Testimonials about the RC Flight School

Letters from Students:

These notes are posted just as their are received. I have corrected
the spelling when necessary, otherwise they are in their original form.

Thanks for reading!
Greg

May 5, 2010

Dear Greg:

Following attendance at your R/C Flight School last week, I am compelled to write and say that I was thoroughly impressed with your instructional techniques and the course. I will be the first to admit that I was originally skeptical as to exactly how beneficial the course would be and also the level of instruction. However, upon attending the course, it is without a doubt that I have carried away more information that I thought possible and most importantly increased my flying skills exponentially.

I was very impressed with your operation. There are a lot of advertisements and a lot of promises made by companies that typically remain unfulfilled. This is not the case with the 2^nd R/C Flight School. Everything that you identify on your website and everything that we discussed prior to my enrollment was covered in the most comprehensive manner. There were no surprises and nothing was omitted.

I would especially like to emphasize to anyone considering enrolling in one of your courses to do so without hesitation. The 2^nd R/C Flight School and Greg Shane are the “real thing”. Learning is made fun as the fundamental teaching approach using repetition and encouragement are constantly used. Instruction consists of (1.) telling the student what they will learn, (2.) instructing the student, (3.) reviewing what was instructed, (4.) hands-on sessions (and a lot of hands-on learning) followed by (4.) instructional reading, pave the way for success for each student.

I found the flying field and accommodations to be outstanding. Access to a private field eliminated unnecessary delays and avoided any disruptions. Generally speaking, I found the location of the field easy to find and conveniently located to the hotel. Accommodations at the La Quinta Inn were excellent with many restaurants within walking distance.

As for the school itself, I can’t believe the extent of personal instruction that was available. Limiting class sizes to 3 students or less and the use of a second instructor allows for personal attention. For anyone interested, Greg and his assistant, Mark are both expert pilots that do their utmost to prevent you from failing.

The material covered in the course extends beyond flying. I have witnessed many experienced pilots and had some limited training from club members in the past. Much of the time I found myself performing tasks without any idea as to their purpose. Engine tuning, trimming, and equipment, etc. are all covered in the school. One of the things that I found useful was that the school provides complete explanations why and how specific tasks are performed as well as the consequences if steps are omitted or incorrectly performed. This I can definitely foresee in the future to be a cost saving benefit with respect to both time and money.

I would like to also say that my time at your school was extremely helpful. My only regret is that I should have enrolled earlier as I would now be a much more experienced R/C pilot.

Finally, I will say that Greg Shane’s 2^nd R/C Flight School provides an unbelievable experience that anyone who is seriously interested in the hobby if given the opportunity should not bypass.

Very truly yours,

J. David V
Pittsburgh, PA

Greg;
I had a great time this last week and I also learned how to fly. Your school is excellent for first time flyer's.Please go here first, then you will have the knowledge to buy what is needed instead of what everyone thinks you need.
I have attached a few photos and a dvd will be in the mail tomorrow.
Thanks again for a great learning experience and a much needed confidence booster. I highly recommend your school for the person wanting to be a RC pilot.

Jerry
Houston

(Sent to me the next day)

Greg;
I went to the flying field today and on my first try I soloed. Thanks to you and Mark it was an exciting time and one that I wish you could of seen. Takeoff was great and the flight experience was one that I will never forget. (landing was great also) Thanks for the experience , it will never be forgotten.
I am looking forward to the advanced course next year and to become a better pilot.
Jerry

Greg

It was a little "iffy" with the weather and delays but I did manage to make it back home yesterday.

I would like to preface my comments by saying that the school lives up to it's advertising 100%. It is certainly not a haphazard approach or a "trial and error" situation.
My experience at the school was that I was given as much time and practise as was necessary to master one step before moving to the next.The instruction given by both Steve and yourself was patient and positive and is geared to each individuals requirements.
Thank you both for your patience and help as it has given me the necessary grounding to advance my flying skill which was my purpose in attending the school.

With best regards and best wishes for your future endeavours.

Peter House
Chester, Nova Scotia ,Canada

Hi Greg:
Andrew and I joined a local club, finally got to do some flying Friday
and Saturday. First time in the air since returning from your school.
Andrew quite impressed the guys in the club. After a few flights they
suggested that he remove the speed brakes and additional airfoils
from his Nexstar. One of the guys got on the buddy box with Andrew
to insure a successful first flight. Andrew did fine. Kinda wish Dad
would get some stick time too…..

