Discussion:
newbie advice....
(too old to reply)
Gaz
2005-07-10 21:53:44 UTC
Permalink
A few questions from a complete 100% newbie.
I did ask one or two questions a while back....

I am not particularly interested in joining a club, i understand they can be
a great help etc, but I am an antisocial kind of person and like to try
things out myself, i dont mind crashing a few times, I understand that many
parts are modular and fixable, barring a complete B52 style catastrophe....

I am very keen on getting a fuel based plane rather then a battery, i get
the impression that battery operated planes have low flight times etc, if i
am wrong on that then please correct me.....

Obviously i will need a trainer, something that is super duper easy to fly,
but not pussy enough that a six year old child would get bored within three
minutes.

Now, how do i go about acquiring some of the other bits?

I understand i need the controller, servos (they are the bits that control
the rudder etc?), recievers for the plane to receive the control, and erm,
what else?

Some controllers seem staggeringly expensive and sophisticated, some are 2,
4, 6, 8, i dont know what 2 4 6 8 is, i presume something to do with the
number of servos it can similtaneously broadcast to? Or the bands available?
Anyway no idea... I am not likely to take this out as a lifetime hobby, just
a bit of fun, any recommendations for a kit that will serve my basic needs,
but contain a small amount of room for growth?
And what kind of prices would i be expecting? Is ebay generally a good place
for this kind of thing? it seems to have lots of £30 plane kind of things
which look kind of naff....

any suggestions on a nice easy trainer, which is not a bore to fly?

Gaz
Ian
2005-07-11 01:38:07 UTC
Permalink
Either go down to your local club (details from BMFA) or your local
model shop (yell.co.uk is a good place to search) and have a chat. The
BMFA insurance is well worth getting (I think its £23 a year)
especially if you flew in a public place and plant the model through
someones car!

Most the the crap being sold on ebay won't teach you much - they all
depend on variable motor thrust for climbing and turning. It would be
best to buy any standard type trainer (usually a 40 sized glow-fuel
engine) as most the equipment you need, transmitter / engine / servos
can be transferred to another model when you progress. The ebay stuff
is all built-in and not transferrable.

Go to your local club or one the the shows and as questions, most
people will give you good advice.

HTH

Ian

P.S. a spitfire is not a good first model no matter what DeAgostini
magazines say!
Gaz
2005-07-11 07:08:58 UTC
Permalink
Post by Ian
Either go down to your local club (details from BMFA) or your local
model shop (yell.co.uk is a good place to search) and have a chat. The
BMFA insurance is well worth getting (I think its £23 a year)
especially if you flew in a public place and plant the model through
someones car!
Most the the crap being sold on ebay won't teach you much - they all
depend on variable motor thrust for climbing and turning. It would be
best to buy any standard type trainer (usually a 40 sized glow-fuel
engine) as most the equipment you need, transmitter / engine / servos
can be transferred to another model when you progress. The ebay stuff
is all built-in and not transferrable.
Go to your local club or one the the shows and as questions, most
people will give you good advice.
HTH
Ian
P.S. a spitfire is not a good first model no matter what DeAgostini
magazines say!
I read the postings about that some time ago..... Since 99% of people never
get round to getting every issue ( if they dont pack in after issue 20)....

Gaz
Rational Philosopher
2005-07-11 08:01:06 UTC
Permalink
Firstly no model is super duper easy to fly, even the easiest ones are
too difficult for an absolute beginner to fly successfully without
help.

Unless you know a proficient model flyer who is prepared to help you
one on one, then the only option if you are not to crash every time you
attempt it is to join a club however much you dislike the prospect of
that.

