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Preparing to fly
By Andrew
Gibbs
Tips
for learning to fly
Having carefully assembled
and checked your model,
at last it’s almost
time to fly it! This part
offers some guidance for
the practical business of
learning to fly.
Flying
Insurance
It’s absolutely essential
to have public liability
insurance when operating
a radio control aircraft
of any size or weight. RC
models have resulted in
serious injury and even
death to innocent bystanders
and you must be covered
for this eventuality or
else you risk losing everything
you have ever worked for.
Public liability insurance
is for your benefit, not
other people’s. My
strong advice is not to
even consider flying RC
model aircraft without the
appropriate insurance.
The British Model Flying
Association (BMFA) is the
main provider in the UK
of such insurance and they
offer an excellent policy
which is very reasonably
priced. Joining a BMFA affiliated
club is an easy way to get
this insurance, alternatively
it can be purchased direct
from the BMFA without the
need to be a club member.
Range
check
As a minimum, you should
do a range check before
the model’s first
flight and after any change
to its installation. The
idea of the range check
is to try and ensure that
the RC equipment will continue
to function correctly when
the model is far away from
the transmitter. To do this,
have a friend hold the model
at about waist height. Turn
on the transmitter, with
its aerial fully collapsed
and have the friend move
the away while you check
the control responses. The
model should answer the
controls without jittering
for at least 25 yards (25m).
Check first with the motor
off and this will give you
a baseline figure. After
this, check the model at
half and full power. Provided
the model answers the controls
properly up to at least
25m away with the aerial
collapsed, it should receive
a satisfactory signal at
the much higher distances
typical of an average flight
with the transmitter aerial
fully extended.
Ground
handling
An excellent idea, especially
for those teaching themselves,
is to gain familiarity with
the ground handling characteristics
of your model by taxiing
it around for a few sessions,
but perhaps not at a crowded
club site.
Good ground handling skills
are an important component
of becoming a competent
RC pilot. Unfortunately,
it’s an area that’s
often neglected by model
pilots. It’s actually
quite an interesting challenge
to learn to do it well and
the one area of model aircraft
operation that can be done
at any speed you like!
Left
and right
One challenge inherent in
controlling any radio controlled
model is that when a model
is coming towards you, left
and right can appear to
be reversed. It’s
well worth considering investing
in a model car, boat, hovercraft
etc with proportional controls
to help you learn to master
this aspect of RC models.
Note that ground based-vehicles
will need a different RC
system as they are not permitted
(at least here in the UK)
to be operated on the frequency
bands reserved for flying
models.
Simulators
Another way to help master RC flying is to practice using a computer based
simulator. While these don’t replicate exactly the whole experience
of flying a model, they can still make a wonderful contribution to the
business of learning to fly. Simulators provide an opportunity to gain
experience without risk and they help to ensure some sort of continuity
when the weather is unsuitable for real flying.
In my experience, one area where simulators don't help much is in learning
the business of take off and landing, for which an appreciation of the
model's distance away is important. This is partly because a computer's
2D screen cannot give us the 3D depth perception which we enjoy through
having a pair of eyes, and partly because it can be hard to accurately
know the position and orientation of the runway relative to the model
when using a simulator.
Get (virtually) inside the model
Another technique that may be very useful is to imagine yourself inside
the model, and then deciding what control input you would need to make
the model respond as you want it to. The great John Farley, the famous
test pilot who was heavily involved in the VTOL Harrier programme, told
me this was a technique he used to good effect when he taught himself
to fly RC models, unaided, while in his seventies.
A related technique, suggested to me by reader Alex Ferguson, is to imagine
that the transmitter you are holding is the model and you are steering
it, the aerial being the model's nose. This allows you to more easily
imagine how the model will respond to stick commands, as it should respond
in the same way as "model" in your hands.
Weather
Whatever type of model you
choose, I would strongly
recommend flying only on
relatively calm days when
there is very little wind,
certainly at least to start
with. Learning to fly can
be challenging enough without
adding the problems of coping
with wind and the associated
gusts and turbulence! Also
a beginner is apt to become
discouraged when flying
in windy conditions because
of the added difficulty.
Becoming discouraged is
the last thing we want,
especially in the early
stages. Keeping to relatively
calm days will limit the
number of suitable flying
days which can of course
be frustrating if you are
keen to get on with learning.
Being cold is no fun, and
if you’re not comfortable
it’s going to be hard
to apply yourself properly
to a challenging task like
learning to fly. Wrap up
warmly!
The sun can be a bit of a problem with some combinations of time and
location. Ideally, you want the sun behind you so there’s no chance
of being distracted by it, and the associated risk of losing visual contact
with the model. If you find that you are being distracted by the sun,
it may help to have your lesson at a different time of day when the sun
will be in a different position. Sunglasses and/or a peaked cap may also
be helpful.
Over controlling
A very common problem for beginners is the tendency to over control their
model. It is worth remembering that a properly trimmed model will fly
itself without any help from its pilot, so modest control inputs should
be quite sufficient.
How are you today?
