Yesterday was a great day for flying! It was overcast and dull, but there was no wind at all. I called the airport to find my trainer and he was gone for the day, so me and dad took our planes and went out anyhow. I've only been out flying once and I have never taken off or landed on my own, so the decision to go out without my trainer was a big one. We got there and I fuel'd up my plane, cranked her up and off she went! The first take-off was easy, but a little scary. I was headed for a big lump of tall grass beside the runway and pulled up in time to miss it by a foot or 2.

I flew it up a few mistakes high, trimmed her out (I had my control horns mounted backward before, so I had to re-trim it after I fixed em) and flew around for a while, bringin her down after a few minutes (forgot to put the clock on it) to a nice but hard landing. The prop struck and she shut off, but it was still without a scratch. I was elated!

I did a couple loops, a split-s, an immelman, cuban half-eight, and a whole bunch of figure eights.

I took off and landed about a half-dozen times all together without a hitch. A couple of those were dead-stick. My engine was running too lean and shut off a couple of times in flight. All were hard prop-strike landings though. Maybe next time.

I was suprised to notice how many people stopped to watch what we were doing. The road beside the airport isn't busy by any means, but of the 10 or twelve vehicles that I noticed passing by, all but a couple stopped to watch for a few minutes.

I just had to share the excitement with you guys. This group has been a tremendous help!
I still haven't gotten in touch with my trainer. I can't wait to hear what he says.

On a side note, dad lifted his plane off for about 4 seconds before he nosed it down into the runway. A replace crash, not rebuild. I let him fly mine around a little while after I had taken it WAAAAAAY up in the air. A bunch of mistakes high. He's not disappointed though. I think he secretly wished he had bought an electric to begin with.

Hey! Congratulations, there is nothing better in the world than a truly succesful flying day! Great job man! What are you flying?

Goldberg Eagle 2. I have a Futaba 6exas radio and a O.S. 40 LA Engine. I can't believe I had the control horns on backward to start with..

Congrats Chad. Most of us here are "have been there, done that" persons, so we know the feeling. Glad to hear you are progressing.

congrats , i too learned to fly on an eagle 2 and it had a blue os la40 when they first came out , great time , i too have put the control horns on backwards...but like he said , been there , done that.

Well, that makes me feel much better. I thought that was one of those things that are so obvious that nobody misses it.

I talked to my trainer last night and he was proud of me. "You did loops? Why is it that you already know how to fly? Where did you get this from?" I beamed. Can't wait to get out again.

Originally Posted by chadtheguru

. . . . I've only been out flying once and I have never taken off or landed on my own. . . . . I did a couple loops, a split-s, an immelman, cuban half-eight. . . . .

All on your second outing!!! I'm impressed. It took me 30 -40 flights buddied up with an instructor before I soloed.

Really? 30-40 flights? Wow. I did have the benefit of many hours of fms with an old realflight g1 radio.

BTW, the plane was a little hard to turn over laterally when doing immelmans and stuff. I'm assuming its because of the deep dihedral. Am I right?

Nice one Chad!,

Good to hear about your solo's. It takes pluck to go for it like that with no backup.

I too spent a lot of time on a sim before flying, I started with a heli , a sim , and a hours and hours sipping tea and learning to hover.

I have a low wing with a little 4 stroke now and I love it, I've also smashed a few, I try to beat the best number of flights with the next plane, I hope this one goes well.

Originally Posted by chadtheguru

Really? 30-40 flights? Wow. . . .

Yup, us old geezers tend to be a little slow on the uptake!!!

My instructor asked me if I was ready to solo after about 15 flights, but I refused, feeling that I needed a few more practices on take-offs and landings.

My instructor was probably one of the best in the business. For one whole flying session (about 4 flights), he had me disconnect the ailerons, and fly rudder/elevator only. For another session, he would put my plane into very unusual attitudes, and hand it over to me. He'd watch what I did, and then would suggest some other things I could have done to recover. One day, I flew inverted only (except for take-offs and landings ). On another session, he would cut the engine and have me dead-stick it from all different dirwections and altitudes. By the time I was ready to solo, I'd recovered my plane from so many strange situations, I was ready for anything. He was very thorough with my training.

It really paid off, though, because I've only had 1 crash since I soloed. That was with my Pitts Special. It all of a sudden went into a "death spiral" which refused to be recoverable. I think a servo froze up.

I like ViperPilots instructor, and am hoping that mine is much like his. So far, he has had us just doing race track patterns, but last night he told me that HE controls the throttle, and can have the rudder, ailerons and elevator. He then would have me cut the throttle and have me get the plane parallel with the runway in a landing orientation. When I started he told me that he would not show me any tricks, those I would have to learn on my own, but he would make it so I was comfortable with any attitude my plane would be in.

I like this as I have my little electrics to play around with to do the stunts.

Yes, Tango, I was very lucky having a top-notch thourough instructor. His time and patience, along with my concerns for early soloing, has paid off in the long run. Once you find a good instructor, get all you can from him. Experience is worth its' weight in gold!!!

With conflicting schedules, I'm having a hard time getting time with my trainer. I've only been able to fly with him once (the first time out).