Not probably what you wanted to hear, but the facts of the matter.
olddog
2005-07-11 08:27:01 UTC
Permalink
Ok Mr, anti social kind of newbie. Here is the answer to all your question
in one fell swoop; JOIN A CLUB. You obviously rate your learning ability way
way above those of a mere club mortal. The type of trainer that would bore a
6 year old in 3 minites, is EXACTLY what you need. '2,4,6,8', is the first
line of a song called '2 4 6 8 Motorway'. Need more information ?? Join a
club. ! !
Post by Gaz
A few questions from a complete 100% newbie.
I did ask one or two questions a while back....
I am not particularly interested in joining a club, i understand they can
be a great help etc, but I am an antisocial kind of person and like to try
things out myself, i dont mind crashing a few times, I understand that
many parts are modular and fixable, barring a complete B52 style
catastrophe....
I am very keen on getting a fuel based plane rather then a battery, i get
the impression that battery operated planes have low flight times etc, if
i am wrong on that then please correct me.....
Obviously i will need a trainer, something that is super duper easy to
fly, but not pussy enough that a six year old child would get bored within
three minutes.
Now, how do i go about acquiring some of the other bits?
I understand i need the controller, servos (they are the bits that control
the rudder etc?), recievers for the plane to receive the control, and erm,
what else?
Some controllers seem staggeringly expensive and sophisticated, some are
2, 4, 6, 8, i dont know what 2 4 6 8 is, i presume something to do with
the number of servos it can similtaneously broadcast to? Or the bands
available?
Anyway no idea... I am not likely to take this out as a lifetime hobby,
just a bit of fun, any recommendations for a kit that will serve my basic
needs, but contain a small amount of room for growth?
And what kind of prices would i be expecting? Is ebay generally a good
place for this kind of thing? it seems to have lots of £30 plane kind of
things which look kind of naff....
any suggestions on a nice easy trainer, which is not a bore to fly?
Gaz
Nik Beard
2005-07-11 10:06:13 UTC
Permalink
Nice one olddog!!
Post by olddog
Ok Mr, anti social kind of newbie. Here is the answer to all your question
in one fell swoop; JOIN A CLUB. You obviously rate your learning ability
way way above those of a mere club mortal. The type of trainer that would
bore a 6 year old in 3 minites, is EXACTLY what you need. '2,4,6,8', is
the first line of a song called '2 4 6 8 Motorway'. Need more information
?? Join a club. ! !
Post by Gaz
A few questions from a complete 100% newbie.
I did ask one or two questions a while back....
I am not particularly interested in joining a club, i understand they can
be a great help etc, but I am an antisocial kind of person and like to
try things out myself, i dont mind crashing a few times, I understand
that many parts are modular and fixable, barring a complete B52 style
catastrophe....
I am very keen on getting a fuel based plane rather then a battery, i get
the impression that battery operated planes have low flight times etc, if
i am wrong on that then please correct me.....
Obviously i will need a trainer, something that is super duper easy to
fly, but not pussy enough that a six year old child would get bored
within three minutes.
Now, how do i go about acquiring some of the other bits?
I understand i need the controller, servos (they are the bits that
control the rudder etc?), recievers for the plane to receive the control,
and erm, what else?
Some controllers seem staggeringly expensive and sophisticated, some are
2, 4, 6, 8, i dont know what 2 4 6 8 is, i presume something to do with
the number of servos it can similtaneously broadcast to? Or the bands
available?
Anyway no idea... I am not likely to take this out as a lifetime hobby,
just a bit of fun, any recommendations for a kit that will serve my basic
needs, but contain a small amount of room for growth?
And what kind of prices would i be expecting? Is ebay generally a good
place for this kind of thing? it seems to have lots of £30 plane kind of
things which look kind of naff....
any suggestions on a nice easy trainer, which is not a bore to fly?
Gaz
Johny H
2005-07-11 17:12:09 UTC
Permalink
Post by Gaz
I am not particularly interested in joining a club, i understand they can be
a great help etc, but I am an antisocial kind of person and like to try
things out myself, i dont mind crashing a few times, I understand that
many parts are modular and fixable, barring a complete B52 style
catastrophe....
I am very keen on getting a fuel based plane rather then a battery, i get
the impression that battery operated planes have low flight times etc, if
i am wrong on that then please correct me.....
Obviously i will need a trainer, something that is super duper easy to
fly, but not pussy enough that a six year old child would get bored within
three minutes.
Now, how do i go about acquiring some of the other bits?
I understand i need the controller, servos (they are the bits that control
the rudder etc?), recievers for the plane to receive the control, and erm,
what else?
Some controllers seem staggeringly expensive and sophisticated, some are
2, 4, 6, 8, i dont know what 2 4 6 8 is, i presume something to do with
the number of servos it can similtaneously broadcast to? Or the bands
available?
Anyway no idea... I am not likely to take this out as a lifetime hobby,
just a bit of fun, any recommendations for a kit that will serve my basic
needs, but contain a small amount of room for growth?
And what kind of prices would i be expecting? Is ebay generally a good
place for this kind of thing? it seems to have lots of £30 plane kind of
things which look kind of naff....
any suggestions on a nice easy trainer, which is not a bore to fly?
Ebay is for those who should know what they're buying and know how to
rectify most problems.
If you wish to go it alone buy a bin bag.
You should seek out insurance and by joining a club this will be at a
reasonable price.
To get started expect to pay £250+ for a package deal all available from a
good shop. DON'T buy bits here and there it WILL NOT WORK.
Read the mags to get a feel, read web pages try simulators. Seek advice on a
one to one level, everyone has a different opinion.
t***@nowhere.at-all.net
2005-07-11 18:18:16 UTC
Permalink
Post by Gaz
A few questions from a complete 100% newbie.
I did ask one or two questions a while back....
I am not particularly interested in joining a club, i understand they can be
a great help etc, but I am an antisocial kind of person and like to try
things out myself, i dont mind crashing a few times, I understand that many
parts are modular and fixable, barring a complete B52 style catastrophe....
Learning to fly may be just a `tad' harder than you expect !
It can be done, it won't be done quickly and you need a simple but
stable trainer type plane. Crashing the average model plane into the
ground is not an easy to fix situation. Repairing a damaged model can
be very time consuming and you need to aquire some skills.

