Indoor flying

Indoor flying requires the use of rudder a lot. You can't just bank and yank to turn. Keep at it and you will get the hang of it. I believe Realflight G4 has an indoor flying site.

Vance

BTDT, I can relate. Many of us made blue-core planes and tried to paint them a little different. You don't mind a little contact, and it's GOING to happen. mk

Funny you mentioned that, Vance. One of the better flyers in the club who was also flying an ElectriFly Yak54 quickly found that lots of rudder was very helpful to him. He told me he had an easier time trying to do sort of a "flat" turn instead of the usual.

I also now remember noticing that as one of the guys, flying an E-Flite ultra-micro Sukhoi, was making his turns in front of me at my end of the gym, he was using lots of rudder; I could plainly see the rudder deflection on the tiny model. Thanks for the valuable tip! I wished I had asked about indoor flying BEFORE I tried it! :-)

Good flying, desmobob

I now am under the impression that indoor flying is a full-contact sport and the models should be built with that in mind. My next indoor model with have serrated edges on the prop. Maybe I'll call it "The Ginsu" or something like that. Or maybe I'll build one that trails a long piece of detachable wire to foul those damn indoor helis.... :-)

In hindsight, it's kind of funny to look back on last week's indoor flight fantasies of the model floating around in near-slience, doing graceful hi-alpha rolling circles (which I can't begin to do outdoors) in the dead-still air of the quiet and peaceful armory gymnasium.

In reality, it turned out to be more of a scene of chaos and mayhem, with echoing sounds of planes banging off the walls and floor, machine gun bursts of foam being beaten and chewed loudly by spinning propellers and the sounds of moans, groans and laughter interspersed.

I have been flying indoor R/C since 1997, and I can promise you that there are few challenges like it!

Few things can keep your skills as sharp as that will .... NO CHANCE you will get to your regular fields in spring with "rusty" thumbs!

As a group, the guys that duke it out with the 4 walls and ceiling during winter are the bettter pilots.

And , yes, you will have a new appreciaton for what ALL the controls are for! Including, and especially, the rudder and throttle.

The dudes that jam the throttle to full and fly only with the right stick are in for a sudden flying lesson indoors. :)

Dave

n M>

And is this a hoot or not?

:)

Dave

Indeed. :-)

Good flying, desmobob

We alternated between the serene and the chaotic depending on who was flying, if Smola was in the air...look out. mk

It always gets serene when we are picking up debris!

Dave and Vance,

I agree about the rudder and throttle skill being important. I start each season by trying to "re-teach" my left thumb by flying a big high-wing Super Frontier Sr. for a few days using only the rudder for turning. I'm right-handed and I find that it takes several sessions before I can get my left thumb doing things somewhat properly. I think it's very similar to the old "pat your head with one hand while you rub your stomach with the other" trick. With a little practice, it's very easy. But the first time you try it, you might not be successful....

In hindsight, my indoor flying had good reason to be as awful as it was. I only made it to the field twice last season to fly, and only flew a few times each visit. My left hand was WAY out of practice, and my right wasn't doing much better!

I got out to the club field on Monday (just in time; we got more snow on Tuesday) and got in a good hour of flying. I brought a cheap Vietnamese ARF trainer I bought a few years ago for $49. I think it's made of oak or ironwood. :-) (I think it's Obechi, actually. Heavy.) Anyway, I spent the whole time flying with the rudder, and kind of enjoying the 5-10MPH direct cross-runway wind. Maybe I'll have more fun at the next indoor session.

Good flying, desmobob

hehe..

You are correct about the high wing planes..

I have an old Sig Citabria that will teach you VERY quickly what the rudder is for, and when not to use it!

Anctually, most any taildragger wil serve as the "rudder lesson", but the "over square" Aeroncas and Cubs are some of the best "instructors" :)

Enjoy!

Dave