FLYING SOLO

A good instructor is a true advantage when you learn how to fly an RC plane. But what if you don’t live near an RC club or don’t have access to an RC mentor? Fortunately, today’s Ready To Fly RC aircraft and flight simulator technology make it easier than ever to earn your wings on your own. We hope these steps will help to make your first flights successful.

1 VIRTUAL FLIGHT SCHOOL

The most risk-free way to sharpen your flight skills is with a simulator. They all feature trainer aircraft, and many even have virtual flight instructors and “gameified” programs and challenges to help you progress. Here are 10 tips to keep in mind:

• Most flight sims are designed for PC based hardware, so if you use a Mac, be sure it can run the sim before you purchase it.• A good graphics accelerator card and a fast CPU will keep your system from slowing down when running the sim. If your video appears to frame or ratchet, most simulators allow you to turn down the• The easiest way to fly an airplane in a simulator is from just behind and outside of it. You won’t learn much about flying RC from this position, but you’ll learn what pushing and pulling on each stick does. As soon as you can fly that way without crashing all the time, move to a ground view as it simulates how you really fly a model plane: from the ground.• Start with a four-channel, high-wing trainer type model. This is the most common configuration used for training, so your skills will translate to the real flying field. Don’t customize your plane to have unlimited power or to miraculously get out of trouble; you want a sim plane that flies like an RC model.• It’s best to start with a plain grass field or runway without buildings and trees. Distant obstacles generally aren’t a problem and can help you maintain orientation. If you find that you keep running into something, remove it. As you get more confident, you can add more objects.• With a properly set up model, takeoffs are easy; just apply full power and watch. If you have eliminated obstacles, it shouldn’t matter if the plane drifts off a little. When you are in the air, practice making left and right turns so that the plane says in sight. Don’t get into the bad habit of always turning the same direction!• Simulators are great for experimenting. Try holding in rudder, and see how quickly the plane ends up in a graveyard spiral. See how tightly you can turn by adding more elevator as you add more rudder. Test how slowly you can fly before the plane stalls and the nose or wing drops. Many of those endeavors will end in a crash, but the reset button is a wonderful thing. When practicing, never give up on a crash recovery attempt until you actually crash.• Practice landing anywhere you can see the plane. It’s more important to make a smooth landing than a closein one. Eventually you will be able to land close to the runway and finally on the runway.• Keep sessions long enough to learn something meaningful but short enough that you don’t get bored and start trying to fly between the parked cars, etc. One hour is what most people can take before they start playing around.• Set a goal for each session to maximize the effectiveness of your training.