Complete and total NOOB!!!

[StephanieRose12]

Greetings and Salivation's!

Thought I should take a minute and do the compulsory introductory post .... HI!!! haha Okay eh in all honestly I hate doing these, never know what to say ...

Complete Noob ... Years ago I had the Real Flight simulator with the hope of learning to fly, life happened and while I could fly on the simulator never seemed to actually step into the real plane flying venue. Locally for me there isnt much of the way of teaching to fly unless you have the money to buy only the best and newest planes (and ground based r/c too actually).

After stumbling upon the FliteTest Channel on YouTube and watching just about all of the videos posted (I am a Over the Road driver so I'm gone for weeks at a time usually) on my down time. It has re-sparked the interest in flying again, and even has me considering selling some of the ground R/C that I have amassed over the years. So I guess I'm not a R/C Noob just a Noob when it comes to r/c that challenge gravity so to speak.

Watching some of the Actual Aviation with Josh Bixler has brought back many many memories for me of my youth. In the 70's and very Early 80's my dad bought and sold and flew many PT17's ... even flying one home that had more duck tape on the wings than not (yeah mom was THRILLED over that!). He also had a CPL for awhile. I have some very early memories of being in a Cessna with dad, and lots of pictures to look back on. I even still have his briefcase that he used to take flying with him. Sadly he was taken In early 1983 and I mostly grew up wanting to fly (and drive a truck) like my dad. Until recently obtaining even a pilots license has been out of reach - though with the changes in recent years, it can now be a reality and will be something that I work on over the next few years.

For now though, I Look forward to getting the newest Flight Simulator (going with the Phoenix version) so I can again take control of the virtual plane and brush up on what I'd learned before. Several FT builds are in the near future as well and hope to be able to be flying by the time warm weather comes in the spring. Looking forward to the next year and participating in things like FF East as well as possibly being able to help otehrs who want to get into the hobby in my area, learn how to get into the hobby.... While I'm a Noob myself ... I do have the goal of helping others enter the hobby with far less stress and stuggle than so many have gone through.

With that... I've rambled enough ... Have a great evening/Morning/Noon/Night!

Stephanie Rose
Central Kentucky

 

[Userofmuchtape&glue]

D'day and welcome Stephanie!

Good so see you have joined flitetest, and getting back into planes!

Have you decided which one you will build/buy first?

Abe

 

[StephanieRose12]

Thinking I'll begin with the FT simple cub and would really like to build the FT Seaduck after that... Neither am hard to build.. It's the flying and the inevitable crashing that I'm going to struggle with haha

The simple cub seems to be the best beginner for me. I could do one of the arf or similar planes with the safe technology but... I'm hard headed and I want to do it this way lol even if they means I have to build and rebuild the poor simple cub ... Just get that much better at building

 

[rfd]

i'd suggest concentrating on the simple cub build and not looking ahead to another aircraft. there's much to learn. pay attention to building the wing and stab at the same decalage (zero incidence), keep the rudder @ 90* to the stab, keep the wing tips equidistant from the stab tips and the fuse squared up. the CG and motor offsets dialed in, too. there's much more - read up. the old free flight saying of first getting the plane to "fly on the table" is as important as trying to fly it at the field. best if you have a mentor for the maiden, but it will always help heaps to put in a LOT of sim time with a fixed wing of similar size and performance as this FT cub. good luck, have fun!

 

[JimCR120]

Hello Stephanie Rose!
Nice greeting.
Compulsory?....yes
You not knowing what to say?.... I don't believe it.

That is an excellent intro. Honest. FOr some pulling info is like pulling teeth. The connection is nice.

Simulators are fun. Lots of people brag about them. But I don't care for them much in comparison to flying models. To me it feels very different. Sure the muscle memory is the same and there is value in that but nevertheless I don't spend much time on them.

I like how you speak of your dad, memories, and interests. Flying is definitely a thrill and a great way to strike up conversations with interesting people from all over. Here in the forum we have a worldwide community and they're all great people. Please post often with your progress, questions, and anything you feel like sharing. I'll be watching for your 1st flights. The Cub is a good choice. A friend of mine built one, flew it and crashed it plenty having fun all along. Keep us posted. Photos/videos are authorized and encouraged.