I taught myself to fly (many others have as well). I also am fortunate
enough to slip up the road and fly on deserted moorland with nary a
person in sight to hit. I also learned to fly gliders from the slopes,
this gives plenty of `stick time' in between landings.

If you are hell bent on learning alone then I would suggest :

- Get some insurance by joining the BMFA... well worth it, you are
covered for £5 million.

- Get a trainer or flying wing of some sort that is made mainly from
EPP... this way you stand a chance of having it survive the inevitable
crashes.

- Get well away from people/houses/cars/parks/playing-fields, etc. If
you can't find somewhere with no-people and nothing valuable/breakable
in it then don't attempt to teach yourself.

- You *will* need far more space than you think... 'cos you 'aint going
to be in *control* of your model for quite sometime.

If you are able to fit in with the conditions outlined above.. then
teaching yourself to fly a model plane can be good fun.

If you can't satisfy the needs for space and no people present... then
join a club and get proper training.

Buy a conventional, fairly placid, balsa built, trainer and then fly it.
If you get it into the air I would anticipate it's lifespan as around
30 - 40 seconds ! If it is rebuildable then you may just have witnessed
a miracle !

Reg
Post by Gaz
I am very keen on getting a fuel based plane rather then a battery, i get
the impression that battery operated planes have low flight times etc, if i
am wrong on that then please correct me.....
Obviously i will need a trainer, something that is super duper easy to fly,
but not pussy enough that a six year old child would get bored within three
minutes.
Now, how do i go about acquiring some of the other bits?
I understand i need the controller, servos (they are the bits that control
the rudder etc?), recievers for the plane to receive the control, and erm,
what else?
Some controllers seem staggeringly expensive and sophisticated, some are 2,
4, 6, 8, i dont know what 2 4 6 8 is, i presume something to do with the
number of servos it can similtaneously broadcast to? Or the bands available?
Anyway no idea... I am not likely to take this out as a lifetime hobby, just
a bit of fun, any recommendations for a kit that will serve my basic needs,
but contain a small amount of room for growth?
And what kind of prices would i be expecting? Is ebay generally a good place
for this kind of thing? it seems to have lots of £30 plane kind of things
which look kind of naff....
any suggestions on a nice easy trainer, which is not a bore to fly?
Gaz
Gaz
2005-07-11 19:09:47 UTC
Permalink
Post by t***@nowhere.at-all.net
Post by Gaz
A few questions from a complete 100% newbie.
I did ask one or two questions a while back....
I am not particularly interested in joining a club, i understand they can be
a great help etc, but I am an antisocial kind of person and like to try
things out myself, i dont mind crashing a few times, I understand that many
parts are modular and fixable, barring a complete B52 style
catastrophe....
Learning to fly may be just a `tad' harder than you expect !
It can be done, it won't be done quickly and you need a simple but
stable trainer type plane. Crashing the average model plane into the
ground is not an easy to fix situation. Repairing a damaged model can
be very time consuming and you need to aquire some skills.
I taught myself to fly (many others have as well). I also am fortunate
enough to slip up the road and fly on deserted moorland with nary a
person in sight to hit. I also learned to fly gliders from the slopes,
