learned yet another lesson in flying (noob post)

You did a heck of a lot better than me on my first outing! I had the nose crushed before I even got the hang of hand-launching. That first pusher-glider lasted only a few outings, and only spent a total of about

3 minutes flying.

Wind is what got my second plane, a Hobbyzone Scout. I figured that since I was in a field I'd be ok, but the wind just took this little plane and sent it in a huge loop up, over my head, behind me, and stright down to the dirt shoulder of the nearby road, nose-first. It

*seemed* to have only minor damage, but on the next outing the tail boom snapped on the first hard landing - which was also the first launch - and despite numerous efforts to fix it, the plane won't fly. I've been sticking to those cheap, tough, more wind-resistant "Vulcan" gliders you may have seen on Ebay, and had much better luck with them, defects aside. I've had flights of 6-8 minutes at nearly 100', and when conditions are right the planes will soar in a gentle oval with the motors off for up to 45 seconds without losing a huge amount of altitude. I've flown them in wind up to 10mph, but the sight and sound of the whole airframe *flapping* in the wind on turns doesn't appeal to me.

I just bought another one on Ebay, and just repaired the latest nose damage to the replacement model (aka "B-4 Stealth"), which is inferior to the original "Vulcan." I hope to fly again tomorrow.

oh, this wasnt my 1st outing!

my 1st outing was in january...and it went alot like yours sounds.

after that, i spent tons of time on my flight-sim just getting basic hand-eye coordination developed.

my (re)build-time to flight-time has been about 100:1!!!

w

I average about 1:1 now (travel time for flying included), and repairs consist of applying packing tape, and sometimes epoxy, to a cracked or split wing or fuselage. I now have 5 flight battery packs, but only two (I hope) working planes. The last Vulcan I got has a defective receiver (range is 10'), but the seller let me keep it and refunded my purchase price, so when I finally can't patch up the current Vulcan I'll have a brand new airframe to splice the receiver into. I find it's best to go out with two planes, because one always seems to crash or not fly right. ;-)

On Sun, 26 Aug 2007 14:26:42 -0700, walter wrote in :

Thanks for sharing your learning experience.

A year from now, you may have fun playing with the same level of gusts that brought you down today.

I bought a simple anemometer (glass tube, plastic float, external gradations) for about $40 when I came back to the hobby in the mid-90s.

I used it a lot to get some sense of how strong the winds are at our field and what the range of flyability is.

I only take it out once or twice a year now. I've got some other clues that help me decide what to do (airplanes & chairs being blown over are cautionary signs).

We get a lot of wind in our area, so my buddy and I decided that we'd have to make friends with the wind. I got too rambunctious in ~25 mph winds trying to land his trainer vertically. I chickened out about six feet above the ground, got some pilot-induced oscillations going, and did some fixable damage to his plane.

Once I almost let a beginner lose his .40-sized trainer over the nearby reservoir. He just wouldn't make timely turns and I waited too long to start bringing his plane back. We lucked out. The plane ran out of fuel but was able to glide to the dry side of the shore line. It was a loooong walk to retrieve it, but we didn't have to go swimming for it. That taught me a lesson. I keep my students on a shorter leash nowadays.

Marty