General Basic Flight School For The Little Ones

[James M. Lewis]

Hi everybody,
Just got off the phone with my grand kids summer camp program run by their school. The class ages are 4 and 4 year olds. Everything is set up for 8/22/2018, 9-11am. I'll have 27 children with their teachers. I'll bring my 300 size CH53 that has operational navigation lights. It's finished in United States Coast Guard colors. Yes I know the USCG didn't fly these but the paint scheme really stands out especially if I'm flying at night. Won't fly it indoors but will this fall outside with one of my 450s on the schools large play area. During the class, I'll tell them about the meaning of the lights and how a helicopter works. Then we'll go to the computer where I'll have my laptop with a real flight simulator setup with a large open back drop. This way they won't run into any trees/structures. Will have a 700 nitro helicopter on not only because of it's size but sound effects. This bird has training gear attached . Each child will have a chance at the controls as I guide them along. I'm figuring about 3 minutes flight time per student. Then it's graduation time when each student will receive their junior pilot wings and training certificate of completion. Teachers will video and sent to the parents and it will be posted to their face book . I ordered the wings from: pilot-wing.com

 

[Matt]

Wow, that’s really cool. I kind of wish I could do something like that, although I’m not a very good pilot. I don’t really know too much about “real” helicopters either, but just about everyday I see the State Police helicopter fly over head. I used to be near the State Police helicopter so I could watch it land. I’m in a different location now but watching that State Police helicopter land was wicked cool and really made my day, some days.. they come so close to the ground, make a lot of noise and are a lot bigger than expected..

 

[James M. Lewis]

Thanks for your reply Matt. I'll take some pictures of my CH53 plus a copy of the certificate and the junior pilot wings and post to this web site. I also have two 450s, one is a scale Augusta A109 and the fuselage is 780mm long with carbon fiber 325mm blades. The other is a Gartt 450 Pro. Both of my 450s have digital servos and top of the line ESCs, motors, spektum receivers and gyros. The Ch53 (Blade) 300 size is an older bird about 6 years that's analog. Nothing fancy in the electronics department. Got the kit from a good friend in the UK. Had to been the hardest fuselage I ever put together. Spent almost 70 hours building it with modifications. The Augusta fuselage was from Align and was a lot easier to built. Matt I'm 70 years old and only been flying RC helicopters for only about 5 years. When I first got started I was terrible. The only thing that saved me was my real life flying experience while in the army. Flew Huey helicopters in South Vietnam and OH58s (known as Rangers now) in West Germany. Knew the concepts of flight but had to learn all over again when it came to RC helicopters. I owe a lot to Tony and many others who guided me with excellent advice. Went and bought a Real Flight simulator and would practice hours on end. Still warm up on the simulator, my rule of thumb is 45 minutes of sim time for every 10 minutes of actual flying. Matt what I'm doing you can too. You don't have to be an expert pilot when it comes to teaching children the joys of flying. If you have a flight simulator ( they're not expensive) you can instruct them that way. Plus there are plenty of awesome folks around who would jump at the chance to display their flying skills. If you ever want to start your own program I would be more than happy to help. besides this web site you can reach me at my home email address. jim.lewis3@yahoo.com

 

[Stambo]

My first thought was kids and helicopters don't mix, but I was more thinking about the bigger ones.
I still won't fly my 450 and 500 around my boy, but then my helicopter piloting skills suck.
Surely a 300 size would not cause too much havoc if something went wrong.
Be safe and enjoy it.
My son had his first flying lessons at 4 years old, V949 quad from Banggood.
He loved it, although wanted to do "flips like Dad does" long before he was ready for it.
Now at 9 he is comfortable flying FPV with a 250 size mini quad.
I'll have to get more video of him flying it.

