RC Model Reviews

I usually position myself as if in the aircraft and thus holding the stick for elevator and aileron.

Oops wrote:I usually position myself as if in the aircraft and thus holding the stick for elevator and aileron.

That seems like a lot of work Pushing towards the leaning wing when coming towards you really does work and work well, as specially for landings. That's the way I taught my son. If you can remember to relax while flying you'll find you will improve a lot more quickly. Consciously think about relaxing while flying make a big difference.

Maybe it feels more natural for me having flown real sized aircraft?

Oops wrote:Maybe it feels more natural for me having flown real sized aircraft?

I have a ppl too, but it can actually work against you, when flying models. The skill-set is similar, but not exactly the same. A lot of pilots at my club had trouble adapting to rc planes. One was even ex-airforce and he was apparently horrified to see how badly he flew models when he first tried it.

Also we mostly fly Mode 1 here, which really did my head in compared to using a joystick or yoke, as in a full sized plane or glider.

Flew RC gliders as a kid, then flew full size gliders. When I came back to rc gliders I couldn't get my thumbs around the different sticks, had to go mode 3 to make it logical to my hands.

My dad, gliding instructor among other things and 30yrs flying experience, had no trouble at all flying RC gliders the few times he did it. Interesting stuff

Hope to have the first "bareback" vids up this week -- just dependent on weather at this stage.

If anyone wants to see what the forecast is in this part of the world... here's the link:

10 day forecast -- click on "Tokoroa" for the weather local to me.

So I clicked on the link...... and all it showed was nice balmy summer time temperatures.... you guys down there in NZ don't know what you're missing when it comes to *winter*! I mean bloody h*ll, in your last video, I could still see the tarmac for crying out loud! Sheesh.... I only WISH it was that warm here during our spring/fall.... I'm not even going to mention our winter!

Around here during the winter, it gets so cold... we have to put alcohol in our alcohol fuel so it keeps flowing!

Regards

Kaptain "Them NZ'ers are all sissies as far as I can see...." Zero

I used to fly Mode 2 25 years ago in Holland, then bought a cheap kit earlier this year on the internet which was Mode 1. After some interesting moments with the elevator and throttle mixed up, I went back to Mode 2. My right hand is the stick in an aircraft, left throttle just like in my homebuild aircraft. It came back straight away and reaction is without thinking. I presume my brains are hardwired from the age I was a teenager.

Plane is back together, motor gets more cooling from the front. Work and family permitting I might give FPV another go today, hopefully recorded. I'll keep you posted.

Finally the Real Flight G5.5 RC Simulator arrived.
I have been playing it non-stop for the past day.
Turns out I do need a lot of practice flying, however
the idea of pushing the stick towards the lower wing
When flying towards you helped a lot, thx.

So I will be practicing a lot more before I take the
Skywalker up for it's maiden flight. Also good to keep
me occupied while I wait for some of the bits and
pieces I need for the FPV system to arrive.

Will post pics and vids once I have things done.

Fury

Once you get the hang of G5.5 start to fly lower and keep the model low throughout the circuits you do in the sim. This will leave far less room for error and then when you fly for real, climb first until you have enough height before going into a turn. I taught my son to fly only recently so most of his mistakes are very fresh in my mind. Most newbies tend to try to fly far too tight and get them self into trouble. So Climb and use airspace

Good luck, its a lot of fun. I still remember the joy in my son's eyes when he was under control for the first time