Originally Posted by
scifi
Hi... I am just wondering what our resident Instructors think of Model Aircraft Fliers, especially those that can perform aerobatics such as Spins, Avalanches, and Rolling Circles, with their 'Arising Star' models.
several keen aeromodellers I taught years ago were great because they were very enthusiastic about aviation generally, aircraft specifically and keen to learn more and knew a lot of the terminology already. That makes for a great student and is a good foundation for an aspiring pilot. I don't recall they had any bad or good habits or enhanced skills though.
re transfer of skills, I am not an expert in any way on model flying but think most flying models have vastly more thrust, vastly less inertia and vastly greater ability to handle G (proportionally) than their full size inspiration meaning their pilots may understand some of the principles but actual control inputs and procedures would probably not transfer well. (NB May be wrong here). Many can with full throttle fly ballistically - not something your average GA aircraft could aspire to!)
In addition a model flyers ability to always simply perceive the aircraft's attitude because you can see what it is doing probably does not translate to how you perceive attitude when actually in a cockpit. I think getting a good understanding of attitude and how to judge and control it is important.
I wouldn't see model flying skill as a positive or negative to learning to fly - the operation of a model is very different in physical actions from flying either a real plane or simulator. (Again this all in my opinion and out of ignorance - I haven't flown models since my early teenage years decades ago and even then I spent more time fixing crashed balsa wrecks than I ever spent flying them
)
Like I said though - (and as @Armchairflyer said earlier with simulators) - if it is an inspiration to learning to fly, then that is a huge positive
Originally Posted by
scifi
There are also Glider Pilots (and/or Model Glider Pilots.) who must have picked up some habits along the way.
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I would say if they have been taught well they will generally have good habits. I have never had problems with glider pilots transferring to powered aircraft. In fact most tend to have a good feel about how to use their feet, better than a lot of power only pilots when flying aeroplanes where good rudder skills matter. They do tend to miss their bit of wool on the nose though