Radio Control Society Of Marine Park

Brooklyn, New York - AMA Charter #466

What you need to get started.

The first thing your going to need to start learning how to fly R/C plane’s is a membership to the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA ).

The AMA provides you and our club with insurance in the event of a mishap. While learning to fly there’s a possibility of you losing control of your plane, and it hitting a person or someone's personal property. House, car, Etc. If this was to happen the AMA provides you with liability Insurance. It also covers our club and helps prevent us from losing our field. ( You must have an AMA card to fly at any AMA chartered Field)

To join the AMA you can apply on line at www.modelaircraft.org

Buying your first Plane.

Before you run right out and buy a plane, there are a few things you should know about choosing a plane that’s best for you to learn on. Your first plane should be what we call a TRAINER.

Trainer’s have their wings located on the top of the plane, this allows the weight of the plane to be suspended below the wing. When the model tilts, the models weight tends to try to return the model to a level position. As a result high wing planes tend to be more stable and easier to fly.

Another characteristic of a basic trainer is the location of the landing gear.

There are basically two types of landing gear. Tricycle, which consists of a nose wheel and two more wheels located under the wing or fuselage. Or a Tail Dragger, which has two main wheels under the wing and a small wheel dragging from the tail of the plane. Tricycle gear makes takeoffs and landings easier, Ideal for beginners.

How much does it cost?

There’s a few things your going to need to start flying. How much it will cost depends on your budget, for example there are radio control transmitters that cost as little as $99 dollars and there are some that cost as high as $1200 dollars. Do you need the $1200 dollar transmitter to learn how to fly? NO. Only buy what you can afford.

Here is a breakdown of the minimum expense to learn to fly. Plane- $90-125, Engine- $75, Radio- $125, AMA-$48 Support Equipment-$50 (Fuel, Props, Glow starter, Etc)

There are Trainer packages which include the plane the radio and the engine already installed. With this package you can be ready to fly in thirty minutes or less. . There are many trainers available, feel free to talk with an experienced club member on which is the best to purchase. We advise not to rush out and buy a plane without talking to an experienced flier first. The right choice of trainer is very important to ensure successful flights.

Your First Flight

The first day you arrive at the field with your new plane; it will be inspected for flight worthiness by one of the qualified flight instructors. The batteries will be checked as well as a radio ground check. If everything checks out OK, the instructor will take you up for your first lesson with the use of a buddy box. The buddy box is a redundant transmitter connected to the instructors transmitter that will allow the instructor to regain control of your model if at any time you should lose control of it. (An instructor has the right to refuse to teach anyone who is not using a buddy box) The instructor will take off and land your plane for you, when the plane is at a safe altitude the control of the plane will be transferred to you so you can learn the fundamentals of basic radio control flight.

*******Happy Flying*******

Copyright © 2006 Radio Controled Society Of Marine Park
Last modified: 1/6/2008