Thanks again for all your help. It was special watching him enjoy himself so much.

I want to buy some 2000mah batteries for our Transmitter and Receivers.
Where and what would you recommend??
Thank you, Eric

Greg,
Just want to say thanks again. I've been flying almost everyday since I
came home in June. The big difference is confidence. There is a huge
change from before the 2nd R/C Flight School and now. I'm doing 1/2
Cuban eights, loops, stall turns, and inverted flight, using everything you
taught me. I'm relaxed and not shaking ( as much ). I have an appointment
on Friday with a specialist for shaking in the right hand. I also lost twenty
pounds and dealing better with my sugar problems. See you next summer.

Thank you
Tom
Yankee from Taylor, Michigan

Greg:

I want to thank you for your INFINITE PATIENCE! Though it seemed
otherwise, your efforts did sink in. What seemed like your favorite phrases:
"make the plane do what you want it to', and "you're working too hard"
became so obvious when watching our local instructors trying to "teach". I
t all of a sudden was apparent why they so often run out of air. Their
methods discourage a fair number of people.

Thanks to your considerable efforts I can now find the center of the runway
consistently. More often than our experienced instructors.

As you probably surmised, I stopped at the local hobby shop and bought
a Nexstar ARF as soon as I got home. Instead of the drag brakes, I set it
up with flaperons. With a little input, it's a real pussycat; with the flaps
retracted, it will do just about anything you ask it to do. Even fly's inverted.

Thanks for a truly enjoyable week in Arkansas. With your patience and
knowledge, I feel I learned more in a short week than I could have in a
year at our local field.

Mitlon
Decatur, IL

Greg, made it home ok, 1300hrs Saturday. Thanks again for the fine
training, I was overwhelmed but also impressed.

FYI I ordered an Alpha 40 RTF, a Spektrum module to convert my
JR9303 to 2.4mhz and millions of other goodies. Also thank you for
all the links and picture.

Gene the Marine

To Whom it May Concern:

If you are looking for high quality instruction on how to fly RC airplanes
Greg Shane at the 2^nd RC Flight School is the man to see. I attended
his one-week basic course to learn how to solo. I found Greg to be very
professional, highly skilled, patient, and an excellent teacher. His course
was fun, very interesting, and I came away with the confidence to return
home and fly my own plane.

Learning to fly RC airplanes is not just about learning how to control
the airplane in flight. Greg provides training on everything from engine
tuning, model airplane repair, how electric aircraft operate, what tools/
equipment you will need, how to setup a flight box, to how to select
your own plane. The course is very comprehensive.

With only two students in the class you get one on one attention and
you fly multiple times each day. With his method of teaching I quickly
mastered the skills and each day I saw improvement. The planes and
radio equipment were all state of the art and well maintained.

Many thanks Greg and I hope to see you at your advanced course next
year.

Brian-Seattle WA

Greg

Just wanted to say Thank YOU again. I just returned from the flying field.
Made my first solo flight, what a rush after trying for almost 30 years to
learn to fly. You have truly a miracle worker. I do not think I would of
ever learned without YOU. The Training you provided made the flight go
just like it did at the class.

Again Thank You!

Dale
San Antonio, Tx

Greg

The 2^nd RC Flight School was one of the most fun things I have done in
my life. Better yet, it gave me the knowledge, skills and confidence to
be able to enjoy RC flying as a hobby. I have wanted to fly RC planes
as long as I can remember. I tried to get into the hobby back in 2000.
I found an RC club and asked for some help. The results were disastrous.
In the end I had a broken plane that collected dust.

The 2^nd RC Flight School is the answer for anyone that is just starting or
needs help. Getting the right training will be the deciding factor for your
success or failure. I started training on a Monday. I was flying solo by
Wednesday morning. I was doing loops and rolls by Wednesday afternoon.
Since I have come back from the flight school I have flown a lot! I don’t
even need anyone to help me. I have been many times when there is no
one else at the flying field.

If you are serious, like I was/am, you really need to attend this flight school.
Not only do you learn how to fly an RC plane, you learn how to tune the
engine. You also learn some tricks on how to finish building an ARF plane.
The last thing I would like to mention is how much fun Greg makes the
whole experience. I want to thank Greg personally for helping me become
successful with this exciting and fun hobby.

