Hi and welcome to my 1st ever blog.
I am honestly not too sure if my attempt in writing this blog is according to what's supposed to be the right practices of blogging. But if it's not please pardon me, as all I intend to do is to share my story with everyone about the unexpected experiences and pleasantries that came along by humbly looking to fly a little RC plane.
The motive - bored to death
I have always been considered as a man of many skills and passions, one of which is my music and drumming. Playing the drums was and always will be my primary passion, hobby and secondary income.
However, over the years, drumming became a bit monotonous and prompted me to start looking for something else to do that would give me a deeper satisfaction, although I was not quite sure what it would be.
One afternoon while I was at work, I had a bit of free time and was wondering what else could I get involved with other than my currently less active and boring lifestyle and besides the once a week excitement of playing the drums for the weekly gig at the Jazz Bar.
The spark of an idea - RC Planes
Since I was always fascinated by aeroplanes and remembered the times when I was a kid making little glider planes with scraps of cardboard and wood and also watch my dad and elder brothers build and fly RC models back in the ’70s and ’80s, This sparked a little idea inside my head.
"That's it !! Yes !! "
If I could just get a little RC model aeroplane to fly on the weekends, this would be great fun, relaxing and a great outdoor activity to kill the boredom that was creeping in.
A little plane to fly on weekends or holidays is a great idea" were my immediate thoughts… well, it was and was not quite what I expected it to be.
Time to get that little plane
All this thinking about getting a new hobby or pastime right down to getting a little plane all happened within 30 to 45 minutes…and yes although I wanted a little RC plane, the thoughts in my mind were moving as fast as a jet.
I looked online to find a local RC store where I could get this little plane that I was eagerly seeking to fly, and voila!! I found a local hobby store in Dubai and called their number immediately. I was greeted by a very pleasant and friendly salesperson who suggested a certain type of RC plane for me as I was an absolute beginner.
We had quite the conversation –
“Sales guy - Sir have you flown an RC plane before?
Me- No!!
Sales guy - Sir, do you know anyone who can help you with it?
Me - Nope!”
And then we both laughed for at least a minute.
I guess the sales guy knew how this will end up.
The model that was suggested by the sales guy was an ARF type (Almost ready to fly) foam trainer plane that included an autopilot system, a radio and battery with a charger.
The model was called Wing Tiger and was produced by a company called Art-tech.
Done Deal!! After about 10 minutes of conservation with this extremely helpful and kind sales guy, I was convinced, and the model was ordered and due to arrive in a few hours by a local courier delivery service. Was I an extremely excited man???
My 1st little plane
A nice big and colourful box was delivered to me in a few hours. On opening the box with much excitement and curiosity, laid well packed and protected my first "Little" RC plane.
It felt like a Christmas morning and I was overly excited and a bit nervous when realizing that this little plane was not as little as I expected.
As I unpacked the plane and all its parts one at a time, I admired the beautiful coloured stickers and the quality and finish put into producing this model.
The assembly
The plane was extremely easy to assemble and went together very quickly. However, setting up the radio was a little daunting as I was unfamiliar with all the RC jargon and was totally blank about certain setup protocols and parameters.
I did not find the user manual to be in much detail and a lot of what they mentioned went way over my head. Since I was aware of the basic principles on how a plane flies and the way the control surfaces work, I was confident to maiden the plane.
Action time - The maiden flight
This is the beginning of where all the fun starts. I decided to do the maiden flight in an open area well outside the city limits to ensure that I was in a safe area and that there was no danger caused to anyone or any property, should something go wrong.
I called a friend of mine to help me out who also happened to be an aviation mechanic, not with the intention of using his knowledge of aviation mechanic, but rather just as moral support and also since the location I chose to fly at was very close to the residential area he lives at.
I loaded the plane carefully in my car and picked up my friend on the way as we drove down to the area I had decided to fly at.
I prepared the plane for its maiden flight and on checking all controls, I realized that the elevator was responding in the opposite direction from the inputs of the radio than it supposed to. I quickly told myself
“OK – just remember the elevator is now working in the opposite direction”.
I did not want to attempt to fix this issue on the radio as I was not very sure how it was supposed to be done and we were also losing daylight.
Time to take off
Making a quick check of the wind direction I taxied the plane into the wind and while taking a deep breath I nervously throttled up the plane as it began to taxi out to takeoff. In a few seconds, the plane took off smoothly although I was flying with the elevator stick inverted and in no time, I could barely see the plane as we were losing daylight.
After about 30 seconds in the air, I decided to turn the plane around and attempt to land. The plane landed a bit hard and once on the ground, it came to a stop after hitting a sand pile.
My first flight ever, lasted less than a minute and due to the hard landing, the gears in the micro servo of the nose wheel got stripped.
I thought to myself “Well that's not too bad for a maiden flight, the plane is still in once piece! and wow!!! " That was fun although my hands were trembling and my knees were knocking…one of the best experiences I had ever felt.
What did I learn from that?
Firstly, never fly when you have things not set right in the plane, secondly, choose the right time of the day to fly. Due to the fact of losing daylight, I was in a hurry to fly the plane, which should not be the case, especially when it’s the first time I am flying a model RC plane in my life and also when it is a maiden flight.
The second attempt – Meeting the folks
As days went by I fixed the plane and managed to get the control surfaces working in the right manner, it was now time to find a better area to fly at. I once again looked on Google maps to find the right place to fly and noticed just a kilometre away from where I did the maiden flight was a vast open area with just one road going all the way into what looked like the desert. No traffic, no houses, absolutely nothing but just open land on either side of this one road that looked like the perfect runway which kept going through for countless kilometres.
That's it!! I decided that’s where I should go for my next flight.
The following weekend, along with my plane in the car I picked up the same friend and we drove to this new location that I had spotted on Google maps. It was around mid-day and as we drove down the same road, I noticed a group of people and a few cars parked by the side of the road.
I pulled over and as I walked towards them, I could see a few RC planes and a group of RC pilots taking turns in flying their models. The first thing that went through my mind was – “Not bad!! I got the location to fly right! My first right step towards progress in this new hobby”.
Out in the middle of nowhere or in other words in the middle of the desert, that’s where I met “The folks”; a bunch of very friendly, like-minded guys who were very familiar and experienced with RC flying and some of who were professional commercial pilots. They were very welcoming and were more than happy to help out a new pilot such as me to successfully get my wings in the air.
This new bunch of guys that I was meeting for the very first time later turned out to become my dear flying buddies and bros, from who I have learned a great deal about RC flying and who I still constantly fly with and have great times.
After about two years from the first time I met them, we formed our own flying club called - ADRCC. (Abu Dhabi Radio Control Club)
Looking back now, I am totally thankful to myself that I had decided to take up this hobby and now be a part of a great team and club that we now call ADRCC.
Today, I am proud to be a member and on the board of directors for ADRCC, which is a professional and globally recognized RC club located in Abu Dhabi – UAE.
ADRCC provides high standards and the best of facilities to its members and visitors alike.
ADRCC is proud to have hosted many RC events and have had some of the best RC pilots in the world come to visit and fly at.
All this started with the quest for one little plane.
Moral of the story - Never be afraid to set out into the unknown, you will never know what good can be waiting for you just around the corner.
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