Flying Tips for Electric Rc Airplanes.

I've been flying electric rc airplanes for awhile now and there's one thing a beginner pilot can always count on, you will crash many many many times. Its not a question of if, but when. In order to save you a lot of money in repairs or replacement planes, here are some flying tips I've found useful.

1. Always fly in an open field. Soccer fields, football fields, school yards and your local park are great places to fly. When you don't fly in open fields you risk crashing into tree branches, buildings, on rooftops and even the pavement. All of those things are very unforgiving to a plastic airplane.

2. Never fly on windy days. The best days to fly are when there's no wind or very little. The bigger the plane you have, the more stable it will be. The wind can knock around smaller planes more easily than larger ones.

3. Never fly into the sun. You'll almost always lose sight of your airplane.

4. Wait until you've climbed a good 40-50 feet before executing turns. Sometimes when you turn, the plane will lose altitude, execute a turn to low and you may not be able to pull it up in time.

5. Try not to fly your plane over rooftops or trees until you become more experienced. Often times you'll think your high enough to pass over them, but your not. The farther your flying away from you, the harder it is to gage how high you are.

6. Flying electric rc airplanes is a lot like driving rc cars, but a little more difficult. Often times when your trying to turn, the plane doesn't respond right away. Give it a second or two and then it should start to turn.

7. Give yourself plenty of distance for take offs and landings. It takes time for a plane to climb and descend..

8. Flying electric rc airplanes is a lot of fun, but its difficult to learn on your own. If you want to get good fast, take lessons from an instructor. Most clubs have experienced flyers that are more than delighted to help out beginners.

Flight Story that Ended in Tragedy.

Last weekend I took my aerobird challenger out flying. The weather conditions were perfect. I have two aerobird challengers and I couldn't get one to fly. I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out whats wrong with it, but it never left the ground.

I got out the other plane and it took off immediately. I must of had that plane close to 100 yards in the air above me. I was flying it in circles, but when you get up that high its hard to tell what the planes doing. It could have been flying upside down for all I knew.

Then it happened. For about 5 seconds, I noticed the plane was not responding to my controls. And then it went into a nose dive and came crashing into the ground. The impact was so loud, I think the neighbors across the street probably heard it.

I figured out the battery pack went dead and of course when that happens the propellar stops spinning and you have no control over the steering functions.

Needless to say, it was a spectacular site. It stinks that I have to get a new plane, but I'll just take it as a lessoned learned the hard way.

Tip: Carry a stop watch with when your flying. If your battery pack only last about 12
minutes, bring your plane down soon after 10.

Never fly to high where you can't see what the planes doing very well.