Regards,

Tony S
St Louis, Mo

Greg…

I hope you’re doing well. I wanted to take the time to write you and
extend my gratitude one last time for the superb training that I received
from you and “2^nd flight school.” I can’t begin to explain how helpful and
fun it was, and it goes without saying how excited I am that I have finally
learned to fly RC after all these years dreaming!!! (but I’m sure you knew
that from the perma-grin on my face every day when I left)

As a result of my early attempts to fly, I could be the poster boy for how
NOT to learn to fly RC aircraft. I went through a few planes and well over
a thousand dollars before I had the opportunity to learn from you. In the
wake of those shortcomings, I learned a valuable lesson: When you
ttempt to teach yourself to fly, all you end up with is a busted up plane
and a busted up ego.

I am 110% satisfied. Your teaching method is really fun, yet professional.
It really helped having a calm, reassuring voice speaking over my shoulder
when I got in a jam. That eliminated the initial anxiety almost entirely.
Between the basics of flight, the differences in flight characteristics from
full scale, tuning my engine to perfection, perfect approaches….. These
are things that I could’ve only learned from my instructor. I learned more
from you on the first day than I did the previous 5 years combined.

My advice for anyone wishing to begin flying RC aircraft is this: Don’t try
to teach yourself, get an instructor (repeat that out loud 5 times). Your
aircraft is an investment. All crashing does is kill your motivation and
interest. For the price of one crash (and you will crash), you can learn
through the school and still have that plane in the end to enjoy and
progress with. What do you have to lose? Well, except for that $500 plane?

J J THANKS GREG J J

Peter J
Russellville, AR

Greg

I want to thank you for all your help during and after my week with you at
2nd RC Flight School. Your constant efforts to train this "old dog" and to
help me get it right will not be forgotten and are much appreciated. The
manner you demonstrated and techniques you used to coach made
flight school an enjoyable experience for me.

I especially want to express my thanks for the help to diagnose and
perform logic elimination to get to the bottom of my problem with
Kadet Senior airplane.

I also appreciate your encouragement on those windy days insisting that
I fly when 20+ mph winds would have shut most down. This gave me
some GRIT I was not expecting to gain in school. While under your
influence, many fears were arrested and replaced with confident moves
to level the wings and move on.

Thanks again Greg, and keep up the great training.

Mike S
Baton Rouge, La

Dear Greg,

Thanks for a most wonderful week. Without this intensive five day course
I would never learned to fly. Most flying clubs don't have the time, the
resources, or the dedication to teach a new student pilot who is a raw
"walk on" beginner. I soloed a full sized plane in a little over two hours.

Taking the model plane up solo took almost five hours of your very
patient instruction so that shows the difficulty involved. You taught me
a million tricks that would have taken years and many battered planes
to learn. So thanks again and again for it was a pleasure working with
someone so likable and also a good teacher.

Fred N
Naperville, Il

This is Coleton last Sunday.. Coleton flew this...solo. We had some
high wind that day.

We had such strong gust of winds that he landed this like a helicopter
coming into the wind.

This the first low wing plane he has flown

We had a BIG BIRD fly in the day before with 30 pilots and 45 planes.
He flew a Curtis Robin with a 80" wing span.

Hope you are doing OK.

Pat C

Dear Greg,

I wanted to let you know I soloed today…without assistance other than
your instruction in June.

After returning from Arkansas, I was overcome with home repair and
renovation projects that lasted till the end of July. I fear I had forgotten
some critical skill I gained at the 2nd R/C Flight School, but after putting
together a RTF Alpha 60 and spending a day at the field running the
engine in (two aborted take-offs; some break-in was necessary).
This morning I went out early, when the wind was still and did three
flights. Even trimmed the ailerons and elevator during the first flight!

I was amazed at how much came back so quickly. The Alpha did,
than heavens, fly and land very much like the NexStar. Anyway,
my thanks for your instruction. It ingrained itself well enough to
enable me to go on out and fly seven weeks after my training!

Best Wishes,

George
Houston, Texas

Note: George is a great example of how the RC School can help. He bought a
flight simulator, flew it for 9 months, came to the school and learned how to fly,
then went home, bought the "right plane" for him and soloed, PERFECT! By the way,
that's George on the left!

