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Stabilisers. Are they helpful in learning how to fly? What is the opinion of instructors and trainees?


David Davis
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I regularly teach a man who has no English at all and hand signals are the only way that we progress, and he can now fly adequately.

 

Use an " add on stabilizer " with the favourite gear, as you just plug this in between your Rx and servos.

Have the model trimmed for normal flight before using the stabiliser, as then it has less to do maintaining flight and no surprises when you switch it off.

 

If cost is not an issue, then get an integrated stabilizer of your favourite make.

 

Will enhance your brothers experience for certain.

Edited by Denis Watkins
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Ron,

 

I don't thing a stabilizer will help in your case (not the way I use them) as the TX command always overrides the stabilizer, the model does not self level if you let go of the sticks, just if the wind lifts a wing or pitches it down then it will self correct to stay on the heading you are commanding (even it the command is centered sticks)

 

There are systems that limit roll and pitch (probably yaw, but not tired that) and they are IMO really weird as for example you have to hold right stick over to just maintain a constant bank angle...center the stick and the model self rights. Now although we may find it weird it might prove useful for your bother, as if all else fails he lets go of the sticks and the model returns to straight and level flight. If anyone you know has an Eflight Carbon Cub it might be worth a go...the geo fencing is really annoying and the return to initiation point is quite bazar (as it was over the pits when the bench was). It just kept circling until we remembered the command to take control back!  

 

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Thanks Chris. I think that some of my stabs have a limit factor so that you can’t overdo the bank angle but at the back of my mind I’m thinking if it prevents it happening then he won’t know that he’s input too much stick. At the moment I let him do that and only intervene if he can’t recover in time, after all, it is my model he’s flying!

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I think , because we can do it , we almost forget how complicated it is . 

That attitude is compacted by the general public that ridicule our skills " as people in anoraks playing planes "

However , if you removed all sensation from a full sized pilot flying his Cessna 152 , disconnected his altimeter, speedo and al other visual and audible aids , how well would he cope ? 

Then try removing him from the seat and turning him through 180 degrees then put him 600 yds away .

Anyone that can fly RC is doing an amazing thing , even if its only the basics!

Football ? Even my dog can do that . 

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8 minutes ago, RICHARD WILLS said:

I think , because we can do it , we almost forget how complicated it is . 

That attitude is compacted by the general public that ridicule our skills " as people in anoraks playing planes "

However , if you removed all sensation from a full sized pilot flying his Cessna 152 , disconnected his altimeter, speedo and al other visual and audible aids , how well would he cope ? 

Then try removing him from the seat and turning him through 180 degrees then put him 600 yds away .

Anyone that can fly RC is doing an amazing thing , even if its only the basics!

Football ? Even my dog can do that . 

 

We had a senior airline pilot in our club a few years ago.  IIRC he flew the short haul package holiday flights out of Castle Donnington (Britannia?).  He was a really decent guy but he was a hopeless RC pilot.  It may have been because he got few opportunities to fly his models but he was obviously (I hope!) a highly skilled airliner pilot in charge of a complex aircraft who failed to translate those skills to RC, as you suggest.

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Dog playing football, it will be parking the car soon lol.

 

As to flying aides, as long as they help IN the begining and can be reduced with experience, and then turned off, I suppose they are ok, but cannot replace a good teacher.

 

Controllable rates came in 20 or so years ago and effectively calmed down models, but it's about stick movement and the models response.

 

Treat the tx like an arcade game, expect the model to react, violently probably.

 

Teach the basics of principles of flight, which is covered in the free Bmfa "manual".

 

A throttle can be closed as well as opened, be it by stick or twistgrip.

Edited by Rich Griff
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Thankyou gentlemen for all of the advice and opinions. I don't think I'll rush out to buy a stabiliser. I'll continue to treat my ham-fisted beginners to a few flights on the buddy box with one of my vintage models as a first step before moving them on to an aileron trainer.

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A few years ago I decided to come back to aeromodelling. I had never tried RC but thought it would be fairly easy as I had very occasionally tried the real thing. I surveyed the market and spotted a Glasair Sportsman complete with a built-in virtual instructor. So next time a model shop was handy I went in and was able to purchase one which they had in stock, Next thing was where to fly it. With this VI could I try the local rec but the size of it seemed that perhaps it would be difficult to keep within the field boundary (it is in the middle of a built up area). Eventually I contacted a local MFC and did the six attendances and got accepted as a member. The model was test flown and trimmed - very little needed in fact and pronounced OK. I was assigned a trainer who didn't believe in buddy boxes. He would take off and hand the controls over to me with the model only using the built-in wing levelling as it couldn't be turned off. Things progressed and I became able to take off and land on my own. Two things became apparent, model RC was the most difficult thing I have ever tried to do and the the built in VI system effectively put the A/C in a straight jacket when switched on. After a year or so I bought into FrSky and piggybacked the RX with a FrSky 4ch one. I set up 3 rates and Expo (my instructor said he always used it). With some nervousness I took off with the new setup on low rates and found everything to be OK. I needed more stick movement to manoeuvre the A/C and occasionally more stick input the keep it straight and level especially landing. I then went up to med. rates and then high, reducing the expo to 10%. I never really missed the limited stabilisation it had and will continue to play with the expo until it suits.

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On 08/04/2021 at 20:25, Geoff S said:

 

We had a senior airline pilot in our club a few years ago.  IIRC he flew the short haul package holiday flights out of Castle Donnington (Britannia?).  He was a really decent guy but he was a hopeless RC pilot.  It may have been because he got few opportunities to fly his models but he was obviously (I hope!) a highly skilled airliner pilot in charge of a complex aircraft who failed to translate those skills to RC, as you suggest.

Pilots of full-size aircraft always move the controls in same directions relative to the direction they are facing, which is the direction of flight. This is so ingrained into them that they find it really hard to learn the control reversals when a model plane is flying towards them. But, from what I have seen in the US, pilots who learned to fly model planes before they took up full-size flying, make superb RC pilots.

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I'm not going to argue with that theory...although one or two of my clubmates might beg to differ...

 

We did once have a visit from a former RAF Chief Test Pilot and CO of Boscombe Down who was put on a buddy lead and it took a couple of minutes before he was able to cope with control reversal...

 

It might be more to do with the type of training - much of commercial flying is procedure driven and it seems to be a common concern that many pilots don't have sufficient "seat of the pants" experience to cope with situations outside those catered for by training and checklists.

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  • 7 months later...
On 09/04/2021 at 06:05, David Davis said:

Thankyou gentlemen for all of the advice and opinions. I don't think I'll rush out to buy a stabiliser. I'll continue to treat my ham-fisted beginners to a few flights on the buddy box with one of my vintage models as a first step before moving them on to an aileron trainer.

I agree with you totally David.  The old ways are the best ways in this particular case.  

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