RC India

Sounds Like a Book to me  :)

Well here it is

1.   First and fore most, Don't get intimidated about anything in RC Flying Keep-It-Simple-Stupid
2.   Get yourself a good transmitter (Turnigy 9 ch is a good choice, i would personally say if you can get a Futab 6EX or 7C) and a Simulator, in the available Simulators, I found Aerofly /Realflight quite Good. Bare minimum skill required in the sim is
a.   You should be able to Take off with aeroplane 90 deg to you without very much of loss of direction (Will put up video soon), Realflight has a Takeoff and assisted tutor for all.
b.   Should be able to turns without the confusion of left/right when the model is facing away and towards you (This is the hardest part , once you get over this, most of your problem is solved)
c.   Should be able to land at the same spot with the same speed every time (+- 3 ac length, at the most) (Will post the video soon), how to go about is ,
i.   take off , climb to two tree length height, turn left/right (This is called Crosswind )
ii.   roll out parallel to the R/W in the opposite direction (This is called the Down Wind (D/W for short),
iii.   at about 30 deg to the R/W on the extended path of the D/W turn now 70-90 deg to the Runway, This is called the Baseleg (Reduce power to 10-15 %),
iv.   now turn finals align yourself to the extended centreline.
v.   now on keep the aeroplane aligned and look at the nose and fly, the nose should be up and yet she should be coming down at about 2.5-3 deg Glide angle (If it is glider angle of descend will be shallower)
vi.   close to the ground at about one airplane height, (Depending on the Rate of Descent) break the Glide (Stop descending), (this is called Flareout ) and let the aeroplane sink into the ground.
vii.   After landing, like take off , control Direction and Taxy Back
3.   Unless you reach this skill level on the sim do not attempt any other manoeuvre. (Discipline is the key)
4.   Next you should do should be basic aerobatics like the Loop (Without losing direction) Roll , inverted flying. After having gained reasonable mastery on basic aerobatics.
5.   Now go ahead and with an experienced aeromodeller with a trainer chord take you aeroplane for a flight
6.   Your first aeroplane should preferably be a Glider like AXN floater, Kinetic 800 then graduate on to high winder with an undercarriage and further

good key points wingco for beginners  :hatsoff:
i like the word "Discipline is the key"  :salute:

sir i always had a problem while flying jets on the microsort flight sim X ( the one that give a sim training of flying a real plane.. did that setup with joysticks at home)  how is it that we hav to keep the nose up , avoid stall, and loose height all of the same time in the glide slope..! :headscratch:

 once i take the nose up with  throttle at idle the plane gains height and then stalls...  :headscratch:

in air in straight and level flight the Lift has to equal weight, when you reduce speed you need to increase the angle of the profile to increase lift, that you do by raising nose and maintenance of a lower constant speed, as you reduce speed the nose comes up a wee bit more to maintain lift, ow when you reduce power she will start descending at a very shallow angle, so you control Rate of descent by throttle and speed with stick not the other way around remember that

Nothing against mode 1 guys, personally, i prefer mode 2, reason is
(a) it is more natural, (b) an RC pilot can branch off to real piloting with his already existing skills in mode 2, (that is right hand controls pitch and roll left hand controlling throttle and yaw)

PS
Some Newbies may not understand some terminologies please Google them and learn more

Some choices (Sites abroad)
Turnigy 9 Ch Radio
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__8992__Turnigy_9X_9Ch_Transmitter_w_Module_8ch_Receiver_Mode_2_v2_Firmware_.html
Futaba 7C
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXTTM1&P=ML
Simulator
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=14309

Indian Sites
Simulator
http://rcbazaar.com/products/809-avionic-6-in1-integrated-simulator.aspx
This Radio is same as Turnigy
http://rcbazaar.com/products/397-fs-th9x-9ch-24ghz-transmitter-receiver.aspx
Futaba Radios (There will be some amount of lead time, that will be required)
http://mpowershopping.com/radios__accessories

Beginner Airplanes
AXN Floater
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__16568__Floater_Jet_EPO_with_Motor_ARF_.html
Mini Stick
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__17181__Hobbyking_Mini_Stick_Inc_motor_ESC_Servo_ARF_.html
TB 20
http://rcbazaar.com/products/617-tb-20.aspx

sir i think tb 20 is not a good choice for beginners......
from my side the best planes for a beginner are
1.) GWS slow stick.....can take any amount of beating and mods... very stable
2.) Soaring eagle glider ...available at rc for all

i will not prefer any pusher plane for a beginner if he wants to learn flying seriously...because none of the bigger planes are pusher so so they are not that conscious while landing as there is no landing gear no risk of prop breakage....
but in planes like slowstick....its opposite one has got the advantage of landing gears too...
as far as i am asked i will always give slows stick the tag for the best beginner airplane......
 

