A-4 Skyhawk (Off-Topic)
by Mid7night , Rocket BSCHSHCSHSHCCHGGH!!!!!!, Sunday, April 03, 2016, 01:18 (3160 days ago)
I flew a thing...
Now you are making me want to go fly.
by Up North 65 , Sunday, April 03, 2016, 15:20 (3159 days ago) @ Mid7night
Almost melted off enough to head back up here
What always amazes me about this…
by Beorn , <End of Failed Timeline>, Sunday, April 03, 2016, 19:09 (3159 days ago) @ Mid7night
…is being able to (at least somewhat) accurately determine the direction and altitude of the plane from your fixed location on the ground. Making sure the plane is lined-up to land must be a bit of a trick.
If I were driving a race car around a track while standing on a podium in the middle, I'm pretty sure I'd crash into anything and everything.
One of my dad's engineering friends had a whole stable of scale model planes that he built himself and he'd take them out to fly every now and then with my dad and me. I was always too young to take control, though, which I found to be frustrating. Maybe it's easier than I'm picturing it, though.
What always amazes me about this…
by Vortech , A Fourth Wheel, Sunday, April 03, 2016, 23:16 (3159 days ago) @ Beorn
You can have the experience you describe in the middle 'graph by using an RC car.
I find it hard enough to deal with the abstraction in 2 dimensions with a car. I'll have to wait for the RC planes that support video goggles.
What always amazes me about this…
by Mid7night , Rocket BSCHSHCSHSHCCHGGH!!!!!!, Monday, April 04, 2016, 11:17 (3158 days ago) @ Beorn
Flying from a fixed point of view is definitely challenging at times (mostly when the airplane is coming at you, and right=left and left=right), but with practice and repetition it's like anything else; you develop a nature for it. When I'm flying, I imagine the pilot point of view, and control based on that. That way, no matter the orientation of the plane, you always have track of left/right/up/down. Not to say I never get mixed up, but that's the idea. ;)