Flight School
Red Rocket Hobby Shop Flight School and Radio Control Airplane Flying Tips
Recommended E-Book “The Beginners Guide to Flying Rc Airplanes”Recommended E-Book “Beginners Guide To Flying RC Helicopters E-Book”
Flight School and Flight Tips:
Here are a few tips to keep you flying safely. If these tips are followed, your flight is sure to be a success the first time!
- Don’t fly in high winds. Most radio control airplanes (and other light r/c airplanes) cannot handle high winds. This is because the majority of beginner aircraft are too light and easily pushed around in the wind. Try to fly in winds less than 10 mph. This tip is especially useful if you are a beginning pilot.
- Keep the airplane upwind and close enough to see. If you fly an R/C airplane too far away, it becomes difficult to see which way it is headed and it is easy to crash when this happens. Keep it close enough to see it and try to keep it upwind on your first few flights.
- Fly where you have enough room. Don’t fly in small areas until you have enough r/c flight experience. If a sudden gust of wind comes up you may find yourself on a collision course with the neighbor’s house, car or even worse. Pick a flying field that has plenty of room and few obstacles for your first few flights.
- Don’t fly too high! Keep your airplane low enough so that if high winds or other trouble develops, you can descend and land quickly. If you fly to high you could go out of range and lose your airplane, or lose visual contact with the aircraft.
- Maintain your airplane. If you crash your radio control airplane, it is time to check everything over before taking to the skies again. Radio Control airplanes can handle a great deal of abuse, but they often cannot survive a high impact crash into the ground or an object. If you crash at high speeds and the airplane stops suddenly it usually bends the tail boom which will cause your airplane to not fly correct. If this happens, inspect your airplane closely and check to ensure that the tail boom and tail is straight. Make sure the control surfaces on the tail move free and correct. If you are in doubt, contact your hobby shop for help or call the number in your owner’s manual for tips on repairing the tail boom. You will know you have a damaged tail boom because when you launch your aircraft it will not climb and usually flies straight into the ground.
- Select the right plane for your experience level. We offer many high quality trainer planes with state of the art anti crash technology and other features designed to help you succeed on your first flights.
- Don’t spiral! Keep your turns gentle and shallow during your first few flights. A spiral is probably one of the top causes of r/c airplane crashes. In a steep turn/spiral an r/c airplane will descend rapidly and quickly. If you find yourself entering a spiral take these corrective actions IMMEDIATELY: 1. Remove all throttle so the engine will idle or stop. 2. Apply rudder briskly in the opposite direction the airplane is turning and level the wings. 3. With wings level add power and resume normal flight. DO NOT: “pull up” or add up elevator if you are flying an airplane with elevator pitch (up and down) control. For some pilots it is a natural reaction to pull up to gain control. Just as in a real airplane, this will accelerate the turn/spin and make the plane descend even faster and possibly stall the wings if they are not stalled already.
- Do a range test. Before your first flight of the day, have a flying partner hold your plane or radio and walk at least 100 feet away and make sure there are no problems with radio reception aboard your aircraft. Also check to make sure there are no debris trapped between the tail, and the moving control surfaces. Check to make sure your propeller is securely fastened.
- Don’t duplicate channels! Some beginner planes have assigned radio channels. Make sure you are not operating on the same channel as your friend or someone else flying in the area. With the new radio technology we have available now, most of our new planes have digital radio technology which has eliminated the need to worry about interference.