Beginners Guide To Flying RC Airplanes ebook

Learning to fly RC airplanes

- ground school

If you're thinking of learning to fly rc airplanes, this RC Airplane World Ground School will give you some fundamental information to help you understand your new hobby, with the added bonus of there not being an exam at the end!

You've already taken the first step to becoming a confident rc pilot by finding this web site, now this particular page will guide you through the basics of radio control flying; all the important information and advice about learning to fly rc airplanes has been condensed in to 10 easy lessons, putting relevant links to pages of RC Airplane World where you can read about the topics in more detail.

If you get stuck on any words or terms don't forget to use the rc flying glossary; fun and easy to use, you can find the meanings (serious & humorous) to all the common rc flying words and terms that you're ever likely to hear at the flying field. Any word shown in bold on this page can be found in the glossary.

Learning to fly rc airplanes! So get yourself comfortable, grab a drink and a snack and we'll begin!
(Incidentally, before we do get started, don't forget to check out Pete's ebook The Beginner's Guide To Flying RC Airplanes).

OK, your lessons on the basics of learning to fly rc airplanes are...

RC - how it all works
How an rc airplane moves and turns
Number of channels
Different types of power unit
Trainer RC airplanes
RC flight simulators
Joining a club, learning from an instructor
Buying your first RC airplane
Getting airborne
Practice makes perfect...

1. How it all works

The letters rc stand for radio control. You'll often see rc airplanes referred to as remote control but technically this is an incorrect term. Radio control is the correct term because the airplane controls respond to radio signals that pass through the air from the transmitter (abbreviated to 'Tx') to the receiver (abbreviated to 'rx').
The transmitter (also often just called the radio) is the main box that you hold in your hands and use to control your airplane, the receiver is located inside the airplane and picks up the signals sent out from the transmitter.

The radio signals are sent to the model in the same fundamental way as television and radio broadcasts are sent. Signals are generated whenever you move a stick or flick a switch on the Tx and are emitted via the antenna. All radio signals operate on a frequency commonly measured in kilohertz (kHz), megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz). The transmitter and receiver must be on the same frequency for them to work together and the gadget that determines the frequency is called a crystal. Both the Tx and rx need a matching crystal to function.

Traditionally radio control systems operate on designated frequency channels in the MHz ranges but more recently a newer radio technology, called spread spectrum, has come in to existence. This operates in the GHz range (2.4GHz to be exact) and is far less susceptible to unwanted radio interference. It's a much better system and 2.4GHz radios are quickly replacing the MHz ones for radio control use both in the air and on the ground. Incidentally, these newer rc systems don't require crystals to operate because of the different technology used.

Regardless of the system being used, once the radio signals are picked up by the receiver, via the receiver antenna, they are passed on to the servos inside the model and converted into physical movement. Servos are connected directly to the control surfaces of the airplane by linkages, so any movement of the servo is passed directly to the control surface that it is connected to.

The end result is that when you make an input at the transmitter, something on the airplane moves to control the plane.

For more information on how it all works:

2. How an rc airplane moves and turns

So now you know that radio signals are sent to the airplane when you operate the transmitter, but why does the model do what it does when you move the sticks?

All controllable airplanes have control surfaces which are attached to their parent flying surface and different control surfaces do different things. The primary control surfaces are rudder, elevator and ailerons.
The most basic rc airplanes will only have rudder control; the rudder is the moveable section (hinged) of the vertical stabiliser, or fin, at the rear end of the airplane. It controls the directional movement of the airplane, or yaw; when the rudder deflects left the plane turns to the left and when the rudder deflects right the plane turns to the right.

The elevator is the moving section (hinged) of the horizontal stabiliser, or tailplane, also at the rear of the airplane. Elevators control the pitch attitude of the airplane - whether the nose of the plane is pointing up, down or level.
When the elevator is deflected upward the airplane will point upwards and thus begin to climb, or fly level but with a 'nose up' attitude if engine power and/or forward airspeed isn't sufficient to cause a climb. When elevators are deflected downwards, the plane will pitch downwards and begin a descent. When the elevators are held level, then the airplane will fly level when correctly trimmed.

