R/C Beginner's FAQThis is a simple guide to starting in Radio Controlled Aircraft Modelling. There is a lot of good information out here on the Web but much of it is American. So I have written this from a British perspective because it can sometimes be difficult to tell how much of the US-based information is still relevant over here. I have also provided a simple glossary of terms including a number of US/UK differences in terminology which can be confusing. Let me give you the highlights up front.
Before you read my comments check out Howard Sullivan's 'Beginner's Guide to R/C Flight' on the R/C Flight Unlimited website. It is first class and I am not going to try to cover all of the same ground, I'd never do it as well. It will explain the basics of flight and what all the equipment looks like and does. Come back here when you've read that and I'll give you a few more pointers, particularly where things are different in the UK. O.K. you're back ! Getting StartedIt may sound a little strange now you're all fired up and ready to go, but the first step is NOT to dash out and buy a plane, engine and radio. This is the order of things to do, at least in my opinion.
Joining a clubBy far the easiest, safest and least expensive way of learning to fly is to join a club and get some instruction. Instruction is always free but in most cases would be worth paying for. The ideal training situation is using a "buddy box" lead linking your radio with the instructor's radio. The instructor has a switch which he presses to allow you to control the plane so he can take over any time you get in trouble (and you will !) just by releasing the switch. Since not all radios have this facility and different manufacturers do it differently this is a good reason for selecting your club first and checking what equipment they use for training before buying your first set. So the first step is to find a local club. If there is a model shop local to you they will be able to help so go and see them first (but don't be tempted into buying a plane they just happen to have in stock. Check with club memebers and your soon to be instructors first). In many areas this will be all you need to do. If there is no local model shop then the best thing to do is to get in contact with the BMFA (British Model Flying Association, more on them later) either via their Web site www.bmfa.org.uk or by phone on (0116) 244 0028. More and more clubs, like my own club Reading MAC, have a presence on the Web. The BMFA site has pointers to most of them. In addition the BMFA folks will send you a list of the model clubs near you together with a contact name and phone number for each. When phoning the club contacts please chose a sensible time of day, most people work and do not appreciate phone calls at times like midnight or 6 a.m. The most important questions to ask are probably:
Obviously it's a good idea to go and see the club and it's flying field and chat to some of the members if you can. Most people are happy to talk about modelling if you approach them while they're not too busy but in many areas they are used to ignoring idle spectators staring at them so you may well have to make the first move. Choosing your equipmentHaving joined a club it is now worth checking what sort of plane and particularly radio equipment your instructor recommends. The radio gear is important because you want something that can be used with a "buddy box" and it is also helpful to have the same "Mode" as your instructor and/or most people in the club. Most modern equipment has 'Buddy box' capability built-in, you just need a lead to connect the 2 transmitters. The club may well have the lead you need, if not it won't be very expensive or, if you can handle a soldering iron you can build one yourself. As you've seen on R/C Flight Unlimited, Mode means basically how are the controls placed on the radio 'sticks'. In the UK you will find that Mode 2 (throttle/rudder left, elevator/aileron on the right) is most common in the South. The further north you go the more likely it becomes that everyone will be flying Mode 1. Which planeGET A TRAINER. However tempting it is to start with a scale Spitfire or a really aerobatic Fun Fly or something like that, it is not a good idea. Get a simple to fly, easy-to-repair plane designed to learn on. If you are as good as you think, you can soon move up to your ideal plane though many people (like me for example) find their trainers last them for ages. Having said that the choice is huge. There seem to be hundreds of trainers and more appearing every day. Talk to the folks at the club and see what they recommend. Talk to the people at the model shop, here are few of the more popular UK-specific trainers :
3 or 4 channelsA 3 channel trainer will have controls for the rudder, elevator and throttle. It will also have quite a lot of dihedral and so be quite stable. A 3 channel trainer will probably be a bit easier to fly initially. If you have not taken the rest of my advice and are determined to learn without an instructor than I would go for one of these. It will be a bit more forgiving of some of the mistakes you will make. A 4 channel trainer will have ailerons in addition to the rudder, elevator and throttle of the 3 channel model. If you have a club and an instructor then I would suggest a 4 channel trainer. Although it is not quite so easy to fly it is perfectly possible to learn on and will probably last you rather longer. A good 4ch trainer is remarkably lively when you have learnt to fly and many will perform most of the aerobatic manoeuvres you can think of. What power/sizeFor most people the .40 size trainer is about right. That is a plane designed for a standard 2-stroke Glow Engine, about .40 size (that's .40 cubic inches or about 6 cc). You can get others bigger or smaller and obviously the models they fly are also bigger or smaller. Pros and cons are :
