How to Fly RC Planes!

Learn how to fly RC airplanes the smart way!

Many folks get excited about the hobby, go out and spend hundreds of dollars, and wind up demolishing their brand new planes in about 20 seconds. Then they give up never to return to the hobby again. Don't let that happen to you!

In a perfect world the best and smartest way to learn is to locate an RC flying club or find someone who already knows how to fly RC and have them teach you to fly with a buddy box.

However, some folks may not live near a club or know any anyone in their area that fly RC. If this is your case all is not lost! Many people teach themselves to fly with smaller relatively inexpensive park flyers. Just make sure the plane you get has plenty of spare parts available as the first few flights tend to be a little rocky!

It's not really a good idea to try and teach yourself to fly with a larger more powerful airplane such as one powered by a glow engine.

What's a good first RC Airplane?

Regardless of whether you're getting help or learning on your own, the best RC Airplane for a beginner should be stable, self correcting, and forgiving. In other words, don't go out and buy an RC Jet as your first plane or any other highly unstable aerobatic plane when your just learning how to fly RC planes. This is a very common mistake made by many beginners. But you're smarter than that!

A glow powered RC trainer airplane is a good choice if you have an experienced RC pilot at your disposal. Trainers are generally larger and much more powerful than park flyers and they need a larger area to fly safely. These guys can do some major damage if crashed into something or someone. So I urge you not to try to teach yourself how to fly RC planes with a glow powered trainer. It's just not safe...

Park flyers are perfect for teaching yourself to fly RC. Their relative small size allow them to be flown safely at the local park or even your backyard if it's large enough. Made from plastic or foam, they are generally much more durable than larger trainers constructed of balsa wood.

How Airplanes Work

In order to learn how to fly RC planes, you have to understand how an airplane works. Get familiar with the different parts of an airplane and what they do.

Make sure you know how an airplane gets off the ground and how the how an airplane is controlled when it's flying

How to work the transmitter

Get familiar with the basic RC airplane controls of the transmitter. The transmitter sends a signal to the receiver inside the airplane which in turn controls every function and control surface just as a pilot would in a real airplane.

Depending on where you live, the controls of the transmitter may be set up a little differently. Transmitter mode 2 is what most people use in the United States. Find out the difference between transmitter mode 1 and mode 2

Buy a Simulator

RC Flight simulators are worth their weight in gold in my opinion. The physics and graphics of the latest generation of sims is really astonishing. They're about as close to flying the real thing as it gets, except when you crash you don't cry!

Buy Phoenix RC Flight Simulator

The hardest part when learning how to fly RC airplanes (at least it was the hardest part for me) is training your brain to react correctly when your model is flying towards you because everything seems backwards! A simulator is perfect for etching this into your brain without tearing up your airplane.

Don't think for a second that RC simulators are only for beginners. I've been flying RC for many years and Santa just brought me a new one last Christmas. It allows me to sharpen my flying skills and practice new maneuvers without putting my airplane at risk. It's also great to be able to fly when the weather is nasty outside. Long winters in the midwest!

Find an RC Airplane Flying Club

Simply put, RC airplane clubs are awesome. Where else can you hang out with a bunch of like minded RC addicts with a bunch of cool toys on a sunny Saturday afternoon? You get to meet a bunch of cool people, see tons of cool planes, and you learn a lot from the more experienced pilots.

If you plan to learn how to fly with a glow powered or powerful electric plane, then joining a club is almost a necessity. An instructor at the local club will be more than happy to take your new plane up with you on the buddy box. He will even take it off and land it for you the first couple of times to make sure you don't demolish your brand new airplane!

so what's a buddy box? A buddy box is a training system where you use a transmitter that is plugged into the instructor's transmitter. The instructor can override you and take control of the airplane at any time. So if you panic and freak out he simply takes over your plane and prevents a crash. It's a pretty slick set up.

Find an RC Airplane Club in your area!

Research Before Buying an RC Airplane

Before buying anything, take the time to familiarize yourself a little bit with the hobby. This site is a great resource with lots of info and a great place to start. Take a trip to both the local hobby store and the local club. Ask tons of questions, you will find that the folks in this hobby are the friendliest you'll ever meet and they will be more than happy to answer your questions.

Don't hesitate for a minute to ask here if you have any questions along the way.

I have listed a few books on the right hand column of this page that do a great job of explaining the basics of how to fly RC planes. They come quite cheap also, especially if you buy used. My personal favorite is Getting Started in Radio Control Airplanes .

Equipment Needed

There are a few tools and gadgets that are needed to fly nitro-powered airplanes. Because they are used at the flying field these accessories are called field equipment. A full list of field equipment with recommendations at to what is required and what is optional can be found on the model airplane accessories page.

Academy of Model Aeronautics(AMA)

If you live in the United States I highly recommend that you join the AMA. Most every flying club requires AMA membership in order to fly at their fields. This is because AMA members are insured for up to $25,000 should an accident occur while flying their RC airplane. As long as the AMA safety code is being followed of course.

The Academy of Model Aeronautics is the governing body for radio controlled aircraft in the United States. The AMA is an awesome organization that every RC pilot in the U.S. should support. There are many great things that the AMA does, but the most important thing they do is to work with Congress to insure that we can continue to fly our RC airplanes.

It's only $58 a years. Here is the membership form.

Good Luck!

Most every thing you need to know for learning how to fly RC planes is on this site somewhere or another. If at all possible please get the help from an experienced pilot before taking to the friendly skies. Trust me, it makes all the difference in the world to get one on one help for those first few flights!