Benjamin Rowland
Member
I've flown multi-rotors a lot in the past year, but I've never flown an RC plane. Today, I made my first attempt - with a ducted fan plane.
If you've ever seen the show Top Gear, there's a line they use a lot. "How hard could it be?" they say with childlike innocence and a hint of British sarcasm. I said that to myself as I walked down the street to an empty field with this huge foam jet in my hand. To make it extra fun, there were 10mph winds. Perfect conditions for a newbie to airplanes. When I got started in multi-rotors, I was careful and precise, but today I was filled with a bit of reckless abandon.
There were several failed attempts in the beginning. The nose of the plane had this strange attraction to the ground. Good old Gravity, she never lets up. I walked back home, defeated. After knocking out some editing work in the studio, I decided it was time for a final attempt. It was dusk and the winds had calmed down. My hands were freezing. I made a valiant effort at another hand launch. Crash - more failure.
I decided I'd give it one more heave-ho as the sun dropped well below the horizon. I gave it full throttle this time, pulled back on the elevator stick, and gave it a good toss. Oh - My - God! It was flying! Thank you Lord! After a moment of sheer joy came terror. It was flying away from me, and quickly! This thing doesn't hover! I had to quickly switch my brain out of copter mode and into airplane mode. Wait - I've never flown a plane - I didn't expect it to actually fly - my brain doesn't know airplane mode. Surprisingly, I was able to fly it around for a couple of minutes doing graceless circles, but it flew. It was quite a rush. I made an attempt at a landing because I hadn't bothered to set any type of battery alarm, thinking I would be lucky to fly for 30 seconds. The landing was more of an intentional crash, but it survived.
Multi-rotors will continue to be my focus, but planes just became a new hobby.
[SUP]
Sorry for being a bit off topic, but I had to share this with you guys.[/SUP]
If you've ever seen the show Top Gear, there's a line they use a lot. "How hard could it be?" they say with childlike innocence and a hint of British sarcasm. I said that to myself as I walked down the street to an empty field with this huge foam jet in my hand. To make it extra fun, there were 10mph winds. Perfect conditions for a newbie to airplanes. When I got started in multi-rotors, I was careful and precise, but today I was filled with a bit of reckless abandon.
There were several failed attempts in the beginning. The nose of the plane had this strange attraction to the ground. Good old Gravity, she never lets up. I walked back home, defeated. After knocking out some editing work in the studio, I decided it was time for a final attempt. It was dusk and the winds had calmed down. My hands were freezing. I made a valiant effort at another hand launch. Crash - more failure.
I decided I'd give it one more heave-ho as the sun dropped well below the horizon. I gave it full throttle this time, pulled back on the elevator stick, and gave it a good toss. Oh - My - God! It was flying! Thank you Lord! After a moment of sheer joy came terror. It was flying away from me, and quickly! This thing doesn't hover! I had to quickly switch my brain out of copter mode and into airplane mode. Wait - I've never flown a plane - I didn't expect it to actually fly - my brain doesn't know airplane mode. Surprisingly, I was able to fly it around for a couple of minutes doing graceless circles, but it flew. It was quite a rush. I made an attempt at a landing because I hadn't bothered to set any type of battery alarm, thinking I would be lucky to fly for 30 seconds. The landing was more of an intentional crash, but it survived.
Multi-rotors will continue to be my focus, but planes just became a new hobby.
[SUP]
Sorry for being a bit off topic, but I had to share this with you guys.[/SUP]
So I went and bought another the next day and tried again, but this time knowing what the ailerons were for and all went well... 10 Minutes on a simulator should do you if you are used to R/C although no sensors or GPS stabilty will probably take getting used to? I was used to flying multirotors on KK boards so when I got a WKM it was really strange to fly, almost like it was flying through water? and when you eased off the stick it just stopped, took a while to get used to that.... Yesterday for the first time ever I went slope soaring which consists of throwing a plane with no motor or prop, off a cliff and then flying it:dread: Well that really didn`t sound like a good idea at the time, but let me tell you it was great fun and the hardest part and the most fun is getting it back down to the ground again, it just doesn`t want to come down, it take alot of forethought and is quite a challenge a really fun day no damage and all on one 3s 2200lipo still with power to spare. Think I am hooked on gliders now also :nevreness:
