EMERGENCY SITUATIONS: The most common situation that a beginner will face is disorientation. Sometimes the model just doesn't seem to react correctly, or you may give a wrong control, or you may simply fall one step behind the airplane. If you have enough altitude (remember stay "3 mistakes high" for awhile), you should have enough time to stop the panic, let go of the controls briefly, sort things out and then get your bird back under control.

Another common emergency situation is an engine failure during flight. Remember, you still have a wing and the radio still works. Most of the time you will be able to glide the model in for a normal landing. Don't over react and dive for the runway — you'll probably just overshoot and land in the weeds anyway. If you are too low to make it back to the runway, concentrate on landing as slowly as possible in the rough. If you keep the model under control (touch down right side up) and put her down at slow speed, chances are the damages will be minimal, if any. Don't panic and pull full up elevator in a desperate attempt to keep the model from hitting the ground! If you do, it will most likely stall and hit the ground hard, nose first, causing more damage than if you flew it all the way down to the ground.

An engine failure just after takeoff is a special situation that requires immediate action from the pilot. In almost every case, the best thing to do is to lower the nose to keep the model from stalling and land the model straight ahead. DON'T MAKE THE FATAL MISTAKE OF TRYING A QUICK TURN BACK TO THE RUNWAY! Just after takeoff, the model usually doesn't have enough airspeed or altitude to make the turn. Even if it does, you'll be landing downwind at high speed, probably resulting in damage that could have been avoided by landing straight ahead into the wind.

Once in a great while, an airplane may develop "flutter" (rapid, uncontrolled back and forth flexing) in one of the control surfaces, usually an aileron or elevator. Flutter is almost always caused by a sloppy-fitting or overly flexible linkage that allows excessive movement of the control surface. At high speed, the surface is subjected to high aerodynamic loads that can cause it to flutter. Sometimes flutter can become so violent that the control surface will tear free from the model, usually resulting in a crash. Flutter can usually be heard as a loud "buzzing" as the model passes by. If you hear it, throttle back and fly the model gently to a normal landing. Check all of the control surfaces for looseness and do whatever is necessary to correct any excessive play.

Radio failure or radio interference during a flight almost always results in a crash. However, you should never give up trying to control the model. Even though it may not respond, bring the throttle to full low and leave it there. Hold the transmitter as high in the air as you can to make sure you are sending the best signal possible. If you are at a busy field, yell "Interference!" to attract the attention of other pilots and spectators. Someone may have accidentally turned on their transmitter on the same frequency as yours, realize the mistake, and turn it off. If you have enough altitude, you can regain control (and your composure) and bring the model in for a landing. Another form of radio interference is a "glitch", or momentary loss of radio control. The model will be flying normally, then suddenly jolt or bounce a couple of times, and then continue on normally. Most of the time a glitch is a definite warning that a radio problem exists. DON'T IGNORE IT! Throttle back and bring the model in for a landing as quickly as possible. Check the radio and its installation thoroughly before trying to fly again.

SAFETY FIRST! Flying R/C model aircraft is an enjoyable way to spend your spare time, however, things don't always go according to plan, as we've just described. The safety of spectators and other pilots is of utmost importance whenever you are flying. Always keep your model away from people and buildings so that if an emergency does arise and the model crashes, no one will be hurt.

PRIMARY AEROBATICS Every R/C pilot at one time or another gets the urge to see his model do something besides droning around the sky straight and level. If you are a brand new pilot, try to hold back those urges until you've become fairly confident in your ability to fly. That doesn't mean you can't learn to do a loop before you learn how to land, but you should at least be at the stage where you can do nice turns and make the model go where you want. Of course, some models perform aerobatics better than others. Trainers are designed to be stable and forgiving, so don't expect them to be able to fly inverted well or perform snap rolls and spins. Three-channel trainers that use rudder control to turn generally have difficulty doing rolls, although almost any airplane will do nice inside loops. As your flying skills improve and you step up to more manoeuvrable airplanes, the stunts shown here will be fairly easy to perform. INSIDE LOOP OUTSIDE LOOP This is the simplest of manuevers and will probably be the first one you learn. Hold up elevator until the loop is complete. Slow-flying models may need to perform a shallow dive to build up some extra speed before pulling up into the loop. Be sure your wings are level before entering the loop or it may end up looking more like a corkscrew than a circle. Hold down elevator until the loop is complete, using ailerons as necessary to keep the wings level. HAMMERHEAD (Stall Turn) IMMELMANN TURN SPLIT "S" Pull the model straight up, and as it slows down, close the throttle and kick in full left or right rudder. The model should pivot around and fly back on the same path. Once you can loop and roll, the 1m-melmann Turn will be easy. Do a half inside loop to inverted, then half roll back to level flight. This is really an Immelmann Turn in reverse. Perform a half roll to inverted, followed by half of an inside loop, back to level flight. ROLL Hold full aileron in the direction of the roll until the model rotates all the way around back to level. Usually a model will lose a little bit of altitude during a roll and come out of it slightly nose down. Beginners may want to compensate for this by pulling the nose up slightly (about 10°) before starting the roll. SNAP ROLL This is a pretty violent maneuver, but one of the most spectacular to watch. With the model flying level or slightly nose up, pull in full up elevator, plus full aileron and rudder (in the same direction) all at the same time. Release the controls to stop the snap roll.