Im a new guy, just stopping to say hello!!

[mattsimonton]

Hello guys,
My name is Matt. I just bought a Blade CP a couple days back and have realized that helicopters are not like bikes, you do forget, lol!!! I was a plane guru a few years back but with no support and only 15 I moved on to cars. I had fun with those and became more of the "go to guy" around the school, but lost interest. I just joined the USAF and will be shipping out after my 5 month stay in Germany (leaving tomorrow). I figured that this would be the best time to really sit down and regain the confidence to fly helis!!!

I bought the blade cp based on all of the support equipment I had laying around the house from my mamba mini. I am still in the "Scooter" stage and am gaining more confidence per battery pack and am going by "RADD's instructions as if they were gold. I have chose his techniques for newbies based on the learning to fly on the ground first and get acquainted with the controls and then fly. I have found that this is the most cost efficient and confidence building way to go about getting that first flight under my belt.

I was wandering what was the way all of you learned to fly helis as a beginner...

Thanks and nice to meet you
Matt Simonton

[Danimal]

Hi Mat
I don't what to say welcome or goodbye? lol
Well at least I can wish you good luck in both of your new adventures. However I can say that I think that you have made a vary good choice using Radd's methods to learn how to fly.
When I started I just jumped in with both feet before I had any idea what I was in for. I saw a friend fling one and thought to myself if he can do it it cant be that hard. Boy was I wrong ! I destroyed two fixed pitch Heli's before I decided that I should get some advice from someone how know what they were doing. The first thing they tolled me to do was to checkout Radds school of rotary flight and get a sim. I could have saved myself a lot of money and frustration if I had taken the time to do a little research in the beginning. O-well live and learn I guess.

[mattsimonton]

Danibal, I noticed that I was getting to "Itchy" to fly. Here in Oklahoma there are 35-60mph winds, I can handle that...NOT!!!lol Lucky for me, Germany has 0-5 mph winds and we have a 3000 sq foot home that is 3 stories of 1000sq ft each, and a 30 acre field as our front yard... The one thing that bothers me and makes me apprehensive is that I am a perfectionist, I have to have control of all uncontrollable things I encounter (except women)lol I know a crash is inevitable, but I am on the funding of my father on this vacation...soooo crashing is out of the question, but I did buy a few main rotor blades ( the original balsa, cf symetrical, and plastic flats) along with a main shaft, blade grip shafts, tail rotor, and extra skid. If I play my cards right and master each step, I should (opperitive word) be confident and more able to control this little death trap!!!lol
thanks for the kind words, and no matter what country Im in, this forum is in my reach(except when I am in Italy for a couple of days)...

[uneverno]

Hey Matt - sounds like an ideal place to fly. I love Germany. Lived there for a time many lifetimes ago myself.

I'd advise getting a frequency checker if you plan to use your US TX over there. I doubt they run the same bands we do (the UK definitely doesn't), and they may use the US band for something else - like police radio or something. That could turn ugly...

[mattsimonton]

thanks for the idea... I will talk to the people around here to find out their frequencies.

[Aztek1701]

Hi Matt,

this might be of some use to you...

http://www.fai.org/aeromodelling/frequencies/

It lists the frequencies for looks like everywhere in the world. Looks to me like Germany uses 35Mhz, the same as the UK.

As far as learning goes, it sounds like your doing the right things learning from the ground up, but I can promise you this that flying model helis, theres no point in trying to control the uncontrollable because the heli will occasionally throw a curveball at you so your best bet is to become instinctive. You only get this by practice.

Good luck with it .... Azzy