I will start by posting my story.  Hope this will also help the newcomers, to learn how people figure their way around and get trained in this hobby.

In case you didn't figure it out, I am also trying to stimulate some discussion   

So, what's your RC story ? 

Well, couple of times in 2006, me and my brother visited the Qatar Scientific Club's RC airport in Qatar, and saw the various planes and helis people were flying there.  Most of the people were Qataris. Some Europeans, Americans and other arab nationalities were also there, but we saw no Indians.

Then my brother picked up a GWS Dragonfly EP helicopter from one of his trips to HongKong.  That was the first heli I tried to fly.  It was a tough job the first time, and crashed the poor thing a few times (between my brother and myself).

Finally in early 2007, we located one of the hobby shops in Qatar and I bought myself a RealFlight G3 simulator.  I also registered as a member of the aviation wing of Qatar Scientific Club, which is the legal requirement for owning and operating RC equipment in Qatar.

I learned the basics of flying on the sim.  I spent countless hours on it; and since I started with helis, it took me longer, I feel.  I looked around for small helicopters, and found that Align Trex 450 was one of the best selling helis. It was a bit expensive in the hobby shop in Qatar, so I ordered one online from http://www.rc-expert.com, and since I was a beginner, I asked them to build it and ship it.  That decision for proved half right and half wrong.  They did not build it 100% right (it was more like 80% right), but I do feel that if I built it myself as a total newbie, I would have done a much worse job.

Then I started seriously practicing 3D moves on the sim, and started slowy trying them out of the 450. I think I have crashed it probably around 20 times so far, trying various things.  As I got better at flying, the frequency of crashes has been coming down 

So there it is, my RC story !  :

And here are my top tips to beginners.....

1) Get hold of a simulator.  It does not need to be anything complicated or top of the line brands, just something as simple as FMS.  Practice on it until you get your orientations right, and delay flying the real thing until you are very much at ease with flying on the sim.  It is a painful experience to crash your beloved model, but most people tend to enjoy rebuilding pretty soon.

2) While using the sim, try putting your aircraft in unusual positions, or set explicit targets.  For example, if you are flying an airplane, try to land on a partical small piece of the landing strip many times in a row.  This helps you learn to control the aircraft using small last-second corrections.  If you are flying helicopters, try to hover nose-in, or at least learn to use the rudder to immediately put the heli back into the tail-in position.  This will save your heli when you fly the real thing.

3) While flying the real thing for the first few flights, ask a senior member to help you on a buddy-cord (trainer cord), so that s/he can take control in case you are disoriented.

Well my story started soon after I returned from the Gulf in 2004 after a stay of 15 years .
The start was as usual with Balsa Models both myself and my son Venkatesh started learning at first , then I soon realized that footing the bill of  two of us crashing Balsa planes was proving to be quite expensive , sims were also very expensive those days  so I preferred Venkat  continue learning as he was young and I will wait my time out  as and when it became feasible .
The 1 st plane was a glider picked up when I went down to Europe but  soon I got my self a Super StarEP which we converted to EP to GP  had a Magnum 0.15 engine on it . 
This was followed by a Great planes PT 60 with a 0.61 OS on it , this served us well for a long time and was re built time and again , my only issue during this phase was that we were way too dependent on experienced seniors right from repair till tuning the engine  and come what we tried breaking this dependence was not working out as the experienced persons had a wealth of knowledge which was difficult to replace or learn.
Then I came across RC Groups and was pleasantly surprised to find that planes similar to the PT 60 had been converted to EP and this was technology that I could understand with some basic school level physics , this was far more simpler plug and play type .
So there I went back to converting from GP to EP , this is what is called a full cycle .
Got the set up and converted the PT 60 from GP to EP  but soon realized that years of crashing and rebuilding had  created some inherent defects in her which could be resolved but were really not worth it besides Venkat had got bored of the PT to an extent after having flown it for a few years  so thought of changing the plane but the choise was limited as it had be a 60 which could take the PT's set up , I could not discard  such a huge electric set ( eq of an 0.91 engine ) especially considering the price I paid for it , so back to hunting and finally zeroed in on the Pheonix Tiger 60  a low wing trainer got her and converted her to electric .
Around the same time started my hobby shop in a small way .

