As another true beginner I would like to offer my support and advice - and since you're not married to me you'll probably want to hear some of it
In my opinion (as unqualified as that may be), flaps would only make this thing too slow and require more power to stay up and active. As Bruce says these things fly with very little effort from us and we need only to take charge and insist on a good performance! With that in mind let's move on...
You need lots and lots of clear open and unencumbered space, both in the air and on the ground. Flying in the electric tower, brick building sh*t pit you were was fraught with danger despite being rather amusing
I sort of compare my flying space to that of an airport - not too many trees and buildings within close proximity - two soccer fields or cricket grounds is a good space to gain confidence (because confidence is the key here the rest comes quiet easily after). It is preferrable that there are no sporting activities at the time, but they tend to leave fast when they see you're completely out of control...
I think I mentioned this before, but height is your friend
. Get the AXN up above twice the height of the trees and you will quickly find this bird becomes much easier to handle. Not only that, but there is then more room for error and therefore recovery if error happens to find you. If the wind bumps it or it hits some turbulence, just relax the sticks for a second and react to the plane not try to force it out of it's path hastily. Mate I have ploughed my AXN from 100 feet at full throttle (I don't know why I keep hitting throttle when nose diving, but I do
), it breaks, but is repairable there and then. I actually am not afraid of crashing any more, more afraid of rescuing it from tall trees now
If you're afraid of the crash the crash will seek you out often Padawan. Let the force guide you - you can control this machine you just need to believe.
Of all the advice I got this was the best: Don't chase the plane with your controls, rather control the plane with small and purposeful inputs. Watching where the plane goes when you input a control - say left bank - gives you the perspective of your action. I hope I don't sound condescending, but this has helped me to no end. When the plane turns use a little up elevator to keep the nose pointing up. Rudder turns are slow, but work very well. While you get used to the height let the rudder be your directional device and use ailerons only if needed and then in small inputs. Now I have mixed expo and D/R into mine so I don't have full throw on turns unless I choose to.
Throttle should be no less than 1/3 - 1/2 until confidence is reached (this comes about 20 mins after you watch the first "I didn't crash" video lmao...) Going too fast is a pain in the butt and going too slow is a pain in the nose cone, so find that 30% - 50% place and play nicely there.
Did I notice you don't have a neck strap? Personally I found this addition to my kit invaluable because I no longer needed the extra background operation of holding the Tx, which allowed me to concentrate all my efforts on the sticks, the environment and orientation. This may sound silly, but one less issue to deal with makes the other matters seem less difficult too. I made my first one from a work ID holder...
Well that is enough dribble from me, but I believe in your ability to fly this puppy and I expect to see a video post soon with exactly that depiction and a happy camper dancing over to pick up the purposefully landed AXN at the end!
Your mate,
Hallmark
PS: Landings are best without any throttle, a smooth glide and don't be picky about a specific place (like Bruce lands at his feet
), just landing under control is worth the 100 metre walk
"I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter." Winston Churchill