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I needed a BMFA 'A' certificate to fly at my local club (RDMAC) - a club which is very friendly whether you're fixed wing or rotary, but sadly lacks for any heli instructors.
So I checked in with "Flyin' Fish". Had my first session there on Saturday and passed my A. It was no simple fact-checking exercise - it was incredibly helpful, and I came away knowing twice as much on even stuff like pre-flight checks. Initially, that was all I was after, but I came away inspired.
Dave Fisher is a very friendly and confidence-inspiring guy, but frankly I don't think Flyin Fish need any kind of plug from me at all. I just thought I'd give anyone who might be in my situation the message that training at a good model flight school is way more useful than you might think.
The three things that stood out to me the most, and would have sold it to me a lot earlier, were:
i) The trainer is serious - it doesn't matter if you have very basic beginner skills or are working on backwards flipping circuits, he'll give you the same deep attention, extremely insightful advice, and home in like a sniper on what part of your flying is limiting you.
ii) There's nothing like a very experienced guy on the buddy box! I didn't have to worry about saving the model, and if there was a really tricky manoeuvre, he could keep putting the model into that situation so 100% of my time was spent perfecting just that one bit rather than 95% of my time getting the model back round to that position and then bailing out. All my time was spent on precisely the bit that needed the work.
iii) It saves a lot more money than it costs, and even more if you consider your own time to be valuable. Those 2 hours when I'm getting to grips with something new are probably the danger period when the model is going to get dumb-thumbed. It isn't going to happen at a training school, models just don't go in except through mechanical failure. (I'll be testing that one..)
So I'm now really inspired to go out, work on what I was taught in the session, and then go back for another session and crack on like that all year. Haven't felt this renewed about the hobby .. ever.
Hope someone else tries it who might not have done before
Anyway, if nothing else, ta Flyin' Fish
So I checked in with "Flyin' Fish". Had my first session there on Saturday and passed my A. It was no simple fact-checking exercise - it was incredibly helpful, and I came away knowing twice as much on even stuff like pre-flight checks. Initially, that was all I was after, but I came away inspired.
Dave Fisher is a very friendly and confidence-inspiring guy, but frankly I don't think Flyin Fish need any kind of plug from me at all. I just thought I'd give anyone who might be in my situation the message that training at a good model flight school is way more useful than you might think.
The three things that stood out to me the most, and would have sold it to me a lot earlier, were:
i) The trainer is serious - it doesn't matter if you have very basic beginner skills or are working on backwards flipping circuits, he'll give you the same deep attention, extremely insightful advice, and home in like a sniper on what part of your flying is limiting you.
ii) There's nothing like a very experienced guy on the buddy box! I didn't have to worry about saving the model, and if there was a really tricky manoeuvre, he could keep putting the model into that situation so 100% of my time was spent perfecting just that one bit rather than 95% of my time getting the model back round to that position and then bailing out. All my time was spent on precisely the bit that needed the work.
iii) It saves a lot more money than it costs, and even more if you consider your own time to be valuable. Those 2 hours when I'm getting to grips with something new are probably the danger period when the model is going to get dumb-thumbed. It isn't going to happen at a training school, models just don't go in except through mechanical failure. (I'll be testing that one..)
So I'm now really inspired to go out, work on what I was taught in the session, and then go back for another session and crack on like that all year. Haven't felt this renewed about the hobby .. ever.
Hope someone else tries it who might not have done before
Anyway, if nothing else, ta Flyin' Fish
and a platinum star 
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