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Date de publication : Sep 13, 2011 3:43:29 PM
Voici un article en anglais intéressant que j’ai trouvé.
Bonne lecture
Dany B, webmestre.
SIX KEYS TO SUCCESS
by Ed Anderson
Whether you have a coach or you are trying to learn to fly on your own, you will need to be mindful of these six areas if you are going to become a successful RC pilot. After three years of working with new flyers at our club, and coaching flyers on the forums, there are a few things I have seen as the key areas to stress for new pilots. Some get it right away and some have to work at it. They are in no particular order because they all have to be learned to be successful.
WIND
Orientation
Speed
Altitude
Over Control
Preflight Check
1) Wind - The single biggest cause of crashes that I have observed has been the insistence upon flying in too much wind.
If you are under an instructor's control or on a buddy box, then follow their advice, but if you are starting out and tying to learn on your own, regardless of the model, I recommend dead calm to 3 MPH for the slow stick and tiger moth type planes. Under 5 MPH for a
ll others. That includes gusts. An experienced pilot can handle
more. It is the pilot, more than the plane, that determines how much wind can be handled.
The wind was around 10 mph steady with gusts to 12. That was strong enough that some of the experienced pilots flying three and four channel small electric planes chose not to launch their electrics. This new flyer
insisted that he wanted to try his two and three channel parkflyers. Crash, Crash, Crash - Three planes in pieces. He just would not listen. Sometimes you just have to let them crash. There is no other way to get them to
understand.
Many parkflyers can be flown in higher winds by AN EXPERIENCED PILOT. I have flown my Aerobird in 18 mph wind (clocked speed) but it is quite exciting trying to land it.
Always keep the plane up wind from you. There is no reason for a new flyer to have the plane downwind EVER!
2) Orientation - Knowing the orientation of your plane is a real challenge, even for experienced pilots. You just have to work at it and some adults have a real problem with left and right regardless of which way the plane is
going. Licensed pilots have a lot of trouble with this one as they are accustomed to being in the plane.
Here are two suggestions on how to work on orientation when you are not flying.
Use a flight simulator on your PC. Pick a slow flying model and fly it a lot. Forget the jets and fast planes. Pick a low one. Focus on left and right coming at you. Keep the plane in front of you. Don't let it fly over
your head.
FMS is a free flight simulator. It is not the best flight sim, but the price is right and it works. There are also other free and commercial simulators.
FMS Flight simulator Home Page
Free download
http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html
Parkflyers for FMS
http://gunnerson.homestead.com/files/fms_models.htm
Getting Started with FMS
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3893
3) Too much speed - Speed it the enemy of the new pilot but if you fly too slowly the wings can't generate enough lift, so there is a compromise here. The key message is that you don't have to fly at full throttle all the
time. Most small electrics fly very nicely at 2/3 throttle and some do quite well at 1/2. That is a much better training speed than full power. Launch at full power and climb to a good height, say 100 feet as a minimum, so you
have time to recover from a mistake. At 100 feet, about double the height of the trees where I live, go to half throttle and see how the plane handles. If it holds altitude on a straight line, this is a good speed. Now work on slow
and easy turns, work on left and right, flying toward you and maintaining altitude. Add a little throttle if the plane can't hold altitude.
4) Not enough altitude - New flyers are often afraid of altitude. They feel safer close to the ground. Nothing could be more wrong.
Altitude is your friend. Altitude is your safety margin. It gives you a chance to fix a mistake. If you are flying low and you make a mistake .... CRUNCH!
As stated above I consider 100 feet, about double tree height where I live, as a good flying height and I usually fly much higher than this. I advise
my
new flyers that fifty feet, is minimum flying height. Below that you better be lining up for landing.
5) Over control - Most of the time the plane does not need input from you. Once you get to height, a properly trimmed plane flying in calm air will maintain its height and direction with no help from you. In fact anything
you do will interfere with the plane.
When teaching new pilots I often do a demo flight of their plane. I get the plane to 100 feet, then bring the throttle back to a nice cruising speed. I get it going straight, with plenty of space in front of it, then take my
hand off the sticks and hold the radio out to the left with my arms spread wide to emphasize that I am doing nothing. I let the plane go wherever it wants to go, as long as it is holding altitude, staying upwind and has
enough room. If you are flying a high wing trainer and you can't do this, your plane is out of trim.
Even in a mild breeze with some gusts, once you reach flying height, you should be able to take your hand off the stick. Oh the plane will move around and the breeze might push it into a turn, but it should continue to
fly with no help from you.
Along this same line of thinking, don't hold your turns for more than a couple of seconds after the plane starts to turn. Understand that the plane turns by banking or tilting its wings. If you hold a turn too long you will force
the plane to deepen this bank and it will eventually lose lift and go into a spiral dive and crash. Give your inputs slowly and gently and watch the plane. Start your turn then let off then turn some more and let off. Start
your turns long before you need to and you won't need to make sharp turns.
I just watch these guys hold the turn, hold the turn, hold the turn, crash. Of course they are flying in 10 mph wind, near the ground, coming toward themselves at full throttle.
6) Preflight check - Before every flight it is the pilot's responsibility to confirm that the plane, the controls and the conditions are correct and acceptable for flight.
Plane - Batteries at proper power Surfaces properly aligned
No damage or breakage on the plane Everything secure
Radio - Frequency control has been met before you turn on the radio A full range check before the first flight of the day All trims and switches in the proper position for this plane Battery condition is good
Antenna fully extended For computer radios - proper model is displayed All surfaces move in the proper direction
Conditions - No one on the field or in any way at risk from your fight
You are launching into the wind Wind strength is acceptable ( see wind above )
Sunglasses and a hat to protect your eyes All other area conditions are acceptable.
Then and only then can you consider yourself, your plane, radio and the conditions right for flight. Based on your plane, your radio and local conditions you may need to add or change something here, but this is the
bare minimum. It only takes a couple of minutes at the beginning of the flying
day and only a few seconds to perform before each flight.
If this all seems like too much to remember, do what professional pilots do, take along a preflight check list. Before every flight they go down the check list, perform the tests, in sequence, and confirm that all is right.
If you want your flying experience to be a positive one, you should do the same. After a short time, it all becomes automatic and just a natural part of a fun and rewarding day.
I hope some of this is useful in learning to fly your plane.
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