TRCA - Trenton Radio Control Airplane Club - Augusta Ga

Trenton Radio Control Association Trenton SC - Augusta GA
Links	*Beginners Page* updated 11/25/2007 If you are interested in purchasing a plane and learning to fly RC then this page is for you, especially if you live in the Augusta area. *Joining a club* Flying an RC airplane is not difficult, but it is almost impossible to learn without experienced help. Remember it is not a computer game and there is no "reset button". Crashes can do a tremendous amount of damage and even totally destroy the plane! And it takes a very large area to fly safely. The best way to get started is to find a local club. In addition to providing instruction and a safe place to fly, club members will recommend equipment and provide valuable advice. And its always more fun when there are others with the same interest to help each other out! Loss of flying sites has made learning to fly R/C in the CSRA a bit difficult lately but there are still several small flying clubs scattered about. Some are open to new members and some are not. There are also some non-AMA sanctioned fields that are being used to fly smaller airplanes. Unfortunately TRCA membership is closed until we can establish a new, permanent flying field. Once we get past this hurdle we will again offer free instruction to anyone that is interested in joining the club. It is recommended that the beginner find a field and someone willing to provide instruction first, before purchasing an airplane! The Trenton Radio Control Association was the only club in the area that regularly hosted regional IMAC aerobatics competitions. We were also the only club near Augusta set up for introductory pylon racing. And we hosted several fly-in events during the year and invited others in the southeast to bring their planes and come fly with us. We are hoping to locate a new field soon that will allow us to do all of this again!!! Spring 2006 TRCA IMAC Competition *Flight Instruction* In the old days, the RC instructor and student passed the control transmitter back and forth while the plane was flying. For obvious reasons crashes were quite common. But now the standard training method is to use a "buddy cord". The buddy cord allows the instructor to connect his transmitter to the student's transmitter. As long as the instructor pushes the "instruct" button on his transmitter, the student has control of the plane. When the instructor releases the button, control is immediately transferred to the instructor's transmitter. Using this system it is very rare for a plane to crash during "new pilot" training. The TRCA club has several members that are very experienced at instruction using this method. Don providing flight instruction *OK, What to Buy...* It is strongly recommended that the beginner come out to the field and talk to experienced R/C pilots before buying an airplane. There are many "beginner packages" on the market and some are better than others. And advice you may get in a hobby shop may not be the best- remember many of the folks working in the stores have never flown a plane before! Make sure that you get good advice before spending several hundred dollars on an airplane that is inappropriate or unreliable. A beginner needs a good airplane with a high-quality glow-fuel engine and functional radio gear in order to get started. There are several ways to accomplish this. Purchase the airplane, engine and radio separately. If you are handy and like to build you can purchase a full-build airplane kit. But most folks these days opt for ARF's (Almost Ready to Fly) that only take a few hours to assemble. The obvious advantage to purchasing everything separately is that you can get the airplane that you want with the engine that you want with the radio that you want. It takes a little effort to piece the various components together but the end result can be a great combination. Purchase an RTF (Ready to Fly) package that includes a plane, engine and radio. This is the least expensive and easiest way to get started because everything is "pre-matched" for assembly. These packages have come a long way during the past couple of years and are very popular. However keep in mind that if you stick with the hobby and move up into sport planes you will actually end up spending more money in the end going with this option, because the radio transmitter is unlikely to be suitable for sport flying. Get a "package deal". Some packages come with the airplane (ARF or kit) and the engine, and the radio is purchased separately. This allows you to select the brand and model of radio that you want. This is common option offered by Internet and mail-order hobby retailers. Here is my advice on what is needed, and strongly endorsed by instructors at the TRCA club: *Trainer Airplane* Start with a 40-size or 60-size trainer!!! Most beginners are very surprised at how fast and powerful "trainers" really are. And a good trainer is very capable of basic aerobatics- loops, rolls, inverted flight, etc. Sport planes are too much for most beginners and will only extend the learning curve (and they can be hard on an instructor's heart!) Most high-wing trainers