this gives plenty of `stick time' in between landings.
- Get some insurance by joining the BMFA... well worth it, you are
covered for £5 million.
- Get a trainer or flying wing of some sort that is made mainly from
EPP... this way you stand a chance of having it survive the inevitable
crashes.
- Get well away from people/houses/cars/parks/playing-fields, etc. If
you can't find somewhere with no-people and nothing valuable/breakable
in it then don't attempt to teach yourself.
- You *will* need far more space than you think... 'cos you 'aint going
to be in *control* of your model for quite sometime.
If you are able to fit in with the conditions outlined above.. then
teaching yourself to fly a model plane can be good fun.
If you can't satisfy the needs for space and no people present... then
join a club and get proper training.
Buy a conventional, fairly placid, balsa built, trainer and then fly it.
If you get it into the air I would anticipate it's lifespan as around
30 - 40 seconds ! If it is rebuildable then you may just have witnessed
a miracle !
Reg
I get the point, I will join the club, but I am not growing a beard, and
changing my clothing fashions to 1970.....

Gaz
Malcolm Fisher
2005-07-11 21:04:15 UTC
Permalink
Post by Gaz
Post by t***@nowhere.at-all.net
Post by Gaz
A few questions from a complete 100% newbie.
I did ask one or two questions a while back....
I am not particularly interested in joining a club, i understand they
can
Post by Gaz
Post by t***@nowhere.at-all.net
Post by Gaz
be
a great help etc, but I am an antisocial kind of person and like to try
things out myself, i dont mind crashing a few times, I understand that many
parts are modular and fixable, barring a complete B52 style
catastrophe....
Learning to fly may be just a `tad' harder than you expect !
It can be done, it won't be done quickly and you need a simple but
stable trainer type plane. Crashing the average model plane into the
ground is not an easy to fix situation. Repairing a damaged model can
be very time consuming and you need to aquire some skills.
I taught myself to fly (many others have as well). I also am fortunate
enough to slip up the road and fly on deserted moorland with nary a
person in sight to hit. I also learned to fly gliders from the slopes,
this gives plenty of `stick time' in between landings.
- Get some insurance by joining the BMFA... well worth it, you are
covered for £5 million.
- Get a trainer or flying wing of some sort that is made mainly from
EPP... this way you stand a chance of having it survive the inevitable
crashes.
- Get well away from people/houses/cars/parks/playing-fields, etc. If
you can't find somewhere with no-people and nothing valuable/breakable
in it then don't attempt to teach yourself.
- You *will* need far more space than you think... 'cos you 'aint going
to be in *control* of your model for quite sometime.
If you are able to fit in with the conditions outlined above.. then
teaching yourself to fly a model plane can be good fun.
If you can't satisfy the needs for space and no people present... then
join a club and get proper training.
Buy a conventional, fairly placid, balsa built, trainer and then fly it.
If you get it into the air I would anticipate it's lifespan as around
30 - 40 seconds ! If it is rebuildable then you may just have witnessed
a miracle !
Reg
I get the point, I will join the club, but I am not growing a beard, and
changing my clothing fashions to 1970.....
Gaz
Beards are not mandatory, but I find that mine protects me from wind and
sun.

As for clothes, I find a conventional "boiler suit" keeps my clothes
relatively free from fuel and other mess.