But what about electric power ? It is possible to get a number of trainers now which "Fly electric". They are generally on the small side and you will need some flight batteries which are not cheap. They do have some advantages though. They are not noisy, smelly or oily so are much better if you just want to nip out at lunchtime for a quick flight. Electrics are also usually classed as silent flight and many clubs have unlimited or at least extended hours for silent flight. I.e. time restrictions only apply to I/C powered planes. The main downside is that flight times tend to be rather shorter (6-8 minutes for electric against up to 15 minutes for glow powered). This may not be a problem initially, you'll find that even 5 minutes is quite hard work. I was against electric flight a few years ago, being a strong IC scale person but in the past couple of years electric scale aircraft have become more scale like ans with power plants that can now rival IC power there really is no argument against electric.....except maybe they don't sound as good as a good 4 stroke. Having said that with more people worrying about noise they are the answer to a lot of clubs issues. Building and setting upAs you've seen the choice is whether to build a kit or assemble an ARF/ARTF model. There are pros and cons to either approach. A kit will take you longer, but you will have a real sense of achievement and learn more about how models go together. This could be very useful if you have the bad luck to crash (and most people do at some time) as you will have a far greater understanding of how to repair your plane. Most of the instructions for beginners kits are very good these days and will provide very detailed step-by-step instruction to help you through your first model. On the other hand an ARF model will get you flying faster but may be difficult to repair if you crash, especially if the fuz is glass fibre and you have no experience in repairing this kind of material. Whichever you choose, you probably need to do a little gluing and you will need to fit the radio equipment and adjust a few things. So let's get some of the associated terminology out of the way. The most commonly used glues these days are CA (cyanoacrylate "instant glue"), epoxy and aliphatic. Standard PVA wood glue is sometimes used but aliphatic is very similar bit dries much faster. CA glues come in several viscosities, thin, medium and thick. The setting times for these range from 5 to 30 seconds. They all work best for wood to wood with fairly well fitting joints. They eat plastic foam (as in foam wings) almost instantly. Since you use very little of them they are very light. But beware, the fumes given off by CA as it sets are fairly unpleasant and some people become quite allergic to them. The symptoms are usually tightness in the chest, inability to breathe properly and various flue-like effects, runny nose, itchy eyes etc. Use in a well ventilated area and if you get any of these symptoms be careful. Epoxy. There are 2 sorts of epoxy, the normal adhesive and the epoxy used for skinning models which is much thinner. They are all fuel-proof and very strong. They are also very heavy. Epoxy is useful with foams, where not much else works well, and for many materials other than wood (e.g. gluing plastic snakes). The adhesives are specified by time (5 minute, 30 minute etc). There isn't very much difference in the strength (the longer time is slightly stronger). You need to be aware that the time given is the setting time. You have considerably less real working time than that. 5 min epoxy will give you about 2 minutes to get all the glue you have mixed onto the parts and everything accurately in place. After that it will be too sticky to use. There are some people who are allergic to epoxies. The symptoms are sometimes similar to those for CA but more commonly involve painful skin rashes. An allergy usually only occurs after considerable exposure but once it starts it never goes away. Once allergic even very small amounts of epoxy can cause quite severe symptoms. Aliphatics. Look and act much like PVA white wood glue but set faster (2 hours against overnight). Compared with the other glues they are still slow and therefore require you to plan your work a bit better e.g. sort out lots of bits, glue and pin a whole bunch of parts then go for lunch or to bed. They are at least as strong as CA and can be much stronger where the joints are not a very good fit since they have some gap filling properties. On the plus side, I have not yet heard of anyone having any medical problems at all with these glues. I use aliphatics whenever I don't need the specific properties of the other glues i.e. much of the time, though for electrics the weight saved using good joints and thin CA sometimes tempts me away. There is now a glue related to these called Superphatic which has many of the characteristics of CA. It's thin so will work into joints which means you can assemble the joint then apply the glue. It dries reasonably quickly but still takes minutes rather than seconds. I use it a lot. R/C terminology
|