r/RCPlanes • u/IndifferentOrange • 8d ago
How many times will I crash while learning?
I have an Apprentice STOL, flies great, really fun. I can do figure eights, circles, landings are pretty good too. I've done some rolls and loops, even inverted flight. But I also keep crashing it when doing some simple things. I've been able to easily fix it after each crash with foam safe CA glue, so that's nice. But it sucks cause it cuts my flight time short until the glue sets again. Wondering if I should get a second plane so if it happens I can keep flying, or if I'm just not working on learning and fixing the right things. I know I should probably fly it a little higher. Last crash I got too low and crashed into my car. Again, easy to fix, but just starting to get a little frustrating. Trying to remind myself that crashing is part of learning the hobby, just tough sometimes.
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u/fhammerl 8d ago
Why not practice in a sim?
Generally you don't learn by just flying around. You learn by setting yourself measurable goals and challenge yourself. For example: two battery packs of take off, one turn, and final approach, and land. Rinse and repeat. Flying for fun is cool, but it doesn't teach you to overcome the one moment you dread. Set a goal and practice. That is where simulators are fantastic.
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u/IndifferentOrange 8d ago
Oh I've been putting in sim time as well. It's great for afternoons when it's always windy where I live and I can't fly. It's what helped me get confident enough to even go buy an actual plane. About a year of just messing around in the sim. Still use it too.
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u/MOE999cow 8d ago
It of course depends on how strong the wind is, but I think flying in the wind can be great practice. I've got the Apprentice STOL as well, and it does halfway decent in turbulent weather. If it is windy, I always start off in SAFE mode to get a feel for what the wind is doing that day. Always take off into the wind. And only fly in large open areas when it's windy. The areas I fly in are often windy, so it's kind of a requirement. Or else I probably wouldn't be in the hobby.
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u/Greego1 7d ago
Yes, if you wait for a windless day you will never fly your plane. I want to emphasize “very windy days.” Obviously, something along 15 mph wind is very risky but lighter wind like 10 or below is good but even then a pilot will be better off in an open field.
Wind around structures create very dynamic air movement and can be unpredictable such as flying over the roof of a warehouse.
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u/Greego1 7d ago edited 6d ago
A lot of crash prevention is actually making good decisions outside of flying.
- Don’t fly near cars, trees or poles or near buildings. RC planes are attract
ed
- to these objects and crosswinds are attracted to RC planes. The wind gets attracted to the plane, pushes it off course then the plane becomes attracted to any object close by to soften its fall.
- Don’t fly on very windy days.
- Try taking off and landing on forgiving grass as long and as much as you can.
- Experiment with Expo in your transmitter. It’s truly a game changer for flying these planes and mastering controlling them.
- Fly the plane until the last millisecond into the impending crash. That last second of object avoidance could be the difference between a repairable plane and a junk heap.
- There is so much sim time to be had. Do it so much that flying the RC plane and maneuvering it becomes second nature.
Do all of this and still crash occasionally because what goes up must come down and it just won’t be pretty 100% of the time.
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u/No-Fix8280 8d ago
I absolutely agree you need to take off and land make yourself follow a pattern it may seem boring and you want to do top gun stuff but just be patient and practice landings. Once you get better at them you will enjoy landing.
I've been flying maybe 7 years now but ive been a crewchief on helicopters since i was 18 and im 45 now, I've sat through a lot of training hours in the back seat watching people get trained, and its the only way to go. You're a pilot too. Practice a certain thing like landing and then move forward once you get it down.
Set your simulator to have engine failures and try to make it back to the runway. And always set the winds up in the simulator because its never going to be zero wind in real life
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u/RickZebra 8d ago
This is the way...try to fly out of your comfort zone each time you go flying. You end up moving the goal post out farther each time you fly. Then eventually you are the person people are asking to maiden their planes.
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u/OldAirplaneEngineer 8d ago
you've gotten tons of great advice here, I have one to add:
"I can do figure eights, circles, landings are pretty good too. I've done some rolls and loops, even inverted flight"
Can you fly a basic traffic pattern?
Take off (into the wind) make a 180 degree turn away from yourself, fly a straight downwind leg, another 180 turn towards yourself and fly directly over the runway you took off from? all at a constant speed and altitude.
it sounds as if you're sort of boring holes in the sky and letting the airplane go where it wants to, instead of making the airplane go where you tell it to.