on the market are good-flying airplanes. TRCA club favorites are the LT-40 by SIG, Nexstar by Hobbico and Alpha by Hangar 9. According to Bill (one of our instructors) the Tower Trainer is another very good option. If you must go with an RTF, the Alpha 60 and Nexstar packages are excellent. The LT-40 and Tower Trainer can be purchased as full-build kits or ARFs. There are two more alternatives that are worth some thought, especially if you have extensive experience with electric flyers and/or flight sims. The first is the new PTS Mustang marketed by Hangar 9. It is definitely not the first choice of any of our instructors, but if you absolutely must start out with a warbird and have the money to spend... The second alternative is the Hangar 9 Arrow 40 which is very inexpensive, but quick and maneuverable. We have actually begun pylon racing Arrow "trainers" at the TRCA club. If you are interested in racing you may want to give this plane some thought. You probably will not find all of these airplanes in stock at the local hobby shops. But they can always be special-ordered by the local shops, or purchased over the Internet, or by mail-order. The Tower trainer is sold exclusively by Tower Hobbies, which is an excellent on-line source for RC gear. Tower regularly markets "package deals" on many of these planes. And the Alpha can be ordered directly from Horizon Hobby, another good on-line source. The local hobby shops regularly stock other trainer packages and some are better than others. Again, getting advice from an experienced RC pilot before spending money is recommended. *Engine* Buy a good glow engine!!! Until very recently this was a major weakness in some of the cheaper trainer packages. And there are still some engines on the market that won't keep running no matter what you do, or just don't have adequate power for the plane. These just cause endless frustration! We have found all too often that cheap engines must be replaced with more reliable ones just to get through instruction. In the end this costs more money than purchasing a good engine to start with! By the way engine size is not a good indicator of how reliable or "powerful" it will be. High quality engines come with ball bearings. Cheaper ones use bushings instead and the power loss can be very significant. And there are other design details that can make a big difference in performance. Also don't be impressed by 3-blade propellers. This is just a marketing gimmick, as 3-blade props are much less efficient than 2-blade props on trainer-size glow engines. If you buy a trainer with a 3-blade prop you will need to buy a good 2-blade prop and spinner sometime in the future (luckily these are very inexpensive.) The bottom line is don't let the prop that comes on a plane influence your decision. The hands-down TRCA club favorite engine for a 40-size trainer has been the OS 46FX (or the new OS 46AX which is essentially the same). Reliability is unsurpassed and power is excellent. It is also a perfect match for the SIG LT-40, which is my favorite trainer combo. And the best part is that this engine is excellent for sport planes, so it can be used on your next airplane when you decide to retire the trainer. This is the engine that comes with the Nexstar trainer package. We have also had very good experiences with the new Evolution 45 and 60 engines that now come with the Hangar 9 RTF planes including the Alpha and Arrow. Reliability and power are both good, and we have found that the Evolution engines also work fine on sport planes. If cost is a major consideration, then the OS 40LA or 46LA are acceptable alternatives. They are fairly reliable however power output is much lower than the OS FX/AX engines and they are not very well-suited to sport planes. There are other engines on the market that will work well, but it is strongly recommended that you talk to an experienced RC pilot before purchasing a plane with a engine that is not listed above! *Radio (Control Transmitter)* Almost all of the TRCA club members use JR or Futaba radios so we can easily set up a buddy cord for either of these brands. We are also capable of setting up a buddy cord on most Futaba-compatible equipment. (However radio systems that are designed for use with electric park flyers cannot be used with glow models and we are unable to set up a buddy cord for these.) Most beginners will start with a 4-channel FM system because it is the cheapest option and is included with the trainer packages. A 6-channel computer radio transmitter with dual rates is a much better option even for beginners because this allows adjustment of the control surface travel distance while flying. While not entirely necessary to fly a trainer this is a very useful feature which is almost a requirement for sport planes. Computer transmitters will also allow you to store the setup for several airplanes which is extremely useful once you start adding planes to your "hangar". If money is no object, then by all means go for the JR-8103 or JR-9303 (or equivalent). These are the transmitters that most folks at the TRCA end up with once fully "into" the hobby. Weekend flying at the old TRCA Field!!!

