My Young RC Life by Skylor Fleenor
I have always had an interest in flying vehicles, like many different types of Air Hogs and ESTES rockets. I never knew about Manatee County Radio Controllers (MCRC) until my friend Liam Miller took me out to the field. Jim Holloman, a person who teaches people how to fly RC’s for MCRC, took me up with his LT 40. I loved the feeling of the sticks on my thumbs, and I was hooked! I signed up with the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), got my AMA license, and then joined MCRC. Jim was my primary instructor and taught me the basics. Soon we progressed to learning more advanced maneuvers such as rolls, loops, etc. After a few weeks Jim turned me over to Steve Bevington. Two weeks later I soloed. It is scary knowing I have a lot of money in my hand. I love this hobby very much.
My dad said that this is my hobby and that I have to buy all the equipment myself, however, he has helped with some stuff. He is leaving this hobby to me while he does his hobby, astronomy. I went out to the field every week until it was shut down for field repairs. They graded and leveled the field, installed a new irrigation system and planted new grass, assuring a better runway. Now, it is a very nice, smooth runway thanks to the people from the club who donated the funds and did all the work to make it possible.
I plan to learn 3D and get really good at it like my role model Tom Kitt. I recently bought a Spektrum DX8, and he helped me hook it up to my trainer. He has taught me a lot of things about RC airplanes. I hope to advance to a 3D plane, but until then I will keep pushing my trainer to the limits. I love this hobby and hope to get a lot better at 3D maneuvers. Once I get better I hope to compete someday and get noticed, or maybe fly a real plane.
The main reasons I enjoy this hobby is because I have to know a lot about the aerodynamics of each plane, wind currents, different plane configurations and setups, etc. You never stop learning! I am amazed how I have gone from flying little Air Hogs to flying a five foot trainer in a matter of a few months! That just assured me to never give up on learning. It took me about two months of training on the buddy box before I could solo. During this time it was nice knowing you had someone to back you up. For this reason I loved the buddy box and understood its importance! Now, no one tells me what maneuvers to do when I am flying, however, they do have good suggestions every now and then. I like to think of myself as “running with the big guys” - it tends to keep my spirit up.
In the future, I hope to take some of my friends out to the flying field so they can enjoy the fun like I do. For anyone wanting to get into the hobby, I can tell you that it is a blast!
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