First of all, stand off to the right side of your student, so that you can easily reach the elevator / ailerons stick with your right hand. Have your student place his right thumb on the top of the stick, and place your thumb and forefinger underneath his thumb. that way you can give him the feel of precise control movements and instantly feel his incorrect inputs just as quickly; demonstrate correct inputs at the same time.

** Please note; this explaination is for the experienced pilot to uopgrade his /her teaching skills.

You can practice by teaching yourself, in essence, by 'teaching yourself how to fly again'. Explain (out loud) to yourself what control movements it takes to smoothly fly your own aircraft. For many flights you've flown by reflexand seldom given it much thought. Now, ypui have to verbally explain every stick movement to yourself and ultimately to your students.

Practice holding the transmitter off to your left side, as if your student is holding the box. That way, you the instructor can get used to the off-set angle of the elevator / ailerons lever.

My first goal is to assure my student that the aircraft will fly smoothly on it's own. Then worj at projecting confidence and calmness. Sometimes I'll put the aircraft in a slight bank and set the transmitter on the ground; to show how stable the aircraft really is. (*this cannot be done with self correcting trainers)

With you thumb and forefinger always at the ready, to not only save the aircraft, but also give minute demonstrations of the corrections, crashing is literally impossible by the student.

Slowly let your student take more and more control, in fact I never have to touch the transmitter any longer than 60 seconds (total) through out any students' entire learning career.

Commands are repeated and never shouted. such as: "left, Left, LEFT, then back to "neutral". (to carve a smooth turn)

Sometimes I use the three second count technique for banking the wings. Such as:

"left and hold for --1 thousand, 2 thousand, 3 thousand" then "neutral".

If the stick is over too far, a 3 second count will indicate as much. (that is the plane will roll over in 3 seconds with the stick in an over controlled position). With the 3 second count, every student has a reference point to accurately judge the correct duration of deflection for the aileron controllever. I'm sure that over banking the has been a daunting problem many students often experience. (instructors also)

I realize that my incessant chatter (continual verbal commands for the flight) has annoyed many a student. But all is forgiven when, after only less than an hour, the first lesson student discovers that that his annoying instructor is not even watching the newcomer fly anymore. (at least that's how it appears)

like everything else, to become a good instructor, it takes practice. When you really start to mass produce new R/C fliers, R/C flight instruction will become more fun than sport flying. (It is for me)

From take off to landing, the R.T. method lets the instructor have instant access to the elevator / ailerons lever. (similar to dual control on full size aircraft)

For landing approaches, I simply have have my student reduce throttle on the down wind leg and give a slight bank in the appropriate direction. Simply let the aircraft turn into the final approach practically by itself. All thats left for the pilot to do is keep the wings level and flair just before touch down.

For take off drills, I assist my student on take-off and immediately take the box and land so he gets another take-off. Within 5 minutes, he'll get in 10 take-offs. This is the only time I have the box.

My motto being; "Perfect practice makes perfect!"

Go ahead and give my technique a try. That is, if you're truly concerned about the newcomer and the future of our wonderful hobby / sport. When someone earns his wings in a matter of an hour or so, he or she will be in a better position to become an instructoe that much sooner. Obviously producing more pilots, with safe flying habits, the R/C hobby / sport has a better chance of growing; which will ensure the survival of the R/C hobby for us all.

The future of aeromodeling is much too important to take lightly. I've worked over 20 years to help keep the public interested in our sport. What puzzles me is how so many people in leadership roles have so blatantly ignored my concerns, even after personally whitnessing my success. We are also concidering making a video soon. GOOD LUCK!

Clarence C. Ragland

SFA 60142
AMA 120734

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