My RC Online Quest to Learn How to Fly RC Planes

In my efforts to learn how to fly remote controlled airplanes, I find that doing RC online research is an ideal place for me to begin.

From my two visits to real-life RC events, I have figured out that learning by doing is NOT the method I should use. Some of those planes go over 100 miles per hour. RC airplane pilots are doing the mechanical equivalent of patting their heads while rubbing their stomachs at the same time they are playing footsie with their own two feet. Pushing buttons and pulling levers in opposite directions while eyeballing a lightening-fast object zipping in front of a blinding sun would do me in if I ever did manage to get a plane off the ground.

So, my plans are to learn more about flying RC planes on the Internet, from the comfort of my computer chair.

What Resources Are Available for Learning about RC Planes Online?

A half-hour with the search engines turns up a variety of possibilities for learning by pretending-to-do:

Places that sell RC planes. As is usually the case, advertisements triumph. It’s so easy to let bright, shiny objects accompanied by purse-string-tugging music convince me to buy a model airplane kit or cool looking RC helicopter for one of the grandkids. Even though their purpose may be to have me pull out my charge cards, the RC vendors and product websites prove a treasure trove of information and education about flying RC airplanes.

RC Terms and Technological Lingo

I’m a word girl who used to have students write the hardest words they could find in the dictionary on the board so we could “figure them out” by using word clues. Yet, my first encounter with “ailerons,” “servos,” “torque,” and more showed me quickly that I would have to learn some vocabulary. (Okay, so I know “torque,” but there are others.) Chasing down RC-related terminology online and learning vocabulary in a different context is something I enjoy, nerd that I am after all these years.

RC Online Tutorials

Beneath all the advertisements and Google search clutter lie tutorials on just about anything to do with remote controlled aircraft. Sorting through these online lessons and filtering out the junk could teach me – and others – much about the aeromodeling in the process. The Internet offers an ideal starting place for someone looking for beginner RC hobby information.

Activities, Fly-ins and Other RC Events

I was surprised to learn that just about any given weekend there’s an RC event or activity going on within a few hours’ drive. No wonder my brother spends so much time coming and going to airfields. He just returned from a major event in Florida and tells me he’s going to one in Georgia in a few weeks.

Sounds fun, but I’m a stay-at-home RC enthusiast. Like Emily Dickinson penned, “There is no frigate like a book. . . to take me places.” I prefer to be an armchair (armed with a laptop computer) traveler to RC events near and far. Online works, folks! It’s cheaper, too.

By now, if anyone is reading this, you’re thinking this online research may be well and good if there’s nothing else to do, but how about watching planes fly? Is Google going to let me see RC aircraft in action?

That’s a resounding yes!

You-Tube Videos:

Check them out. People of all shapes, sizes, dialects, skill levels and personalities add videos of themselves and their RC planes every day. They teach, show off, build model planes, crash them, tape, glue and repair them while their video cameras – or cell phones – are rolling. We live in an era of folks who grew up on show-and-tell. I can remain an armchair voyeur and take advantage of their lessons learned by trial and error. Watching a thousand-dollar plane crash into a hundred-year-old oak tree has to be more fun than actually crashing the one you paid for from your own funds.

A List of Questions to Research on the Web

Like anyone just starting out in a new area of interest, I have lots of questions. These questions will lead to even more questions. As I answer them, I’m going to learn so much that my brother will finally be impressed that I can do something other than read those “boring encyclopedia articles” he fondly accuses me of reading.

Questions

What types of RC planes are there?
What makes them fly?
What is the best way to get started in learning to fly RC planes?
What are the best trainer planes?
Can you make your own plane cheaper? Will it fly?
How soon can I fly those monster planes?
How do you get an RC plane to do a loop in the air?
How fast do those RC jets really fly?
Is flying a remote-controlled jet harder than flying a giant RC airplane?
How do you make an RC plane look like it’s standing still in the air?
How do I get the plane off the ground?
How do I land the danged thing – without crashing?

And . . .How do you make a lawn mower fly?

Here’s hoping I’ll a few RC pilot wannabes will find my website helpful as I share what I learn in my RC online quest to learn about the hobby.