No Wind?

[mes]

Hello all. Extreme noobie here. I am usually into cars but on a whim purchased an Estes/Cox Sky Ranger (looks like a cub)to try out flying. My father in law just bought a plane and i thought it would be cool to try.

Anyways my first attempt was not a good one. The day is really calm with no wind at all. My hand launches did not work at all. It would just sail out about 50 feet and then head for the ground. My question is....is it possible to fly without wind? If so then I may have been doing something else wrong.

Thanks for the help!

[Leo L]

No wind is the ideal condition for flying. Many flyers wait days or weeks for the type of condition that you are describing.

The unfortunate problem is your selection of plane. There are many planes being sold for "beginners" that are either too hard for a beginner to fly, or are so poorly constructed that not even an experienced flyer could keep it in the air.

To see if you enjoy flying, start with a free simulator program for your computer and go to Toys-R-Us, Target, etc. and buy an Airhogs Aeroace (no substitutions) for $30. The plane is easy to fly, needs only the area of a basketball court or indoor gymnasium, and is virtually indestructable. Like all beginner planes, it should be flown when there is virtually no wind. If you decide that you like flying, come back here and we'll offer you more advice regarding good beginner planes than you'll know what to do with. (The AeroAce comes in two body styles: bi-plane and jet. The bi-plane is a little better for indoors while the jet is a little better for outdoors.)

[aeajr]

SIX KEYS TO SUCCESS
by Ed Anderson
aeajr on the forums

Whether you have a coach or you are trying to learn to fly on your own, you
will need to be mindful of these six areas if you are going to become a
successful RC pilot. After three years of working with new flyers at our
club,
and coaching flyers on the forums, there are a few things I have seen as the
key areas to stress for new pilots. Some get it right away and some have to
work at it. They are in no particular order because they all have to be
learned to be successful.

WIND
Orientation
Speed
Altitude
Over Control
Preflight Check

1) Wind - The single biggest cause of crashes that I have observed has been
the insistence upon flying in too much wind. If you are under an
instructor's
control or on a buddy box, then follow their advice, but if you are starting
out and tying to learn on your own, regardless of the model, I recommend
dead calm to 3 MPH for the slow stick and tiger moth type planes. Under 5
MPH for all others. That includes gusts. An experienced pilot can handle
more. It is the pilot, more than the plane, that determines how much wind
can be
handled.

The wind was around 10 mph steady with gusts to 12. That was strong enough
that some of the experienced pilots flying three and four channel small
electric planes chose not to launch their electrics. This new flyer
insisted that he wanted to try his two and three channel parkflyers. Crash,
Crash, Crash - Three planes in pieces. He just would not listen. Sometimes
you just have to let them crash. There is no other way to get them to
understand.

Many parkflyers can be flown in higher winds by AN EXPERIENCED PILOT. I
have flown my Aerobird in 18 mph wind (clocked speed) but it is quite
exciting trying to land it.

Always keep the plane up wind from you. There is no reason for a new flyer
to have the plane downwind EVER!


2) Orientation - Knowing the orientation of your plane is a real challenge,
even for experienced pilots. You just have to work at it and some adults
have a real problem with left and right regardless of which way the plane is
going. Licensed pilots have a lot of trouble with this one as they are
accustomed to being in the plane.

Here are two suggestions on how to work on orientation when you are not
flying.

Use a flight simulator on your PC. Pick a slow flying model and fly it a
lot. Forget the jets and fast planes. Pick a slow one. Focus on left and
right coming at you. Keep the plane in front of you. Don't let it fly over
your head.

FMS is a free flight simulator. It is not the best flight sim, but the
price is right and it works. There are also other free and commercial
simulators.