Welcome to the forum.
—Jim

 

[StephanieRose12]

i'd suggest concentrating on the simple cub build and not looking ahead to another aircraft. there's much to learn. pay attention to building the wing and stab at the same decalage (zero incidence), keep the rudder @ 90* to the stab, keep the wing tips equidistant from the stab tips and the fuse squared up. the CG and motor offsets dialed in, too. there's much more - read up. the old free flight saying of first getting the plane to "fly on the table" is as important as trying to fly it at the field. best if you have a mentor for the maiden, but it will always help heaps to put in a LOT of sim time with a fixed wing of similar size and performance as this FT cub. good luck, have fun!

Thanks for the advice. I'm doing lots of reading and learning from any source I can find. When I talk about a second plane, it's not something to get into until I've mastered the first. It can wait on a shelf as it won't be costing me insurance or food haha


Thanks.

 

[StephanieRose12]

Hello Stephanie Rose!
Nice greeting.
Compulsory?....yes
You not knowing what to say?.... I don't believe it.

That is an excellent intro. Honest. FOr some pulling info is like pulling teeth. The connection is nice.

Simulators are fun. Lots of people brag about them. But I don't care for them much in comparison to flying models. To me it feels very different. Sure the muscle memory is the same and there is value in that but nevertheless I don't spend much time on them.

I like how you speak of your dad, memories, and interests. Flying is definitely a thrill and a great way to strike up conversations with interesting people from all over. Here in the forum we have a worldwide community and they're all great people. Please post often with your progress, questions, and anything you feel like sharing. I'll be watching for your 1st flights. The Cub is a good choice. A friend of mine built one, flew it and crashed it plenty having fun all along. Keep us posted. Photos/videos are authorized and encouraged.

Welcome to the forum.
—Jim

Evening Jim!

I miss dad and having so many memories brought back by watching stuff shared by FT and others on YouTube has been wonderful. I'll have to pull out old pictures and share them. I'm hoping to get to sit down with Josh and share with him and say thank you to him personally.

Can't wait to get to building and practicing on the simulator.

Have a wonderful rest of the evening,

Stephanie Rose

 

[sprzout]

Welcome, Stephanie!!!

I think you're going to have fun jumping in. FliteTest DEFINITELY has some fun planes to fly. The Simple Cub is one of my dad's first FT planes, and my very first plane (building or otherwise) is the FT Sea Duck!

I will tell you that the Sea Duck is a VERY forgiving plane to learn on; I've been flying mine at both my field and my father's field, and every time, people look at it and are completely shocked that I'm able to flip and roll it as easily as I do for as big a plane as it is. It's so easy to fly slow and make low passes with, and it's just a lot of fun.

I've also had the fortune to help my father set up his Simple Cub, which is easy to fly as well; the only "issues" I've had with flying it are that the first and only time I've flown it was on a gusty day where it looked like potential rain, and it was getting pushed all over the place, and then the second problem was the way he'd attached the wheels with hot glue at the ends, one of the wheels wouldn't spin freely so upon landing, it wanted to spin around in circles so you had to crab it while landing in anticipation of the wheel grabbing and wanting to snap it around in a pirouette (not an easy thing to do!!!).

All that said, you've picked two good planes to be starters; the best way to get out there and learn is 1) put in stick time on the simulators; I can't emphasize that enough because it's a LOT cheaper to crash on a simulator than in real life, and 2) visit an RC airfield and talk to the club members - see if there's instructors within the club that would be willing to help you learn. Our club has a specific set of planes that they teach on, and they walk you through things like figure eights, climbing and stalls, level flight, approaches, and when you have your own plane, takeoffs and landings. You may find that the local airfields have something similar, and believe me, it REALLY helps.

 

[rfd]

the most important thing about any decent sim is learning and ingraining aircraft attitude ORIENTATION response into the gray matter muscle memory.

WHERE to move the stick(s) with banking aircraft going away from the pilot and coming to the pilot are prime. you could save dozens of crashes getting that down pat on a sim.

the rest is pure fun.

 

[sprzout]

the most important thing about any decent sim is learning and ingraining aircraft attitude ORIENTATION response into the gray matter muscle memory.