Trenton Radio Control Association

Trenton SC - Augusta GA

Links

Beginners Page

updated 11/25/2007

If you are interested in purchasing a plane and learning to fly RC then this page is for you, especially if you live in the Augusta area.

Joining a club

Flying an RC airplane is not difficult, but it is almost impossible to learn without experienced help. Remember it is not a computer game and there is no "reset button". Crashes can do a tremendous amount of damage and even totally destroy the plane! And it takes a very large area to fly safely. The best way to get started is to find a local club. In addition to providing instruction and a safe place to fly, club members will recommend equipment and provide valuable advice. And its always more fun when there are others with the same interest to help each other out!

Loss of flying sites has made learning to fly R/C in the CSRA a bit difficult lately but there are still several small flying clubs scattered about. Some are open to new members and some are not. There are also some non-AMA sanctioned fields that are being used to fly smaller airplanes. Unfortunately TRCA membership is closed until we can establish a new, permanent flying field. Once we get past this hurdle we will again offer free instruction to anyone that is interested in joining the club. It is recommended that the beginner find a field and someone willing to provide instruction first, before purchasing an airplane!

The Trenton Radio Control Association was the only club in the area that regularly hosted regional IMAC aerobatics competitions. We were also the only club near Augusta set up for introductory pylon racing. And we hosted several fly-in events during the year and invited others in the southeast to bring their planes and come fly with us. We are hoping to locate a new field soon that will allow us to do all of this again!!!

Spring 2006 TRCA IMAC Competition

Flight Instruction

In the old days, the RC instructor and student passed the control transmitter back and forth while the plane was flying. For obvious reasons crashes were quite common.

But now the standard training method is to use a "buddy cord". The buddy cord allows the instructor to connect his transmitter to the student's transmitter. As long as the instructor pushes the "instruct" button on his transmitter, the student has control of the plane. When the instructor releases the button, control is immediately transferred to the instructor's transmitter. Using this system it is very rare for a plane to crash during "new pilot" training.

The TRCA club has several members that are very experienced at instruction using this method.

Don providing flight instruction

OK, What to Buy...

It is strongly recommended that the beginner come out to the field and talk to experienced R/C pilots before buying an airplane. There are many "beginner packages" on the market and some are better than others. And advice you may get in a hobby shop may not be the best- remember many of the folks working in the stores have never flown a plane before! Make sure that you get good advice before spending several hundred dollars on an airplane that is inappropriate or unreliable.

A beginner needs a good airplane with a high-quality glow-fuel engine and functional radio gear in order to get started. There are several ways to accomplish this.

Purchase the airplane, engine and radio separately. If you are handy and like to build you can purchase a full-build airplane kit. But most folks these days opt for ARF's (Almost Ready to Fly) that only take a few hours to assemble. The obvious advantage to purchasing everything separately is that you can get the airplane that you want with the engine that you want with the radio that you want. It takes a little effort to piece the various components together but the end result can be a great combination.

Purchase an RTF (Ready to Fly) package that includes a plane, engine and radio. This is the least expensive and easiest way to get started because everything is "pre-matched" for assembly. These packages have come a long way during the past couple of years and are very popular. However keep in mind that if you stick with the hobby and move up into sport planes you will actually end up spending more money in the end going with this option, because the radio transmitter is unlikely to be suitable for sport flying.

Get a "package deal". Some packages come with the airplane (ARF or kit) and the engine, and the radio is purchased separately. This allows you to select the brand and model of radio that you want. This is common option offered by Internet and mail-order hobby retailers.

Here is my advice on what is needed, and strongly endorsed by instructors at the TRCA club:

Trainer Airplane

Start with a 40-size or 60-size trainer!!! Most beginners are very surprised at how fast and powerful "trainers" really are. And a good trainer is very capable of basic aerobatics- loops, rolls, inverted flight, etc. Sport planes are too much for most beginners and will only extend the learning curve (and they can be hard on an instructor's heart!)