FMS Flight simulator Home Page
Free download
http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html

Parkflyers for FMS
http://gunnerson.homestead.com/files/fms_models.htm

Getting Started with FMS
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3893

The links below take you to sites that provide cables that work with FMS.
If your radio has a trainer port, these cables allow you to use the trainer
port on your radio to "fly" the simulator. This is an excellent training
approach.

http://www.allthingsrc.com/webshop/
http://www.simblaster.com/
http://www.customelectronics.co.uk/

An alternative is to try an RC car that has proportional steering. You
don't have to worry about lift, stall and wind. Get something with left and
right steering and speed control. Set up an easy course that goes toward
and away from you with lots of turns. Do it very slowly at first until you
can make the turns easily. Then build speed over time. You'll get it! If
it has sticks rather than a steering wheel even better, but not required.
Oh, and little cars are fun too.


3) Too much speed - Speed it the enemy of the new pilot but if you fly
too slowly the wings can't generate enough lift, so there is a compromise
here. The key message is that you don't have to fly at full throttle all the
time. Most small electrics fly very nicely at 2/3 throttle and some do quite
well at 1/2. That is a much better training speed than full power. Launch
at full power and climb to a good height, say 100 feet as a minimum, so you
have time to recover from a mistake. At 100 feet, about double the height
of the trees where I live, go to half throttle and see how the plane
handles. If it holds altitude on a straight line, this is a good speed.
Now work on slow
and easy turns, work on left and right, flying toward you and maintaining
altitude. Add a little throttle if the plane can't hold altitude.


4) Not enough altitude - New flyers are often afraid of altitude. They
feel safer close to the ground. Nothing could be more wrong.

Altitude is your friend. Altitude is your safety margin. It gives you a
chance to fix a mistake. If you are flying low and you make a mistake ....
CRUNCH!

As stated above I consider 100 feet, about double tree height where I live,
as a good flying height and I usually fly much higher than this. I advise
my
new flyers that fifty feet, is minimum flying height. Below that you better
be lining up for landing.


5) Over control - Most of the time the plane does not need input from you.
Once you get to height, a properly trimmed plane flying in calm air will
maintain its height and direction with no help from you. In fact anything
you do will interfere with the plane.

When teaching new pilots I often do a demo flight of their plane. I get the
plane to 100 feet, then bring the throttle back to a nice cruising speed. I
get it going straight, with plenty of space in front of it, then take my
hand off the sticks and hold the radio out to the left with my arms spread
wide to emphasize that I am doing nothing. I let the plane go wherever it
wants to go, as long as it is holding altitude, staying upwind and has
enough room. If you are flying a high wing trainer and you can't do this,
your plane is out of trim.

Even in a mild breeze with some gusts, once you reach flying height, you
should be able to take your hand off the stick. Oh the plane will move
around and the breeze might push it into a turn, but it should continue to
fly with no help from you.

Along this same line of thinking, don't hold your turns for more than a
couple of seconds after the plane starts to turn. Understand that the plane
turns by
banking or tilting its wings. If you hold a turn too long you will force
the plane to deepen this bank and it will eventually lose lift and go into a
spiral dive and crash. Give your inputs slowly and gently and watch the
plane. Start your turn then let off then turn some more and let off. Start
your turns long before you need to and you won't need to make sharp turns.

I just watch these guys hold the turn, hold the turn, hold the turn, crash.
Of course they are flying in 10 mph wind, near the ground, coming toward
themselves at full throttle.

6) Preflight check - Before every flight it is the pilot's responsibility to
confirm that the plane, the controls and the conditions are correct and
acceptable for flight.

Plane - Batteries at proper power
Surfaces properly aligned
No damage or breakage on the plane
Everything secure

Radio - Frequency control has been met before you turn on the radio
A full range check before the first flight of the day
All trims and switches in the proper position for this plane
Battery condition is good
Antenna fully extended
For computer radios - proper model is displayed
All surfaces move in the proper direction

Conditions - No one on the field or in any way at risk from your fight
You are launching into the wind
Wind strength is acceptable ( see wind above )
Sunglasses and a hat to protect your eyes
All other area conditions are acceptable.

Then and only then can you consider yourself, your plane, radio and the
conditions right for flight. Based on your plane, your radio and local
conditions you may need to add or change something here, but this is the
bare minimum. It only takes a couple of minutes at the beginning of the
flying
day and only a few seconds to perform before each flight.

