The Beginner’s Guide To Flying RC Airplanes e-book
An easy to follow, step-by-step guide that can save you a lot of money, stress and broken foam.
We strongly recommend every beginner reads this guide before buying or flying their first RC plane. It can save you hundreds of dollars, prevent early crashes, and help you avoid the most common mistakes every beginner makes.
$10.49
(💵 Money-back guarantee if you’re not happy)
Without question, the radio control flying hobby has to be one of the most exhilarating, addictive, fulfilling and rewarding pastimes you can have. I can personally assure that, from years of aeromodelling experience.
So to give you a rock-solid start to your new hobby, our Beginner’s Guide To Flying RC Airplanes e-book is packed with concise, easy to digest information guaranteed to save you valuable time, money and trouble.
We highly recommend you read our beginner guides before starting. It explains the essentials, helps you avoid expensive crashes, and prevents the common (and expensive) mistakes almost every beginner makes.
Why buy this e-book?
The short answer: Because at only $10, it’s a very small price to pay for learning how not to crash your new plane on its first flight!
A better answer: if you want to fly RC planes, a solid understanding of your new hobby is what you need. As a newcomer, The Beginner’s Guide To Flying RC Airplanes won’t overload you with all the unnecessary stuff that you don’t need to know right now. It gets right to the point and answers all the ‘getting started’ questions that you’re ever likely to have.
The e-book can be purchased securely through our online store (no account needed) and downloaded in one click, you can find the buy now button throughout this page – there’s even one right below us.
Start the smart way: read before you buy or fly 👇
The Beginner’s Guide To Flying RC Airplanes is a 139-page, easy-to-read e-book written for complete newcomers. It explains exactly what to buy, how to set it up, where to fly and how to avoid the classic mistakes that wipe out so many beginners.
$10.49
(💵 Money-back guarantee if you’re not happy)
E-book topics include…
Here is a list of just some of the many topics we cover within the book – all made simple and easy to understand, regardless of experience:
- Understanding RC systems & how they control your plane.
- What you need to know when choosing your first plane.
- Preparing your plane for flight.
- Finding somewhere suitable to fly.
- The essential pre-flight checks you need to know.
- Complete flight school to get you airborne safely (take-offs, flying & landing).
- How to fly some basic aerobatics.
- How to deal with a crash.
- …and more!
So what’s in The Beginner’s Guide To Flying RC Airplanes?
Below are some a few little snippets from the e-book:
Contents
Chapter 1: An introduction to your new hobby
Chapter 2: R/C systems, plane controls & EP powertrains
Chapter 3: Methods of R/C flight training
Chapter 4: Choosing & buying your first RC plane
Chapter 5: Get to know (& assemble) your plane
Chapter 6: Preparing your plane for flight
Chapter 7: Finding a suitable flying site
Chapter 8: Pre-flight checks
Chapter 9: Getting airborne
Chapter 10: Flying and trimming the plane
Chapter 11: Landing
Chapter 12: Fly some basic aerobatics
Chapter 13: Crashing
Chapter 14: RC flying do’s and don’ts
Chapter 15: Further progression & summary
Chapter 16: RC airplane glossary
Chapter 17: Useful resources & references
Introduction
Not many hobbies have the potential to teach you such a diverse range of topics, or at the same time be as simple and straightforward as you want it to be.
In other words, you can throw yourself into the model building side of the hobby as much as the flying side of it, and learn about model airplane design and construction techniques, aerodynamics, mechanical issues, model engines, electronics…. the list goes on.
Or you can just buy a simple electric Ready To Fly airplane, charge the battery and go!
Transmitters
So then, what are the differences between transmitter modes? They are….
Mode 1: the left stick operates elevator and rudder movement of the airplane, and the right stick operates engine power (throttle) and ailerons. With this set-up the two primary flight controls (elevators and ailerons) are on separate sticks and so you’re less likely to inadvertently move one while intentionally moving the other.
Mode 2: the left stick operates throttle and rudder while the right stick operates elevator and ailerons. This set-up corresponds to a real airplane’s control stick, or yoke, because the two primary flight controls are on the same stick.
Personally I fail to see the relevance of this argument though, because flying a radio control plane and a real one are two completely different things anyway, and as someone who flies RC planes and has held a Private Pilot’s Licence and flown full size planes, I know just how very different they are….
Elevators
Elevators are the most important of all control surfaces, and as a result of the nose-up/nose-down attitude of the plane they directly effect a plane’s airspeed. Up elevator will reduce the speed if engine power is not applied at the same time, while down elevator will initiate a dive and hence the airspeed will increase, as gravity kicks in.
So don’t just see the elevators as the things that make the plane point up or down – they really are more than that! The illustration below shows the effect of elevators on the plane’s pitch attitude.
As for transmitter stick movement, pulling the stick towards you will raise the elevator and pitch the nose up, while pushing the stick away from you will drop the elevator and cause the plane to dive.
Buying a plane
The correct choice of RC airplane as your first one is going to have a big impact on your enjoyment of and success with getting started in radio control flying.
Quite simply, if you buy the wrong kind of plane your first flight will likely end in disaster, probably seconds after take off, and you’ll possibly lose all interest.
