I 
flew a model helicopter this weekend! Markus, a friend from work, is very much into this hobby (which is rather expensive if you make mistakes) and he meets regularly with fellow model pilots. In the past few weeks we’ve met a few times and trained on the simulator: model software running on a computer, with a USB interface that plugs into the R/C controller. He immediately recognized my natural talent (his words, not mine!) as I started on the simulator, and after less than 2 hours sim training I was ready for real air. That was this weekend.
The weather was absolutely fantastic: barely a leaf moved, not a cloud in the sky, and 28 degrees C. We all met a bit outside the city where a motorway is being built across a field. Deserted in the weekends, this is the perfect airfield – even with an integrated dirt track for the model cars! Nine helicopters and two cars were lined up. All but a few of the heli’s were petrol-powered, so there was ample power for stunts, and lots of showing-off ensued.
Markus gave me an R/C controller. Instead of its own antenna, it had a “student-teacher” cable that plugged into Markus’ R/C controller, so that he could start the heli, get it well off the ground, and pass some of the controls to me while still controlling the rest himself. In case of any drama, he could instantly take full control, so I was safe to perform my first flight. It was easy! Markus has been bragging to everybody about me ever since, but to me it didn’t seem like that big a deal. It was great, great fun, but just hovering a heli in place, some 15 meters in front of me, was much easier than I had thought. Even hovering with a gentle cross-wind was much easier in real life than on the simulator. Markus tells me that others have spent between 6 months and 2 years to achieve what I did with 1½ hours sim and two minutes of air. He thinks that next time we go fly, he’ll let me do a (student-teacher assisted) take-off and landing too.
Two fellow colleagues also caught interest, but they were not present. They will go fly today while I have other appointments. They are both really hooked and are starting to buy equipment of their own. Everybody is pushing me to do the same, but I am firm on the argument that I have enough electronic toys already, and this is a new expensive and time-consuming hobby that I prefer to just observe, though I admit that it would be great fun until my bank account collapses.
You can see some photos in my online gallery under the topic “Friends”.