 

[James M. Lewis]

Hi Stambo,
You are so right about in what you said about kids and helicopters don't mix. When I fly in my large back yard that's completely enclosed with a privacy fence, if my grand kids are watching they must be seated on the deck behind me period. Even my dogs know the rules, I only fly my 300 in the back. Will do spoon ups and equipment checks on my 450s and short hovers only. When I fly my 450s on the school grass fields, 6am in the spring/summer and no later than 7am in the fall weather permitting. One hour later regardless I'm off the field on my way home. If anyone is on the field always have them at least 50 to 100 feet behind me. If anyone comes any closer will land my bird and shut down. Helicopter is always in front where I can see it and minimum flying height is 30 feet. The farthest distance out is 150 to 200 feet. I'm always thinking safety first. The same safety rules will apply when putting on a demonstration this fall at the school for students/staff. I'll fly outside the fence line in an open field that the school owns while the children/staff remain inside the protective fence. Have a folding picnic table that I can display my other helicopters for the children to see. And let me share with you about that 300. Two months ago while doing routine maintenance not paying attention, damm near cut my finger to shreds. Those 245mm glass fiber blades are just as dangerous as the bigger ones. I was extremely lucky my reflexes kicked in. Have a fully healed scar to remind me of what that arrow marked danger means. My wife and I had a discussion at breakfast yesterday about getting our 6 year old granddaughter a small drone for Christmas. She's not to thrilled about the idea but I assured her it would be all right. Her dad, my son in law fly large drones and helicopters. We already talked about getting her one. Been looking at Horizon Hobby Inductrix RTF w/safe BLH8700. The blades are completely enclosed and after watching the video, was impress with it's performance. Knowing her dad like I do, it's a serious ground school before being allowed to go solo. So glad you're sharing this great hobby with your son and wishing him many years of enjoyment and safe flying.

 

[Matt]

I agree doing hardcore 3D around kids wouldn’t be appropriate and could be dangerous. Simple hovering probably couldn’t be too bad. I think it’s more of a show and tell event. This is a helicopter and it’s pretty cool. Here’s a simulator here’s a chance to try it out. Kids don’t do much during the day so this will be more of a chance to give kids something to do that’s not quite as boring as reading a book

 

[Matt]

And I wouldn’t necessarily fly a 700 Nitro around kids but a 450 or smaller wouldn’t be too bad..

 

[James M. Lewis]

Matt,
Do you remember that young RC helicopter pilot years ago in New York who lost his life doing 3D stuff? He failed to know his limitations and started to show off doing a risky 3D maneuver that he practice very little in. He was over confident and it cost him his life. And yet it could have seriously injured or killed others who were near by. There are other RC pilots whom I will not go near because they take chances. That's why I'll fly only with my son and son in law here in Virginia. My son owns property several acres in Suffolk Virginia that we use for flying. I've seen the damage years ago what a propeller from a model airplane can do to human flesh. Unless you got superman skin/genes those blades will change your outlook of life. It's gotten worst since plastic blades started replacing wooden ones. Now we have carbon fiber/glass fiber blades, even worst. One of my friends in New Jersey has a 700 helicopter with 1000mm blades. Despite the slower motor 440KV, since can chop off a limb. He's very, very, very safety minded and have seen him royally chew out his best friend for getting to close to his 800 size Bell 429 when it had just landed. That's why I feel very strongly in safety especially when model aircraft are concerned. Hopefully my interaction with my little ones (family and those of their parents) will leave an impact on safety.

 

[James M. Lewis]

Hi Matt,
A 700 nitro is nice but I wouldn't own one. Way too much bird for me and most likely be a nevrious wreck. Found my comfort zone in a 450.

 

[Matt]

450 are nice. I have a Trex with a 6s setup. I’m thinking about going a little bigger in my next heli tho. Either a 360 or a 380 (can’t decide). I have a Trex 150 too which is a blast to fly.. can’t wait to do flips and rolls with that one..

 

[Matt]

Safety is a huge concern. I haven’t thought much about it since I fly alone mostly in parking lots of businesses that are closed. I’m more geared towards learning tricks and stuff like that. I want to be a better pilot. It’s kind of boring hovering tail in all the time. I’d like to eventually get inverted hover but think that’s some time away.

