Tell about your first RC Plane

[Bat Fastard]

I raced RC cars for about 6 years and got tired of only being able to race every other weekend for 3 races so I got a heli. I thought that would be fun to fly around the yard to waste time in between races. That lasted about 10 tanks of fuel or, until I tried to hover nose in. So I bought all of the parts to fix it and never really messed with it again, until about 2 years later.

I had moved to a new house that had a huge field right beside it. For some unknown reason I thought I would try an airplane to fill the void between races this time. So, I went to the hobby shop and bought an issue of MAN. It had some sort of combat event coverage in it and I thought that has got to be the toughest plane to learn how to fly with.

I found an ad in the back from JK aerotech, and I bought a p51 mustang combat plane. I then stripped the radio gear from the heli and tried to fly it. I read all of the instructions and followed most of them, up to the part about balancing the plane. I thought, "it isnt really all that important". I then fired up the OS 32sxh and gave the plane a good toss while at full throttle. It flew up and up and up then I tried to level out. With full down elevator it still climbed. After it got to about 9000 feet I gave up. It nose dived it a freshly plowed soy bean field. I go over to get and the motor is full of dirt and the only damage is the broken prop.

Back to the garage I go to replace the prop and figure out what the problem was. I then read where it said in bold black print "IT IS IMPORTANT TO BALANCE THE MODEL". A few 1/2" nuts and some tape on the nose and I was out to try it again. This time it flew like a plane should. I did large turns and such just to get oriented with the plane then thought about landing. It seemed easy enough, just line it up, chop the throttle, and try to land it level. It worked! With only a few tumbles at the end.

I flew that airplane for at least 50-60 flights till I finally broke the wing in half. All the while recording 25-26 crashes. That was one tough plane. It taught me the basics and gave the flying bug. I never returned to racing RC cars and that was 4 1/2 years ago.

Model Aviation RULES!

Jamie

[JeeUm]

Cox Ultralight, went through two of those with no success and stayed with control line for a few more years until getting a Hobby Shack Foam Cessna 177, also tore a couple of those up. Then went through numerous trainers teaching myself how to fly. Finally figured it out by flying in the winter time with 3 feet of soft snow on the ground so I didn't have to worry about landing. Just fly it into the snow.

[chatorivera]

MY FIRST PLANE WAS A GREAT PLANES PT-40 WITH A O.S. 40 FP ENGINE AND A FUTABA ATTACK 4 CHANNEL AM RADIO, IT WAS AND AMAZING PLANE TO FLY AND ALSO A VERY STRONG PLANE, I CRASHED SEVERAL TIMES AND IT SURVIVE EVERY ONE.

[Stu_D]

My first plane was a Thunder Tiger Trainer 60 . Bit of a large plane for my first go at 72' but the guy who taught me how to fly was from a giant scale background .
First I bought the plane then a Hitec eclipse 7 and then a week later I bought a SIM (easyfly) .

I had seen my dad attempt to fly RC 20 years earlier with out much sucess so I decided to have lessons .I would arrange to meet my teacher three days a week and by the end of week six I went solo . That was the week prior to 9/11

I did the usual take off without my teacher by my side , the plane managed to survive my landing . Plane lasted all the way through only to be sold on to another learner .

It took two years for me to destroy a plane , then I did 8 over the next 12 months . Two to pilot error and the others were due to set up error (by me ) .

Stu

[Dangerous Dan]

I fear that with the popularity of the innernet ipods online gamine etc.. that rc planes will not hold the same appeal to todays youth as it did to us years ago. The AMA has shown a large decline in youth membership in the last few years. I encourage everone to grab a kid and put a plane in their hands, all it takes is their first solo to have them hooked for life.

Great stories guys keep them comming

PS; My three kids are 7, 5, and 5 They are AMA members, decent on the sim, and they are in the process of helping me build them a trainer.

[jongurley]

Tower Hobbies 40 trainer, with a Tower .40 engine,, blue and white,, I wouldn't have been any prouder if I had a Ferrari,,, I trained for about a month and it just came natural,, I will never forget the first time I went to the field by myself after I soloed,,, you couldn't have drove a thumbtack up my hind end,, ,, I have been killing it ever since,,, but anyway, I still have that airframe at my shop, I am in the process of building a new airplane room 30ft x 25ft,,, so it will hang on the ceiling as a conversation piece,,,

[rmflyfish]

My first plane was a Goldberg Electra (2 meter electric sailplane) circa 1983 or so. I swear it weighed 150 pounds, between the wooden control rods with steel ends wrapped on with thread and CA, and the 7 cell NiCd pack and full size servo's. I had learned about balancing from a little free flight triplane, but thats another story.

We had a very active sailplane club (Pikes Peak Soaring Society) and a 'to die for' flying site in the middle of a huge sod farm full of close cropped Kentucky blue grass. Picture Awnings lining the 20 acre field with BBQ grills going, and people flying from chaise lounge chairs until dark! They where all happy to teach me to fly the Electra. I flew the wings off that Electra and had such fun learning about wind and clouds and how to spot thermals, I was hooked. I remember 'specking it out' one day getting sucked into one of those late afternoon thunder storms out here in Colorado. Not a very bright move in retrospect ;-)

I stayed with saiplanes for about 6 years, progressing to F3B style planes. There's something about going 100 MPH with a sailplane and then throwing it into a 180* turn and racing back the other direction!