Many of us get ‘off’ days, when things just don’t seem
to go so well. Maybe you’re slightly unwell, maybe something’s
upsetting you. Whatever the reason, if you’re having such a day,
it’s possible, indeed probable that your flying lesson won’t
go so well either. Flying lessons taken under significantly sub-optimal
conditions can be a waste of time, and perhaps even counter productive.
So, if you’re not feeling like flying, then don’t! Chances
are, you won’t enjoy it and you may come home feeling frustrated,
perhaps with a broken model too. Of course, good manners dictates that
you should remember to let your instructor know first in plenty of time
if expected at the flying field for a lesson you intend to skip.
Learn
a bit of theory!
To successfully learn to
control an aircraft, whether
it’s a model or full
size, requires not only
practical training in the
business of controlling
your model, but also at
least a basic understanding
of how aircraft fly. Without
this knowledge, you could
find yourself needing rather
a lot of glue!
Of particular interest
to the model flyer are answers
to questions such as these:
What are the forces acting
on an aircraft?
In terms of these forces,
what’s the difference
between powered and gliding
flight?
What is meant by a stall?
What causes a wing to stall?
How does a wing’s
angle of attack change when
an aircraft is in a level
turn?
How is the wing’s
angle of attack controlled?
What are the consequences
of a stall?
How is airspeed controlled?
How is an aircraft trimmed
for a particular airspeed?
What are the primary and
secondary effects of the
controls?
The list of possible questions
is almost endless, and aerodynamics
is a fascinating subject
in its own right. Unfortunately
there isn’t the space
in this article to answer
the questions posed above
here. However, a discussion
of the theoretical aspects
of model flying could become
the subject of a Gibbs Guide
at a later date. In the
meantime, your public library
will probably have at least
one book about the theory
of flying, plus of course
there are other resources
available. Happy reading!
How
long will it take to learn
to fly?
This question is difficult
to answer, for everyone’s
circumstances will of course
be unique. There’s
no getting away from the
fact that generally speaking,
the younger you are the
easier it is to learn a
new skill. Thus, a teenager
will probably learn more
quickly than a mature modeler.
That said, I’ve seen
a number of cases where
mature modelers have become
very competent pilots, so
don’t use your age
as an excuse!!
Factors other than age
also come into play of course.
You can’t do much
about your age, but you
do have control over a number
of some of the other things
that could affect your rate
of progress. The most important
of these include:
Continuity
Continuity, or repeated
and regular exposure, is
very important when learning
a complex new skill. If
you take only one flying
lesson a month, it could
take many, many more lessons
than if your exposure to
model flying was on a weekly
basis. From my full size
training experience, both
as pupil and as instructor,
I’ve learned that
new knowledge will gradually
seep away unless it’s
constantly refreshed, whatever
your age. It’s important
to keep topping up the learning!
A simulator can be very
helpful here.
Preparation
This also is important.
Make a check list so you
know you’ll be arriving
at the flying field with
all the necessary equipment
and fully charge batteries.
The model should be properly
maintained and correctly
set up so it’s as
easy to fly as possible.
This is vital because a
badly set up model can make
learning much more difficult
than it needs to be. It’s
also helpful to recap what
you learned during the previous
lesson, and to mentally
rehearse what’s coming
up in the next one.
Make notes
It can be helpful to make notes at the end of a lesson about what you
learned, what went well and what went not so well. By reviewing these
notes occasionally, you can be better prepared for the next lesson.
Don’t be in too much of a rush
It takes time to acquire the experience necessary to learn to fly RC models,
and this can only be gained by many trips to the flying field. As a very
rough guide, expect to take months not weeks to become competent. If you’re
a mature modeler, it might take a year of so of dedicated effort.
Enjoy
the journey
By all means remember that
your overall goal is to
learn to fly. However, try
also to enjoy each lesson,
rather than feeling dissatisfied
that you have not yet reached
your goal. In other words,
enjoy the journey rather
than being frustrated that
you are not yet at your
destination. Do all you
can to ensure that each
trip to the flying field
is enjoyable.
Sub goals
The overall goal of learning to fly can seem like a huge, insurmountable
obstacle to begin with. You can gain more of a sense of progress by setting
yourself sub goals, such as learning ground handling, improving wind awareness,
or height keeping or some other aspect of flying. These will help you
realize that you are making progress towards your overall goal.
Try
and ‘stack the odds
in your favour’
Sometimes a lesson can go well, and at other times it can go rather badly.
This isn’t necessarily the random business it might seem, and so
you might as well try and organize things so the chance of success is
as high as possible.
In my experience, flying
lessons tend to go best
for students when the following
conditions come together:
1. You have a competent instructor with a calm and measured approach.
2. You feel compatible with your instructor.
3. You’re feeling well, relaxed and mentally prepared for the lesson.
4. There’s not too much stress going on elsewhere in your life.
5. Your model is well set up.
6. The weather is suitable - there’s not too much wind.
7. You’re comfortable - you've arrived on time, you’re warm
enough, and the sun’s not shining in your eyes.
Did you find this article useful?
I hope you’ve found this short guide useful. You may also enjoy
the forthcoming Gibbs Guide ‘Beginners Guide to Electric Flight’.
This is scheduled for release in 2014. I wish you much luck in enjoying
the fine hobby of building and flying RC models!
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