Gotta love flying-my story

[JimCR120]

I've always loved flying. Even before I've ever flown I loved dreaming of flying. As a kid I so wanted an RC plane. It wasn't until about 30 years later that my son who (with saved allowance money) bought his own Piper Cub kit. He had that thrown together in no time. And soon after he learned how difficult RC flying could be out of the gate. But he didn't give up. He took those busted up parts and continued to make other "aircraft". He's used just about everything while I got to play the very proud father and watch how well he was growing into this. About a year later he bought his father a WildHawk (with saved allowance money) and I was officially in the club. I had my own learning curve as well but on an airframe like that it was pretty forgiving and repairable.

This has not only been a very enjoyable hobby but it has been a means of providing such fond memories with my son which I look forward to sharing someday with his kids.

 

[bmsweb]

Great story Jim! Sharing this hobby with your son sit truly priceless. I actually get more enjoyment watching my son fly than flying myself. The look on his face when flying and also when the day is over and we load the car up again recapping on the days flying . . all just 100% quality time.

 

[JimCR120]

I know what you mean Paul. I can hear it in the videos you've posted. Priceless!

 

[JimCR120]

Then there's my good friend Ryan, who joined us about a year ago. He bought himself a nice little 800mm P-51. I captured a good number of his... uh... flights on my little iPod and if they get posted I suppose they'll go to the "Not Quite Flite" channel. His comments sounded a lot like mine when I started flying my 'Hawk, "why isn't this thing working". Do you know what you get when you cross a P-51 Mustang with an accordion? Ryan could tell you. Strangely enough, he never broke props.

The positive aspect is, like me, he has learned a lot about repairs; hot glue, toothpicks, gorilla tape, and gorilla glue can overcome a great many mishaps. And both of us have also learned that there is just so much learning a plane can take before the hot glue becomes too heavy. We have both since started over fresh.

Gotta love this hobby!

 

[FlyingMonkey]

Jim, those darn Mustangs, they never seem to work for beginners. Odd how that is, isn't it?

I always had a beef with the companies that bundled warbirds and other advanced aircraft with their own transmitter. They were marketing to the new pilot. The pilots that were experienced enough to fly those aircraft had their own transmitters, and had no need for the cheap ones included in those kits.

Bind and fly and plug and play systems have helped cure folks like Parkzone of that problem. You still see it over at Nitroplanes and BananaHobby some though.

It's so hard to convince a beginner to learn on something "ugly" like the Bixler, instead of something as pretty as that P51 that's just calling their name.

 

[JimCR120]

You know what grinds my gears is when these ultra cool planes and helos are sold only RTF. What the heck is that about?! If it's a beginner bird yeah sure that makes sense but come on; I really don't want another cheap transmitter that only has 3 or 4 channels. When I do want one I know where to go. I do like how Parkzone has all those micro bind and fly aircraft, I'm just trying to figure out whether to trust them and spend the money on a DSM xmtr when my son's DX5 has performed so poorly lately. The worst part is that he already has a micro P-51, another micro Su-26, an mSR, and an orange rcvr. To switch to something else makes one ask what is to happen to all those investments.

One of my soccer players actually flies. He got something Bixler-like and is still on it a year later. I highly recommend that style airframe. But I have to sympathize with whoever just "falls in love" with a classy warbird. They do command respect.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

Yeah, but it's like wanting a brand new muscle car as a 16 year old. You know if he gets it, it's going to be ruined...

 

[JimCR120]

Here's where I would send a thumbs up instead of this clumsy post which detracts from what you said.