As briefly as I can... I have limited experience with a slope glider at Long Reef. I heard about FPV flying and it sounded great.

I watched some videos on YouTube and checked out prices at Hobbyking and decided to get started by ordering a Turnigy 9x radio to use with FMS. (I'm sure some of you are screaming in horror but that's what I did)

Then I started properly researching on the www, found you guys, and found MAAA and insurance, the 2.4Ghz equipment policy and all that kind of stuff. (It doesn't seem as much fun anymore now)

So now I've canceled my order from Hobbyking (I have $109 credit with them) and need a new plan.


Basically I want a park flyer, and to put FPV equipment on it eventually so I can see places from the air. I'd like to fly it around my local area, I've always wanted to see my house from the air, stuff like that. While flying over people's houses would be awesome, crashing through someone's window would be, well, not awesome. So I can see that park flying is kind of restricted to the air space over the park. That would still be ok.

So, have I got any hope here at all? Any suggestions? Or should I just sell my Hobbyking credit on eBay and go on a joy flight from Bankstown instead?

Welcome aboard Eddie!

You can get there if you want to and WRCS is a terrific place to do it from, with 7 day a week flying, fantastically maintained facilities and LOTS of friendly and helpful blokes who all want to see you succeed. ( we also have lots of trained volunteer instructors and some pay by the flight guys for both fixed wing and helis ).

Saturday morning is a great time to come and meet some guys, see what they use and what they recommend...the Hobby has gone thru a revolution in the last year or two with top quality stuff at the right price and now the super convenient 2.4meg break thru with LIPO and A123 batteries and brush-less motors etc.

Saturday lunch time is a great BBQ...bring something to cook and drink and your note book.

Your success in this hobby is up to you, you can go as light or as deep as you want. Some of us are still enjoying it after 50 years of defying gravity.

.....go good mate..........

I could not have put it better than Mr. Lonz who has a wealth of experience in aero modelling. We encourage new flyers at WRCS so you are very welcome to come down. Wait at the gate on a Saturday morning & someone will let you in. If you wish to come down during the week, give a committe member a call & we will meet you at the gate.

At the field, have a look at where we are in this wonderful hobby. Check out all the different ways to go i.e helicopters. gliders acrobatic, 3D, Scale, Warbirds, foamies, sports etc. Whatever your dreams are...there will be a model to fulfill them. I do reccomend you hold off from buying ANYTHING till you have seen what goes on at the field for a few weeks. Sure, there is some regimentation, but it can be a dangerous sport & we teach safe practice and how to fly skillfully.

Look forward to seeing you at the field.

Col

Thanks for the warm welcome.

We are going overseas in May, so I'm on a very limited budget at the moment. I was hoping to just buy the transmitter so I could play on FMS at home until we leave. Unless the Turnigy one is ok, even that will have to wait. So, basically, if I buy the Turnigy one will I be able to use it later at the field? Or should I just put the whole thing on hold until we get back?

Oh, I work evening shift which includes most Fridays and Saturdays, so dropping in one afternoon during the week would suit much better. Is there usually someone there on a weekday afternoon? I wouldn't want someone to come out especially.

Thanks again,

Eddie

FPV hey?

It is absolutely possible to fly FPV and still be completely within the rules. One acceptable setup is a 36mhz control, and low power 2.4gHz video link. You must be within visual range at all times and have a "buddy" spotting for you who can resume (primary) control should the need arise. Many people think those rules are too restrictive and elect to push the boundaries a bit, myself included.

My first FPV flights were over parks, but I was surprised how quickly I found myself over a residential area, and disoriented to boot. after my first crash into someone's backyard, I decided never to fly over houses again, no matter how "experienced" I thought I was. My advise to you is, no matter how skilled you are, stay away from residential areas unless you are ready to accept full accountability for what may go wrong. I'm sure you're no fool and already realise that your accountability may not end with just the loss of a model.

As for the Turnigy radio, I have actually heard many good things about them, in that it is an incredible radio for the price. That said, that price is only about fifty bucks, so you might have to be ready to work on it to get it going right. I have no idea on your level of competency on such things, and would say that it is not such good value for a noobie, but given that the firmware is user upgradable, it is possible to make it into quite a capable radio. Just be ready to study some before you have success. Part of the fun, right?

All the above said, the comments above by Lonz and Col remain true. It is a MASSIVE hobby and FPV is just a tiny part of it. If you want to know what is possible, WRCS is a great place to start, with many active members who are willing to help, and a great facility to boot. You might also find yourself at the BBQ just because it's a great place to be. There is pretty much always someone there in the afternoons, but if you come by on a weekend you will see a much more diverse range of RC stuff. Hope to see you down there sometime.

michael.

I've been playing FMS with my PC joystick, landing is hard! With the runway off to one side of you, it's even harder than in a 'real' simulator, lol.

It's just bad luck that I'm working the next two Sundays, but I'll drop in the next weekend day I have off.

Hi Eddie,

Don't buy a transmitter yet. A cheap Tx will just be a waste of money down the track if you decide to get serious about modelling. We will be happy to advise when we see you at the field.

Also, to teach you to fly, we need to 'buddy cable' (where there is an umbilical cord between instructor & student) you so an instructor can take over when you get a bit "sideways". As most of us instructors fly either Spektrum or Futaba...I suggest, not yet but down the track, you go with one or the other for ease of compatability.

To get you flying now, if you search Ebay...there are S/H simulators with dummy Tx's (with USB connectors) for sale which will give you plenty of 'stick time' therefore quickening the learning curve.

If you wish to have a look during the week (I fly Tues AM, Fri AM and most of Saturday), give me a call on (02) 9918 0908 or MOB 0418 239 952.

Happy Landings.

Col

Ha! Nobody ever said RC flying was easy. I've heard of many full scale pilots who struggle to make the transition to the second person point of view.

Hope to see you at the field sometime...

The greater "most" of the instructors fly JR and Hitech and Spektrum and Assan.

Choose the gear you like best....budget/features/function/style. Someone will help you.

"Real Flight" is a pretty good simulator, especially when you scale your model up n times using the "graphical scaling" so you can see it....

When teaming up with an instructor/mentor ensure that he is using good command language.

This will help later if you paricipate in large rallies where there is a flight line director barking out commands for all pilots to understand and respond to. Often there are 5 to 10 VERY large, fast, heavey expensive and slow models mixing it and strutting their stuff for the watching crowd. Things become very dynamic with engines starting, planes moving from the ready boxes to the take off position, planes on final for landing or taxing back, low passes, aerobatics, smoke and dead sticks ( which get immediate priority )...and varying wind and sun conditions.

If you can learn to respond in real time to all of these items below then you will have been trained well and eventually worthy of the award of "GOLD WINGS". You will be one who can do it, not just wear it.
===========================================
We humans are funny things.

Often if we cannot verbalize something it becomes more difficult to visualize it.

When we can say it we are more able to do it.

Here is a suggested language list which may be adopted by MASNSW to help with standardizing the language of our great hobby.

========================================

Key instructor language/communication commands.

Low wing
Stay close
Reduce speed
Both sticks back
Dead stick, fly at your own nose immediately
Nose in
Tail away
Keyboard
TX model/switches.
Batteries

Own responsibility for accidents/mistakes
Don't second guess another's flying....you do not know what is REALLY happening just by looking....and you make your mate feel bad when you underestimate the situation he was attempting to deal with.
Always look for the good in your fellow flyers situation.
This is supposed to be fun for EVERYBODY.....not at somebodies expense.
Keep kids/wives pets and toys out of earshot of all club members.
Do not distract a flyer...in pits, taxiing or flight line.
=============================

= = = Lonz