I stopped flying in the early 90's, was busy raising kids.

In 2004 with the kids grown and on there own. My neighbor, who had always admired the sailplane collection in my garage, called me one day and said "you have to come for a ride with me". Off we go to a field down the street next to a church and he pulls a SlowStick electric out of the truck, takes it off, smiles evilly at me and hands me the radio. OMG! the hook is set and I'm pulling line off the drag... I'm hooked again. A week later I HAVE to have ailerons... Then Bill Stevens of StevenAero here in town becomes a good friend. I've discovered brushless motors, LiPo batteries and his wonderfull, light wingloading planes!

So... as of today I have a completed GP Utlimate with a DA50 and my newest toy, an AeroWorks Extra 260 with another DA50 in it. These are my step up planes for this year. I'm sure, from what I've seen and read, that Rocco, Mark and John over at AW in Denver and I will become good friend too!

And here's my chance to again thank the guys who got me started in this expensive/addictive hobby, Dwayne, Jack, Milt, Randy, and all the guys at PPSS. I love reliving the days at the sod farm! What a place to learn to fly.



Bob P

[TEAMERICA]

My parents met through Model Airplanes. My dad married his flying buddy's twin sister. They flew Free Flight and "Ukies". My first model was a Jim Walker Firebaby with an OK Cub .049 bought on lay-a-way with my 25 cent weekly allowance. Dad taught my older brother how to build who taught me.
At 11, (1961) I scratch-built my first R/C. It was a Lil Rascal (low wing .020) with escapement for rudder. I never flew it since it seemed too heavy and a low wing is not a good trainer.
i scratch-built several Single Channel escapement gliders over the next two years and the last one flew only after tossing it off a cliff over a golf course and landing it on the green below. This didn't seem like fun since I knew nothing about slope soaring.
My first successful R/C flying was done with a Topflite School Master with Cox Medalion .051, Single Channel "kick-up" elevator (escapements) and "bing bang" throttle. I flew it for many months at Whittier Narrows (1963) before getting my brother's hand-me-down C&S 6 channel reeds with Annco servos. Now I was in "Hog Heaven".
My Dad and I sat down at the kitchen table one night with a sheet of butcher paper and a yard stick and designed my multi channel trainer for the reeds and a Super Tigre .15. We called it a "Papa-Son" and with it I flew in the 1967 Nats in Los Alamitos and to date, have built 21 of them. The last two were actually built by my wife when we were first married and she learned to fly on them.
My Dad never did learn to fly R/C. But he taught me. Just by standing behind me and telling me what an airplane should look like when it is flying, he taught me all the basic maneuvers so that I could compete in the Nats.
Thanks, Dad!

[porcupineace]

nice dad....

[WangoTango]

All foam Carl Goldberg Ranger 42 with a Cox 09 and a EK LRB 2 channel. The 09 gave absolutely no time for the brain and fingers to react in a positive way! Switched to a Cox Babe Bee after five or six epoxy sessions. When I flew the thing out of gas and landed it I knew I had finally ARRIVED!! That was in the mid to late sixties...... I think I'm still hooked. I'll get back to you on that after I make this next flight.
WT

[Scott Gerber]

My first R/C adventure was a self designed scratch built 2m 2 channel glider in 1974. It was my first attempt to design something in my high school aviation class, my first attempt at "solarfilm" shrink covering and my first attempt at using the "all new Hot Stuff CA glue". The glider didn't get much farther than a few hand launch glides before meeting it's demise on a hard landing, I didn't know how to fly yet either so it all was a very steep learning curve.


Scott

[IMACmike]

1969 Bud Andrews "S"-Ray with an O.S. 30 (no muffler, clapper exhaust!) and a Orbit 6 channel radio handed down from my dear ol' dad. Monokote wings and stab/elevators the rest was dope finished. I flew the S@#t out of it for until one summer I clipped the flag pole while on final to land at the local high school football field.

[Zee]

I flew in early sixties control line, but my first R/C was in 1972 Carl Goldberg Senior Falcon, Enya .60 and Kraft radio.
Zee

[selleri]

My first plane was CG Freedom 20 with ASP 25 and 6ch Sanwa(Airtronics) radio, the store didn't have the 6ch JR I wanted but that's another story. Showed up with the plane on my local field and handed it over to one of the experienced guys. The motor was nothing but trouble and they said as I needed a new motor I might just as well buy a 40 engine and this new airplane called Aircore Family Trainer that they had just learned about.

So the Aircore was bought along with ASP 40(redhead) that ran like a clock and with lot of power. On that combination I learned to fly over the next weeks.

After that I built the CG Piper Cub with OS 52FS and had lot of fun.

The Freedom flew sometime later with OS 25FP and I spent a lot of time flying it inverted or rather seeing how long I could fly it around as it had some dihedral and I had to fight it all the way.

[mflander]

I learned on a Snark. Anyone remember them things? I would pay good money if I could find one of them new somewhere.