If this all seems like too much to remember, do what professional pilots do,
take along a preflight check list. Before every flight they go down
the check list, perform the tests, in sequence, and confirm that all is
right.
If you want your flying experience to be a positive one, you should do the
same. After a short time, it all becomes automatic and just a natural part
of a fun and rewarding day.

I hope some of this is useful in learning to fly your plane.

Other resources you may find useful:


Books on RC Planes and RC Flying

http://www.stevensaero.com/shop/product.php?productid=16645&cat=262&page=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00071VIGC/sr=8-1/qid=1140260256/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-2556298-8424625?%5Fencoding=UTF8

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006PBE2M/sr=8-8/qid=1140260256/ref=sr_1_8/103-2556298-8424625?%5Fencoding=UTF8

[mes]

Wow what a write up aeajr. Thanks guys for the replies. I actually bought two aero aces this morning for my dad and me to try out. We just loved them. We now have three so a group of us can fly them around.

We think we'll spend some time with these planes and then get a little more adventurous with some trainers or get back to the estes sky ranger that I bought. It has promise but I just can't seem to keep from breaking something each time I take it out.

We both got bitten by the flying bug today and can definitely see some dust collecting on the RC cars that we have been running around.

[openicepdk]

Buy A Firebird Commander 2 And You Will Have So Much More Fun. Return That Estes Plane Fast. Commander Is Such A Great Flier And Great First Plane.

[mes]

I actually bought the sky fly. I had my first flight last weekend. It went really well and I had not a single crash and went through quite a few battery packs. What a great difference!

[aeajr]

mes,

Congratulations on your succes with the Sky Fly. Now, practice, practice, practice those take-off and landings.

You may want to take a look at this thread for some ideas on how to advance your self training:

Teaching Someone To Fly - Tools and Techniques
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5767

[Leo L]

Congratulations on your successful flights. Eventually, when you are fully experienced with the SkyFly and are looking to upgrade, let us know and we'll give you some suggestions; or if you already have a plane in mind, we'll give you comments on whether you are making a good selection or not.

Remember: NO WIND; stay away from TREES; the sky is your plane's friend, the ground is the enemy - therefore fly at least 150ft up or 2-3 times the height of any nearby trees, buildings, etc.

[mes]

Thanks guys. What a supportive bunch you are. That is really nice. I will practice and practice some more. I really have enjoyed the sky fly but still have a lot of learning to do. It will be a while until I'm bored and want to step it up a notch. I'l check out the links posted and keep on reading all of the great info on here.

[Whitetiger018]

Congrats on your first flight...I'm reletively new to flying myself...I have a Megatech Freedom flyer...A 3 channel plane all I can say is it take alot of abuse and still flies...It's taken some BIG TIME crashes but is still flies very well after several nose dives and a few other crashes...like I said fairly new but having fun...

[speedracer24]

Way to go mes, I raced 1/8th scale buggies for 4 years and now that I have went back to school at the age of 34 I got out of racing and went back to planes. I had a few gliders and a .40 size trainer when I was younger. Your cars will be collecting alot of dust as mine have. The aero aces are a ton of fun, my brother,his son and I have alot of fun flying them. I recently purchased the small air hogs heli, WOW it is soooo cool to fly around the house, a little tweak of the tail and you can achieve some good forward flight to fly from the coffee table to the top of the tv and back...hehe. Keep practicing when you get a chance because when you are bored with what you have now you will be ready for a more exciting plane to fly. Happy flying with your dad. :D

[mes]

Speedracer,
Other than doing custom painting for the RC car community, my cars are definitely taking a back seat. I have also bought some mini helis to play around with. I just love them for what you can do indoors. I have the helix too. Its very fun to play with. I also have the piccoZ for the smaller heli to play with. My dad is also addicted to these things. He also has the helis for his livingroom flight. This is truly a great hobby that all ages can enjoy.

It looks like a windless morning here in pa. I'm charging up the sky fly for another flight. Hope all goes well.

Mark
bella-graphix.com