I taught myself to fly RC back in the 60's on a Sterling Mighty Mambo powered by a McCoy .35 RC version with the old baffle on the exhaust outlet.
Radio was a World Engines Digitrio which I built from a kit from WE.
I was already a Private Pilot with lots of time in a J-3 so to start I used only elevator, rudder and throttle.
After many hours of flight on this model I then plugged in the aileron servo and became quite good at flying.
I had to finally retire the Mambo due to the front end became so fuel soaked it had no structural integrity anymore.
Did I ever crash? Nope, not once.

Well mine was a Hobbico Electristar... a few months back. After switching from Helicopters, I outgrew that biatch in less than 2 weeks.

My first plane was a stryker from ParkZone. I tought myself how to fly at a local baseball field and then found a club after someone at my LHS told me I should join thier club.

Kyosho Spree....
I really wanted an associated buggy but they were out of stock when I ordered (by mail) from tower. Then I guess I would have been posting on some other forum right now! Instead I got the spree. High wing electric trainer, 600 nicad, crappy little brushed motor and gearbox, standard servos, no motor control at all, 2 channel car radio..etc etc
You get the idea.
At its stock weight the thing would NOT fly. Never could get it to climb above 6 feet. I was convinced that electric models simply wouldn't fly. haha The plane was well built, but the equipment they provided was CRAP. I has spent all my money on that darn thing and it never did fly for more than 15 seconds. haha
I still have the airframe. I got rid of all the onboard equipment. Maybe I'll put some servos and a brushless motor on it someday. The plane owes me a few good flights after all...

My first RC airplane was a Great Planes Spectra motor glider, like back in 1993. I never flew it, I did one test glide and it trashed the tail feathers and I put it up in the closet. Its still there. It had a brushed motor and a big NiCad pack for power and some Futaba 4 channel radio for guidance. I'm not sure if that counts but I did build it from a kit.

Fast forward to 2006 and I wanted to get into RC and actually fly this time. After the experience of not having the balls with the spectra I settled on something cheap I wouldn't mind trashing. I didn't have the option of an instructor in Cayman, nobody really flies RC down there. I didn't want to make things any easier on myself this time, I had to do it by myself. Guess I'm stubborn or something.

I built a Mountain Models Magpie Sport running a brushed GWS 400 motor and a 1700 mah 3S lipo. I had a DX6 for guidance, got it pretty much the month they came out. Quite the co-incidence I decided to get back into the hobby at the same time they came out.

I used the free sim for a few hours to get used to orientation and such. First flight I didn't know how much to push the sticks and it came back around at me and I had to chop the power and land in the bushes. The second flight went much better.

The Magpie died at a fun fly a few months later when I picked the wrong model and "Up" was "Face Plant".

Mine was a stick built glider, back around 1972, launched with a hi-start. I had flown a couple of control line planes previously, and this two-channel beauty was all I could afford. I took it out to a local field, stretched out the hi-start, hooked the plane in the loop and let her fly! Before the plane got off the hi-start, one one of the wings folder over on top of the other, and it came down.

The wing was the only damage, and it was quickly repaired, but I never had the guts to put the plane in the air again. I didn't fly again until about 3 years ago... over 30 years of waiting!!

my first plane was a "DAS Ugly Stick" , .40 size in 1976(I was only 6 ),my father taught me how to fly down on the beach (Daytona Beach).Said "this stick does this,and this stick does that" , "You crash you're plane and you are swimming for it". I flew till I ran out of gas and landed on the beach.Now I go to major flying events with my 7 year old son, and he flies the poop out of his planes,mine too....

forgot, my sons first plane was a Telemaster,at the age of 2..

Lots of good stories here


When I was 8 or 9, my dad started buying me RC magazines (RCModeler, mainly). He had been a pilot and flew RC right when it started, but hadn't flown since. I had always loved airplanes, but RC stuff was expensive back then, so I settled for gliders and rubber powered toys.