I can’t stress enough the importance of taking a bit of time and care when choosing your first plane, and this is actually a downside (about the only one…) to the wide availability and choice of radio control airplanes on the market these days – you can become very easily overwhelmed by the variety of planes out there, and if you don’t know what you’re looking for then it’s all too easy to get impatient and make a bad purchase.
Your first flight…
Every flying aircraft has a Centre of Gravity, which is commonly abbreviated to just CG, CoG or C of G. The Centre of Gravity is factored in at the design stage of a plane’s life, and is the point through which the weight force acts and where the whole plane balances correctly about its lateral axis.
The fore-aft position of the CG drastically effects how a plane handles in the air, and consequently is critical to safe flying and a plane’s survival!
CG positions vary from plane to plane but as a general rule of thumb the CG point can be located anywhere between one quarter and halfway of the wing chord (width) back from the leading edge of the wing.
As the samples above briefly show, each page takes you step-by-step all the way. Every little detail is included and explained in a way that is easy to follow for everyone.
So why should I buy it…?
Quite simply, because it’s a damn good book – even if I say so myself.
I’ve been helping people get in to radio control flying via this website for over twenty years now. I’m passionate about it, and I love it. The e-book is a natural extension of my website, and over 6000 copies have been sold to date – and I’ve had just one single person say that it didn’t help them. I can live with that. Here’s just some of what you will learn:
- Learn how to choose a sensible first trainer instead of a future bin bag
- Learn how RC radios, controls and power systems actually work
- Learn how to assemble, check and prepare your plane for safe flying
- Find out the exact steps for take-off, flying, trimming and landing
- Understand how to deal with a crash and learn from it (instead of quitting the hobby)
And if after all that, you still don’t like it – we will give you your money back. No questions.
Don’t just take it from us, listen to our readers…
Whether you’re a believer in testimonials or not, here are some nice words that readers have actually sent me after reading the e-book:
“Hi Pete, Just finished your book and was totally impressed and captivated throughout. You’re style of English is perfect for the genre… ..I’m certainly glad I have read your book before dashing out and buying a plane. Gratifyingly, I’m now more eager to get started.
Beautifully crafted! Thanks for a great read.
“Thanks a million! Your e-book is very informative and written with great clarity. On my recommendation, my brother (also a RC plane novice) purchased your book and is reading it with zeal. Thanks for your priceless contribution to this exciting hobby. Best wishes!”
“Thank you for the ebook. This book was as good as the helicopter one if not better. I wish I started with your airplane ebook first and then the helicopter, because your airplane ebook explains all the parts of a plane which you can use that knowledge for understanding a helicopter better! Anyway, perfect job thank you. I wish you and John would write more books to document your knowledge for novices like me.
“I just wanted to report that purchasing your eBook has been a very positive experience. I am that quintessential beginner looking for RTF electric, and I’ve scoured the internet for objective ideas and guidance. There are so many different opinions that it makes one’s head spin. I can’t imagine anyone in my position NOT finding exceptional value in going through your well-written eBook before taking even the first step… Although I’m only 2/3 of the way through the ebook (a couple of very intensive hours paying very careful attention), I did want to comment that I think this is an excellent product.”
“Just wanted to say I bought your guide and think it’s going to help a lot. After a couple of minor initial launch crashes (Stratus glider) after reading this I can now see where I’m going wrong. I’ve also invested in a sim for practise. Many thanks.”
“Your beginner’s book for flying is very well done… very clear and just the right amount of detail. I’m just getting back into the hobby (after 40 years!) and this book was an ideal way to remember how this all works, and how the hobby has changed since I left it!…”
“I am a Beginner RC flyer and look forward to reading your wonderful books! I have been looking for such books for some time, and yours is the best. Thank you for sharing your interest and experiences in RC flying with people all over the world.”
“The Beginners Guide to Flying RC Airplanes is one of the most comprehensive and thorough manuals about flying RC aircraft that I have seen. It covers every topic in detail, the information provided is extremely helpful to the beginning RC pilot. Upstate RC Flight Training will be using this as our main instruction manual; teaching with this manual will make things more understandable for our students.”
“I was reading your book, and was hooked. Usually I don’t do well reading at night when I am so tired, but your wonderful and easy to follow writing stile had me so absorbed, I forgot how tired I was. Very well done indeed! I was remembering my “learning days” and would have loved a resource like this when I was starting out – it would have saved so much time and money….”
“I was reading it today and you have done an excellent job. Most books are written by “experts” and you can tell by the way they write that they do not remember what it is like to be new to something. I have often thought that a book starting at “ground level” would be a great idea, and that’s what you have done. Magnificent information!”
Get your hands on it and start reading👇
The Beginner’s Guide To Flying RC Airplanes is a 139-page, easy-to-read e-book written for complete newcomers. It explains exactly what to buy, how to set it up, where to fly and how to avoid the classic mistakes that wipe out so many beginners.
$10.49
(💵 Money-back guarantee if you’re not happy)
💸 Don’t like it? Get your money back – no questions asked.
The Beginner’s Guide To Flying RC Airplanes e-book is a very genuine and original resource for anyone looking at getting in to flying radio control planes.
If, after you’ve read it, you’re dissatisfied with the information contained within it – please send us a message and we will sort out a refund.
Please don’t ask for a refund if you thought you were buying a hard copy book but then downloaded the e-book. I cannot make it any clearer throughout this page that this product is an e-book!