im sorry i have one more problem

[b3guyRC10]

sorry if i am bugging you guys, but one problem is that i have no one to help he learn to fly, so i am basically on my own. The only flying club even close to near me is full of jerks, and if you have never flown before they pretty much won't let you fly your plane.......

[Terrellflyer]

Sorry to hear about your problem, most clubs do have a few prima donas,but I bet some where in that club is a super nice pilot that enjoys teaching others, spend a little time looking for that person or persons,if it wasn't for those people there would be no flying or flying fields. Don't give up on a great hobby because a few were not so helpfull.If ya'll come by the Rockwall Sport Flyers in Rockwall,Texas, give us a call and drop in. We'll have you in the air quick fast and in a hurry. Ha
ve a good day, John

[b3guyRC10]

hehe i have one problem, i live in rhode island now, if i still lived in alabama it might be possible but now..... what do you guys think i should do, i am going to have to teach myself, and figured my best bet would get the hobbico sturdy birdy II learn to fly it, and once im preety good at it, get a PT40 and transfer all the engine/electronics over to it. The reason i am thinking about this is the sturdy birdy is a pvc/aluminum fuseloge and foam wing. If i crashed it badly for $20 i would have a brand new wing. The PT40 is nice plane but will take a while to build,and is more time consuming/ and once you crash it, the plane probaly won't fly as well as your first flight, am i right......

[Dave Robelen]

Hi, Have you checked the AMA website for any possible nearby clubs? www.modelaircraft.org There's usually at least one in the area, and you can use all the help you can get.
Cheers, dave

[b3guyRC10]

Dave,

As i already stated the only nearby AMA flying club is 20minutes away and the people there are really bad jerks. They want to be left alone and rarely help anyone. THis is why i am looking at a strong plane because i have to teach myself. I would plan on doing a LOT of taxing and short take offs and landings for a while and progress myself throught it.... The only GOOD flying feild from what i hear is an hour and half away and my parents won't drive me that far. The biggest area i have is a large baseballfield and soccer feild, but i might be able to find something a little larger but not much. I REALLY want to get into planes, but now its begining to seem like too much of a hasle, so maybe i should just stick with cars, what do you guys think. BTW if i get a plane i would only get a REAL one, you know 4 channels/ gas and NOT an electric plane!!!!!

[Dave Robelen]

Hi, Sorry, I misunderstood that the club was the one near where you moved to. With the space you are describing as what you have for a flying area, I sure would stay clear of a noisy, fuel model. You seem turned off by the electrics. Have you actually seen one fly? They make some of the best trainers for limited space there is. Meanwhile, if you did get into flying and wanted more pep, there are fairly economical E-models that will run with the greasers and fly a full stunt pattern. I fly both noisy and electric, but when I am flying my nitro machine, I want to be in an area clear of the community.
Take care, dave

[simply_joe]

Hi,
When you said that you would rather get into cars because they arn't as much as a hassle then you may have yourself mixed up. Yes they are a lot easer to drive (that's what got me to buy a car instead of a plane) but I have always wanted a plane. Now three years and about $1,500 into two rc cars I bought me a PT40. Cars are fun and I will never give them up but the parts I break almost every time I drive the thing (I drive it hard REALLY hard) cost alot more that the Balsa wood It would take to patch a Model Airplane. It's all in what you like, and what you have around you. Like I said I love my cars, but I can't get my parents to drive me to a track that is about two hours away. There is only so much you can do with A T-Maxx before it get's borning. And from what I have learned about Planes I find that there is always new tricks to try. And if you want a nitro car (I love them won't ever own a eletric) you'll have the same noise problem. I wish I could tell you more about the planes but I just finshed the building of the plane yesterday. :D

[b3guyRC10]

I was just thinking, the soccer field near me is fairly large and i think it would be large enough. As i said before i will do alot of taxing and short take offs and landings till i get the hang of it. But now i am thinking mostly of the PT40. I was recently talking to another 16 year old and he build a PT40 and flew it once flawlessly. He had not flight experiance and no one taught him how to. I have also got the impression that electrics are slightly underpowerd and since i live on an island i have to deal with some wind. After dealing with electrics i got sick of having to recharge batteries and hate doing that. Then now i have so much fun with my gas, its like a whole different dimension to RC having the engine roar to life and scream around breathing blue exaust. When i am almost out of fuel in the air you could land it, shut the engine of and fill it up. unlike electric where you have to charge it. Plus the gas planes look alot cooler. :D I am strongly thinking of the PT40 now, but tomorow i am going to go look at the field but it is a large soccer feild with no trees nearbye but around the sides is 6ft high bushes with thorns. I am thinking it is going to be a large enough area to fly it.


