My son is my wingman!

[FPVAirCombat]

Over the years, I have taught my son (since he was 8 yrs old) to fly RC planes using a buddy box off and on . Last year, he finally soloed a plane (at age 13) but instead caught the bug on flying quad copters. He quickly advanced through tiny whoops, 3in quads then 5in free style quads. And now he is very proficient at following me around when I fly my RC planes. I feel fortunate that we both share a love for RC flying hobby. We enjoy spending quality time at the flying field and even collaborate to make interesting flight videos!

He likes to do close chase of my warbirds flying his free style quad:

He also flies as lead/target plane for me to chase as I do mock dogfights with my scale FPV plane

 

[FPVAirCombat]

Son is getting better chasing my plane with his quad, exploring different angles around the plane. Some close calls though...hehe.

 

[mayan]

Beautiful! I am wondering how is the comunnication between you when he is chasing you?

 

[FPVAirCombat]

I fly slowly and very smoothly while telling him my next move: “general turn left”, “level out” , “gental climb”, etc. He is so focused he barely says a word. Unless I fly too fast, he would say “slow down”. But since I am keeping constant speed/throttle. It’s just me talking mostly.

 

[Mark P]

Awesome! I have to say, it almost looked like a real Spitfire at some points. And may I ask how you got that reflector sight?

 

[Gazoo]

It really looks like a pilot in the cockpit with a head cam. I can't tell what is real anymore.

This is awesome!

 

[FPVAirCombat]

Kinda off topic in this thread, but since you guys like it. Here’s one more with guns ablazing in dogfight... Discussion about it in FPV forum. Oh, my son did fly for the chase footage for this one as well....

 

[FPVAirCombat]

Awesome! I have to say, it almost looked like a real Spitfire at some points. And may I ask how you got that reflector sight?

By collaborating with the master scale builder of this instrument panel I saw in January....

3 months and 40 emails later....

 

[FPVAirCombat]

Some shots from todays chase. So excited our RC club repaved the Runway. It's buttery smooth________________!

 

[mayan]

Pictures didn't upload

 

[FPVAirCombat]

Uploaded again. It's Bob Swenson Memorial Field (Orange County Modelers Association) in Silverado, CA. Or better known as Black Star Field.

 

[mayan]

Amazing photos!

 

[FPVAirCombat]

He also doubles as camera man and spotter, though at times becoming impatient...

 

[FPVAirCombat]

Runway now has proper markings. It’s now the best flying field in Southern California - in a very scenic setting, too!

 

[Tronglodon]

Runway now has proper markings. It’s now the best flying field in Southern California - in a very scenic setting, too!

I've been flying with my son at Fairview in Costa Mesa, but this field is actually closer to me. It looks pretty serious, with the real runway and all the gas planes. I've thought about joining up to fly here but obviously it's a pretty big investment. (Especially since I paid for permits at Costa Mesa too.) Anyway, my question is how friendly is OCMA to foam board diy guys?

 

[FPVAirCombat]

Honestly, not very friendly if you show up on a busy day putting around with those. But if you bring a decentl sized one that can keep up with traffic pattern speed. I don’t see how that would be a problem. Best to avoid the big gasser guys that are there on weekend mornings. They have big egos. On weekdays you can fly anything so long as you follow rules.

There’s a separate area for 3d Foam board plane flying if you hand launch and don’t need to use runway.

 

[Tronglodon]

Thanks for the inside scoop. Maybe we'll check it out in the future if we get into the bigger stuff.

 

[FPVAirCombat]

It’s nice to have competent camera man shooting plane footage. My wingman (son) has gotten good with camera on the ground, too. A simple greaser landing gives me the most satisfaction...