Well, one day Dad took me to a hobby shop, and we walked out with a House of Balsa 2X4 (sailplane), a Cox Texaco .049 for power, and a Futaba Attack 4 radio system. Over the course of a month or two (kids at my age got distracted easily), I built the plane by myself with minimal help from Dad (he wanted me to learn). That's also the last time I completely covered a plane, LOL

Finally got to the point of flight tests. I had never flown an RC plane before and I had no idea what was going on, so we elected to just toss it and get a feel for it before starting the motor. A few short glide tests to get a feel for the controls, and then Dad really reared back and let it go... and I promptly stalled it and nose it in, knocking the firewall out. Back to my room, and a few hours later with the firewall freshly epoxied back I was ready to go again. We continued the practice, then took it out to the local airport (we had permission from the manager) and got the motor running.

I don't think I'll ever forget the sight of that ugly little orange and white (hobby shop sold me a partial roll of orange Monokote for cheap) sailplane soaring into the sky, accompanied by the scream of that little .049 engine. My building skills weren't exactly up to snuff, so the plane was rather heavy, but I still managed to get a LOT of altitude before running out of fuel.

Then... silence. That's probably the reason I still love sailplanes to this day, just how quiet and serene it is... and calming.

Not the first time, though. You think a deadstick makes you jittery now? How about the first time? Even though it was expected, I was still scared to death.

I did manage to land the plane just fine, and I flew it many, many times after that. My skills improved after about 7 more of those "broken firewall incidents".

The funniest thing that happened with that plane was probably one day when I was SO excited to be flying... we put on the wing (rubber bands), fueled it, tossed it, and I remember thinking man, this thing feels more squirrelly than usual today. I chalked it up to the wind and kept flying. After landing, my dad busted out laughing so hard he couldn't talk, he just pointed at the wing. In my rush, I had put it on backwards. I don't know how I kept it in the air

It was finally retired after a few more years. I took a hiatus from RC when my dad passed on in 2003, then got back into it a couple of years ago. Since then I've had about 50 different planes and I'm just happy to be flying again

Wow, flying for 14 years already... it's hard for me to believe

I learned to fly on a PILOT kit plane: QB-20L with an OS .20, and Futaba 4ch radio.
I spent my college summer of 1978 flying it in Portland, OR. (Delta Park).
By the end of the summer, it was oil soaked and worn out, but it got me primed into this addiction.

PT 40 with a Fox 40 engine and a Futaba conquest 4 channel radio on 22. Owned it for 10 years before I finally flew it.

My first plane was a Goldberg Eagle II,with an OS 40FP. I was going through a divorce and had just about lost everything including my mind! A friend of mine at work which was a rc pilot (thanks Wayne ) told me that I needed something to keep myself busy instead of thinking about what was going on at that time. So he told me about his hobby and took me to the field with him one day and I was hooked (1992) and wanted to learn to fly, so he got me started and I built a kit and he and some friends taught me how to fly. I flew the Eagle for almost a year, really couldn't afford much more because of the divorce and things started to get a bit better and after that I built a Goldberg Ultimate and learned aerobatics. Stayed in the hobby for about 4 years and got out for a long while and got back in it two years or so ago. I now still enjoy it as much as I did then, I just don't have the time to build, so now I'm flying arfs. Soon I'm going to build me a Carden 300s.

1984 Great Planes Trainer 40 with a Rossi .40 on the front. (they sold me the combo @ the hobby shop)
Took one lesson at the field, flew and landed....kinda. thought I could do it so I went to the park and flew. It crashed in the middle of a frozen pond. I got on my belly to distribute my weight and belly crawled abut 50 feet to retrieve my busted work of art. JBwelded the carb back on, patched the yellow wing with red monokote and a household iron. Went back for more lessons & don't crash near as often now.

Thunder Tiger Trainer. Super Tiger 40, Futaba conquest 4 channel. The plane lasted Three flights. Ended up in the top of a tree on the second! Paid a buddy of mine to climb up (worked for a tree service Co.) and try to get it down. Had some minor damage (that's what I thought) Third flight the wing folded.
I've never looked back!

Lets go way back to 1984. I built a Craft Air 40 size Cowboy Trainer. 4 channel Futaba radio and a K&B 40 motor. It was a great trainer and the motor was a perfect fit for that plane. Built my first Top Flight mustang after that. Good Times. Rob