I got a call the other night from Robbie Lipton from the Tri-County Wing Snappers, Chapter 138 from Pennsylvania. Robbie said that when he read about me flying left handed, he just had to call. The other members of his club convinced him that he was the only weird one in the world. Robbie, like myself, flies his own planes left handed, but also flies several other modes. As my club's chief instructor, I have to test and fly numerous airplanes with several different stick setups. I told Robbie that to keep myself straight, I have this method to remind me which hand I'm flying with. If I am wearing a neck strap, I am flying left handed, if I'm not, I am flying right handed. The feel of the weight on my neck somehow tells me to steer southpaw. For mode I or mode III, I just concentrate a lot and move both sticks.

As for instructing, I find it easier to be left handed and teach a right handed person than to teach another lefty. Look at the way you stand with a student. You probably stand on his left and have to reach across him to make a grab for the transmitter if he gets out of shape. I stand on his right, with my good left hand next to his right hand. I can literally hold his hand while he is flying to make corrections. Try it. I usually hold the transmitter handle with my right hand and keep my left one poised over the elevator/aileron stick until he can handle the plane without getting upside down. By the way, I've instructed on everything from sailplanes to low- wingers. Students rarely ask an instructor, or anyone, for advice on which trainers are good. They just show up with a plane from whatever advertisement caught their eye.

Getting back to Robbie, he flies a left-handed single stick. Ace set up a Silver 7 for him with a left handed case. When he told me this, I mentioned that that was how I learned to fly, left handed single stick. I modified a Series 70 Kraft single stick by moving the throttle over to the other side. I'd probably still be flying single stick instead of two stick if I could get a PCM with all the rates and buttons on the other side. There is a secure feel to single stick. I guess it's the way you hold the transmitter, clutched in tight.

While we are on transmitter modes, here's a good one. One of the snowbirds in our club, Don Raine, who comes down from Wisconsin for February, March K April, told me about one of his crashes that was due to a funny transmitter mode. It seems that one of his Wisconsin club members taught himself to fly without any help or previous flying experience. He held the transmitter vertically and reasoned that up control must logically be in the upward direction. Most of us hold the transmitter horizontally and pull back for up, like in a full scale plane. This is exactly the opposite from the way the man who taught himself to fly reasoned it out. I do admit that his way does make sense if you hold the transmitter angled upward. At any rate, this man, who is now an experienced flier, tested a plane for Don and, between the two of them, they forgot to reverse the elevator when Don went to fly it. Don said he checked the controls, but just wiggled them, and didn't look for up elevator with up stick. He said the little Eagle took itself off, but when he went to climb, it nosed straight in. He found out later that he had forgotten to change the elevator. Make it a point to check all controls in both directions, especially if you are flying more than one plane on a single transmitter.

Don now has a Maloney 100 powered giant stick type plane, and when he masters it, he's going giant all the way. Says he has watched Terry's and mine fly and you can see them. By the way, everyone that Terry and I have let fly our giants has liked them. We get comments like, "I can't believe how steady it is," "It's so easy and smooth," "You can see it and put it where you want it." I know I'm preaching to the choir, but if you are in a mixed club like we are, you can pick up some converts by letting them try your biggie. There is this gut feeling out there that bigger is harder, when it is actually the reverse. We have let fliers who have not yet soloed fly the Hawk (on low rate) and also my Laser. We have always gotten great comments back from them. Most wished they had started with a giant. Big really is better.

We had another control check mix-up here at Eglin air patch that didn't end up in disaster. Bill Brown & Larry Scott finished a nice Senior Telemaster powered by a Saito twin and asked one of the young pattern fliers, Greg Grigsby, to test it. It has servos in each wing like most of the big ones. They ran a control check and left was left and right was right. Greg took off, but noticed funny pitch changes when he tried to turn. He landed using the rudder and, guess what? Left put both ailerons down and right put them both up. Full span flaps. He had checked for both right and left controls, but had only looked at one wing. Using one servo, if one aileron is correct, the other one will be correct, too. With two servos, the usual in giant, it is easy to get it wrong. Check both wings.

There are a couple of bottom lines to these stories for beginners. First, fly the mode that suits you the best, whether it is mode II, mode I, single stick, left handed, or your own special mode. Don't let anyone convince you to fly a mode that you do not feel comfortable with. If you are comfortable moving the sticks, you'll fly better. Second, and very important, make a radio check before you fly. Especially after any radio component changing or swapping. When testing a new plane, make a good control check. Put in up and hold it and look at the both sides of the elevator. Do the same with down. Hold right and check both wings. I like to stand behind the airplane so I can tell for sure that I'll get a right roll with right stick. Do a check for left roll, also. Check rudder and nose or tail steering. Get into the habit of this, it will save airplanes in the long run.