The danger of knowing too much!

I was reading some reviews on a beginner radio controlled trainer aircraft earlier and I was struck by a danger that folks may not be aware of.

The first review was by a total beginner who had never had anything to do with Rc flying before.

He bought the plane, which, I might add, was a perfect first time RC trainer, and then had a really fantastic experience with it. It did exactly what he needed and he was successfully flying on the very first day! Seven flights with no damage!

The second chap was a returning RC flier. He had not flown for many years and wanted to get back into the hobby. His choice of this plane was perfect to get his rusty fingers back into shape again. He had a terrible experience, ending eventually with a broken model.

So what was the difference? Surely the second chap should have had the easiest time? After all he had previous experience and could already fly. So why?

Well we need to flesh out the experiences a little to see what was different, but what it boils down to was, ‘Do as you are told’ If the model is halfway decent and you follow the instructions you will succeed.

That was exactly what the first chap did. Not feeling that he knew any better, he followed the instructions to the letter. They said download a RC Simulator program from here and use it to practice first. He did it. They said, put the model together like this. He did it exactly like they said. They said, Only fly in dead calm conditions. He did it. They said, fly like this. Yes you got it – he did it!
And his reward? Total success!

Now the other chap, because he had flown glow powered models before, thought that he did not need to follow the instructions to the letter. Notwithstanding the fact that he had last flown many years previously, or that this was a electric model about which he knew little. (Things have changed enormously in even the last five years!)

So what did he do?
First, he ignored the sim, after all this was a kids model anyway, and he could already fly. Bad move. Never underestimate the value of an RC Simulator. Just because you can get an adequate one for free and a really good one real cheap, do not make the mistake of thinking they are of no value. Whether you can fly or not, an RC Simulator is of unbelievable value in its ability to help you hone you skill without costing anything.

Second, he made all sorts of ‘improvements’ to the way the model went together. Frankly, the time for ‘improvements’ is later. At the beginning you have more chance of messing things up than improving them. Stick to the way the model is designed to be.

Third he made modifications to the electric system. Even though he knew nothing about electric airplanes he still dived in and fitted a switch in the battery cable, because after all we always used switches and there ‘should be one’. Very bad news here.

Now there are ways of doing this that are acceptable, but not a little slider switch. The reason is the very large currents that RC motors draw nowadays. Your average switch just will not cope. That is the reason one is not fitted as standard. This mod almost certainly caused him all sorts of voltage swing and interference problems.

Forth, It was windy when he went out. These little models get blown around real easy. Until you are good at flying it, leave wind out of the equation!

So there you have it – Good news followed all the rules. Bad news broke all of them!

There is something to be learned from this story by everyone. If you are a beginner, eager to get out there and do it, don’t be tempted to skip steps. If your are more knowledgeable, be careful that your knowledge doesn’t trip you up.

Check out what I have to say about simulators and learning to fly on
The Radio controlled Airplane.