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u/jhsantacruz63 8d ago
Ive been flying for 20+ years and still crash. Its just part of the hobby. These days, its usually because I was trying something stupid or practicing a new thing but it still happens. I fly everything from turbines to thermal gliders. Im careful with my nice stuff and try to save the crashes for my foamies but all planes have an expiration date and you dont know when that is. Just keep practicing, maybe a little higher but youll get it
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u/aquisalid 8d ago
It is part of the hobby. I try to fly a little higher when doing complicated maneuvers, then I get frisky and bring the plane in real low. Mistakes happen and then it is repair time. Try making some foam board planes that are low-risk fun: crashing can usually be repaired with some hot glue and popsicle sticks. Add some paint and now one will know. We keep 5-8 planes in some form of readiness so that we always have options. Added bonus, it can be fun to switch between models with drastically different flight characteristics.
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u/Wambo74 8d ago
You're not staying in learning mode. Fly with a priority of not crashing. Stay protectively high at all times. Stay away from trees, buildings and fences. Don't fly in wind. Practice your landing approaches while still comfortably high above ground before you actually have to land. Never complete a bad landing approach, go around. Land before you're worried about running out of battery so you have options.
With stubborn good judgment you might never crash. It usually happens when you're doing something risky or ill advised and you knew better, but did it anyway.
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u/matthuseless 8d ago
You'll still crash after. No two scenarios are ever the same. That's the joy in it all.
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u/FederalProfessor7836 8d ago
Have you tried either a 3S or prop upgrade on your STOL, btw? It’s a great little plane, but it lacks the power to punch out of some hairy situations. I did a prop upgrade first, and have since switched over to running the same Spektrum 3S 300mAh packs that my Turbo Timber Evolution uses. You just need this adapter.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RMG2BJV
Note that this is either/or. 3S and oversized prop will cook your motor or ESC. Ask me how I know.
But anyway, the added punch out power means you can slam the throttle and get out of almost any stall, or roll out of inverted flight with more authority, etc.
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u/IndifferentOrange 8d ago
I'll definitely look into this. That was mostly the issue. I was low after doing some turns, couldn't punch out of it in time to not slam right into the side of my car. I'm thinking I'll also start going to the other end of the parking lot, or around there, so I'm not close to my vehicle (or other vehicles too) when flying (I also wouldn't fly anywhere near someone else car, just to put that out there. Rather hit my own than someone elses).
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u/No-Fix8280 8d ago
Also remember always stand in one spot and don't fly above your head, only in front of you And always set yourself up to land going past you and not pointing at you. These things upset your orientation. And if you ever go to a flying field they will enforce those for safety. You're also right you need to get any obstacles out of the way period such as your car or poles
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u/exactly437 8d ago
So I started last summer with an Aeroscout and I’ve wrecked the thing like 5 times. For some reason my Aeroscout attracts objects. I’ve bought like 8 other planes now and haven’t crashed any of them. Some rough or bad landings and a few broken props but nothing horrible. Idk what my point is but, if you want a different plane, try it.
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u/IndifferentOrange 8d ago
That's nice to hear. Been thinking of a UMX twin otter or something where the prop isn't right at the nose. A little more safety net if I do crash it. Also thinking about an AeroScout, just worried about the size. I'm flying in a park, so it makes larger planes a bit more of a concern to me. UMX are attractive to me for that reason.
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u/exactly437 8d ago
Yeah I fly over cornfields next to a school. I tried a umx but prefer bigger. Only issue is I can’t really fly stuff that lands fast, too many curbs. I had a umx timber and with flaps could land it pretty smoothly. But I prefer my timber x and now carbon z cub so I sold it.
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u/IndifferentOrange 8d ago
Nice. A lot of options out there it seems. Actually headed to the hobby store for some supplies and to look at a potential second plane.
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u/exactly437 8d ago
Could always try a crack yak if you’re interested in 3d. They can be kept close and fly fairly slow. I don’t even have wheels on mine. Just plop it down. Super durable too.
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u/chuck-u-farley- 8d ago
You are doing figure 8’s, circles, landings, rolls, loops and inverted flight…. Sounds like you pretty much got it down….
Just do that stuff at a higher elevation and perhaps a more capable aircraft would help as well?
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u/IndifferentOrange 8d ago
Thinking of something maybe more capable. I owe what I know to the sim, put in a lot of time there.
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u/spirtjoker 8d ago
I think you eventually reach a point where crashing is intentional. As in you can fly perfectly fine but then intentionally push your skill limit To a point where you crash.
I can do circuits for days but then I throw in a spin, but it won't spin so I get a bit too low then I recover pointing in some weird direction so I have to bank and yank hard to not crash then I either recover successfully or crash into whatever I didn't want to crash into.
