Son's First Flight - Flight Report

Continued from the thread "Father -Son 1/2A Build"... I switched topics because this is now a flying topic and not a building topic.

What a great experience this has been.  From my boy getting a plane kit in the mail to his making his first solo and successful flight in the ring, this has been a lot of fun already. So yesterday was a BIG day for Nicholas and I.  After a long and careful building experience, me getting my flying legs back after decades and coming up with a good running Babe Bee, Nicholas' plane was finally ready to fly.

We trained by flying in the yard by whipping the plane around the circle without the engine running with 6 foot lines.  That worked pretty well.  Then I ran around the circle maneuvering the plane up and down as he rotated in the center holding the handles operating the controls.  That helped too.  Then this Sunday he was ready.

I took his L'il Wizard up for the first time and it flew like a dream.  Nose heavy and super smooth!  Very steady flight and the plane responded well to elevator input.  After the maiden flight, he joined me in the circle to put his hand in the handle with mine on top as we circled together.  (We did this also for one run with my DeweyBird although for this first run his hand was on top of mine.  I see now the Deweybird by comparison is very reactive to input, almost twitchy.)

During his second time on the circle he wanted me to let go of the handle, and I did, reluctantly.  So I figured, he wants to fly, now's the time.  And fly, he did.  I was still right there, hand just above his, circling with him for a few circles until I pulled back and let him go.  He had it, and he did well.  He landed it in the grass and I was impressed.

So next flight, he was absolutely ready to go it alone in the middle of the ring, no teacher.  He took off with a smooth ascent and maintained his composure and altitude as he made 25 or 26 laps with a 5cc tank and brought her in for a beautiful landing. (I have been getting 7 to 8 laps on 5cc after tuning and running to the handle.  I can't figure out how he got so many laps! That engine just kept running and running.)

He forgot to step back while flying so he landing on our cement takeoff runway but it was smooth landing until he rolled into the grass.  So this long road has a happy ending, which now is a very happy beginning to a new chapter of what will hopefully be a lifetime of control line flying.  Something he and I can continue to do together.

Check him out in the video using proper launch protocol!  Lol... makes a dad proud.  Greg