How To Get Started In RC Flying?

[rk938]

I love the idea of flying a WWI RC plane. What's the way to start? Are the electrics Ok for getting the "feet wet"?

[Fokker Ace]

Are you new to RC or just to WWI RC? Guess that's the first question.

If new to WWI there are some small electric planes from Great Planes' Electrifly line that would be a good starter. The Spad, Camel, DVII, and SE5 are all easy fliers while the DR.I is a bit due to it's small size and handling.

Now if you are a complete RC novice its going to be a while before you can even start thinking about WWI subjects (although there are some small foam WWI planes that are simple to fly and weigh about 8 oz.). You will need to start with a good trainer and then begin learning the sport.

There's no simple answer to the gas vs. electric question but electric has certainly taken over the hobby in many ways. I've been flying for three years and fly exclusively electric. Its a great way to be able to fly in places like parks, or even your yard, that would be restricted for gas planes due to the noise and size. And as electrics evolve they keep getting better and better - better batteries, motors, new ways to build planes, etc. But many of the big scale WWI planes you see are gas and gas is still king for large planes and people simply enjoy the engines and the sound. If you fly gas you normally do so at a club field and not in the local park or football field.

But just getting into it I would say think electric. A trainer plane like a Slow Stick or Easy Star is what you want. You want to start slow and progress in a logical way to a trainer with ailerons than maybe something a bit more aerobatic then maybe into scale. If you start with something like a WWI plane or anything with ailerons you will be in the air for about five seconds before you have a pile of junk at your feet. Not trying to be smart, that's just the way it works!

For me it came easy because I started with a slow trainer and now I fly just about every evening. I fly everything from gliders to fast jets and even 3D acrobatics. It's something I do to relax on just about any day its not raining or snowing.

The best place to look would be over on RCGroups.com. All your questions and more will be answered. Take it slow and the frustration factor will be low.

[jumpinjan]

Yes, electrics are the way to start learning.
I recommend an ARF with rudder, elevator and throttle (and with wing dihedral). There's a few out there: MissII, Butterfly and few others that look like free flight models. I would stay away from the flying stick models, they just don't have the best internal stability in flight and have too much drag and cheap materials
From there, move up to gas like a Hobbico SuperStar, or NexSTAR using a .40 engine.
You might get about 6-8 hours of simulator time on your computer too.
If you can fly a 4 channel gas model and get the correct "instinctive" reactions to aileron inputs (model going towards and away from you), you are doing good and you could move up to your 1/4 scale WWI model.
Jan

[Bookmaker]

My recommendation is to find a local R/C club, go to their flying field, introduce yourself and tell them you are interest in getting into the hobby. I expect you will find plenty of information and help.

Plan on walking before you run. You will no doubt need help learning, just like learning to drive. Can you learn without help? Maybe, but it will sure be expensive rebuilding all the crashes. Chances are you will quit before you are successful.
Thats where the local club comes in. They will either have a training program, or members who are qualified to help. ONe good thing to find out is what types of radio equipment is popular at that club, especially for "buddy box" connections. It's pretty frustrating to buy a Whozits radio then find out the local club only has the capability for Whatzit radio buddy box connections.

Electric or gas really makes no difference, but stay away from the discount mart cheepo's, they are pretty much a waste of money.


Good luck, it's a great hobby.

Dale

[Fokker Ace]

If you're someone who's good at, or grown up playing video games RC should be a snap. Knowing about how "real" airplanes fly (or why they sometimes don't!) helps too.

I must admit I learned on my own and the big thing to be aware of is orientation issues - using a computer simulator can help with this. There are free simulators out there if you look.

Maybe I had good luck but never crashed as a learner other than when I did a loop too low to the ground on my second flight. D'oh. But the key is to start out with something that mostly flies itself and very slow. So many of the old trainers are big heavy planes that fly fast you certainly needed an instructor. My Slow Stick would fly at walking speed. Some of the planes made of EPP foam are nearly indestructable.

You're entering the hobby at a great time!

PS - My avitar photo is of a Camel ARF I have and one I reviewed on RCGroups. That's my only WWI plane right now but I'd like to start building this winter.

[Chock]

Flying RC aeroplanes is not particularly hard, but like most things, it requires a bit of practice, and until you have that practice under your belt, it is likely you will plough the thing into the ground a few times. But, there is a solution to that...

The first thing to do is get a bit of practice in on an RC simulator, and the further good news is that you can get one of those for no cost whatsoever. You can download one here:

FMS Homepage

It's worth noting that you can actually plug an RC transmitter into your PC and control that RC sim with it (it plugs into the microphone jack on your PC), so you can get used to the joysticks on an RC transmitter with that sim too.

More good news is that electric RC aircraft are generally fairly light, and so the inertia from crashes and heavy landings does not tend to cause a lot of damage so long as the angle it hits the ground at is not steep. The bad news however, is that because electric RC aircraft are light, they can be easily damaged if you have a serious impact with the ground at a steep angle.

The main problem people find with RC aeroplanes is, as with real aeroplanes, when you first fly them, things seem to be happening very fast, and it is upon getting a bit of practice that your brain catches up with events and puts you in the mode you need to be in to keep things under control. Until that happens, it can be a bit overwhelming.

So, what else should you do?