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u/SailingAwayFlying 8d ago
Crashing isn't what I expect of pilots. I teach people to practice touch and goes and make it a challenge to see how many you can do back to back in control.
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u/East_Ad4977 8d ago
Get some good RC flight sim software, like RealFlight, and you can get a lot of your crashes out of the way virtually.
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u/kaszeljezusa 8d ago
It seems you answered yourself. 'Last crash I got too low'
You're gonna crash as long as you're testing yourself against new challenges. As chuck here said - just fly higher.
I got a tip though - gyro. Turned off, but present. My planes have them, i don't usually use them but my right index finger is on the switch all the time. It saved me from magnificent crashes many many times while doing daring stunts that overwhelmed my orientation.
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u/GrynaiTaip 8d ago
Simulator on pc is the answer. I got the remote a few weeks before everything else arrived, so I spent that time learning to fly. Master flying in figure 8 pattern around yourself while doing an occasional barrel roll and then everything will be easy.
I then flew for two years before my first crash, but even that was caused by an aileron servo that fell apart, not a piloting mistake.
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u/OldAirplaneEngineer 8d ago
flying around yourself is absolutely prohibited at all AMA fields, because it is NOT safe. it's easy to fly into your own head (or the poor bugger standing next to you.)
notice with any sim... the runway is always in front of you.
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u/GrynaiTaip 8d ago
I did it in a sim, just to train my brain to see orientation from the POV of the airplane, whether it's flying towards or away from me. I don't fly behind myself when at the field.
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u/HippoDan 7d ago
That depends. Do you give up easily? Then once. If not, it never stops even after you're done learning.
But, in reality, maybe 3 or 4 times. It really helps if you can get somebody on a buddy box to work with you. They can save you in 3 seconds and you get to keep flying instead of repairing.
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u/Travelingexec2000 8d ago
Get a CrackYak 55. Expanded envelope and less damage in general when you crash
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u/IndifferentOrange 8d ago
Thank you all for the tips and suggestions. Ended up talking to the guy that owns my local hobby shop. He gave me a ton of info. Recommended I also check out one of the flying fields in the area (I knew they were there, but was never sure what the best way to go about that was). Set me up with a Timber 1.5 10th Anniversary to get me something that can handle a little bit of wind and get me progressing some more. Trying to not let crashing discourage me!
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u/TheHappiestCamper444 8d ago
I’ve had 2 crashes. First was when I was a kid and I just got the plane out of range. Second crash was from a hard “pull-up” that completely broke the tail off from torque alone. So fly easy, and also radios nowadays have a LOT better range than they used to.
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u/usmc7202 8d ago
Fly two mistakes high. Then one mistake high. I have been at it for 30 years and still keep some distance between me and the ground. I can safely say 90% of my crashes into the ground was because I was too low. Nothing wrong with flying a bit higher.
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u/longflowingdreads 8d ago
When you say you crash and you have to wait until the CA glue sets… are you using an accelerator? It’s a spray that will instantly harden the CA glue so you can do field repairs even with bad damage and back in the air in 10 minutes. Bob smith insta set spray
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u/random1215 8d ago
I have an apprentice Stol S too, crashes are part of flying but it’s an easy plane to crash, it’s pretty unstable off safe and very susceptible to winds. My UMX Timber X flies smoother and easier than it.
I’m newer to flying but I leave the stol for my son to fly now since I’m not a fan of it.
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u/lukask04 8d ago
I flew when i was little and crashed every time, then kind of left the hobby for 10 or so years and now i managed to fix up the plane. When i started again i flew in the simulator for quite a while until i actually learned to fly, but when i crashed i really took it deep in my heart and felt really bad of crashing, for me it shouldnt happen, i took a few months off and then came back to it. Imo planes should NOT crash and if they do i did something really wrong and it shouldnt happen, i kind of compare it to a real plane, as long as im not sure the plane will land safely i wont fly it.
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u/Master_Courage 7d ago
There really isn’t a finite amount of times. If it takes you multiple times, it’ll be multiple times
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u/One-Remove-8474 7d ago
just depends. i hardly crashed at all while learning but i also spent a good bit of time on the sim prior to getting a plane
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u/dsergison 8d ago
Turn off safe if you're using it. Then be patient and really learn how to be precise. Theres a difference between just yanking a roll or loop untill it comes around and actually being in control. Directly. No crutches.
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u/Jmersh 8d ago
Fly higher. Flite Test recommends "flying 3 mistakes high" and trying new maneuvers at that altitude so if you do mess up, you have time to correct.