first few flight would have been pretty hard without the help.

The other thing that helped TONS was a flight Simulator. For cheapskates there is a free one (not as nice as the $$ ones but it DOES work though you may have to fiddle around a little more).
n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html

Way less stressful to crash electrons and no time fixing them at all. Repair is a HUGE part of learning. No way around it I think.

flydiver

[cjg]

You don't need flight school for a super cub. If you understand flight controls and what they do you will be fine.

Just remember flying toward you (nose in) the rudder controls for left/right are reversed.

[flydiver]

It's easy to say "just remember the controls are reversed" but the response needs to be automatic. Only "stick time" will do that and you need to fly for that.

There is a tendency for new fliers to want to fly the plane fairly close. It seems dangerous to get it way up high-farther to fall. In the beginning you just do a lot of stuff that is not in your best interests in hind sight.

This is worth reading for helping other fliers:
www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5767

flydiver

[SCC]

Hi stan.
Have you taken the SC to the skys yet ?

[stan]

admin said:

Hi stan.
Have you taken the SC to the skys yet ?

Yes, I have. It is very easy to fly. Take off and flying around is no problem but I have a tendency to "reverse" control when landing towards me and I have crashed it doing that. Only minor damage. I got a G3.5 simulator and that helps alot. Even on the simulator I am still reversing the controls(intending to go right and going left, etc.) If I get the right stick correct, then my brain somehow reverses the left stick (full throttle when I am landing instead of backing off power). Its going to take some stick time to get this imprinted on my brain so it is second nature.

[davemac2]

stan said:

... but I have a tendency to "reverse" control when landing towards me and I have crashed it doing that.

I was doing the same thing at the beginning as I'm sure lots of others have too. An old timer told me to picture myself in the plane flying it when it is coming towards me. That actually helped a lot. Now I rarely get it mixed up unless I'm in a real panic.

dave mc

[SCC]

When i have the Cub nose in , i find myself turning side on to the cub and then looking over my shoulder. That helps me a lot.

[cjg]

Nose in flying tip that helped me a lot:

Control toward the danger.

In other words, if the left side is dipping nose in, then move control TOWARDS the problem (left). This is actually the right wing, dipping right, and the left control will correct.

Once you keep this in mind it will soon become almost second nature.

[itchycods]

A different way of putting the same thing... Steer towards the low wing. Works every time ;D

Flight sims are indespensible in my short experience. I have FS One and I love it. I'm sure glad I can just push the red button instead of explaining to my wife why I spent another $300 at the LHS!!