Well, after you've had a play around with that RC simulator, you will probably notice that unless you start throwing the thing around the sky, the chances are that if you 'lose it' you will fly it into the ground at a fairly shallow angle, so if you want to fly an RC aeroplane, then a good thing to try is flying it where there is long grass, as that will tend to cushion a lot of the possible damage from a shallow impact with the ground, and hopefully, all that will be dented is your ego when you realise that it is not quite as simple as it at first appears. You'll also probably want something made from polystyrene foam (the kind of stuff electrical goods packaging is made of), since that tends to break into easily repairable chunks, rather than splintering or smashing, which is what often happens to balsa models when you have a mishap.

So, you need an RC aeroplane that is not your absolute pride and joy when first getting into things, because make no mistake, you will crash it. Fortunately, there are plenty of suitable inexpensive training aircraft to be had, and a search online with turn up lots of them, so that'll be what you need to do first. It would be nice to just buy a beautiful scale WW1 aircraft right from the off and fly it, but if you do that, it will almost certainly end in tears.

Reading up on a few websites and model magazines will clue you up on a lot of stuff, and you could join an RC model club to get some advice. Clubs also often have the advantage of offering insurance (which is not a bad idea, since even a small RC aeroplane can injure someone if it hits them at speed).

When you are a bit more experienced with RC flying and on the lookout for a WW1 model, bear in mind that true WW1 scale models (with an accurate aerofoil wing cross section) can be tricky to handle, so if you can manage it, something like a Fokker DVII would be a wise choice, since the DVII had a very deep aerofoil, and scale models of that particular Fokker aerofoil tend to be a lot easier to handle than thin cross section aerofoils you would find on an SE5a or an Albatros. The other thing you can look out for, is 'stand off scale' models - i.e. models that look more or less like the real thing, but often with a few aerodynamic compromises to the wing (such as a flat bottomed aerofoil section), since that type of aerofoil will make flying the thing a lot easier and does not stop such a model looking like the real thing to most people.

Al

[rk938]

Wow! Thanks for all the info. So I think I'll learn from your past experiences and "crawl, walk, run" with this.

A virtual simulator? Like a video game? Sweeeet!

R

[The PIPE]

Dear rk938:

The PIPE here...an avid RCer with "off-&-on" periods in the hobby (been "off" since Sept. 2003)...one thing you didn't tell us yet is...

...just WHERE are you located ?

That's because, your best bet in finding out how to get into RC aeromodeling in general, is through one's national aeromodeling club.

For the USA, like yours truly, it's the Academy of Model Aeronautics at Academy of Model Aeronautics ...

...if you're up in Canada, it's the MAAC, at Model Aeronautics Association of Canada - (for English, as they have a French language site as well)...

...and if you're in the UK, the British Model Flying Association at British Model Flying Association - the body responsible for model flying in the UK would be the place to start.

For a trainer (unless you DO want to get directly into four-stroke fueled engines - that's ALL I've had for the last twenty-five years) getting somethng that flys SLOWLY might be the best bet, and in the electrics, there's plenty of slow flyers out there...

...but if you wish to go for a built-up, "traditional" balsa wood kit, my thirty-years' plus time in the hobby can tell you that the slow flying designs you'd find at Telemaster Radio Controlled Aircraft from Hobby Lobby would be QUITE hard to beat, and the smaller versions of these CAN easily be electric powered.

And to PRACTICE RC flying on your own home PC, as "Chock" here has suggested, the FMS sim is a popular one - I use the Aerofly Pro Deluxe flightsim from Germany at AeroFly Professional Deluxe Home here at home on my PC, with the "knobby" sort of "single-stick" RC transmitters (the rudder control's on a rotating "knob" atop the single joystick's shaft on a "single stick" RC radio) that the owner builds for themselves nowadays, as I've had to do for over thirty years - one great source for info on that segment of the hobby that I depend on for easily flying my own creations is at MP8K : MP8K for Yahoo's Ace MicroPro/Gordon Anderson MICROSTAR RC transmitters user group.

Please let us know where you're from, though...I'd guess we would be better able to help if we knew where you are!

Yours Sincerely,

The PIPE!

[rk938]

I'm in Michigan. Near USA's first 3rd World Territory....Detroit!

PS I couldn't get that simulator to open up after DL-ing it. ????

[LewisS]

Hi rk938

What sim did you download?

If it's FMS you have to make sure you've got some Win 98/ Win 2000 legacy drivers/DLL's installed if it's an XP or Vista operating system, and have at least DirectX 8 or 9 on your computer.

A half decent video card doesn't hurt either.

I'd recommend getting something cheap, electric, and light for your first flying attempts. The GWS Slowstik has taught a large number of new RC pilots how to fly, but setting it up correctly takes some work. Register at RC groupsforum, RCGroups.com: The ABCs of Radio Control - Aircraft, Boats, and Cars!

..and read all you can in the "Beginners" sub forum. Also check out the "BoomerAce's Slowstik Mods" sticky at the upper part of the beginners page as he has taken the time to chronicle some of the easiest and best ways to get your Slowstik flying well for a beginner.

I make virtual models for FMS, if you go to RC Sim.de, Willkommen auf R/C - Sim you can download nearly hundreds of different models to try on your simulator once you get it going. I'm engaging in a little shameless self promotion here as I have made nearly a dozen different pre WWI and WWI models for FMS that are on RC Sim.de The downloads are free but you have to register to access them, remember to select English when you enter the website, as they are a German website with dual language text. They also have a Forum They have a pretty helpful group of people who keep the website going, most of which do write and speak English.

Good luck!