Most high-wing trainers on the market are good-flying airplanes. TRCA club favorites are the LT-40 by SIG, Nexstar by Hobbico and Alpha by Hangar 9. According to Bill (one of our instructors) the Tower Trainer is another very good option. If you must go with an RTF, the Alpha 60 and Nexstar packages are excellent. The LT-40 and Tower Trainer can be purchased as full-build kits or ARFs.

There are two more alternatives that are worth some thought, especially if you have extensive experience with electric flyers and/or flight sims. The first is the new PTS Mustang marketed by Hangar 9. It is definitely not the first choice of any of our instructors, but if you absolutely must start out with a warbird and have the money to spend... The second alternative is the Hangar 9 Arrow 40 which is very inexpensive, but quick and maneuverable. We have actually begun pylon racing Arrow "trainers" at the TRCA club. If you are interested in racing you may want to give this plane some thought.

You probably will not find all of these airplanes in stock at the local hobby shops. But they can always be special-ordered by the local shops, or purchased over the Internet, or by mail-order. The Tower trainer is sold exclusively by Tower Hobbies, which is an excellent on-line source for RC gear. Tower regularly markets "package deals" on many of these planes. And the Alpha can be ordered directly from Horizon Hobby, another good on-line source. The local hobby shops regularly stock other trainer packages and some are better than others. Again, getting advice from an experienced RC pilot before spending money is recommended.

Engine

Buy a good glow engine!!! Until very recently this was a major weakness in some of the cheaper trainer packages. And there are still some engines on the market that won't keep running no matter what you do, or just don't have adequate power for the plane. These just cause endless frustration! We have found all too often that cheap engines must be replaced with more reliable ones just to get through instruction. In the end this costs more money than purchasing a good engine to start with!

By the way engine size is not a good indicator of how reliable or "powerful" it will be. High quality engines come with ball bearings. Cheaper ones use bushings instead and the power loss can be very significant. And there are other design details that can make a big difference in performance. Also don't be impressed by 3-blade propellers. This is just a marketing gimmick, as 3-blade props are much less efficient than 2-blade props on trainer-size glow engines. If you buy a trainer with a 3-blade prop you will need to buy a good 2-blade prop and spinner sometime in the future (luckily these are very inexpensive.) The bottom line is don't let the prop that comes on a plane influence your decision.

The hands-down TRCA club favorite engine for a 40-size trainer has been the OS 46FX (or the new OS 46AX which is essentially the same). Reliability is unsurpassed and power is excellent. It is also a perfect match for the SIG LT-40, which is my favorite trainer combo. And the best part is that this engine is excellent for sport planes, so it can be used on your next airplane when you decide to retire the trainer. This is the engine that comes with the Nexstar trainer package.

We have also had very good experiences with the new Evolution 45 and 60 engines that now come with the Hangar 9 RTF planes including the Alpha and Arrow. Reliability and power are both good, and we have found that the Evolution engines also work fine on sport planes.

If cost is a major consideration, then the OS 40LA or 46LA are acceptable alternatives. They are fairly reliable however power output is much lower than the OS FX/AX engines and they are not very well-suited to sport planes.

There are other engines on the market that will work well, but it is strongly recommended that you talk to an experienced RC pilot before purchasing a plane with a engine that is not listed above!

Radio (Control Transmitter)

Almost all of the TRCA club members use JR or Futaba radios so we can easily set up a buddy cord for either of these brands. We are also capable of setting up a buddy cord on most Futaba-compatible equipment. (However radio systems that are designed for use with electric park flyers cannot be used with glow models and we are unable to set up a buddy cord for these.)

Most beginners will start with a 4-channel FM system because it is the cheapest option and is included with the trainer packages. A 6-channel computer radio transmitter with dual rates is a much better option even for beginners because this allows adjustment of the control surface travel distance while flying. While not entirely necessary to fly a trainer this is a very useful feature which is almost a requirement for sport planes. Computer transmitters will also allow you to store the setup for several airplanes which is extremely useful once you start adding planes to your "hangar".

If money is no object, then by all means go for the JR-8103 or JR-9303 (or equivalent). These are the transmitters that most folks at the TRCA end up with once fully "into" the hobby.

Weekend flying at the old TRCA Field!!!