New pilot need advice

[dvdk87]

Hey guys

I have been on the lookout for nice little flying fields for the past few weeks and i have spotted a few but i need to know a little more before deciding to fly at one. I'd like to know the best size of a field for a new pilot to have fun and not to have to worry too much about crashing into trees??? I'd like to know what size wheels i should buy, and how long the grass should be?? And finally I would like to know what the tolerance is for bumps in the field???

I fly a trike, Aerobat 40 and I have about 1.5 hours flying experience :?

sorry if this seems a little rushed but I have written this thing 3 times and my computer keeps screwing up... i think I have a virus :cry:

Thanks for your time

[scaleguy]

Find the field the local club flies at, join and fly three. You get free instruction... your airplane will last longer. :D

They will have all the answers there. :D

[Canhos]

When your done flying three, go fly there, at the field. If you fly a glow "in a nice park" you will soon have a bunch of the neighbours over yelling and screaming at you to shut the thing down. It's not a good way to learn.

It's alot cheaper and more enjoyable if you can find a club near you and join it. You'll need to join MAAC, but it's only 75 dollars a year (less if your under 16 or 18). Club dues are usually around 100, but it can vary alot. For the 200 you spend in memberships, you gain a lot.

1) you gain access to a whole bunch of guy's who will typically trip over one another to help you out in some way.
2) you will not have to deal with disgruntled neighbours on your own, usually the clubs will have the support of the local parks board, or the municipality, and have right to fly where they are. (with conditions of course, on of which is always MAAC)
3) you will not crash as much with instruction. Flying time will be way more than fixing time, which is typically not the case if you learn on your own.

Those are the big ones I can think of. There are about a thousand more good reasons.

To specificaly adress your questions.

Runway, is typically 75' wide by 300-400 feet long. Grass will be an inch or two in length.

Flying area, 5 acres to fly over is typically lots, but it's tight when your learning. More is better. You also don't want to be close to residential areas when you fly (especially on your own). If you get out of control (you will I gaurantee it) you don't want to have your plane crash into someones back yard and injure or kill someone. (not likely, but possible, and when you are out of control, anything is possible).

Please try to join a club.

Good Luck.

[Ken Currell]

Hi.

Joining MAAC and the local MAAC affiliated club also brings a 5 million dollar insurance policy with it. That alone should convince you not to fly somewhere else without any insurance at all.

Cheers

[hillmanr2]

Like everyone said fly at a designated place only. With no instruction you will crash!!!!!!!!!!!
assume club dues at $125 first year
MAAC insurance $75
total $200

Learn to fly in a park on your own and replace 3 planes @ $250 = $750
Of coarse if you hit someone or something it could cost much, much more

[dvdk87]

Maybe I did not make myself clear. I am a new pilot, but I have flown before. I stopped flying at the closest field because it was quite far away. I had to drive over an hour to get to the field. Thats two hours driving in an SUV for an hour of flying. So I really need a closer place to fly at. Are you guys still sure i should go to the field??? I live in the middle of nowhere so i am not worried about hitting anyone or anything.

[Canhos]

Do you have permission to fly where you plan on flying? If you can get it, in writing (unless of course you own it) MAAC will cover you as far as I know. YOu must follow the MAAC guidelines though. Your home insurance will not cover you.

Liability issues aside (they are real, and do happen) You will need an area as I mentioned in my previous post. The more clear room the better. An area the size of a soccer field is doable. You will want room around it (no tall trees in the near area).

Myself, I've driven an hour each way to fly lots. I don't just go for an hour. I'll go all day. I BS with the guy's more than I fly, but if I choose to, I can easily have 8 or 10 flights. When I get into trouble, i also have the option to holler for a hand. I have witnessed this twice in the past week. Guy's had a servo fail in flight, and they hollered for help. Someone ran over, and talked them into a gentle crash. One plane came out of the "landing" with a couple punctures in the wing (total value around $1000). The other one was an Eagle trainer that did a very spectacular landing into a tree. It went home in a bag. This was at 2 different fields with 2 different clubs.

While you may not be concerned about hitting anything, there is the very real possibility of a battery problem with your receiver. This could mean your plane is flying without control. Even a trainer, with a full tank of fuel, can travel quite a long way. I never worry about hitting anything close to me. I know if it's close I'm in some sort of control. It's if it were to get away from me that I worry. I don't really know whats 5, 10 or 25 miles away from my field. (I've seen this too, battery shorted in flight, and a trainer traveled a good 5 miles, landing safely in a farmers field).

All of the guy's that have responded so far love to fly, and they all go to great lengths to do so in a sanctioned field so they can just fly. No worries about the "what if's". We all know we are covered in the event of an accident. That is why we all advocate MAAC and clubs.

With population desity going nuts in various regions of Canada, suitable flying sites are getting harder and harder for those of us "in the middle of somewhere". We need to rely on MAAC and the clubs to keep our fields. All it takes is for one isolated incident, even out in nowhere, to cause our fields to be in jeopardy.

Not to nag or anything, but I'm just expaining our position.

