Flying blind: some pointers needed

Hello all.

This is my first post to the forum, as I'm only just starting out in CL, and thought I'd celebrate my first day of flying by making myself known.

As mentioned, I tried my hand at c/l today for effectively the first timeHello all.

Thought I'd celebrate my first day of c/l flying by posting to the forum with my first (fairly obscure) set of questions.

As the subject line suggests, I'm a totally blind person, and (not surprisingly) found that the learning curve for me is going to be somewhat different to that of sighted c/l pilots.

My flights today were completed with a sighted assistant of course, using a .46 stunter. The decent pull the larger ship produced was reassuring, although we had difficulties getting it to fly slowly and to tame the controls sufficiently. Undoubtedly not the ideal plane for a first flight, although I have an ASP .15 powered Jr. Lightning Streak in the pipelines.

In any case, I got to the point where I could tell where the plane was relative to the ground by the sound and the pull on the handle, but haven't yet got the exact feel of how and when to react to get it to go where I want. I tried my hand at a plastic sheet .15 combat wing as well, which blundered about the skies for a minute or so before a nasty mid-air collision with the dirt broke the prop, accompanied by much mad cackling both within the circle and without *grin*.

To cut a long story short, I'd be very interested to hear if there are any other blind c/l modellers out there who have hints and tips for flying eyes-off (or anyone else for that matter). Also any blindie-friendly building techniques would be appreciated; I've already found out the hard way that CA glue is not the blind man's friend, since we have to touch whatever we're working with.

Hope that this ramble was amusing for everyone, and that some ppl can shed some light on the subject of flying without it. I look forward to lots of lively discussion both on the board and off it!

Cheers.
Ben

Apologies for the ragged editing in my first post. Only noticed it after it was sent. That'll teach me not to preview things!

Cheers.
Ben

We taught a blind woman to fly several years ago using our solid wood trainers. Flight Streak trainer with a veco 19 and a 8-6 prop is typical of what we use on 52 foot lines.

She was able to fly it very steady after just a few laps of dual instruction. Did better that most of the sighted kids that participated in that training session. Unassisted Level flight at 10 to 15 feet is possible just as quickly as a sighted person. She told us afterward she did the altitude based on sound.

She was just there for the day with a youth group. Never saw her again.

Amazing but true.

FLEDGELING,
Congradulations to you on your flight and on accepting the challenge of Control Line. I hope you have many successes.

I recall that a blind person learned to fly at one of the learn-to-fly CL in St. Louis. Expert combat flyers seldom look at their airplane while flying, relying on feel and sound as you would do. I wouldn't be surprised if you become quite skillful.

I seem to remember in an old (1950's or 60's) magazine article where Bob Palmer was put on the spot at a demo over seas, (was it for you Aussie's out there?) into flying the whole pattern blind folded, and he did it. I think he used a combination of very experienced reflexes and engine sound as well...Amazing what can be done if we want to badly enough!

Fledgling:

CONGRATULATIONS ! Welcome to the hobby.

Here are a couple of thoughts you might find useful. In flying stunt, I have always been able to find straight downwind or, to a lesser degree, straight into the wind by the feeling of the wind in my ears. Some call this the "stereo effect".This is true Especially at exactly down wind. As the wind hit's both ears exactly equally I feel a mild "pop", also true to a lesser degree directly upwind. Not every one can feel this, but if you can, it might be very helpful in knowing your position in the lap.

Also, I notice in my upright or level flight, I hear a difference in the echo or sound of the engine as I approach the ground, especially if I drop below the 4-6' level altitude.

My guess is that you will be much sharper at these perceptions than the rest of us. Hope they're helpful.

Please keep us informed of your progress!

Five+ years ago the Northwest Fireballs taught kids from the Deaf and Blind school here in the Portland area. As I understand it was a total success.
I also remember a classic ship the “Guardian” which was flown by a blind person. I think I still have the article.
Much kudos to you and others with disability’s, and enjoying the joy’s of life. Wish you lived in the Portland Area so we could go out to the field and burn some fuel.

Scott

When the motor quits the plane tends to lose quite a bit of speed and pull, which makes it harder to control. You want to try and keep the nose down a bit and the speed up to keep control.

Your idea of slowing the plane down a bit is a good one. Even with both eyes open it can be hard to keep ahead of the plane. Sound and line pull probably take quite a bit more "interpreting" than seeing that the plane is pointed at the ground, so more time to react would be good.

Congrats and good luck!!

The more feel of the handle , the better you'l do. For training the newbees , we use a handle, 8" long by 6" tall. Cut from plywood.
The lenght gives a very strong centering feel . You will be able to feel the plane all over the circle. Good luck. Mike Ogren

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions and encouragement.

The idea for the handle was a good one, Mike. I'll see what I can organise before the next flying day (will probably be a couple of weeks). The handle I'm planning to use is the basic Brodak handle; might see if I can't find some longer bolds for it to give it a bit more overhang.

My biggest problem during my flights was, as I suspect it is with most beginners, over-control and over-correction. Also knowing what movement I made to make the plane do what it just did, but I'm sure I'll learn to interpret these correctly with more practice, as someone mentioned earlier. The ASP .15 I'll fly in the Lightning Streak being built for me seems to hold the revs you ask it to, although I don't know how it will behave when it unwinds in the air; the tests in a stand seem promising anyhow.

Thanks again for all your input, and I'll definitely keep people posted on how things pan out.

Cheers.
Ben

I fly some combat and have found that to fly eyes off , I like the "Kite" handle. It is longer and full circle, to give a lot of feel as to the position of the plane. If i'm having a good day , I dont see my crash!!!
If you try the long, 8" handle , you will solo on the first or second flight. I 'll wager the ten $ it takes for the handle.!!
trim a touch of "up" into it. The plane will go up to 30* and stay there, until you make a big effort to move it .
RE airplane. I use a combat plane with a Fox or Tiger 15 on 48' or 52' lines, 1. oz film can tank, (inboard) It usually goes slow enough so that it wont do the second half of the overhead eight.
Maybe take a few pics and document your success so that you wont be the first and last of the sight impaired to fly control line. I'm sure that Flying models and maybe MA wouyld print a short story. Maybe you could be rich and famous, if you desired. :>
It is perfect for your situation for the same reasons that the rest of us fly it. A nice feel of the plane, connected to your hand!! MM