Then one day at the field I noticed a guy flying some  planes that did not look like ARF's  as they say curiosity killed the cat  and went to have a closer look and there was ISMAIL ( Izmile ) with his SPAD's . Aesthetically they looked no where near the ARF's  but I was hooked to SPAD and building your own plane from a Sheet .
Since then scratch building has been my favorite part of Aero building especially SPAD's for their sheer simplicity and durability.

Venkat now has become a  fairly good flyer and teaches me now on a MULTIPLEX Easy cub  and has also gone on to win the IIT sp4mm3r in Mumbai with the Glider called Mr MOSS  a SPAD glider.

The success of Mr Moss is like a dream come true for me cos I finally have a beginner plane that does not cost the sky unlike the Balsa planes I went thru when we started .

ALL I CAN SAY FROM MY EXPERIENCES THAT THIS IS A GREAT HOBBY AND  A TEACHER  .
THE BEST PART IS BEGINNERS HAVE NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD  FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF BUDGET AS WELL AS AVAILABLITY ON INDIA . THIS IS POSSIBLY A GREAT TIME TO GET INTO THIS HOBBY.

ALL THE BEST
SAI 

Hello Friends:

Thanks to Anwar I have been invited to join this Forum and I look forward to learning and sharing experiences in R/C. Good job my friend. At the age of 51 not out, i find myself engaged in the following activities:

1. Running the R/C Museum in Thrissur, Kerala which opened last week.
www.rcmuseums.com
2. Running a Model Aeroplane manufacturing facility in Trivandrum, Kerala.
www.aero-sports.us
3. Setting up a residential R/C Academy at Vagamon, Kerala.
4.Setting up a Microlight Flying Academy at Vagamon, Kerala.
5. Setting up an Aviation Museum at the Vagamon site.
6. About to take over a popular aeromodeling magazine as the owner wants to opt out.
7. Getting ready to open Indias largest adventure Sports park (2000 acres plus) at Vagamon, Idukki St, Kerala.
8. About to set up a Gnat Memorial museum dedicated to the IAF in Thrissur, Kerala.
9. Getting ready to fly our first offering of a R/C Trainer named " Playboy!". Fiber Glass Fusalage, working landing and anti collision lights etc. the works!.

So as you can see , my hands are full. I am looking for R/C Flyers who wish to find employment in my small but growing firm. I will be grateful if you can give me some leads.

Thank you & Best Regards,

MRK Menon

Iam a bit too new to this hobby to have long and wonderful stories like u all but still want to share my uptodate xperience in RC field. :)well...thus goes my story...being a complete novice,one fine day impulsively bought a RTF 6 ch helicopter(walkera 35C) off Ebay india,only to break a vital linkage in it's maiden flight.It's been 6 odd months,the helis still to take to air again,primarily due to scarcity of spares for these brand of helis here in India. .After this misadventure wid a Heli this time around bought a RTF aeroplane(sapac T-34 mentor) again from Ebayindia.As usual in the very first flight..err.attempted flight the gears of the brushed motors broke after the aeroplane had a nasty crash just a few seconds into it's maiden flight.the plane remains grounded till date.
But couldn't let myself get bogged down like tis after a few failures.This time around i did my share of homework(i think) as to what to buy next.and picked up a GWS slowstick for my first actually flying trainer model and a GWS Estarter along with a decent radio(a JR PCM 9XII).At the time of writing this I would have completed the GWS slowstick build and will maiden it in a day or two.In between ive also done lotso training on my sim(realglight G4).I think im ready for this wonderful hobby!!!!
So my bit of advice to fellow beginners-Go for a good beginner model like slowstick,easystar,slo-V etc.and do not forget to get hold of a SIM.

Dear All RC Passionates of india,
Here is a very interesting story of mine, which I want to share with you.