Joining a club can be a help, but again isn't mandatory - Like Tux I learned
by myself with gliders, but with hindsight wished I'd had some help. If
there is someone near you who has experience and is prepared to help that's
another route to quicker flying.

One advantage of gliders is that every landing is "dead stick" so that route
usually means that when you graduate to power you will have no fear of the
fan stopping.

Having insurance is a Good Thing and the BMFA route is easy even for a solo
flyer.>


Whatever you do, enjoy it, but be warned - aeromodelling has been called a
"terminal illness".

Best of luck,

Malcolm
JH
2005-07-12 20:24:11 UTC
Permalink
Post by Gaz
A few questions from a complete 100% newbie.
I did ask one or two questions a while back....
I am not particularly interested in joining a club, i understand they can be
a great help etc, but I am an antisocial kind of person and like to try
things out myself, i dont mind crashing a few times, I understand that many
parts are modular and fixable, barring a complete B52 style catastrophe....
I am very keen on getting a fuel based plane rather then a battery, i get
the impression that battery operated planes have low flight times etc, if i
am wrong on that then please correct me.....
Obviously i will need a trainer, something that is super duper easy to fly,
but not pussy enough that a six year old child would get bored within three
minutes.
I can only reiterate:

try slope soaring with a Rudder/elevator model, with a good dihedral;
the simpler the better : and the tougher the better.

I learned on a Miniphase: a tough-ish first slope soarer to fly, but it is
simple to build and can survive surprisingly hard landings. It can fairly
whistle along as well.

Find a good 45 degree slope and only try your first flights after you have
had an experienced hand balance, trim it out and test glide it. Then get
him to get it up there for you on a light and smooth day and train you how
to do figures-of-8s . After a couple of landings, you should be able to
cope on your own.

(If you are that independant, build two fuselages whilst you are at it.
You'll need them. (And a bin-bag.)) :-)

J.
The Natural Philosopher
2005-07-12 21:55:19 UTC
Permalink
Post by JH
Post by Gaz
A few questions from a complete 100% newbie.
I did ask one or two questions a while back....
I am not particularly interested in joining a club, i understand they can be
a great help etc, but I am an antisocial kind of person and like to try
things out myself, i dont mind crashing a few times, I understand that many
parts are modular and fixable, barring a complete B52 style catastrophe....
I am very keen on getting a fuel based plane rather then a battery, i get
the impression that battery operated planes have low flight times etc, if i
am wrong on that then please correct me.....
Obviously i will need a trainer, something that is super duper easy to fly,
but not pussy enough that a six year old child would get bored within three
minutes.
try slope soaring with a Rudder/elevator model, with a good dihedral;
the simpler the better : and the tougher the better.
I learned on a Miniphase: a tough-ish first slope soarer to fly, but it is
simple to build and can survive surprisingly hard landings. It can fairly
whistle along as well.
Find a good 45 degree slope and only try your first flights after you have
had an experienced hand balance, trim it out and test glide it. Then get
him to get it up there for you on a light and smooth day and train you how
to do figures-of-8s . After a couple of landings, you should be able to
cope on your own.
(If you are that independant, build two fuselages whilst you are at it.
You'll need them. (And a bin-bag.)) :-)
J.
I xcan only reiterate my learning curve.
Club =was useless. Too little flying timne and no one want to teach me
anything.

Switched to electric, and stared flying at te back of te house. Some
success, but te real breakthriough was

(i) got Realflight G2. That simulator is harder to fly than the actual
models! If you can do it on the sim you can generally do it on the
planes. Its not cheap but copies are available on Ebay now that G3 is
out. FMS do a free one, but its not so good I reckon.

(ii) got a simple cheap electric model. I should have got a slow-stik.
But I learnt anyway. Skip the nickel battery buiness and go straight to
LIPOS - on something like the stik you will be able to fly for half an
hour or more - or 3x 10 minute flights which is more than you will ever
get at a club.