 

[James M. Lewis]

Hi Matt,
I would invest in a Phoenix or Real Flight RC Flight Simulator to learn 3D stuff. You can't go wrong there. When you'll crash and burn a hundred times plus, just hit the reset button and you're back in business. So when you actually try that maneuver with your bird, you'll know what to expect. My Augusta A109 and Ch53 are for scale flying. Nothing fancy just hovering, flying figure eights and circle patterns just like the big guys. I really enjoy that. My Gartt 450 Pro will be my F3C flyer. It consist of precise maneuvers rather than 3D flying. Not taking anything away from 3D but I've been following F3C flying on you tube. Just type in RC Helicopters F3C flying and you'll see what I mean. You have to follow a sequence of flight maneuvers finished with an auto rotation from a high altitude, land dead stick on a specific spot and in a full soft control. It would take me weeks or even months to get it down pat if I were to practice everyday. Have been practicing on my simulator and that will take a lot of concentration and patience. I've seen the manual that a panel of 5 to 6 judges used to score a pilot in competition and OMG is all I can say. It's no different than a inspection/judging team use for actual motor car, precision AMA flying or any other event. the Japanese and Europeans are way ahead of the USA in this area. But the Japanese are in the lead and got this down to a fine science. In most F3C international helicopter events they can take 1st, 2nd or 3rd place, sometimes all three. Their birds are 600 size and larger and the full stream line fiberglass fuselages are awesome, true works of art. Most likely set you back a few dollars too. But these pilots are very good and true pros in this type of flying. They most likely have sponsors who pay them to fly their brand name helicopters/company logo. So I'll be most happy learning from my Gartt 450 Pro.

 

[Cyclone 7]

I often wonder what happened to starting kids off with simple glider & rubber powered models that they could play for hours on end with in the back garden - and learn that you can control how an aircraft behaves by sticking on trim tabs. That was my introduction to model aircraft - thanks to my father who was an RAF jet pilot & QFI who believed in getting the basics right, before allowing you to move on.

 

[Tony]

That is awesome!

 

[James M. Lewis]

Hi Cyclone 7,
I too remember buying those balsa gliders back in the 1950s. They cost 10 cents back then. One summer I visited my grand parents and grand dad gave me a dollar. Went to the toy store and bought four planes, I wrote a number one thru four for each bird. Man was I a happy camper HAD MY OWN AIR FORCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Cyclone 7]

Hi Cyclone 7,
I too remember buying those balsa gliders back in the 1950s. They cost 10 cents back then. One summer I visited my grand parents and grand dad gave me a dollar. Went to the toy store and bought four planes, I wrote a number one thru four for each bird. Man was I a happy camper HAD MY OWN AIR FORCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Absolutely - by messing around with those cheap planes, you learnt the basics of flight control and eventually worked out for yourself how to trim them to give a long and gentle flight path. Folding paper aeroplanes was also a favourite past time! I fear that this basic introduction to the principles of flight is not that prevalent these days.

 

[James M. Lewis]

Cyclone 7,
You are so right!!!!!!!!!!!! I remember once flying a glider with my dad, the bird came down for a landing. As it touch the pavement a slight head wind lifted it up and flew for a few more seconds. That was the most exciting thing I as a 5 year old ever enjoyed. I even tried to make a helicopter out of a toilet paper roll (for the fuselage) and ice cream sticks for blades. For motive power used a rubber band by twisting it until wouldn't turn any more. When I let it loose, went all over the place except up. Almost got hit in the head. Well that ended my quest to build a helicopter. I was 8 years old.

 

[Cyclone 7]

My very first unassisted build was a Keil Kraft Conquest glider which got me well and truly hooked on not only the flying but also, building off plan. I don't think I ever grew tired of waking up to the tissue covering having magically shrunk and gone taught over night, after a light water spray at bed time! Yes - we had a strictly enforced bed time in those days and yet were allowed to posses and handle dopes and thinners. I sometimes think that society has taken a decided turn for the worse in recent times

 

[James M. Lewis]

Ya, yes those were the good old days model airplane dopes and thinners. I used to when was a teenager, build balsa airplane kits that you cut out and glue together. Always tried to stay within the lines for a good cut. Putting those spars with 1/8 balsa strips together was not easy (weren't pre-cut then). When I applied the dope always had to leave the window open with the fan on. Used to build paper airplanes and one time threw it out the window of the apartment building we lived in. That was on the 12th floor and at that height it went a pretty good distance with the breeze.

 

[Tony]

I would have tossed it out with a little aileron or rudder put into it and then seen if I can get all the way down and catch it on the ground lmao. But, that is the kind of kid I was. Thinking of that now just sitting here I'm out of breath lmao.