My story as an RC guy started with very less budget here, when I made my own servo...
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=946112

Then it was continued with the work like here, with my first failure...
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=946113

Then I started search for RC stuff like here...
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=988677

Then a guy called Jack, responded and sent a great stuff, which is more than enough to build indoor small foamies....

Then, after so many builts and failures, at last, I made this.... please watch the video and comment!

In you tube:



But still am waiting for a real outdoor big fly....as like here...

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1046000

Thanks for patient reading...
Awaiting your comments and replies...//MEROG

Anybody else (especially people who have joined RC-India recently) care to tell their story  ? 

Reading such stories are emotional for fellow RCers !

dear all,

I started with this hobby 2 to 3 years back. I accidently got in to this when i was searching the Internet, for something creative for my son who was othere wise spending lot of time on video games. Thats when i came across RCGROUPS and also the many electric possibilities. Till then i was thinking that aeromodelling means only Methanol engines and motors cannot carry the battery weight.
When i saw that we can make our own brushless motos from CDROMS etc. i was really fascinated. I loved motors since, as far back as i can remember.
So in fact even before learning to fly, i bought a Brushless ESC and made some brushless motors from old CDROMS. Since i did not know flying i gave it to somebody who was scratch building foam planes, to try.
My excitement had no limits when i saw my motor taking the plane up.
Since i was old, i was not sure whether i will be able to pick up this hobby and sustain it. so i was very carefull in investing money.

I visited the local flying site (Jakkur) and took advice and help from many. Prashant, Rajeash, Raghavendra all helped me and gave support. Especially, i should mention Sajeev who is currently in US, who helped me a lot and did the initial hand holding. Many many thanks to him..

1. Spent lot of  time to read RCGROUPS.com, various interesting threads and updated myself in terms of this hobby- technology- min 100 hours.
2. Made up my mind that i will start with electrics. Main reason: i am familiar with electronics and that most of the repair i will be comfortable.
3. Down loaded FMS and practiced on a trainer model: more than 10- 15 hours.
4. Went and got familiarised with the People and the equipments : few visits to local flying site.
5. Bought a second hand Futaba Radio, and a complete plane from one of the flier.
6. This person (sajeev) helped me a lot and did the hand holding and advize very patiently and sincerely.
7. He even built a small trainer plane some thing like STC only for teaching us.

From then there was no looking back. We had a time when we used to have a new plane every week.

The whole money spent from the time i started to till i manged to fly a trainer independantly was about rs10,000.00 including all items and the xmitter. though i would have spent a lot lot more by now,  having spent> 2.5 years in this hobby.
 
my son also leanrned to fly (may be one 5th of the time i took) but he is not so keen in building/ repair. He only likes flying. Due to his presuure on studys he is not seriously in to this hobby now, though occationally he comes with me to fly. also one cannot be in this hobby without ample time esp if u are scartch building.

Few tips:
Once u are able to sort of handle a plane, then
1. In electrics, the max money goes for the Lion Battery.
2. Be very carefull in buying/ using them.
3. Always be carefull about propping the motors as per the KV rating, else u won't know how much current it is drawing and if more can puff your battery.
4. Check the current drawn for any new motor/ prop combination.
5. Go to max 60% of the given C rating for most of the Lipos.
6. Learn to Build light and strong.
7. Take time and there is no hurry.
8. Saving time and doing shortcuts are expensive savings.
 
 ashta

Bumping the thread, so that anybody who joined RC India recently can narrate their RC story also 

Here is one heck of an RC story... 

http://www.modelaircraft.org/MAG/mhill/hillindex.htm 

Long, but every bit worthwhile. Note that there are many pages, so don't forget to click the "Continued..." link at the bottom of the pages.

The smell of Balsa and Quickfix. Incomparable.   

That’s how it all started somewhere back in 1974/75. Dad got me an Aurora Hunter Balsa Chuck / Catapult glider from India Hobby Centre. He sat me by his side as he painstakingly assembled it. It was love at first sight for me. I discovered another respect worthy facet of my Dad – He could make Aeroplanes. Wow! The smell was maddening.

