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Abit Loco

On Tue, 17 Feb 2015 10:38:25 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Tuesday, February 17, 2015 at 12:44:42 PM UTC-5, John H. wrote:
On Mon, 16 Feb 2015 20:35:18 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 2/16/2015 8:18 PM, wrote:
On Monday, February 16, 2015 at 7:08:10 PM UTC-5, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/16/2015 6:31 PM, wrote:
On Monday, February 16, 2015 at 12:25:26 PM UTC-5, John H. wrote:

The big difference between simulators/real airplanes and RC airplanes - in sims or
real planes, the nose of the plane is in front of you. With an RC plane, at least
part of the time, the nose is pointed at you. That means the left and right controls
are reversed. This, I believe, is what causes the most problems, at least for me.

Another related difference is that pilots in a real plane has a seat of the pants, first person view. Not so with RC.

Something that helps newbies to RC is that when the airplane is flying towards you and the controls are reversed, your can turn your body so the transmitter is faced the same way as the plane, but look back over your shoulder at the plane. That way the stick moves to the right, the plane moves to the right. It's a crutch, but with some more stick time it'll come naturally.

I don't think there's much at all in common comparing RC flying and
flying a real airplane. Speed scale is totally different. Turns
and maneuvers are not anything close to being realistic to flying an
airplane.

I see it as a fun hobby for many but to compare it to actually flying
an airplane it isn't even close.

If you think about it, it's very similar. The same rules apply, the aircraft reacts the same way. RC planes can do things that real planes can't, but they also suffer from the fact that they don't fly quite the same way. Said another way, the air molecules are still the same size, while the wings and control surfaces of RC planes are far smaller. That's why truly scale RC planes don't tend to fly very well.

Good RC pilots can fly very realistically. I saw a jet done up in Fed-Ex colors being flown slowly and with coordinated turns. It looked very real, except for the size, although it was still large with about a 10 foot wingspan.

But while you may have not meant it, your attitude is common with "real" pilots. They think of RC planes as toys. And they crash them when they first try to fly them, thinking that if they can fly the real thing, they can fly the toy. They cannot.

Real pilots hope to walk away from a crash. RC pilots walk towards it!

I wasn't knocking RC flying. I know a lot of people enjoy it. I also
know a lot of people who think it's similar to actual flying (which it
isn't). As you point out the scale is totally different, the power to
weight ratio is different and the control surfaces behave differently.
I've tried a couple once in flight. You're right. I can land an
airplane but I'd crash an RC if I tried applying my flying instincts and
control.

Back when I was flying I used to play with whatever the current version
of Microsoft Flight Simulator was at the time. I had the yoke and pedal
controller set up. It was not exactly like flying but was pretty close
in many ways, especially how the wing surfaces reacted in the simulator.
Even more realistic when you added in a little "weather" and turbulence.
I think that was much closer to the "feel" of actually flying than a RC
plane can ever be.

Flight simulators such as Microsoft's have very, very little resemblance to RC
flying.

You keep saying its not similar to actual flying. How do the control surfaces behave
differently? What is the power to weight ration of the 'real' airplanes to which you
refer? Do RC airplanes have a lot more power to weight? Less?

I'm not aware of any full scale prop driven planes that can hang, or hover, on their prop. Some of of the most powerful and capable stunt planes flown by Patty Wagstaff, Matt Chapman, etc... can be flown level, pulled to verticle with full power, and they will stop climbing after some distance and go into the classic tail slide.

Well, that's a special capability for 3D aircraft - to which I've not yet evolved.
Maybe in another ten years.

RC planes *can* have a P/W ratio far higher than what is possible in full scale. I'm sure you've seen some video or someone at your field that can fly in "3D" mode. A properly equipped RC plane can hang virtually motionless on its prop for some time, then accelerate straight up.

I think it's an interesting question for 'regular' RC airplanes.

Same for RC helicopters. They can do things that no full scale heli could ever attempt. The laws of physics just can't be broken.

Oh, and I agree with you about how similar flying RC and full scale really is. I've said it before, but with RC you lose the 1st person, seat of the pants experience that full scale pilots have. But the wings, rudder, elevator, ailerons, vertical and horizontal stabilizers all do the same exact things on RC as they do with full scale aircraft. The biggest difference is where the pilots are, in respect to their planes, while manipulating the controls.

And, weather and turbulence can definitely play a part in RC flying!
--

Guns don't cause problems. The behavior
of certain gun owners causes problems.