BTW i really appriciate the help on this.

[b3guyRC10]

sorry one misunderstanding, i have been into the cars for almost 5 years, and have spent $4,200 on them and yes i am 16 :D i have a RC10GT, RC10B3, HPI RS4 Rally, Bolink pan/drag car, traxxas bandit, traxxas rustler, tamiya lunchbox....... hehehe

[b3guyRC10]

dave what do you think i should do?

[Dave Robelen]

Hi B3,
The last thing I would recomend is that you start flying a fuel powered model in the community. There are safety issues, and the noise will bring folks down on you big time. It's one thing with the cars, where the noise is down on the surface and blocked by trees and stuff, but that airplane is gonna broadcast over quite a ways. If you really want to teach yourself to fly, and do it in a space the size you describe,about the only option is an electric airplane.
In spite of your concerns about wimpy performance and recharging the battery, a bunch of us get along quite nicely. The 39" ARF that I am flying is downright peppy and aerobatic, hitting about 50mph on the level. The 15 min. recharge time is a nice little break to get yourself together for the next flight. Carry a couple of batteries and a peak detecting charger, and you can go almost continous.
Have fun, dave

[b3guyRC10]

dave how about the electric PT40, and btw the feild i am takling about is preety secluded so folks wouldn't get ticked with the noise. If i did get the PT 40, how hard would it be to convert it to a gas plane, once i get flying electrics down?, and thanks, i really appreiciate the help, preety much no one, including my LHS does not know anything about planes..... and on AOL instant messanger my screen name is sk8xpert7180 so we could also talk about this on there.

[Dave Robelen]

Hi,
If yyou are sure that you will not have a noise problem, and you want to end up with gassies, you might as well start that way. The PT-40 with an OS FP.40 is a reasonable choice. Along with the actual flying, I would strongly reccomend downloading one of the free simulators to play with.
I would love to chat on AOL, but I am dividing my time now between the BB, building a new shop, and vuilding a new model. When I am not doing design work, I am often working on a kit review of some sort. Basides, when you post here more folks see it, and you will get more inputs. I can dish out advice about training all day, but it was in 1953 when I learned to fly R/c, and things have changed a bit since then :-)
Cheers, Dave

[b3guyRC10]

since this is a soccer field, which i hope is large enough, i am now thinking about the duraplane trainer 20. I could put an OS .40 LA and put that in a plane later, and the wingspan is 43 inchs so its rather small, and btw what do you mean by downloading one of those free simulaters, could u explain and give me a link to them.. thanks..:D i still really like the PT40 but i duno, and im getting sick of changing my mind.......

[Dave Robelen]

hi b3,
actually the PT40 is a better choice when the fiels is limited. The Duraplane has a higher wing loading ad is actually some harder to fly. The PT40 can fly and land at lower speeds, which is a big help in the beginning. I remember helping a fello club member learn to fly with one, and it was quite sturdy.
I do not have the simulator sites handy, but if you run a search with www.google.com several will turn up.
Good luck , Dave

[b3guyRC10]

Dave i still dont get what you mean by a simulater. What would i use to control it, and i personally dont think that spending 150-200 bucks on a simulater is worth it. Could you explain more, thanks....

[Dave Robelen]

Hi,
A flight simulator is a whole lot like a computer game. The difference is that the screen graphics display a model and background, and you have control over the model. Some work with a joystick, some will work from the keyboard, but that is awkward. Recently several websites have begun offering free downloads for a simulator program. These downloads have pretty much the same performance as the expensive ones. There were some posts about this topc in this BB. Probably in the Park Flyer section. You might take a look through the older threads and see what turns up. Did you try google and find nothing?
Regards, Dave

[b3guyRC10]

yea i tried google with no results. I do have flight simulater 98 and it has something similar to an RC, where you fly the plane from the tower, but i am using a joystick, and not a RC transmitter thing. Well now i am really thinking of the PT40, and it you have any extra stuff...... hehe :D This is going be alot of fun, and i think it will be more fun just building it. Can i use a iron with a sock streched over it to cover the plane with monocoat, because i am on preety tight funds, with all the RC cars, my parents not wanting me to "waste the money" on planes because i will crash it, and be useless, and also have to buy golf equipment......................

[Dave Robelen]

Hi B3guy,
That's a shame about your money troubles;) You can use a regular clothes iron just fine. The instructions with the Monokote exlain how to set the temperature. I did my first couple of plastic covering jobs with a clothes iron, it gets heavy after a bit. A small travel iron will work well also if you have one around the house. When you get smears of color from the covering on the iron, acetoe wil wipe it right off.
Regards, Dave

[b3guyRC10]

hehe dave, i can just picture my mom ironing the clothes and, "WILL I JUST GOT THIS RED STUFF ALL OVER YOU DADS SHIRT!!!!!!!!!!!! YOUR GROUNDED!!!"

