WORDS OF
WISDOM FROM A THREE-YEAR VETERAN OF RADIO CONTROL MODEL AIRCRAFT
FLYING
If I could give
any advice to a “newcomer” to this hobby it would be, in order of
priority:
(1) Keep the plane out in front of you and as
close as possible. The worst trouble you can get into is flying too far
away – I speak from experience.
(2) If there is a wind blowing from whatever
direction, keep the plane directly overhead of you at all times or at least
“upwind”. If you “deadstick” and are too far “downwind” you will never make it
back to the field to land. The flying directly overhead is also important if you
have just made an engine adjustment and are uncertain as to engine performance.
(3) If you wish to trim your aircraft, do so at
least 100 ft. altitude – any less and you will probably be trimming a damaged
plane – I again speak from experience.
(4) Use a “chicken stick” or electric starter
when starting glow engines otherwise it can cause a lot of finger damage. I
start my large “Gas Engine (spark plug) type by hand using a thick welding glove
and this is quite a normal procedure on this type of engine.
(5) After getting your plane and ground
equipment out, put your “Frequency Pin” on the board before you go any further.
Even a ground check with a collapsed antenna will “shoot” down another
plane.
I could go on with many
other stories of my first year flying experience and many of my Club associates
will agree with me on the above as they all had the same
experiences.
Rob Bacchus, MAAC 72309
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