Are you about to have your first flying lesson with our club? Here are some things that might interest you.

* First and foremost: your personal safety. A radio-controlled model aircraft can be flying through the air at 160kph (100mph). Out the front of it is a razor-edged propeller that can be spinning at 20,000 rpm. If during its flight an aircraft impacts with you, damage is going to be done. Learning to fly a model aircraft is not like learning how to knit a cardigan. There are some risks involved, small though they be.

Our club members are all good pilots and, of course, no-one is ever going to intentionally fly a model aircraft towards you. The control of a model aircraft is sustained by the radio link between the receiver in the aircraft and the transmitter in the pilot's hands. By their very nature, these links are tenuous. We fly on the edge of a city that produces a plethora of exotic electromagnetic radiation. Some of this radiation extends into the radio bands, and on rare occasions infiltrates the specific bands used by our transmitters to talk to the receivers onboard the aircraft.

Your exposure to risk increases the closer you are to the active runway. There is a 'pilot box' situated near the runways. All pilots flying an aircraft stand in this pilot box, as will you when you fly. If, during your early days with our club, you feel you have lost control of your aircraft, you need to notify the other pilots standing adjacent to you. Make them aware of the situation.

* The radio link between your transmitter and your aircraft's receiver is maintained by a crystal in the transmitter and a matching crystal in the receiver. They are tuned to each other; this allows them to talk and listen to each other. They broadcast and receive on the same frequency. There are a restricted range of frequencies made available for use in model aircraft. Your own transmitter and receiver will be set to a specific frequency. You must know what that frequency is before your first flight. If, while you are flying, someone else at the club who is also using your frequency inadvertently turns their transmitter on, your aircraft will now be hearing and responding to two signals and inevitably, it will crash. The club has an established and well-regulated set of procedures and protocol to ensure that doesn't happen. Ask your instructor to explain them.

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