[scaleguy]

Well written Michael... even though you beet me up on my fly three typo! :wink: :lol:

I to travel1 hour + to get to the field I fly at even though there is a club 15 minutes from my house. I go all day as well and like you enjoy the company of other modelers. I fly IMAC and we have 5 of us of like mind in the Flying Tigers, that is why I go there. OMFC is closer but no one flying IMAC. :( :(

If you are talking foamie park fliers then a soccer field is more then enogh as stated. A flyawa on one of thses is not much cause for concern. A flyaway even on a .40 size model is another story.

Besides there is the other safety factor of flying on your own.. not a good idea. What if that trainer prop slashed your wrist and you were by yourself?

If everyone at my club goes home and I am last one there I stop flying, pack up and come back another day.

I fly a trike, Aerobat 40 and I have about 1.5 hours flying experience

Sorry but this hardly qualifies you as a "Pilot". You need to build up some experience under the guidance of an Instructor or like stated above will be trashing planes at some point. Do the MAAC Wing Program and earn 7your Wings, you'll end up happier and less likely to quit. :)

[Ken Currell]

Well said Canhos!

If you find a field to fly at get a few guys together and start a new club. That's what I did when I started the Whitby Aero Modellers. There were other clubs around but most never bothered to register their fields. Each club has a number with MAAC based upon the order in which they were registered with MAAC. Whitby is #4.

Go get that field! Form a club! Register with MAAC and get that number along with the 5 million dollars of insurance that comes with it.

Flying with friends is more fun.

Cheers

[GoodDad]

I fly at club MARS situated in mascouche near biside the 640. Very satisfy,
All people helping each other and free instructor to help newbi.
Go see the web site:http://clubmars.webhop.org/

[dutchy]

I also agree with the other guys. When I started out in this hobby I thought I would fly on my own, over a farmers field, have peace and quiet and nobody saying you should do this and that. Lucky for me, my local hobby shop really persuaded me to join a club. The benefits are enourmous, I had an excellant instructor which saved me at least a dozen model aircraft. The people that say you should do this and that are only trying to make things easier for you, plus the flying fields are excellant and well maintained for you. The club dues and insurance are minimal when you fly with good people who in the end will probably save you thousands of dollars in damaged equipment. Not only that, it is a whole lot safer flying with buddies. We all have bad days and things can turn bad really fast. I think the hour drive is worth it, try to make a day out of it.

[Mitch Cronin]

dvdk87,

I taught myself to fly in pretty much the same situation you sound as if you're in... These guys are all quite right, of course, but perhaps they don't really get the picture of being in the middle of nowhere? Birds, and bugs in trees aren't about to sue you. :wink:

I started with a gravel road... that didn't work very well... I moved up to a friends 10 acre field... shaped like a bowling alley and lined with poplar trees... That wasn't too bad, but the trees are a drag if you accidentally stray too close, or behind them even...

The best solution for me was to drive my little lawn tractor into a farm field left to it's own whims... and cut a swath about 40 ft wide by about 100 ft long (with an unobstructed approach on both sides)... I found the cut area, after several cuts, and with 3 inch wheels on a 40 size trainer (modified to be a tail dragger), was eventually good enough to take off from, but initially it was tough... Landings at first were usually somewhere near the cut swath in the tall weeds... but eventually I was able to make the thing set down on my "runway".

"Landing" a hardy trainer in tall grass or weeds usually won't hurt a darned thing. But trees, or corn will often improve your repairing skills. :wink: ... Likewise with soybean fields... They grow sparse and leave lots of hard ground around them.. they'll snag the gear and bring the nose down right-now like...

I glossed over it, but I think the tailwheel idea is probably one of the biggest deals if you're flying anywhere that's not a well prepared surface... With tricycle gear airplanes the nose wheel becoomes a problem... bends back, lowering the nose so the prop can snag... and often it won't let you steer it on the rough ground either. You'll need to move the main gear forward a bit... Best to remove the nosewheel, add the tailwheel, then find where the mains need to be to get the CofG right.
And for tires, think "tundra tires". 8) ...light and big.

Cheers, and best of luck.

Mitch

[dvdk87]

Thank you very much for your reply, I am in the middle of nowhere and people don't seem to understand what that means. I know I should join a club but I am the kind of person who must learn the hard way first :shock: . I will take your advice once I find just the right place. If I end up crashing my and I am sure I will, I may consider flying at a flying field. But at the moment I live far away from the nearest flying field, and I don't like the idea of driving for a few hours to go and fly my little plane. If you want a sure way of dropping the hobby, driving all day to fly for a little is the way to go.
When I flew in the winter I had a blast, landing on an ice covered field was great and I was hooked, the field was 5 minutes away and I loved it. The last thing I wanna do is spend the whole day driving to and fro...

[Stevehilton]

I tried flying in the middle of nowhere and it sucks when you hit the only tree in the area, have to walk half a mile alone to get the bits and then put it back together alone with no advise. Do a proper field. Its worth the drive and the friendships.