Once assembled, he left it to dry and instructed me not to touch it for the next 24 hours. Those 24 hours must have seemed like eternity. Memories have fogged – dimmed by the years of  rushed adulthood, but I do remember the tragic end of this story. The next evening, after he decided that she was ready to fly, we headed for the terrace of the house that we lived in. He took up position at the end of the terrace, pulled back gently on the catapult and she soared gracefully into the air. I was memsmerised. But someone had a different ending planned out. A sudden gusty breeze blew her off track and Dad and I helplessly watched as she glided out sight into the muddled cityscape below. A multitude of street urchins whooping and running after her as she gracefully glided down into their waiting hands. I was inconsolable. I remember, Dad didn’t speak a word. Neither did he console me. That is the way he was, less of words and more of action. He left home immediately and returned triumphantly with a second Hunter kit. He handed it over to me and said, “Now, you make it.”

Dad, that was the moment when you changed my life – forever.

In 1976, when I was in “Big School” Class 6, we were allowed to go out of the school premises during breaks. We didn’t need permission to do so, as long as we were back in class on time. Short break was for 15 minutes starting 10:15 am (or was it 10:30???) and Big break was all of 45 minutes starting at 1:00pm.  I schooled at St. Xavier’ Collegiate School, Park Street, Kolkata. It is not just an establishment, it is a legend amongst educational institutions.

Then there was Paragon Toy store within running distance! 5 minutes to reach and buy the F4 Phantom Catapult Glider, 5 minutes to run back and 5 minutes to catch your breath and reach class, clutching your precious package!

This F4 Phantom was designed and marketed by a legend Mr. Irshad Anwar. (Any relation to our Administrator?) Mr. Irshad Anwar owns a Hobby Shop in Kolkata called Kadet Models. I am still in touch with him.

India Hobby Centre was a little further away! 12 minutes to reach, 5 minutes to drool at all that they had. Buy the Spitfire Chuck Glider @ Rs. 3.50 and run back to school. It gave you a clear 10 minutes of flying time till the bell rang! I bought my last Hobby Centre Chuck glider 15 years ago @ Rs.75/-. A Jap Zero in green. They have sadly stopped manufacturing the product. I have maintained the Zero in MINT condition.

This story would be incomplete without the mention of Mr. Tapan Dutta of India Hobby Centre. He was my friend, philosopher and guide. After my Dad, Tapan was the only other person who guided and nurtured my interests. Tapan has since left Hobby Centre and I can’t trace him out. I will rate him as one of the finest street smart aeromodellers that I have met. There was NOTHING that he didn’t know. Tapan, my friend, where are you?

Dad passed away in 1996. Just before he passed away, I modeled a Torpedo Boat and it went on to win a prize in the Annual Eastern India Boat Modelling Rally somewhere in 1992/93. When I came home with the medal, he shed a silent tear. Thanks Dad, for being there for me and understanding me.

So, that is my story. I am by no means a fantastic modeler. Scant knowledge of RC. But you know what, modeling is in my blood. Aero, ships, cars, trains, subs, hovercrafts, rockets – you name it. Been there (a little bit), done that (a little bit)! But you can’t beat me on enthusiasm. Willing to experiment, willing to try and never say die!

I really appreciate this forum. There are so many wonderful people willing to guide you and nurture you and have patience for you. It is like Dad and Tapan all over again. God bless all the forum members.

As I said, that’s my story what’s yours ?

Cheers!

VC


•   Does ANYONE here have the contact details of Mr. Tapan Dutta of Kolkata?

•   Quickfix has all but disappeared from the market, I have the last tube left. Anyone knows where I can get it from?

Wow !  What a story 

BTW, I have no relation to Mr. Anwar of Kolkata.  I have heard about him through friends, as he was one of the early suppliers of RC gear, and my friends used to get stuff from him.

PS: I took the liberty of merging this post into the "Your RC Stories" thread.

Good read!

