GREATER SOUTHWEST AERO CLUB... TWO THUMBS UP!!! Amazing place. Amazing people!!

[coolgabsi]

So, Guess what I did today.. Took the leap.. Finally made it to the club when people were out flying.. And why wouldnt they... it was 70-75degrees outside with 0-5mph wind.. more like almost zero wind... Ahh.. beautiful day to fly! Well, I get there, saw two planes.. One Large size trainer with a OS two stroke.. and a Sport flyer (bigger than the 540 size, i am not sure what size), but that was a 4 stroke engine plane... I had never seen a nitro / gas plane start and fly in my life before.. Well, I got introduced to the smell of nitro fuel and the amazing noise and power these planes have. I met the only two people that were there. Went over with the rules with someone.. and then.. was like Hey Can y'all help me with my trainer. They were like talk to THAT guy... "ED COUCH" ... electric planes specialist.. He had two quads and man is he good at flying.. has been flying since like forever.. and good guy.. good at training... I set my little (seriously little in the front of the planes that were sitting there)plane there and got it set up.. He went and helped another guy put together his sailplane, and maiden it till then... which btw sail planes are AWESOME!!! so smooth and so so fun to fly..

Well, in the mean time I got introduced to something I had never before seen / heard... Control line planes. There was this guy in the control line side of the field (which i didnt understand then, what it was, but, I saw this plane with a nitro engine going crazy fast in circles and a guy holding something in his hands no remote.. I was like what the heck is that.. found out he was a pro at control lines and he did some pretty AMAZING stuff with it.. i mean it was in a circle, but definaltely cool.. All he had in controls was the elevator... He said he was going to a control line plane competition in Tulsa OK this weekend or coming week or something..

Well, finally it was my turn.. I got my nexstar mini on the runway, he taxied it and had took off with it, it was a VERRRRRRRRRYYYYYY slow take off.. (1. cause i have smal wheels so they were not going through wet grass so well, and 2. i had the air speed brakes on)... well it took off... SO my motor mount rocked!! anywaz.. he got it all trimmed for me, and then gave me the controls.... I was so happy flying this thing.. He kept prompting me what to do.. He said he wont have to buddy box with me as i flew helis.. but he will definately help me if i needed.. I flew around for a bit... about 7 minutes, and then he took the controller and landed it safely.. and beautifully..

Now till my battery gets charged, I went out and started flying my 450's... pro with carbon fibre blades (which totally is awesome!!! ) and then the clone which totally flew amazing today. .. gyro help up pretty good cause it had beens sitting out and acclimatized.. ... Anywhew.. amazing flights with the helis...

Then again was my turn after a half an hour.. this time he took off made me do some landing approaches (which i totally screwd up except the final one, but he was patient lol ), figure eights and rectangles.... anywaz.. that was awesome.. I had a beautiful landing in the end... landing were all dead throttle..

After that... again i went ahead and flew my 450's and my mcpx for a bit.. may be another 40 minutes.. and then again a last battery of the nexstar... which this time i took off and i landed.. took my a couple of tries to land it, but when it did, I was jumping and they were laughing!! hahahahahahha IT WAS FUN!

By the end of the time I was there, there were about 10-15 people, all with their planes out there... the planes i saw ... WOW... ranging from extras to sport flyers to warbirds... just just amazing. and each one of them doing low passes, and FAST!

Well, I ended the day with A BIG SMILE ON MY FACE... Gave a couple of guys there the link to this site, and they said that they will definitely check it out.. and... I came home in one peice... (except for the landing gear I cracked of my align pro while trying to auto.. lol )

And hey.. I actually met this guy who was the control line dude, and he had a trophy "THE WORST CRACK UP IN RC PLANES" ... cause he flew his plane into the propeller of another scale fighter plane on the ground once in a competition.... Guess I am not that bad anywaz.. lol jk jk!!

GREAT PEOPLE AND GREAT CLUB... they even have trainer planes that they bring out to train noobies on.. that is the perfect club for me.. tEd.. has been a heli guy too.. so he knows stuff.. .

Moral of the story : RC flying clubs: TOTALLY WORTH IT... and a MUST!



NExt time i go i will get a video!

 

[Tony]

I told you that it was worth it. If for nothing else, to have friends like you that fly. And to make you look lame cause you and I both are dwarfed with these other planes lol. They are a lot of fun. And you should try the control line sometime. You will get very dizzy hahaha

 

[breeze400]

Ya GABA what Tony said! Lol. Wait till you get into doing shows and things like that! You soon will be even teaching newbee too. Lol I'm glad you finally got it! So you see when we all told you to get into a club and get the help we all need sometime. It would be a lot more satisfying flying with friends then crashing by yourself. Man go out there and fly baby fly!!! Lol

 

[coolgabsi]

Hahahahah!! So true breeze!! So true!! And I realized that planes are easiER... not really easy... They need same kind of respect.. And simming bashfully and not realizing how I was doing till now got me to crash a lot and not get the whole flying thing.. Lol.. Buy hey.. Now I am going to respect this thing and fly it gently

 

[Keith]

Well done Gaba... Have heaps of fun mate....

 

[RandyDSok]

Gaba,

That is simply awesome.... It sounds like you have half of the battle won now... A good club from the sound of it so you have people to BS with and get any on-hands help from... Also remember that even if you aren't going to fly, drop by and see if others are... My work is about 3 miles from the club field and when I'm dead slow ( which is a lot right now ) I'll often swing by just to watch others fly...

Enjoy it all,
Randy

 

[coolgabsi]

Randy it's so true that I learned and enjoyed a lot seeing people fly... I will definately try to do that.

There is one field right where I live (this is 1hr away, I am there every weekend for three days with my fiancé, so I am joining this.. but I'll definately try to visit the one by my house.. I bet they have a bunch of good planes and people...

 

[Jolly-Swagman]

Great going Gaba, sound like you had a great time and lot new things learnt from more advanced Flyers , I would jion a club here too, if they weren't 1/ so costly to join and 2/ weren't so far away, ahh well thats the only drawback of living in Rural Country areas, and No Transport,
Glad you have an awesome day, look forward to seeing some videos next time your there!

 

[Whirlybird]

Nice Gaba! Looks like your learning has just skyrocketed

I did a lot of control line in the old days (actually I was quite young then ) . . . still kind of dizzy and can't walk straight!

 

[Keith]

I used to watch control line as well and thought..."Why would you?"... Could never get into that side of it, although I found control mechanisms interesting...

Frank, you gotta take more water with it to stop that....

 

[Whirlybird]

Yeah but with the spinning, the water will go down spiral like a whirlpool. (Now let's see, northern hemisphere clockwise . . . or is it counter?? Have to go do a flush and check