Trying to realize a life long dream

[GroundedDragon]

Greetings Everyone.

I am a long time aircraft enthusiast, have loved planes and other flying machines for as long as I can remember. I had always dreamed about flying and being a pilot when I "grew up" and worked hard to learn everything i though i might need to know. Self taught myself aerodynamics and aircraft history among other things. My greatest goal was to join the USAF and become a pilot. I lived near the Air Force Academy at the time and dreamed of going there out of high school.
Of course one can never be so sure of life's plans. After some concern i ended up going to the hospital and shortly after my 15th birthday I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. This i found out latter means I am unable to join the military or even fly commercial.
Well Long story short I haven't really made anything of myself since then. Finished highschool and some college afterwards but never really started a carrier. I have had over 10 jobs between then and now and am currently working as a attendant and mechanic at a local bowling alley.

so what brings me here is I have finally decided i don't want to loose my dream completely. I have seen RC flights before and even have a small quad copter and a few cheap RC helicopters. Now though i see Rc Aircraft as a way to at east semi realize my dream and fascination with flight. I am just starting out but my long term goal is to work toward FPV and being able to at least semi experience flying.

I know this is a bit long winded for a introduction post and i thank you so much for reading. I cant wait to see where this adventure will take me and learn about the hobby and craft of RC flight

Steve

 

[m00ndancer]

Welcome to the forum! Start out slow and don't forget to ask around. A lot! Tons of helpful people here.

 

[wilmracer]

Welcome! Have you picked out a first project yet?

 

[brettp2004]

Don't give up on your dream of flying! I finished my private pilot cert. last year and it's amazing. I'm not 100% sure but I don't think diabetes will prevent you from at least getting a class III medical. FPV is definitely a wonderful experience, but nothing beats full scale flight.

You can get a cheap FPV setup and put it in any plane once you learn to fly line of sight. If you want to feel more like your in the cockpit I'd recommend getting something like a cub and mounting fpv on it. You get the prop in view and it feels more like a full scale plane in my opinion. Good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions on here, there's tons of very knowledgable people more than willing to help.

 

[makattack]

Welcome to the FT community! Have you checked out http://ftgroups.com/ as well?

Here's another option for full scale flying that I've been thinking about -- seeing how you're in Needham, this might be an option:
http://www.soargbsc.com/intro_soaring.php

 

[SP0NZ]

Welcome to the forums and the Flite Test family.

 

[GroundedDragon]

Thanks for the warm welcome and words of encouragement everyone!

As for some of your questions. I am not exactly sure on where to start my adventure. I went to a semi local hobby shop and asked about where to begin. I spent some time on their flight sim and enjoyed it so i am thinking of starting there. Looking at picking up realflight 7.5 and using it to practice on my computer first. Also I have been looking at getting a small 3 channel trainer just to start park flying as i live right across from a good sized sports field. Been looking at the Duet and Champ from HobbyZone at the moment.

Also thanks for the encouragement to not give up on flying for real. I am going to look into that a bit more but might need to wait till i am more financially well off.

 

[makattack]

Well, I heartily agree that a simulator is a great place to start, and I would even suggest that if you're on a budget, a free simulator will work well.

I personally use FlightGear: http://www.flightgear.org/

It can be used with a dual stick game pad, or a RC transmitter with a buddy / trainer output and an inexpensive USB adapter. Of course, you can also use keyboard and mouse controls as well.

 

[DharanFlyer]

GroundedDragon,

Welcome to the forum. It is a great place that is very helpful and full of good people. Rare thing to find on the internet these days.

If you don't mind some personal advice - never give up on a dream. I was the same as you and wanted to be a commercial pilot since I could remember. Even started schooling for it. I wasn't forced out like you with a uncontrollable and unfortunate turn in life, but instead made decisions that I still regret to this day. Like brettp2014 mentions you should be able to acquire a third class medical certificate that would allow private flight. They do list diabetes as a disqualification, but exemptions are available with reporting and proof that it is under control. I have/had the same issue with my partial color blindness. I can't pass the standard test required, but I can pass the practical exam that allows me to still hold the certificate.