You can use Anabond or Fevikwik both are same as Quickfix - Cyano based glues. They should be available in most hardware shops selling construction/furniture items.

Thanks Admin. You know what's best. Take care.

Cheers!

Thanks Izmile!

Stupid question, but  do they smell the same??? Corogamist? I need to learn from you, my friend. Will hit you when I need guidance.

Cheers!

VC

Yea. They smell the same and should bring dreams of your childhood past..    However, I wouldn't advise you smelling it.

VC,
That was really well written, and touching.
Though my dad was never into RC or really took interest, i hope one day i can teach my son ( who is 1 year old at present ), and get him to learn to build and fly. Good to meet you here.

-Gaurav

Dear Gauravag,

I wish you all the best my friend! I don't have a son, but my daughter often comes around and potters with my tools and balsa sheets. Lets hope someday she will express interest in building one for herself. She is my biggest fan!

God bless!

VC

My 3.5 year old son does not seem to have the patience to figure out the sim    He does great driving cars on a game console though.  Have to wait a bit longer 

Anwar Sahab,

If I may say something here. Very often, we push our children into hobbies and pastimes that we enjoyed as children. We assume that what was of interest to us HAS to be of interest to them. For example, I was literally forced to learn the sitar and pick up Indian Classical music. I never really understood the nuances, nor was I interested in learning beyond a point. The first chance I got, Dad presented me with a Yamaha Keyboard, bye bye sitar!

Young Mr. Anwar is showing the right spirit on the driving front. I hope he finds happiness in that. After all, he is a chip off the old block! Perhaps in his opinion, Aeroplanes are best left to 'young' old men like us!

My apologies if I have said something disagreeable.

Regards,

VC

I tried to get him try the sim for a total about 10 minutes across two attempts   So there is no question of pushing.  Will try again 6 months later, and if that is not working, 6 more months later    I would like for him to fly once, and then give up if it is not his thing. You don't know if something is enjoyable unless you try it, right ?

There is a certain amount of pleasure in seeing more people in the hobby, even if it is our own kids !

Not at all. Quickfix is similar to STIKFAST. These are cellulose based glues and completely different from cyanoacrylates. Also they rely on solvent evaporation for bonding - that's where the smell comes from!

Well surprisingly this happens to by my first post... and I am so elated that it is about how I got into this hobby. I am still novice at RC heli and this post is probably the right thing to start with. As a kid I was always interested in RC cars. And the maximum that I could get hold off was a wired small battery operated car. I made a note to myself that when I start earning the first thing I would buy is a big RC buggy. Well years passed, I did start earning but by then I never has time and resource to see my childhood dream come true. Fortunately the dream did come true when I travelled to US. I got the meanest RC car. After having played all tricks and crashing the car to every obstacle in the house, I decided it was time to get myself a new RC toy. That is when I wanted to get a RC heli. I was not sure how well it would go so I invested in a 2 channel micro heli. The initial experience was truly very disappointing. I realised I could not control the flight.

I realised I need to dedicate more time if I want to learn to fly heli, well I almost postponed for years until I moved back to India. Probably 6 months back is when I started to get to know of these 3-ch, 4-ch and what it meant. That did explain my disappointment in the initial 2 ch micro RC. I was expecting too much control with a 2-ch heli. However the next frustrating thing was that it was near to impossible to buy a RC heli in bangalore. The shipping chargers and other constraints kept me away from owing a heli.

Thanks to my wife who has gifted me Lama v4 for this Christmas. I was so surprised to receive an email that the Lama V4 has been ordered to by address.  Just waiting for the parcel to arrive. She has even ensured that I get a simulator and a trainer kit. Planning to train on the simulator before the maiden flight. 

Here's to your wife - 
May she inspire others to follow! You Sir, are one LUCKY chap! Whaddya know - Santa still visits the big boys! Welcome to the club.

Cheers!

VC

Another great story/experience... and here is to all the wives who understand their husbands and their passions


I am confused about this part.  Almost any type of heli should be locally available in Bangalore