I'll start out with the one piece of advice that will help the most: work with an instructor. Most model plane clubs are full of people who are happy to take the time to teach you to fly. Our club will help anybody who just shows up at our flying site; we even have a plane for them to learn on.

I am really glad to be writing this new column and especially to be a contributor to Fly RC Magazine! This magazine is going to be the place to discover and learn about the best and coolest gear, …

Tony Yap of Danbury, CT rocks and rolls his gorgeous Excel Fury. His backwards 3D routine has to be seen to be believed! Photo by Walter Sidas Email your high-res SNAPSHOT to editors@flyrcmag.com, and send a note describing …

IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, a submarine is a true flying machine, not a boat. Like an airplane or blimp, a submarine can explore its environment in 3 dimensions, flying the same way “flightless” penguins soar through the …

3D A style of flying fixed-wing RC aircraft that involves maneuvers where the plane hovers and flies below its minimum stalling speed, with the plane depending on the power of its motor rather than on lift from its …

The basic construction of typical wooden structures for airplanes is quite simple. The most important concept to consider is the accuracy of the structure. Be it a wing, tail, or fuselage, each piece must be built according to …

Nothing has captivated my interest in model aeronautics the way electric powered modeling has. After flying glow models for nearly 20 years, and dabbling in electric flight for a small portion of that time, I sold off all …

We at FLY RC Magazine welcome you to our debut issue! RC airplanes are improving in quality, technology and performance at spellbinding speed—it’s a new era and many more people are having fun in RC than ever before. …

Looking for a handy way to mount a small brushless motor to a profile 3D park flyer? The answer is to modify a servo control arm. Du-Bro Super Strength Servo Arms are made of a sturdy, shock-absorbing material …

If your engine has a symmetrical cooling head and you have removed it to service your engine, it’s best to remount the head in its original orientation. This is because microscopic asymmetries in the original positioning of the …

Fiberglass light reflector rods can be purchased for $3 to $6 at many hardware and home improvement stores. Buy one with an outside diameter of approximately ¼ inch and you’ll have a sturdy, lightweight component that can be …

Very small diameter, lightweight carbon fiber rods (available from Aerospace Composite Products, (www.acp-composites.com) can be just the thing for home-brewed control systems that go the extra mile in terms of eliminating slop and weight. Attach a .040-inch diameter …