|
At Barnstormers we have several qualified club instructors as well as SAMAA
registered instructors. If you are interested in joining our club, but is not
sure about what to buy or start out with, come along on a Saturday (or any other
day of the week for that matter) and we will be more than happy to discuss all
the options and advice with you. You may also contact us via this site.
Our advice is this, find an instructor.
With an instructor, you'll learn faster and with more confidence than if you
start out solo (which we do not allow at our field). If your instructor's radio has a trainer system, you can buy
a compatible radio, connect the two, and fly with less risk to your plane.
If you join up with Barnstormers, as a beginner, an instructor will be assigned
to you
Find out what you're
getting into. Many helpful books
and videos
are available about airplane modeling. Or, before attempting the "real
thing," you can try your hand at on one of the R/C flying simulators
available as software
for your PC.
For most people, the beauty
of an airplane's design lies in its lines and curves. For the flier, however,
the beauty of a design includes what that design can do. That feeling is as true
for R/C (radio control) pilots as it is for pilots of full-size aircraft. Their
differences—aircraft size, and the fact that R/C pilots remain on the ground—have
very little impact on the way given designs perform. As a result, R/C hobbyists
have been able to model and fly aircraft that range from the Wright Brothers'
first plane to the magnificent Space Shuttle.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Understand how an airplane flies.
Here’s how
airplanes fly: When the wing moves forward the air lifts it. Too slow, no lift
and it falls out of the air -- it stalls. So, it needs flying SPEED either from
a motor and propeller, or by descending and gliding. The wing is lifting all
the time it's moving forward -- whether it’s upside down, in a turn,
inverted, or doing acrobatics -- there is always lift from the wing even though
the lift might not be straight UP as it is in level flight. The airplane makes
right or left turns by tilting in the direction of the turn so that some of the
wing’s lift is angled partly to the left or right. To turn an airplane you
tilt the wings with the ailerons or with the rudder in the direction you want
to turn. To make the airplane go UP you give an UP command to the elevator. The
elevator surface angles UP and the air that’s hitting it blows the tail DOWN
and the nose UP. When the airplane goes UP it slows down. If it goes too slow
the lift stops and the airplane falls -- stalls.
You
turn an airplane differently
than a car or a boat:
when you tilt the airplane’s wing in the direction that you want it to turn,
the airplane will continue to turn as long as the wing is tilted in that
direction. But you will NOT be holding the control stick in the direction of
the turn (as you would on the steering wheel of a car) -- you will have the
control stick near NEUTRAL during the turn. To STOP the airplane from turning
you move the control stick in the opposite direction from the turn so that the
wings level out. "Beginner's" airplanes have a built-in tendency to
automatically come back to level flight if you let go of the control stick.
Pick out an airplane that can fly all by itself without you controlling it.
Don’t pick a
low-wing, aerobatic airplane. The best choices are slow flyers, park flyers, or
gliders that use electric motors for power. Gliders can glide straight ahead
all by themselves (if they do not have a warped wing -- see below) without you
doing any controlling from the radio transmitter. If you want to fly without an
instructor these glider type airplanes will fly themselves while you are trying
to figure out how to make them go some other direction. You need this stability
while you learn how to fly. The second best choice is a non-glider (powered
airplane) that has the wing on the top of the fuselage and which is advertised
to be a good training airplane.
Make SURE that these
following things are correct BEFORE each flight:
A.
The balance point
MUST be where the airplane’s designer intended. Don’t be afraid to add lead
weights to either the nose or the tail to MAKE the airplane balance where it is
supposed to. If you think that the required weight to achieve the correct
balance point (sometimes called "CG" -- Center of Gravity) is too
much, you’re wrong -- USE WHATEVER WEIGHTS ARE NECESSARY TO MAKE THE AIRPLANE
BALANCE WHERE IT’S SUPPOSED TO!
B. The
wing must not be warped, and it helps your flying if the wing should have
something called "washout". Fasten the wing onto the airplane. Set
the airplane on a table and walk off to the rear of it. Look back at the
airplane from an eye position where you can see just a bit of the BOTTOM of the
entire wing. If you see MORE bottom wing surface on, let’s say, the left
wing, then your airplane will tend to turn left even when you have the aileron
or rudder control in neutral. Remove that warp before you try to fly the
airplane.
C.
"Washout": this is an intentional and desirable warp of the wing near
each wing tip. Usually this warp is done to the outer 20% of the wing toward
each wing tip. From the rear of the airplane you should see a little more of
the BOTTOM of the wing near both wing tips. Why is this "washout"
good? It helps the outer parts of the wing continue flying straight ahead
during the beginning of a stall. This means that your airplane will stall
straight ahead instead of rolling over on its back or side when it stalls and
that rolling over might be impossible to recover from.
Choose a BIG
flying field for your first flights.
Don't try to fly in your
street even if the airplane is capable of flying in such a restricted area. You
will need lots of open and unobstructed space for your first flights.
If you take
off from a ground roll.
Let the airplane build up so
much speed on the ground before you signal "UP" elevator, that you
KNOW that the airplane has enough speed to fly. When it leaves the ground try
to climb at a very small angle, not abruptly upwards which could cause loss of
airspeed and a stall.
Give very little UP elevator
as your
airplane starts to take off. Most beginning modelers try to climb too steeply
which makes their airplane slow down, stall, then crash.
Don’t try any turns until the airplane is very high.
Mostly climb straight ahead
with only gentle turns.
Practice gentle turns
high
in the air before you try to land. Practice "landings" while high in
the air so you get a good idea of the airplane's stalling (fall-out-of-the-sky)
speed. If the airplane stalls just give a bit of DOWN elevator and the airplane
will be flying again.
When the
airplane flies TOWARD you, turn your body a bit
so
you can imagine "right" and "left" from the airplane's
point of view. This will prevent you getting confused about which way to turn
your airplane.
Don’t try to land in a specific spot, avoid turns when the airplane is low.
Just
let your airplane glide into the ground straight ahead. The bigger the field
for your first flight, the greater will be your chances for success.
|
