I'm a New Member Introducing Myself...

[dwight]

Hello All,

My name is Dwight, and I am a relapsing RC-er...

I flew RC airplanes for about 5 or 6 years and then drifted away from the hobby when my wife and I started our family. Back in those days, electric flight was just starting to show up in areas other than for just toys. The battery technology of the day made any serious electric flying difficult at best; so I was a Glow and Gas flyer. I really enjoyed scratch building at least as much as actually flying.

Now, 15-20 years later, my kids are in (or heading to) college, and I have a little time on my hands for the first time in a long time. I stumbled across one of the Flite Test videos on YouTube, and it has re-awakened the love of RC flight in me. I've started scratch-building a Midwest .40-size Hots (a second one - the first one I scratch-built back in '87) for Glow Fuel - but my next build is going to be an electric. Probably a Bloody Baron.

I'm looking forward to learning about this new flying technology from the folks on the forum - and to sharing some old-school knowledge from the "early days" of RC flight!

Dwight

 

[mjmccarron]

Hello and welcome to the obsession, er, um, forum. I'm an old glow and gasser myself. The Bloody Baron is a GREAT plane to start back into the hobby with. It's a bit touchy if you get carried away with the throws but very forgiving and quite strong for those less than perfect landings.

Best of luck to ya!

Mike

 

[nerdnic]

Welcome. Many of us have only flown electric but there are a handful of veterans around here. Electric is an exciting step for the hobby. Lots of cool things that couldn't have existed before.

 

[SP0NZ]

Welcome to the family, glad to have you here. If you have any questions this is a great and friendly environment to get answers. Lots of people here with a lot of knowledge and a willingness to help each other out.

 

[jimmymc2286]

Welcome to the forum. You are going to find these foam planes are more fun than anything we built 20 years ago. Back then we could only dream of building something that could fly like these and cost so little. I have been building at least one a week for sometime now. Go get a box of foam and have a ball.

Jimmy

 

[Spastickitten]

Hello! I love the foamies because, for example, I hit a tree today and laughed. I don't fear crashing when my plane costs 3 dollars to fix. Though the tree did spook me because my camera was recording the onboard flight.

 

[Gryf]

Welcome! Flite Test got me into the RC hobby after dreaming about it for years. You'll really enjoy the Bloody Baron. Mine has been huge fun... it's a solid flyer that's tolerant of unusual landings.

There's so much to be said for foamboard. One thing that scared me away from RC in the past was the initial cost, with the knowledge that in the beginning, crashes were to be expected. The thought of writing off a shiny new "store" model was more than I wanted to deal with. Funny part is, once you've crafted a foamboard model, sweating all the details, and fussed about getting it set up right, there's still some anxiety involved in maiden flights, but the expense isn't a worry at all. Foam's cheap, and electronics are reusable. And as you probably know, even with cheap foamboard, building something and making it fly is an amazing experience.

So let us know how it goes!

Gryf

 

[Gryf]

@ Spastickitten -

Though the tree did spook me because my camera was recording the onboard flight.

And you're going to post the video, right? There's a weird psychological boost in seeing somebody else crash, because then you know it's not just you.

Gryf

 

[dwight]

Thank you all for the warm welcome! One of the aspects of the hobby that I enjoyed the most on my first go-round with it was the fellowship and the incredible willingness to help one another. Even though the technology has changed dramatically since I was last active, it's plain to see that the fellowship and willingness to help hasn't changed!

I just got a Bloody Baron speed build kit, and I'm really looking forward to taking it up for the first time. I'll be sure to post with pics when that happens!

Dwight

 

[scimitar4211]

New to RC

Hello all, My name is Ernest and I am new to RC. So far I have the Bix3, Dromida Ominus, and right now on the process of building a QAV 210 from Lumenier. I think this is a great hobby for me to get into and I am very excited to see the future of drones (especially racing) in the years to come.

 

[ridepate]

Great to see super-inspired newbies!!! Always remember "Stick to the low-wing"!!!

 

[mrstamp80]

Hey dwight, welcome to the forum. The hobby is even better now than it was years ago, with the cost of foam board and inexpensive electronics, along with the technology it's great.
I see you are in N.C. be sure to add yourself in the NC flyers region thread here: http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?14877-North-Carolina-Flite-Test-Flyers

 

[kacknor]

Welcome! I'm only just over a year into this myself, having raced RC cars some 25 years ago (Dang!).

I have a bud who has been flying RC for literally decades and is well into both nitro and electric, but he started in nitro. One of the differences I see in the way we look at this hobby is the caution and care he takes. Nothing wrong with it, it comes from spending big dollar amounts and/or time investments on the planes.

If I had to spend $500 (for a cheap plane) I'd be so tense I don't believe it would be any fun for me. As it is, I can built it in a day or so, fly it like I stole it, and push my skills beyond the practical (oops!). Being able to LOL at the carnage and admire the way the bits flew through the air as it impacted the ground is something I've learned from this site.

I 'Retired' two builds this past weekend and I have a container full of parts for new builds (already using them too). Take pictures for the memories, fly hard, crash well, pick up the bits and fly again. No worries, have fun!

JD

 

[Gryf]

Ditto what Kacknor said. I suppose the safest way to learn the basics is with a good simulator, because the crashes are free. But with the FT planes, while the crashes aren't free, at least they're really cheap - which is almost as good, and you get the benefit of flying the real thing. I learned to fly with an FT Old Fogey. It took a lot of damage, but was easily repaired, and just kept coming back for more. So I learned building, flying, and repairing all at the same time. Pretty cool! Then I was ready to move up to more challenging models, and have had a ball ever since.

Wishing you the best,

Gryf

 

[CavRecon]

Welcome, Scimitar! Newbie here myself!

I've been obsessing over FT videos, plans, and this forum for a few weeks. In that time, I have built five of the foamboard planes and flown none. I checked out a local club meeting on Monday evening and looking for an instructor to coach me through the first few flights.

Strangely, I like all of it...the building, researching, learning...hope actually FLYING is as much fun.