[b3guyRC10]

dave,

Guess what!! i found an enormous area today to fly planes, its a whole array of soccer fields, proably 10 soccer feilds side by side. PT40 here i come.....

[Taylorcraft]

B3Guy:

Way to go, good buddy! :)

I've been in more or less the same situation as you; I moved to a place where the local club is known as the "Holy Ghost", everybody's heard about it, but noone has ever seen it... :D

So I bought a simulator, the Realflight. Even tho it set me back a couple of hundred bucks, there's a BIIIG advantage! I can crash as much as I want, without having to wait for repairs and without spending a lot of cash in supplies and new planes.

There's an interface that plugs into the computer and connects my transmitter to the PC.

So far I've crashed the simulator's PT 40 approximately umphteen times, and it haven't costed me more than a single push on a button to bring it back on the runway, ready for new action. I have improved my skills so much that I now can direct the plane wherever I want on the field and put it down in one piece.

I can also have a ball with all the other planes and helis in the simulator, when I get tired of the trainer. :)

I've also made a deal with a model shop approx. 200 kilometers from here, they'll take over and help me get my real planes in the air. It'll cost me approx. $100 per day (yikes!!), in gas driving there and back, and also one whole day of training.
(yea, I've got a steady job!) :)

However, I can't afford more than one or two trips there a month so the simulator will come in handy anyway.

I hope you'll soon get your wings my friend. Persistance pays, you know. :) And when it comes to saving money on crashed model airplanes it's hard to beat a simulator. :)

BRG

Taylocraft
_____________________________________
Given enough power even a brick will fly.
But the lighter the brick, the better it flies.

[b3guyRC10]

sorry i havnt been on the BB lately, but anyways i got a house of balsa 2x4 glider to learn with. I have the transmitter and servos, and battey pack but no reciever, do any of you guys have one:D well anyways i am going to teach myself to fly with the glider and later this summer get the pt 40. thanks for your help

[nitrothugg]

see, this might be contrary to the more experienced guys but i'm a newbie into this too and i want to teach myself how to fly too. i know in it would really help to have someone show you the ropes but where i'm at, i would have to travel way out my way to get some help, and after spending $200 - $300 and then having to perhaps pay a guy to teach me. i'm a nitro car guy so eventually i want to get a gas plane but i'm sane enough to understand that an electric is a better way to start off with

[nitrobuggy]

Originally posted by nitrothugg
see, this might be contrary to the more experienced guys but i'm a newbie into this too and i want to teach myself how to fly too. i know in it would really help to have someone show you the ropes but where i'm at, i would have to travel way out my way to get some help, and after spending $200 - $300 and then having to perhaps pay a guy to teach me. i'm a nitro car guy so eventually i want to get a gas plane but i'm sane enough to understand that an electric is a better way to start off with

yes, I thought that would be the way to start off (electric first, that is) but this guy at the hobby shop said gas is better to start off with because it gives you more time in the air to understand how to fly. :confused:

[Dave Robelen]

More time in the air? Most of us, including newbies bring the bird in after 8-10 minutes with either type of model. Beyond that length of time there is a tentency to get tired, or just practice the errors some more. There is a need for time between flights to think over the good and bad points (and maybe talk with someone more experienced) before heading up for another flight. This is why recharging an electric is generally no big deal.
Regards, Dave

[TRASKOS]

B3,
In my time I have been a member of 8 differant clubs. I have yet to know of one that is "FULL OF JERKS" I think there is a deeper problem. I know that in that club there are members that would be happy to teach you to fly. I have been an instructor in everyone of the clubs I was a member of and never heard of anyone charging for instruction. We usually had a day set aside for teaching each week. Sometime a student could not make it on the instruction day and one of us wouid make arraigment to meet the student on another day.

While the soccer fields are a great place to fly they are usually owned by either city or state governments and while they might not keep you from flying electric, the nitro burners could very well be banned. It would pay to find this out before getting the LT40.

I think you should give the club field another try because I can`t believe you have found the only club in the USA that would treat a novice flyer in this manner. Go back and talk to a few of the members. every club has a smart ass. Somewhere in that club there is someone who will teach you to fly. Don`t judge the whole club by one or two members.

[TRASKOS]

B3
PS to my previous post.

Just about all clubs require you to be a member of the AMA.

[b3guyRC10]

well i bet you are right, but right now i have a glider, which i dont need help to learn to fly. i was already throwing it in the backyard, and getting a feel for it. thanks though