New Hobby. Flying

Had my first flying lesson yesterday. Instructor said I did pretty good for a first timer. Not a real airplane but a radio controlled model. Flew in 30-40mph winds too. I didn’t take off or land, just getting the feel of the controls. Altogether spent nearly three hours on the field with going over the basics, components and rules. Unfortunately I got sunburned really bad so no riding for a few days. I got a 90 day trial membership and the local club supplies all the gear and planes for a grand total of $20.00. My instructor owns over 50 planes. He is single, of course!
What really got me interested is the idea of building my own plane this winter. While I enjoy buying old motorcycles and getting them running project bikes have gotten too expensive for me. I finally managed to sell both of my completed projects at about a $2000.00 loss. Still cheaper than some hobbies but I may lose my work shop so the timing seems right. What’s really weird is that my wife fully supports me getting into RC planes. Hmmmmmm.

mm1ut1 said:

What’s really weird is that my wife fully supports me getting into RC planes. Hmmmmmm.

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Whatever keeps you close to home and out from under her feet at the same time. It's like having her cake and eating it too.

I have been flying RC for several years, welcome to the hobby! I mostly stick to homemade electrics, which can be put together cheaply and quickly from foam board. That being said, I don't skimp on electronics. A good transmitter, receiver, ESC, motor, and servos are a sound investment. Even with sheets of foam from the Dollar Store you can make some pretty awesome designs:



My big interest lately has been in FPV (first person view). This is where you have a cam in front of the plane with a video transmitter and wear goggles that pick up the signal and beam it into your eyeballs. I have also be playing around with flight controllers and long-range flying. Tech has come so far... believe it or not I built a plane that has full autopilot and GPS. I can program a flight for it, press a button, and away she goes. All the flight parameters are displayed into a HUD in my goggles. Absolutely bonkers....



Anyway, if you have any questions please feel free to ask! I enjoy helping people get started in the hobby.

Rhy650 said:

I have been flying RC for several years, welcome to the hobby! I mostly stick to homemade electrics, which can be put together cheaply and quickly from foam board. That being said, I don't skimp on electronics. A good transmitter, receiver, ESC, motor, and servos are a sound investment. Even with sheets of foam from the Dollar Store you can make some pretty awesome designs:

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My big interest lately has been in FPV (first person view). This is where you have a cam in front of the plane with a video transmitter and wear goggles that pick up the signal and beam it into your eyeballs. I have also be playing around with flight controllers and long-range flying. Tech has come so far... believe it or not I built a plane that has full autopilot and GPS. I can program a flight for it, press a button, and away she goes. All the flight parameters are displayed into a HUD in my goggles. Absolutely bonkers....

Anyway, if you have any questions please feel free to ask! I enjoy helping people get started in the hobby.

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Now that's too cool.

This is how my career got started. Age 12. Balsa & paper. I took off from there.

jetmechmarty said:

This is how my career got started. Age 12. Balsa & paper. I took off from there.

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Haha, yep. I have been in love with aviation since I was a little kid. I have gathered that many on this forum share that sentiment and worked in the industry. I don't want to hijack this thread... but I would be curious to learn what you guys have worked on! Any private pilots out there? That is a major goal of mine down the road.

Rhy650 said:

I would be curious to learn what you guys have worked on!

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Heavy lift helicopters CH-53D, Space Shuttle cargo handling, heavy jets. 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, DC8, DC9, DC10, MD11, MD88, MD90, L1011, A300....ongoing in analytics.

Awesome!