Goals and Objectives:

  It is the intention of MRFA to teach you all of the necessary skills and abilities to become a proficient pilot. You must understand and follow the SAFELY rules of our club, basic aerodynamics, preflight an aircraft, start an engine, taxi (drive on the ground), take-off, fly, land and shut down the engine and electronics on the aircraft. We will provide the necessary knowledge for successful completion of this training program.

  What Do You Need?

  To get started you will need nothing but the desire to learn!

All of the necessary equipment for your introductory flight (as described in the Introductory Flight section) is supplied by MRFA, this includes the Airplane, Electronics and Fuel.

Program Rules:

  After you have had some introductory flight time, you should now know if entering into the formal training program is what you want to do. The rules of the program are designed to establish organization for both you and your instructor(s). It will be the responsibility of the student to pick from the available flight times posted on the attached schedule. You will be required to contact the instructor for that day a minimum of 2 hours ahead of the scheduled flight time to confirm your intention to fly and to see if the instructor deems that the weather for that particular day is suitable for training. It is important that the weather conditions are reasonably good for a new pilot and only your instructor will be able to decide if your current skills can handle a particular weather condition.

It will be an expectation that the student train a minimum 2 days / sessions per week, preferably on the days you choose when you sign up and alternative days when the weather does not cooperate. It is important that once you make the commitment to train, you must attend the minimum of 2 sessions each week in order to keep your acquired skills from the previous session. The average time to learn is usually between 5 and 10 hours to learn enough to solo, each person is different and may require more or less time to complete the course. A day / session of training will typically consist of several 10 to 15 minute flights, the aircraft is capable of longer flights, but it is better to keep the flight time short, especially during the first couple of sessions. After each flight, a discussion about the flight will take place, sort of a question and answer session. Every student will reach a point of “saturation” where they need to stop for that day / session, to prevent information overload. The instructor will determine when the training is over for the day. If you cannot commit to a minimum 2 sessions per week it is recommended that you not sign-up for the formal training program. The Academy of Model Aeronautics allows MRFA to let you fly for a period of 30 days before it becomes necessary to join the AMA, this is for insurance purpose. MRFA allows 3 visits to the field each year as a guest before you are required to join the Mad River Flying Association.

Introductory Flight Definition:

            An introductory flight is an opportunity for someone who has never flown a Radio Controlled model Aircraft to decide if this hobby is something that they wish to pursue, and will be limited to 3 individual Flights before the student is expected to enter a formal program. During the introductory fight the student should simply be allowed to fly around and get familiar with the characteristics of R/C flight. No formal program is defined. The instructor will have the student transmitter (buddy box) throttle preset to about ½ and will ask the student if they are ready to take over, when the student answers yes the instructor will switch control to the buddy box and verbally state “its yours, or you have it” and the student will fly by verbal direction of the instructor, as the student pilot DO YOUR BEST, and do not give up flying the airplane even if you feel as if you have no control, the instructor will regain control well in advance of their personal skill and ability. The instructor will then say “I have got it” so you know that he is now flying the aircraft and then repeat this process of hand off back and forth between instructor and student pilot.

Training Cost:

            The MRFA training program is FREE, the instructors are volunteers, and no one profits financially from your interest in learning to fly. The goal is to promote Model Aviation and hopefully have you join our organization as new supporting member. It is possible that MRFA may require a small donation to cover the cost of fuel used during your training, this fee should not exceed $10.00 to $20.00 depending on the amount of fuel used. 

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