(iii) when you are thoroughly bored, move on and upwards. There are
plenty of more challenging foamie planes to try. Or a balsa one. I have
been flying my 60mph almost goes straight up forever electric (brushed
motor: 20 quid, 60 quid battery pack though) tonight. Flew for three
flights (testing after repairs) about 15 minutes total and still only
took 1/3rd of the pack to do it.

(iv) Join the e-zone www.ezonemag.com and ask ask ask and ye shall
recieve info and real help. Its the best club there is.

(v) get a halfway decent computer transmitter: I recommend the Futaba
FF6 meself - rather than the 6EXA - because it has sliding rather than
digital trims. Use Hitec servos and whatever recievre you can lay your
hands on. I get a lot of stuff off Ebay but thats maybe a false economy
for a beginner.

(vi) when you get bored with the simple electric stuff, sell it all on
ebay, and buy something better, That may indeed be a glo outfit, but my
guess is that unless you have a fancy for really big planes with 20cc
plus engines in them, or need > 100mph flight speeds, you will find
enough to keep you happy in the electric arena.

If you have access to a decent slope and wind, slope soaring is good and
cheap. Sadly I don't, so its power all the way for me.

Unless you are in love with internal combustion engines, leave them
alone till you are better able to cope. They have a knack to starting
tuning and so on, that you really don't want to know about. Electric
with LIPOS is switch and go, and a piece of plastic shite like a
slowstik is slow, easy to fly, and gets you over the basic hump of
learning. Save the complex stuff for later on. If you get a basic
charger and a couple of packs, you will have over an hour flying time
without recharging. And you can recahrge any time - with LIPOS it
doesn't have to be 'hot off the charger' to fly.
olddog
2005-07-12 22:29:43 UTC
Permalink
Got it yet Gaz ? Join a club. Oh, & if you have a beard & '70s clothes, you
wont be allowed in to most clubs. You need Armani clothes, to wipe down your
model afterwards, better if she is only 19 & blonde. Oh, & Ray Ban
sunglasses. You may have a moustashe though.
Post by JH
Post by Gaz
A few questions from a complete 100% newbie.
I did ask one or two questions a while back....
I am not particularly interested in joining a club, i understand they can be
a great help etc, but I am an antisocial kind of person and like to try
things out myself, i dont mind crashing a few times, I understand that many
parts are modular and fixable, barring a complete B52 style
catastrophe....
I am very keen on getting a fuel based plane rather then a battery, i get
the impression that battery operated planes have low flight times etc, if i
am wrong on that then please correct me.....
Obviously i will need a trainer, something that is super duper easy to fly,
but not pussy enough that a six year old child would get bored within three
minutes.
try slope soaring with a Rudder/elevator model, with a good dihedral;
the simpler the better : and the tougher the better.
I learned on a Miniphase: a tough-ish first slope soarer to fly, but it is
simple to build and can survive surprisingly hard landings. It can fairly
whistle along as well.
Find a good 45 degree slope and only try your first flights after you have
had an experienced hand balance, trim it out and test glide it. Then get
him to get it up there for you on a light and smooth day and train you how
to do figures-of-8s . After a couple of landings, you should be able to
cope on your own.
(If you are that independant, build two fuselages whilst you are at it.
You'll need them. (And a bin-bag.)) :-)
J.
The Natural Philosopher
2005-07-12 22:48:30 UTC
Permalink
Post by olddog
Got it yet Gaz ? Join a club. Oh, & if you have a beard & '70s clothes, you
wont be allowed in to most clubs. You need Armani clothes, to wipe down your
model afterwards, better if she is only 19 & blonde. Oh, & Ray Ban
sunglasses. You may have a moustashe though.
The best reason not to join a club is that he will be subjected to twits
like you.
Funfly3
2005-07-20 09:57:49 UTC
Permalink
I just wonder how many people would still be alive to day if you had to
teach your self to drive a real car or plane on your own with no help,
models are no different especilly engine powered, you will learn much
quicker with a willing tutor that can show you how to fly, than with a "I
know I am going to crash it but I can afford it" attitude, you dont need to
join a club but you can find the people to help you there
Gaz
2005-07-20 12:39:44 UTC
Permalink
Post by Funfly3
I just wonder how many people would still be alive to day if you had to
teach your self to drive a real car or plane on your own with no help,
models are no different especilly engine powered, you will learn much
quicker with a willing tutor that can show you how to fly, than with a "I
know I am going to crash it but I can afford it" attitude, you dont need to
join a club but you can find the people to help you there
I wonder how many people managed to learn how to programme a video recorder,
brush their teeth, ride a bike, tie their shoelaces..........