WHERE to move the stick(s) with banking aircraft going away from the pilot and coming to the pilot are prime. you could save dozens of crashes getting that down pat on a sim.

the rest is pure fun.

No two ways about that, that's INCREDIBLY important. And there are bonuses in that you can practice while you have inclement weather going on outside or when it's dark, and you can fly on "unlimited" batteries in some of these sims while you're starting out learning how to fly...

 

[StephanieRose12]

Thanks everybody! Glad to be here and eager to learn!

Learning in the sim is going to be good for me, with the winter weather and the fact that I'm gone from home for weeks at a time, can't always tote my rc stuff with me not have the time to setup and fly or use one of my or rc's... Having the laptop and being flying in just a minute or two to get the hours of practice in.


Yall have a great evening!

 

[StephanieRose12]

It's been a very rough week I'm sad to report. I Lost my best friend ... a 8 year old Saint Bernard named Rosie that has been with me through many rough times in the last few years. Being out on the road, well I didn't get to say goodbye or be there for her at the end. That's going to be the hardest part for me I think ...

On the plus side, I did get the Phoenix Flight 5.5 Ordered, should be in my hands before Turkey day (bet you can guess what I'll be doing while the turkey cooks) ... Also dug up a couple pics of my current R/C Collection ... might not be gravity defying but are sure ton's of fun!

 

[cranialrectosis]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. OTR can't be easy on friends and family but without it so many people wouldn't be able to get the things they need. Thank you for putting your family life on hold so you can deliver the goods everyone else depends on.

I found the 'What is your real job' post before I read this one and I am still chuckling over your intro. You have made a great splash here on our forums. Welcome to the party.

The Simple Cub should be a pretty simple build for someone with your mechanical expertise. Photos of your build process may encourage other folks who are reading but still screwing up the courage to build or post.

Please film the maiden voyage and post the video on Youtube and link to it here. If your plane won't fly due to CG issues or a reversed channel on your remote (you would be surprised how often this happens), the video will help us help you.

If your plane does fly, we will all cheer with you and celebrate your success.

Anyway you slice it, based on this thread and your intro in the other, I have no doubt that any video you post will be an entertaining gift to our community.

Welcome to FliteTest!

 

[StephanieRose12]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. OTR can't be easy on friends and family but without it so many people wouldn't be able to get the things they need. Thank you for putting your family life on hold so you can deliver the goods everyone else depends on.

Thanks! It isn't easy being gone, I've been driving for most my adult life, and spent the early years in a truck as well...It takes a certain kind of person to do it, and do it correctly. Anybody can hold a steering wheel and go forward but few will lay in the snow to fix a broken air line to make a delivery on time to keep a customer satisfied.

I found the 'What is your real job' post before I read this one and I am still chuckling over your intro. You have made a great splash here on our forums. Welcome to the party.

I'm glad that It gave at least one good chuckle. That was the intent. At one time commercial drivers had pride, and class. Sadly for the most part those days are long gone as I'm reminded every time I go into a truck stop or even some of my customers. It's pretty sad to stop and think about the changes of this industry from even ten years ago. Heck other drivers won't even get over if you're on the shoulder, or even offer to help over the CB Radio (if anybody even has one anymore)

The Simple Cub should be a pretty simple build for someone with your mechanical expertise. Photos of your build process may encourage other folks who are reading but still screwing up the courage to build or post.

Please film the maiden voyage and post the video on Youtube and link to it here. If your plane won't fly due to CG issues or a reversed channel on your remote (you would be surprised how often this happens), the video will help us help you.

If your plane does fly, we will all cheer with you and celebrate your success.

Anyway you slice it, based on this thread and your intro in the other, I have no doubt that any video you post will be an entertaining gift to our community.

Welcome to FliteTest!

Thanks! I do have a YouTube channel but I'm not comfortable in front of the camera and hate the sound of my own voice - so that limits what I do, I do have some driving stuff up but honestly, the time it takes to do a video, I just don't have on a frequent basis. Hopefully flying and r/c will be a bit better and easier. Thinking a different editing software will help too.

I love to teach, and to help others learn, so Photos are usually a must have, and while most doesn't make it to youtube, I have something like 1tb of video saved haha!

Thanks again for the welcome!!