Even if that puts up road blocks the ultralight and sport class aircraft are still available to almost anyone as they don't require a FAA issued license. To be honest they are a lot of fun to fly almost more so than your Cesnas or Pipers. I had a deal with a local place that manufactured a ultralight brand (T-Birds) and struck a deal with the owner. I would come in once or twice a week to clean and do odd jobs and in exchange he would give me lessons. Best year or so of my life. Look around and see if you may be able to find something similar.

 

[wilmracer]

Thanks for the warm welcome and words of encouragement everyone!

As for some of your questions. I am not exactly sure on where to start my adventure. I went to a semi local hobby shop and asked about where to begin. I spent some time on their flight sim and enjoyed it so i am thinking of starting there. Looking at picking up realflight 7.5 and using it to practice on my computer first. Also I have been looking at getting a small 3 channel trainer just to start park flying as i live right across from a good sized sports field. Been looking at the Duet and Champ from HobbyZone at the moment.

Also thanks for the encouragement to not give up on flying for real. I am going to look into that a bit more but might need to wait till i am more financially well off.

A trainer is a great place to start. There are other simulators out there, but I have RealFlight 7.5 and love it. One of the nice things is that so many models have been custom created by the community that you can look on the Knife Edge forums and find usually find a model similar to whatever you want to fly IRL. If you do pick up RealFlight and eventually pick up a trainer definitely check out that forum to see if someone has put together a model. A properly built model in RealFlight will fly nearly identical to that model IRL so you won't have any surprises.

If you can find a friendly club in the area most offer training at no cost (I know my club does). We have a few really wonderful guys who do our training. We have club-owned aircraft and a wireless buddy box system for training. On a Saturday with nice weather we typically have 3 or 4 people out for training. They get to meet other beginners and see how things work at the club without being the only new guy. The other big plus to this is that we're able to do training on various aircraft. Our training guys often use an old, beat up Corsair for training because it makes it more exciting. When a beginner is ready to maiden their own aircraft we will even set up the buddy box for that.

The trick is finding a friendly club. I would say don't be turned off if the first club you visit is a grumpy-old-men's club. I think it has already been mentioned but you can also check out ftgroups.com to search for other local FT people. Getting together with other FT fans would also be a great way to get local support.

 

[GroundedDragon]

Thanks again everyone.

I made my first step and purchased a copy of RealFlight 7.5. Looking forward to to it arriving on Sat.
I am also going to look into some local clubs tomorrow hopefully.

You all are amazing! Best welcome into a hobby and forum I have ever had.

 

[m00ndancer]

A cheap and good start is the WL-toys F949 or the F959. Get the one that's BNF(bind n fly) and get a Flysky/Turnigy i6 transmitter/receiver. You have to change protocol on the i6 but that's easy. Flight times for the F949 is upwards to 20 minutes / charge and the batteries and spares are cheap. The i6 is also great for simulators, just get the USB kit.

You can then use the receiver for your second craft.

Links:
http://www.banggood.com/FlySky-FS-i...ansmitter-With-FS-iA6B-Receiver-p-983537.html
http://www.banggood.com/WLtoys-F949...irplane-BNF-Without-Transmitter-p-975914.html
http://www.banggood.com/WLtoys-V931...0mAh-20C-Li-Po-Battery-V931-015-p-944083.html
http://www.banggood.com/22-in-1-RC-Flight-Simulator-Cable-for-Realflight-G7-G6-G5-G4-p-950398.html

Free flightsim with FTplanes:
http://rcdeskpilot.com/download
http://flitetest.com/articles/36-add-on-planes-for-rc-desk-pilot

Put the USB interface in G7 mode for Desk Pilot

 

[slyke]

Have you seen this:

Diabetes Flight 50 launched from Hilo, Hawaii, on 11th July with Douglas Cairns attempting to break the existing record to land in all 50 states of the USA in a Beech Baron BE-58.