Anyway, i ahve had a chat with the membership secretary of my local club,
(he showed me the fancy jet engine he has been building, scary and bluddy
noisy, running on parrafin)............

Gaz
Funfly3
2005-07-20 12:57:50 UTC
Permalink
Post by Gaz
Post by Funfly3
I just wonder how many people would still be alive to day if you had to
teach your self to drive a real car or plane on your own with no help,
models are no different especilly engine powered, you will learn much
quicker with a willing tutor that can show you how to fly, than with a "I
know I am going to crash it but I can afford it" attitude, you dont need
to join a club but you can find the people to help you there
I wonder how many people managed to learn how to programme a video
recorder, brush their teeth, ride a bike, tie their shoelaces..........
Anyway, i ahve had a chat with the membership secretary of my local club,
(he showed me the fancy jet engine he has been building, scary and bluddy
noisy, running on parrafin)............
Gaz
you cannot crash a video recorder or ruin a pair of shoes ?? like you can
trying to learn to fly
The Natural Philosopher
2005-07-21 11:10:18 UTC
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Post by Funfly3
I just wonder how many people would still be alive to day if you had to
teach your self to drive a real car or plane on your own with no help,
models are no different especilly engine powered, you will learn much
quicker with a willing tutor that can show you how to fly, than with a "I
know I am going to crash it but I can afford it" attitude, you dont need to
join a club but you can find the people to help you there
Crashing a car costs thousands and may kill people
Crashing a toy plane - espcially a park flyer costs tens and endangers
no one if flown well away from others.


A 9 year old can drive a lawnmower. A ten yeaar old can drive a go-kart.

No special instruction us required for a plane other than if lack of
understanding and knowledge leads to an expensive and life threatening
crash.

Oherwise if you chuck up a foamie wing often enough, eventually the
right combination of stick movements will result in it flying..

The scret is to have something that either flies itself (slow stik) or
can survove major trauma (Zagi) long enouggh to allow basic stick skills
to be learnt.

The last thing a beginner should do is get a 40 powered 'trainer'. Hard
to start, hard to tune, heavy enough to kill, and almost bound to
disintegrate on the first crash.

And not that easy to fly either.
BP
2005-09-11 22:37:58 UTC
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If you want answers then get social & join a club
Post by Gaz
A few questions from a complete 100% newbie.
I did ask one or two questions a while back....
I am not particularly interested in joining a club, i understand they can
be a great help etc, but I am an antisocial kind of person and like to try
things out myself, i dont mind crashing a few times, I understand that
many parts are modular and fixable, barring a complete B52 style
catastrophe....
I am very keen on getting a fuel based plane rather then a battery, i get
the impression that battery operated planes have low flight times etc, if
i am wrong on that then please correct me.....
Obviously i will need a trainer, something that is super duper easy to
fly, but not pussy enough that a six year old child would get bored within
three minutes.
Now, how do i go about acquiring some of the other bits?
I understand i need the controller, servos (they are the bits that control
the rudder etc?), recievers for the plane to receive the control, and erm,
what else?
Some controllers seem staggeringly expensive and sophisticated, some are
2, 4, 6, 8, i dont know what 2 4 6 8 is, i presume something to do with
the number of servos it can similtaneously broadcast to? Or the bands
available?
Anyway no idea... I am not likely to take this out as a lifetime hobby,
just a bit of fun, any recommendations for a kit that will serve my basic
needs, but contain a small amount of room for growth?
And what kind of prices would i be expecting? Is ebay generally a good
place for this kind of thing? it seems to have lots of £30 plane kind of
things which look kind of naff....
any suggestions on a nice easy trainer, which is not a bore to fly?
Gaz
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