Some questions on take off and steady state -
about takeoff - what should be the throttle position  at 100% ? usually the plane takes off at a lower speeds, but is there an ideal speed? If so then why? Also at what height should be try and reduce the throttle to cruise speed? The problem is that if we keep flying at higher speeds, then the controls become more responsive as well, so a turn at a higher speed is much more drastic than that at a lower speed. So going by that logic, it should be in the beginner's interest if the plane is less responsive

Two Techniques, (a) Open throttle as you run smoothly (b) roll with full power

I prefer the former
Read this Thread for more
http://www.rcindia.org/beginners-zone/conquer-your-maiden-flight-woes!!!/


As a thumb rule 1.3 times the stalling speed (For stall speed read the above mentioned thread)


that height from where if you have a engine cut you can land. most crucial part of the engine cut is Take off, immediately after take off and when when you are turning crosswind , that's why you climb to safe height on take off leg before turning cross, thumb rule is if engine cuts in less than 30 deg of turn land straight ahead if not turn around for the field, keep the gliding speed if you pull back and drop speed you will not reach the field.

That's a fact, more responsive controls are cause for crash most of the time, in real aircraft you have automatic ratio control unit , which changes the gearing ratio of your stick to control throw, in RC you need to use DR and or Expo for this, actually for maiden i as a rule keep -70% expo, then reduce it as required

sir tried this on the sim again...! aircraft b737, throttle full down, airspeed 180 ( stalling speed 120, 180 recommended approach speed) , attitude 10, flaps 5, gear up. as soon i take the attitude to 10 with throttle down the aircraft gains height and speed reduces to 120..!!! when increased throttle to get 180 it again climbs.. will have to take it to -10 inorder to land..( which in not correct)..!  advice please..!

reduce speed 2 knots at at a time maintain constant speed and on finals after having aligned yourself reduce power she will descent, maintain constant speed is the key , incr dec should be 1-2 kt at a time

A problem noted on the SIM while attempting a rectangular circuit. Like suggested, takeoff - turn - fly parallel to the runway for some time turn to make landing approach and then glide it in.  The sims have a ground view so when the bird is in the sky, it is very difficult figure out where to turn while in the sky so having great difficulty in landing near the air strip....

Take help of the ground features, for where to turn reference

here is a short video for the novice to see and learn, my advice, unless you reach some proficiency in the sim, DO NOT take up your aircraft for a sortie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM1pSpBI7IE

Two issues on sim-
Suppose I have a 36-48inch span model then, while on the field, we can still see the orientation of the plane even if the model is about 200mts away. But as seen on the video, this becomes a difficult task on a sim. This is compensated by turning the model while still it is clearly visible. This in turn makes the turns sharper. As the model turns sharply, it also looses altitude rapidly. This would be compensated by an up elevator. Net result of this situation is that the flight is not smooth.
 
How should we setup the weather on the sim? Initially and as we progress?

simple answer, take a difficult aircraft yet bigger aircraft to fly on the sim, even in real life to the distances that you go, without practice you will loose orientation. there is facility to setup weather in the Sim, real flight has, in fact gust, gust variation etc..

for the sake of motivation, here is my rolling turn circuit and landing, Both side rolling turn (i.e. rolling left and turning left and rolling right and turning left)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLbzSTbsZYw


PS
Sorry the finesse is lacking still

likes to see this on your addy x :)

Augistine sir,
Sorry to disturb you in between  ;D
I am in need of some landing tips. As long as i am in air, i have full contol, can perform good acrobatics, but i could not land. :banghead: :banghead:.
I use aerofly simulator.

Abhay, will put up a Video with the control stick positions using realflight, that should sort out the issue of landing

Santa
 Not in addiction x , in addiction ;) ( you know addiction is on the way !!!)

""Santa
 Not in addiction x , in addiction  ( you know addiction is on the way !!!)""
addiction   8-)  ???

sorry could not get it

That was meant for Santhosh (I call him Santa, he has like a Santa Claus, given away a lot of stuff to budding modellors and to all and sundry on this forum (People !, now dont start bombarding him with PMs)

Gusty,
Finding it to damm difficult to get a proper circuit on a sim. While, take off and landing on grass is OK, but on a tarmac is difficult.
The main problem is that while turning for the 2nd time after take off to bring the craft parallel to the runway, the angle is most often than not less than 90degree and this is very difficult to spot on the sim
Then another difficult part is finding the right perspective for the final turn, even if I get the plane in line with the runway, I find it landing -
parallel to the runway but outside the tarmac
at an angle so that by the time it comes to rest, it is outside the tarmac

Dont know how to correct this.

abhay
aeros anyone can do, my wife does good aeros , Loops and Barells is a piece of cake, every time you need to land at or around the same spot, that requires practice.

Few Tips
1. initially on downwind take some ground reference (choose a scene which has one like winzelin,
2. use tree and ground reference to turn baseleg.
3. for finals use the angle from your POV, use constant angle of bank all the time and see where you end up and apply corrections accordingly
4. on finals look at the nose/nose wheel  and fly

 :thumbsup:

here are some good threads  to read and learn from, a lot of pearls of wisdom there

http://www.rcindia.org/rc-maneuvers-and-skills/systematic-progression-of-airplane-flying-skills-landing/

http://www.rcindia.org/rc-maneuvers-and-skills/systematic-progression-of-airplane-flying-skills-normal-upright-flight/

http://www.rcindia.org/rc-maneuvers-and-skills/flying-skill-tutorials-from-take-off-to-3d

The steps provide me a GREAT understanding.  :hatsoff:  :hatsoff:  :hatsoff:

Vineet