The ailerons are the moving sections (hinged) of each wing and are located on the trailing edge (rear) of each wing, generally towards the outer end, or wing tip, but sometimes along the full length of the trailing edge. Ailerons always come in pairs, one left and one right, and they move in opposite directions to each other. That's to say that when one deflects upwards the other deflects downwards and vice versa.
Ailerons control the roll of the airplane about its longitudinal axis; left aileron up / right aileron down causes the plane to roll to the left and right aileron up / left aileron down causes the airplane to roll to the right.

When ailerons are applied the airplane will roll in that direction; when up elevator is applied simultaneously the airplane will enter in to a banked turn in that same direction. This is how airplanes are made to turn if they have no rudder control.

For more information on how airplanes move and turn:

3. Number of channels

Every operation that is controllable on an rc airplane is referred to as a 'channel'.
The most basic plane will be just one channel which could be either motor control on/off (electric) or rudder movement. A typical rc airplane will be 3 or 4 channel - you have control over the motor, elevator, rudder and ailerons if 4 channel but rudder or ailerons (not both) if 3 channel.
A simpler 2 channel rc airplane will likely have motor and rudder control whereas a more complex rc airplane might have the 4 controls mentioned above plus retractable undercarriage and landing flaps, making it a 6 channel model. There's no definite number of channels that an rc airplane has to have; at the end of the day it just depends on how many functions the pilot wants or has to control on the plane.

For the majority of rc pilots 2,3 or 4 channel airplanes are the most popular.

For more information on how airplanes move and turn:

RC airplane controls.

4. Different types of power unit

With the exception of rc gliders, all rc airplanes need a motor of some kind to generate the thrust to pull (or push) the model through the air.

The two primary power types are internal combustion (IC) and electric power (EP). IC is a collective term that covers all engine types that run on fuel; these are petrol (gasoline), glow plug, diesel and turbine. Glow plug is often referred to as 'nitro' but is exactly the same thing. To confuse things even more IC powered airplanes, particularly glow plug ones, are often just referred to as 'gas' planes even though this name suggests that they're gasoline powered.

There are many many different choices of both IC and EP rc airplanes available and the size of the engine or motor used depends on the size and weight of the model, as well as the desired performance.

There are several pros and cons to each type of power unit but it is fair to say that in recent years electric powered rc planes have become hugely popular - newer electronic technology has improved their performance and flight capabilities such that a well-equipped EP airplane can easily match an equivalent size/design IC one in terms of speed, duration and aerobatic performance. That just wasn't possible a decade ago!

For more information on power types and IC/EP rc airplanes:

5. Trainer RC airplanes

Learning to fly rc airplanes is best done on a trainer. These are planes that have certain built-in design characteristics to make them nice and stable in the air.

The biggest giveaway is the position of the wing in relation to the fuselage. If the wing sits on top of the fuse then there's a good chance that the plane is indeed a trainer. High wing airplanes always make the best trainers because they are very stable and forgiving; the weight of the fuselage underneath the wing means that the airplane will always want to naturally level itself out if left to fly on its own (providing that it is correctly trimmed by the pilot).

Another giveaway is the amount of dihedral - the upward angle of the wings when looked at from the front of the airplane. More dihedral means more stability in the air and hence easier flying. Also, rc airplanes that rely on only rudder for directional control (i.e. no ailerons) will have more dihedral compared to one with ailerons, because the dihedral aids the turn of the airplane when rudder is applied.

When learning to fly rc airplanes, always go for a trainer style airplane before any other. When you've mastered the basics, you can move on to other design planes.

For more information on trainer airplanes:

6. RC flight simulators

RC flight simulators are a great way of learning to fly radio control airplanes without having to actually buy one.
The flight simulator is software that runs on your home computer and will either have its own transmitter-style controller or will let you use your own transmitter to power the software. Modern rc flight simulators running on a modern, powerful pc are extremely realistic and an excellent training aid.

If you are serious about learning to fly rc airplanes and your budget will stretch, consider buying one of the better sims such as Phoenix, RealFlight, Reflex XTR or AeroFly. Alternatively look at the FMS simulator which is a freebie download, and Clearview is another option.

For more information on rc flight simulators:

7. Joining a club, learning from an instructor

Without doubt this is by far the best way of learning to fly rc airplanes but it's not always an option everyone wants to or can take, for one reason or another.
The majority of rc airplane clubs will likely have at least one instructor and some clubs even have a club trainer airplane, so you can 'fly before you buy'. The instructor(s) might be certified to teach i.e. they have passed certain exams held by the country's governing body for model flying, or they might just be the 'unofficial' club instructor - an rc pilot who has enough experience to teach a beginner the basics of rc flight.

