I can't be bothered to post a picture but you can ask a Thumb-index flyer at your club to show you. My Futaba FF8 has 4 switches per side and I can operate all of them with my middle fingers or third fingers. The three dial switches in the middle are a pain either way you hold it. I would have prefered slides there.
Well it's no problem with my FF8.
Tell her "well done". Here in GB kids used to be really cr.., err "bad" at spelling.
Dear Dipstick, Of course you can fly how you want, you can also type the keyboard and pick your nose with your thumbs if you prefer. If you find the Nintendo way easier, use it. Knurled stick tops are also useful for those who fly index-thumb with the thumb partially on the top and the index against the back of the stick,btw.
It's no problem with the sets I use.
Well since you have apparently spent your whole modelling life flying with thumbs, you're sure not going to be able to change to what's generally accepted as the more precise method in a few minutes. Do as you please.
???
If you can't flick the switches easily with one finger there's got to be something wrong with it (or your finger), or it's a cheapo with stiff switches.
It's about 30 at the moment.
I'd certainly keep one eye on your plane when you are flying.
If you read the OP's first post you'll find he's had to repair the wing after a crash.
A few hours ago we straightened out a chap's tailplane under the car exhaust because it had warped so badly in storage.
If you have trouble seeing as well as dexterity problems then RC cars might be a more suitable hobby for you.
"Doug McLaren" wrote
I'm in the "do whatever you want" camp, but I always felt insecure, and like I would slip and crash, if I used my thumbs.
Ere Tux! You wanna get on the M25 to get some practice out of that middle finger !!!
From the age of 8, my ole' man tought me to use my finger and thumb - haven't used anything since. Would try to teach others the same, but if they are not comfortable with it, doesn't matter as long as they are par-taking in the hobby ;-)
Tim
Simple answer I would have thought! If you hold your Tx then you have only your thumbs available. Use a neck strap, then you have spare fingers.
P
If you are going to be sensible then we are not going to talk to you.
Seriously.... I do use a neck strap and just use my thumbs, never slipped off a stick yet and it feels both comfortable and natural.
However, unlike some I never said this was the only approved method, or anything less than using finger and thumb was inviting disaster.
There are those who do... and there are those who don't and I would be amazed if some top display pilots don't fly with just thumbs on the sticks.
Reg
Been there - done that and developed a blind eye >:-)
Too true, unfortunately our "good friend" doesn't think that any method other than rigidly gripping the sticks twixt finger and thumb is acceptable. We were trying to point out that his supposition doesn't apply to everyone. Indeed do that which works and feels right for you we said.... but that appears not to be an acceptable idea. It also seems mandatory to have banana shaped wings.... don't know why >:-))
Besides it's raining, windy and bloody useless for flying >:-)
Reg
Thirty ! Thirty out of shape planes and dropped transmitters, now that's what I would imagine is a GOOD day at your field.
Does the club have an open day ? It sounds to be better entertainment than the Simpsons.... similar but somehow better >:-))
O.K so.... you are keeping one eye on my plane and one eye on your own so how do you find the Tx you just dropped ?
I guess funny shaped model planes are endemic in your club ! You haven't been teaching building techniques as well, have you ?
Now I have to go figure what the hell is wrong with my building technique that prevents me doing the sort of things you do at your club. Why don't I have to steam my models and then iron them every few months?
Remember.... when building model planes it's the PLANS that roll up NOT the model when you have finished it !!!
Reg
I have no problems with actual vision - pity you don't understand colloquial usage.
As for RC cars, vision is equally important
I also have no dexterity problem - I can use either thumbs or finger and thumb on my Tx sticks - it's just that I, and most of the people in whose company I have flown, prefer thumbs and in over nearly forty years of operation, I have never "fumbled".
Malcolm
Elliptical dihedral was in vogue about forty years ago and if that is a description of banana shaped wings I can go along with that :-)))
Malcolm
Snip
If you look at the pictures in the model magazines I feel sure that you will see some showing pilots doing just that...
...or perhaps my aged memory is playing tricks yet again.
Malcolm
??? If you can't fly index-thumb, then what's widest accepted as the more precise way has to give way to the easier one. I'd be failing a noob if I didn't get him to try the former first. Not come across a single one who couldn't do it right from the start
Sure, it's intuitive to just grab the transmitter and prod with the thumbs, but then it's also more intuitive to hold a golf club like an axe and a fork like a spear.
I've seen people play guitars with their teeth..there is no 'right' way to do anything. Just ways, all of which have advantages and disadvantages.
Spot on that man ! >:-)
I also get cards from a charity which are painted by people using their mouth or feet.... our "friend" would have them whipped into a more normal method if they attended his club !
Reg
It's only more precise to those who advocate it... that's 'cos it FEELS right to them. To those who find it feels far from right then it is a cumbersome and imprecise method because it doesn't work for them.
It's not brain science... you pick the damned thing up and a couple of minutes playing establish the most effective method for THAT person. Those bludgeoned into using it by your good self, 'cos they're newbies and go along with what they are told, may in fact be hampered for life by your interference.... all those potential display, aerobatic and 3D pilots messsed up right at the start !
You sound like the old fashioned teachers who made left handed kids write with the right hand 'cos that was the proper way to do it ! They got belted everytime they used their right hand for anything.
Ah, I see you don't understand that either.... The golf club is held like an axe 'cos the player is showing his true feelings towards the game.... just watch them on telly and count how many times they smile - nuff said !
The fork is indeed used as a spear, it's an eel fork and that is the way it is used to catch them.
Reg
If you'd actually looked into it, you'd have found that those who change, virtually always change to index-thumbs, not the other way around. Why do you think that might be?
ITYM "left"....
So that's how you eat? Do you use a knife?
Big Snip
Yes, and a spoon - forks were a very late introduction to eating etiquette, but that doesn't make them mandatory.
Malcolm
So who said anything is mandatory? Index-thumb is simply accepted as the more precise method and it's usable by all noobs (also useful if they start on heli, or if they take up full-size, which is *never* flown with thumbs).
Like I said: Thumbers convert to index-thumb but next to nobody converts to the thumb way, explain that.
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