NEW TO FLYING?

GETTING STARTED

If you try a sample flight on one of our trainer airplanes we will provide all the equipment needed. Once you join our club you will need to buy your own aircraft and transmitter.

Before you commit to buying your own aircraft we strongly urge you talk to the instructors at the club. As you will be asking for our help to train you, you should buy something our instructors will be comfortable assisting you with. It needn’t be particularly quick and should have predicable flight characteristics. It should stall gently and be easy to recover. It should be easy to see. A black stealth plane will quickly have you and us loosing orientation.

Your aircraft should be large enough to see at altitude. We will generally be flying quite high up when we start so as to have a chance of recovering the aircraft should the trainee make a mistake and it should have sufficient weight to cope with occasional windy conditions.

Buying something that doesn't have spare parts easily available will be a mistake as you will eventually break something. There are a number of aircraft types that are suitable for trainees but only buy after you’ve met club members and had a discussion about what would be best for you.

WHICH PLANES TO CONSIDER?

A high wing trainer is a good starter plane. Often made from expanded foam (foamies) these are particularly easy to repair with glue.

They are designed to cope with the bumps and bruises of less than perfect landings. Foamies will be equiped with an electric motor.

A trainer plane can also be made of balsa and be equiped with either electric or an internal combustion engine. Balsa wood models often seem to handle windy conditions better but may be more difficult to repair.

A 'pusher' trainer plane has the propeller mounted above the body facing backwards. These often dispense with an undercarriage and can be landed on their belly.

Easily damaged bits like engine and propeller are out of harms way should you not land perfectly. The leading edges of the wings on typical 'pusher' trainers may be curved upwards which greatly enhances the aircraft's stability.

You may need a friend to assist you with hand launches though.

Flight Assistance
Some trainer planes have flight- assisted stability modes built into them which give beginner pilots flight assistance via sensors in the model. These systems will try to prevent you from loosing control of your aircraft by reducing the input from your transmitter.

These flight systems can be useful but 'safe' modes may restrict your growth as a pilot if you rely too much on these systems. A well set-up trainer plane without these features should be enough if you receive some helpful tuition.

Transmitters
If you need training then don't buy a transmitter that we're unfamiliar with. You may need assistance in setting up your aircraft to work correctly with your transmitter but if it's something we don't have much experience of we may be unable to help you.

We usually assist new flyers using dual connected transmitters (the buddy box system) so it's important that your transmitter will work with ours. If it does not you will be asked to buy a second transmitter so we can use it as a buddy box.

TRAINING

You can learn to fly without joining a club. But if you decide not to join a club be sure to pay the CAA drone licence fee if you have a qualifying aircraft and get BMFA membership which will also give you insurance cover in case of accidents. You will be expected to do this if you join a club but you will also get a space to fly in that is likely to be safer and you will have the benefit of fellow members looking out for you.Their advice should also make the learning process quicker. They will encourage you when things aren’t going well and should make it a much more enjoyable experience. Also finding a place that you are legally allowed to fly is becoming harder outside of a club.

We have club instructors who will assist with training. Training will include teaching you about safety, site rules, general flying rules and the basics of RC flying. Members who help with tuition will be giving up their own time and most likely sharing their own equipment with you so you will need to check their availability and not assume they can help at short notice. A few days notice will usually be required. We ask that if a member offers to help you that you do turn up for training sessions and notify us in good time if you have to cancel. Some days our instructors will be out flying their own aircraft and at such times will be unlikely to offer a training session to a trainee who turns up on the day unless it has been prearranged.

Some trainees pick things up quickly but quite often trainees find it takes a little while to master the basics of rc flying. Initially it can be a rather frustrating pursuit but dedicating time for regular practice will make all the difference.

We sometimes have to manage the number of trainees we can have in the club at any one time as we do have a limited number of instructors.

Junior members
We are open to junior members but as with adult trainees, we may sometimes be restricted as to how many youngsters we can provide training for. In regard to parents who may not entirely share their child's interest in this hobby there will likely be some need for them to offer assistance in learning how various bits of equipment works. They will also need to supervise their child particularly when charging and discharging batteries, provide a safe place to store batteries and protect a child from misadventures with dangerous propellers.

The buddy box system
This is an important tool we use for training and consists of an instructor linking their TX to yours via its trainer port (or wirelessly). This allows one of our club instructor's to take charge of the more complicated aspects of your aircraft's flight so you can familiarise yourself with the controls and get valuable flying time. Initially the instructor will take care of taking off and landing the aircraft and the pupil will be guided how to fly circuits, how to maintain a consistent altitude, aligning the aircraft for a landing approach and each of the various elements of a successful flight.

Simulators
RC flyers have traditionally learnt to fly by going to a flying site and putting in a lot of practise. There is nothing that can replace real flying experience but we recognise that a simulator can be a useful additional tool to have. It can help familiarise you with your TX controls and encourage you become more relaxed and confident using it. It may help you become more accustomed to controlling the aircraft when its orientation changes. You can also practice with different wind conditions so you can get some idea of the hazards you may face flying for real. PCs are well catered for with RealFlight. Phoenix RC has been discontinued but can still be found on Ebay. AeroflyRC is available for Mac and there is free software available too.

Multi rotors
Drones and helicopters are allowed at our sites but for us to provide much more than basic help may be more difficult. 'Normal' drones, i.e the type that flies relatively slowly and hovers by itself is pretty easy to learn but racing drones are a different story. Similarly we may be able to help with rudimentary helicopter control but it isn’t something many of our members currently fly. If you are an experienced flyer we should be able to accommodate you but we do not have much capacity for training a novice. Contact us and let us know what exactly what you wish to fly and what if anything you have flown to date and we will see how we can help you.

Mini Apprentice is a high wing trainer. It has 'SAFE' technology and an easy to steer tricycle style undercarriage.

Bixler 1 is a pusher prop plane without an undercarriage which makes for easier landings. You may need help launching it though.

Tail dragger undercarriage can be prone to being dragged sideways a little on take-off due to torque effect.

Many transmitters can connect via a cable or wirelessly to another TX for dual control flying.

CMFC is afiliated with THE BMFC

Chingford Model Flying Club, Club No. 55