RC Airplane World flight school
- lesson #8; flying your plane
Following on from lesson 7, this rc flight school page will show you just how easy flying your rc airplane really is!
The first thing you might notice is that you're nervous, your heart is thumping as though you've just run a marathon and your hands feel shaky - this is completely normal!!
I've been flying radio control planes for a while, and I still get the shakes now and again. It's all part of the fun and exhilaration of the hobby, but I'm not sure of the precise explanation; I guess it's the fear of crashing that causes the adrenalin rush inside!
The important thing is to not let your pounding heart and shaking hands get the better of you; stay calm, relaxed and focused on the job in hand - flying your rc airplane!
Take things slow
Once you've taken off or hand launched your plane, climb out to a safe height but don't climb so high that you lose sight of what's it's doing. Average tree-top height, for example, is a safe altitude to fly your plane at while you're learning. If you think that a mature oak tree can reach the 100 foot mark, that's about the height to aim for.
Before the airplane gets too far away from you after take off / hand launch, you need to turn it one way or the other. Which direction you turn in depends largely on where you're flying, but you need to turn it in to open space and well away from any obstacles if there are any (trees, posts, pylons...).
As you turn after the climb out, reduce power to somewhere around half / three-quarter throttle; once you've taken off, there's no need to keep the motor going flat out, the plane doesn't need this amount of power for general flying.
The very badly scaled picture below shows approximately what you need to do...
Above, climb out steadily and don't let the plane get too far away
Keep the turn gentle. As you apply rudder/aileron also apply a small amount of up elevator; this prevents any altitude loss during the turn, and with ailerons is essential to pull the airplane round in a turn and not just roll in a straight line.
When you think you've turned enough (probably through 180 degrees or so), get the airplane flying straight and level for a few seconds and then, when you're happy, try another turn but this time in the opposite direction to the one you've just done.
Keep turning and straightening, turning and straightening in all directions and just fly the plane around the sky, all the time getting used to how the plane responds to your stick movements. You'll very quickly get an idea of how much stick input you need to make to get the plane to do what you want it to.
Below is a short video of how you should be gently turning your rc airplane, getting used to the controls...
Trimming your plane
'Trimming' is the term used to describe the action of adjusting the airplane controls in-flight, so that it flies straight and level on its own, with the transmitter sticks in their neutral positions.
While flying your rc airplane, you may find that it has a tendency to turn one way or another when you aren't steering it, or that it wants to climb or dive without you making it. Use the appropriate trims on the transmitter to fine-tune the control surfaces during flight, to try and iron out these tendancies.
After you move a trim, let the airplane fly on its own for a few seconds, then re-adjust the trim as you need to. The aim is to get the plane flying straight and level with tx sticks centered, and no input from you.
Important points to remember when flying your plane:
- Don't fly too far away from you; if you do, you can very easily lose sight of your airplane - not completely, but enough to not know exactly what it's doing, which way up it is etc. This is the quickest way of becoming disorientated with the plane, and you'll just lose control and crash.
- Similarly, never fly directly over your head. This will also disorient you as you look directly upwards while turning your head to follow the plane. Always keep the plane in front of you and to the sides - never overhead or behind you.
- Remember that when flying your rc airplane towards you, the turns are reversed; left becomes right and right becomes left. This is going to catch you out on your early days of flying, but with practice you will get used to this 'reverse control' or 'reverse co-ordination' as it's also called.
- Always keep flying your airplane in open space, well away from people, animals and property.
- Don't fly too low - the closer you are to the ground, the less time you have to recover from bad situations.
- Keep all your turns gentle and don't over-correct. The majority of rc airplane crashes for beginners are caused by over correction ie too much movement of the transmitter sticks. Keep it slow and steady!
If things start to go wrong
If you're being as sensible as you should be and flying gently and slowly, just getting used to turning your plane and normal flying, there's no reason why anything should go drastically wrong.
But if you do suddenly find yourself in trouble, don't panic! Panicking usually only makes the situation ten times worse, and you need to try and keep cool but at the same time act quickly.
The first thing to do is cut the motor. This is immediately going to decrease the airspeed of your plane (so long as it's not in a vertical dive) and hence decrease likely damage if the plane decides to impact on anything.
If you are in a dive, apply up elevator, so long as the plane isn't inverted! Up elevator is going to pull the plane out of a dive and give you time to recover. Once the plane has recovered to a normal attitude, add motor power and calmly return the plane to straight and level flight.
If in doubt of your airplane's situation, keep cool, cut the motor and centralize all control surfaces - just by doing this alone gives you a couple of seconds to get your head together and assess the situation as your plane returns to a better flight path, albeit in a direction you probably don't want!
The bottom line with flying your rc airplane for the first few times is to just stay cool and be sensible; don't try any crazy stunts at this early stage. Keep things simple, and you'll be fine!
Next up: Lesson 9 - Landing your rc airplane - yikes!
Or skip to the lesson appropriate to your current situation...
- Lesson 1: Buying your rc airplane
- Lesson 2: Know your rc airplane
- Lesson 3: Preparing your plane
- Lesson 4: Weight and balance
- Lesson 5: Where to fly your plane
- Lesson 6: Pre-flight checks
- Lesson 7: Take off / hand launch
- Lesson 9: Landing your rc airplane
Got a question about flying your rc airplane? Join the forum!
