white crown
New member
Hello! I am looking to try to get into the hobby again after seeing all this as3x and safe tech being incorporated into planes. First I will tell you my sad one-flight story from my first attempt.
Several years ago, after thorough research and recommendations from the local hobby shop, I bought an Eflite Apprentice RTF kit. It was supposed to be the absolute BEST beginner kit on the market. I spent a week tinkering and verifying everything, test taxiing, practicing control stick movement, etc. while I was waiting for a calm day. I have a lot of simulator (not RC) experience and was fairly confident, so I decided to do my first flight on a windy but not gusty day... Grass field takeoff was successful and uneventful with a little right rudder and slight aileron after V1. I climbed up to altitude and initiated a left roll with slight rudder to coordinate a turn into the crosswind leg, while adding throttle to about 2/3rds to maintain altitude through the turn. As the plane came across the wind it immediately shot towards the ground like it was being sucked down by a super-magnet. As a beginner not having built any reflexes on this control platform, I had zero time to react. As the plane struck the ground nose-first the motor mount broke, ripping the motor through the bottom of the cowl and the forces splitting the mid-fuselage in half.
I repaired the motor mount with pieces of bamboo skewer and CA glue and hot glued the fuselage back together. At the time I couldn't figure out what happened, as far as I knew that would have been a textbook turn on the simulator. Also at this time, I was reading about potentially having to register with the FAA to continue to fly this plane. Since I still had a working aircraft, and not wanting to finish completely destroying my $350 or go through a registration hassle to do so, I cut my losses and sold it on craigslist for $250.
Looking back I think the left wing stalled when turning, as the wind from the right side was being interrupted by the fuselage. That coupled with my current control set-up; left aileron, left rudder, and advanced throttle, created a ground seeking rocket. Had I removed throttle immediately I may have had time to realize and correct flight control surfaces.
I'm just reading about this new stabilization tech, and with the <250 gram registration exemption, and I think safe mode on a micro could give me the training wheels I need, not having the availability of an actual instructor. Right now I am looking to buy a little Champ without ailerons to get myself into trouble and not heavy enough to disintegrate itself (also cheap to destroy, not $350). If that goes well I will move up to a 4 channel UMX with Safe, having the Champ as a backup for potential crashes/failures and second plane for my daughter who is old enough now to try this herself... once I figure it out enough to teach her.
I'm excited to try this again. Any suggestions or advice is welcome, most of all thanks for reading my long first post!
Several years ago, after thorough research and recommendations from the local hobby shop, I bought an Eflite Apprentice RTF kit. It was supposed to be the absolute BEST beginner kit on the market. I spent a week tinkering and verifying everything, test taxiing, practicing control stick movement, etc. while I was waiting for a calm day. I have a lot of simulator (not RC) experience and was fairly confident, so I decided to do my first flight on a windy but not gusty day... Grass field takeoff was successful and uneventful with a little right rudder and slight aileron after V1. I climbed up to altitude and initiated a left roll with slight rudder to coordinate a turn into the crosswind leg, while adding throttle to about 2/3rds to maintain altitude through the turn. As the plane came across the wind it immediately shot towards the ground like it was being sucked down by a super-magnet. As a beginner not having built any reflexes on this control platform, I had zero time to react. As the plane struck the ground nose-first the motor mount broke, ripping the motor through the bottom of the cowl and the forces splitting the mid-fuselage in half.
I repaired the motor mount with pieces of bamboo skewer and CA glue and hot glued the fuselage back together. At the time I couldn't figure out what happened, as far as I knew that would have been a textbook turn on the simulator. Also at this time, I was reading about potentially having to register with the FAA to continue to fly this plane. Since I still had a working aircraft, and not wanting to finish completely destroying my $350 or go through a registration hassle to do so, I cut my losses and sold it on craigslist for $250.
Looking back I think the left wing stalled when turning, as the wind from the right side was being interrupted by the fuselage. That coupled with my current control set-up; left aileron, left rudder, and advanced throttle, created a ground seeking rocket. Had I removed throttle immediately I may have had time to realize and correct flight control surfaces.
I'm just reading about this new stabilization tech, and with the <250 gram registration exemption, and I think safe mode on a micro could give me the training wheels I need, not having the availability of an actual instructor. Right now I am looking to buy a little Champ without ailerons to get myself into trouble and not heavy enough to disintegrate itself (also cheap to destroy, not $350). If that goes well I will move up to a 4 channel UMX with Safe, having the Champ as a backup for potential crashes/failures and second plane for my daughter who is old enough now to try this herself... once I figure it out enough to teach her.
I'm excited to try this again. Any suggestions or advice is welcome, most of all thanks for reading my long first post!