In the Beginning !!

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In the beginning.... well ok a couple of years ago  my mate Matt , decided he was  going to build an RC Glider to fly around the hills on  Lantau Island in Hong Kong.  See the photo of his newly constructed 2M Angel to the right.

The first flights were a bit of an experiment in understanding how these things flew, but after a few weeks of legging it up and down the hills on search and rescue missions and all night repair sessions we started having some success.

I should mention right now that we did not have access to instructors. If we had been able to take advantage of a few lessons the learning process would have been a whole lot more pleasant. So if you do know someone who is capable of helping out or can get down to the local club make sure you do. There is nothing more frustrating than trashing your plane first time out !!

Generally though learning to fly is fun so just relax and enjoy it ....after all it's just a model plane and it won't be the end of the world WHEN you meet the ground a little harder than anticipated.

Now a quick word about ' foamies'. These are planes made of EPP foam, are very durable and are something I highly recommend to any beginner. They are just magic for those less than perfect landings you 'WILL' make when starting out. I have spent hours  flying an excellent little plane called a DAW HLG 1-26 and Matt   flew a pretty mean 2M 1-26 version of the same plane.

Check out the DAW 1-26  if you have not already done so.  I have also heard the DAW TG3 trainer is pretty darn good. So there you go a totally unprompted plug for the DAW stable of 'foamie' gliders ....(just send a blank cheque later Mr Sanders)

Ok, other suggestions for us 'newbies',  well start surfing and check out   those RC sites on our  links page. There really are some good sites  that go into much more detail than I have.

Oh yeah, radio gear and set up. I would recommend buying a mid-range 4 channel TX (transmitter) so you can set up your Rudder-Elevator on the right hand stick .....please no ailerons to start with.   I use a 4 Channel Futaba Sky Sports which is reasonably cheap and has a good name, but there are a lot of other perfectly adequate sets around, just make sure it is 4 Channels not two.  I find it much more intuitive having the primary controls on one stick and if you go to a club you will find everyone flies that way.

We would also recommend buying 'ARF'. So what's that you say ? The acronym stands for 'Almost Ready To Fly' and means the kit normally just needs some covering and a bit of epoxy in the important places. Most foamies are almost 'ARF' but may need a few hours of sanding and covering but that's still ok. ARF makes sense because starting out you just 'wanna go fly' and not see hundreds of hours of bench work trashed on the first flight.

 

 

 

 

A few words about our first planes and the trials and tribulations of learning to fly !!

 

The 2M Angel on the first outing

Matt with his new 2M Angel. It's gone to heaven now but the wings live on attached to my Angel.

The first launch of my 1.5M Angel

Launching my 1.5M Angel (the yellow brick) straight towards my apartment building ....I left the window open just in case !

 

A real low pass ....Flying on the west side of the ridge which looks out towards HK's new airport

Yours truly making a 'very low' pass !!

Made it through that low pass ....good luck not skills !

Phew .....made it !!

Flying over the Apartments in Hong Kong

Matt flying the 2M Angel home to his apartment