http://www.diabetesflight50.org/index.html

If you think people with diabetes are forced to sit on the sidelines you should also check out
Ryan Reed who races NASCAR:

http://www.dexcom.com/heroes/ryan-reed

-Stephen

 

[GroundedDragon]

A cheap and good start is the WL-toys F949 or the F959. Get the one that's BNF(bind n fly) and get a Flysky/Turnigy i6 transmitter/receiver. You have to change protocol on the i6 but that's easy. Flight times for the F949 is upwards to 20 minutes / charge and the batteries and spares are cheap. The i6 is also great for simulators, just get the USB kit.

You can then use the receiver for your second craft.

Links:
http://www.banggood.com/FlySky-FS-i...ansmitter-With-FS-iA6B-Receiver-p-983537.html
http://www.banggood.com/WLtoys-F949...irplane-BNF-Without-Transmitter-p-975914.html
http://www.banggood.com/WLtoys-V931...0mAh-20C-Li-Po-Battery-V931-015-p-944083.html
http://www.banggood.com/22-in-1-RC-Flight-Simulator-Cable-for-Realflight-G7-G6-G5-G4-p-950398.html

Free flightsim with FTplanes:
http://rcdeskpilot.com/download
http://flitetest.com/articles/36-add-on-planes-for-rc-desk-pilot

Put the USB interface in G7 mode for Desk Pilot

Wow not a bad starting point at all it looks like. I actually have and a am really enjoying RealFlight 7.5 and i think that controller can work for the two player/Use your own transmitter modes. that plane looks pretty good to not bad reviews and cheap to fix. guessing i can find a vid or something on how to switch the protocols for the FlySky. Thanks for the links!

 

[GroundedDragon]

Have you seen this:

Diabetes Flight 50 launched from Hilo, Hawaii, on 11th July with Douglas Cairns attempting to break the existing record to land in all 50 states of the USA in a Beech Baron BE-58.

http://www.diabetesflight50.org/index.html

If you think people with diabetes are forced to sit on the sidelines you should also check out
Ryan Reed who races NASCAR:

http://www.dexcom.com/heroes/ryan-reed

-Stephen

I knew about the NASCAR driver but not about Diabetic flight! thats some inspiration right there. Thanks so much for the links!

 

[wlouisharris2000]

The Champ is a good way to start. I would definitely start with a 3 channel plane. I usually recommend the UMX Radian. Once you are ready to build something the FT Flyer is a great plane to start with. If you are looking at simulators, check out Absolute RC. It's a free Iphone/Ipad/Google app. It's actually pretty decent.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rcflightsim.cvall&hl=en

 

[GroundedDragon]

Hey all Got another update for ya.
I Purchased and am waiting for my new WL toys F949 to arrive in the mail. Bought it and a bunch of spare batteries and a smart charger soo hopefully I will have my first RC flight next week!
Thanks again to all of you for all the help and encouragement.

 

[mjmccarron]

Welcome to the Flitetest family! There a plenty here to help you with your quest to begin in RC. As far as full scale, have you considered a sport pilot cert? It doesn't require a medical. You're limited to certain aircraft that meet the light sport category but you still fly. I've been flying full scale since age 14 (I'm 51 now) and it's an experience I wouldn't trade for anything. Keep the dream alive brother!

Best of luck and congrats on your F949.

Mike

 

[GroundedDragon]

Hey again everyone!

I am sooo hooked. finally got some flying in and even though it was less then ideal ((Bit too windy)) I had such a blast! I had to figure out COG and Trim issues but it just made me enjoy it more as i got to trouble shoot and use a bunch of up too this point useless knowledge I have. Also I actually accidentally found a semi local field where people fly and made some new friends there. All together my best first steps into a hobby ever and ones i plan to follow up with one hell of a adventure.

Thanks again for welcoming me and giving me all the amazing advice and pointers. Here is too many years in the sky ahead!