RC airplane clubs are very popular these days and rc pilots are, generally speaking, a friendly bunch. Even if you don't have a model and you're just thinking about learning to fly, getting along to a local club is a great idea. You can talk to modellers and gain lots of useful tips and advice.

For more information on joining a club:

8. Buying your first RC airplane

This is a decision that shouldn't be taken lightly, but the time will come when you're ready to start learning to fly rc airplanes for real and consequently you need to part with your hard earned cash!
You now know that trainer airplanes are the best planes to learn on, but what about the size, power type and form of construction? These are all things that need to be considered when shopping around for your first rc plane.

Size: rc airplane size is primarily given in wingspan, or the overall length of the wings from tip to tip. A 'good' size plane to learn on is around the 50 inch (1200mm) mark but to be honest this is only a very vague generalisation. If your flying space is small then you'll need a smaller plane, or you might just prefer something larger. Most foam RTF electric park flyer type rc airplanes fall in to the 40" to 60" wingspan range and many rc trainers will be this size too. IC planes will likely be larger than electric, but that's no hard and fast rule.

Power type: you might already know whether you want to fly IC or EP and the decision often does come down to personal preference. If you're restricted to flying in a public space, such as a park, then electric is the way to go. EP planes have a much lower nuisance factor because they are, generally, very quiet compared to a noisy IC model.

Construction: essentially your choices are traditional balsa/ply or foam. Ready To Fly electric foam rc airplanes are very common these days and widely available. They're convenient, cheap and easy to repair as well as being more durable, generally speaking.
A balsa/ply rc airplane can be durable but will almost definitely suffer more damage in a bad crash, and can be complex to repair - even worse if you have no modelling experience. So if you're looking for the quick and convenient way to get started in the hobby, foam is probably the better choice. As you gain experience you can move over to traditionally built airplanes, if that's what you want.

Throughout this web site you'll see links to particular rc airplanes (and other models). All of the models mentioned in this site have been carefully chosen because they are perfectly suitable for anyone learning to fly rc airplanes and indeed have been designed for exactly that.
But if you're not happy about buying a model online without seeing it first, then the best thing to do is to get along to your local hobby shop and talk to someone face to face. But be aware that there are some model shop owners out there who have no interest in your personal experience of getting started in the hobby, they just want your money! If you feel that you're getting bad advice and the guy is just trying to sell you the most expensive thing in the shop, come home get online and join an internet forum (such as mine) to get some impartial advice.

If you want to buy online, try:

9. Getting airborne

Rather than give this lesson here, please visit the RC Airplane World flight school pages when you're ready.

10. Practice makes perfect (almost)

Once you've got a few flights under your hat and have the basic feel of flying rc airplanes, there's one sure way to improve your flying skills - practice! Confidence only comes with experience and the more often you fly, the better you'll get. If you have access to an rc flight simulator then great, get on it as much as you can! That will certainly accelerate your training.

But when learning to fly rc airplanes be prepared to have the odd 'air incident'... Any rc pilot who tells you he or she has never crashed a model plane obviously hasn't been flying one for long enough! RC airplane crashes are, sadly, all part of the hobby and you will damage your model at some point in time sooner or later. But don't worry, just keep practising as often as you can and you'll quickly improve your skills and become much more confident with your airplane.

The most important thing to do is enjoy the flying and try to laugh at the crashes! (so long as no-one gets hurt...)

Well hopefully now you know a lot more about learning to fly rc airplanes than you did at the start of this page.
Please continue to browse RC Airplane World, use the links on this page or the site map to find out even more about this great, addictive and increasingly popular pastime and why it's just "silly not to do it!".

Discuss learning to fly rc airplanes in Pete's forum.

How to fly airplanes - RC flight school for beginners.

Training methods - ways of learning how to fly rc airplanes and helicopters.

Beginner RC airplanes - see some suitable examples.

RC airplane controls - the primary ones and what they do.

RC flight simulators - the safest way of learning.

RC flying do's and don'ts - some basic safety tips.

RC flying FAQ - some common questions about getting in to rc flying.

RC flying glossary - meaning to common flying phrases and words.