Radio Control: Sport Aerobatics
WHEN you went out to the flying field the last time, did you just take everything off charge, load the car, drive to the field, unload the car, fuel up the airplane, turn on the radio system, start the engine and take off? That's what I often do too. However, we're both asking for trouble with that procedure. When is the last time you did a complete functional and safety check of your aircraft system? The reliability of today's airplanes, radios and engines has lulled us into not checking to make sure everything is working as it should. When I started in this hobby more than 25 years ago, we considered it a good day if we got in a flight or two and brought the airplane home in one piece. That's no exaggeration, either. It was almost two years after I started in the RC hobby before I had my first "good" day. Either I didn't get the airplane in the air or it was in one or more extra pieces when the day was over.
Radio Control: Sport Aerobatics
FOR the past several months there have been two recurring topics in the club newsletters I receive. Fun Fly events and flight instructor shortages seem to be common among many clubs. There seems to be almost two diametrically opposing philosophies about Fun Fly events. One group favors events in which only the best pilots have a chance of going home with an intact airplane. The other group wants events in which the novice flier has a chance to beat the club hot-shot but which don't endanger the airplane. I favor the latter because such events encourage the new pilots to compete. One of the best ways to improve flying ability is to be forced to improve by flying under pressure, while the risk to the airplane has been minimized. A pilot who faces a rebuild job on his airplane after a Fun Fly will probably not fly well anyway and could stand to lose a measure of his flying ability by being out of action during aircraft repairs.
Radio Control: Sport Aerobatics
WE ALL have our pet peeves. One of mine is misspelling of the word "preventive." It has been misspelled so often that some dictionaries even acknowledge "preventative" as an acceptable variation of the word. My December 1979 column discussed periodic system maintenance to preclude failures and someone at Model Aviation really stuck it between my ribs when the column contained "preventative maintenance." Sorry, I really do know better. (Editor's Note: Guess we all do, now)
Radio Control: Sport Aerobatics
A COUPLE of months ago I mentioned the instructor problem which some clubs have. Fortunately, my club has an excellent instruction program for beginners, largely due to the enthusiasm of the club instructors. One feature of the program which other clubs might like to copy is the awarding of solo certificates to a novice pilot by his instructor at a club meeting. Blank certificates were printed up by club president Ed Moorman (AMA District 5 A.V.P. for North Florida). Ed types in the appropriate information about the novice pilot and gives the completed certificate to the instructor for presentation. Both the novice pilots and instructors like the idea and your club might like to try it, too.
Radio Control: Sport Aerobatics
ONE of the great things about our hobby is that you get to meet a lot of nice people. In what other hobby are people so willing to give their time to help beginners? Aside from the occasional oddball, the radio control fraternity seems to draw mostly people who are pleasant to be around. That's why I was gratified, but not really surprised, to hear about what F. Duayne Sims' flying buddies did for him. Duayne moved to Indio, California in January 1976. There he met a group of RC fliers who welcomed and assisted him in constructing and learning to fly his first RC airplane.