Greg,

I really enjoyed the week at training. I have been flying 3 to 4 times a
week since. The guy's at the field were really impressed when I got home.
They could hardly believe the difference. The wind here in Kansas makes
landings a little more challenging. But I am getting over it. I even overheard
one of our regular instructor's recommending to a fellow who had the same
time constraint's as me that he might consider going to your class and what
a difference it had made in my flying abilities. I will highly recommend your
school to everybody and will use the techniques all my life. Please tell the
wife hello, and once again THANK YOU for teaching me how to fly.

Jim C
Douglass, Kansas

PS; Please keep in contact.

I just wanted to give a thank you to 2nd rc flight school. I just got back
from my week with Greg, yes I can fly now. This was by far the best
investment I have made in rc. Greg was very understanding of my skills
and weaknesses going in and help me work with both. Beginners I highly
recommend going to this school and learn to fly in a week on his equipment.

Again Thank You
Blaine Nevada, Mo

Greg,

... you had me soloing with confidence in 3 (not 5) days. Thanks for the help.

Hope all is well and we can get together again soon.

Michael M
Winter Haven, Fl

Greg:

Coleton and I had a great time and want to thank you for helping us
have a great time. We spent most of today flying at our field. Our club is
putting on an demonstration Wednesday for a summer camp of about of
150.. They asked Coleton to fly Wednesday and show other "kids"
how easy it is to fly.

We had about 20 club members flying today and they were impressed
how well Coleton flew. They told Coleton he need to teach is GRAMPA
how to fly..........................

Thanks,
Pat
Austin, Tx

(Note: "Grampa" can fly just fine!)

Greg,

The short period of time that I had with you was awesome. Your knowledge
and instructional skills made for a very quick learning period for me. I
tried to fly on my own, but it's a lot harder than it looks. Thanks to you,
I now have the confidence to keep trying. I hope to get together with you
again when I get back down to Arkansas!

Thanks again,
Chuck
(from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...home of the Super Bowl Champion Steelers!)

(note: Chuck utilized the school for one day)

Hey There,

It's nice to hear from you. Unfortunately, our weather has been typical
for this time of year which means rain, rain, rain. We've been practicing
on the simulator but are very anxious to get out there and give it shot.
We'd like you to know we had a great time and learned a great deal from
you. Thanks for your patience and time. They were both greatly appreciated.
We'll let you know how our first flight goes. Don't get addicted to the "fixins
" because as you probably noticed, they tend to stick with you.. ha ha!

Thanks,
Ken & Big "G"
Lousianna

Greg, I wanted to thank you for your expert help in FINALLY teaching
me to how to fly. Your Nexstar trainers are incredible airplanes!!!!

Over the last couple of years I have tried many other trainers and
instructors, most of those airplanes I found to be not really trainers
but for more advanced flyers although sold as trainers for newbies.

I was about to give up on RC until you and Nextstar. I have purchased
two of them and I intend to fly them until I am ready for a more advanced
and challenging airplane, and I am confident I will succeed.

Again, thank you very much, I waited a long time to learn, now that I
have soared, the wait has been worth it, I look forward to many many
future flights.

Joe F
Cabot, Ar

Greg,

I would like to thank you for the week of training, it accomplished the one thing I needed, confidence. The Nexstar is an excellent trainer. I would recommend to anyone coming to the class, that does not own a plane yet to think about purchasing a Nexstar. It would be much easier to pickup flying with the same plane you were trained on. Again thanks for teaching skills.

Bill K. Dallas, Tx

Greg I enjoyed being in this school and I also learned something! God bless you'll Dale P. Louisiana

Thanks for the pictures Dale!...Greg Shane

Greg, Thank you for getting me up to flying speed so quickly. I had a full year layoff because of an injury and had not really flown much in the year before either. I have had to restart three times over my R/C career since 1970. Naturally the first time was the "hand the transmitter game" and then find an instructor when you can. While this worked it was very inefficient. I did pretty well for a few years until my workload increased to the point that I had to give up flying. When I semi retired in the late 1990s I again returned to R/C and took lessons at an organized school using a buddy box which was a real improvement, but they used no book and the method was not very organized but it worked and began flying again. With three sets of flying lessons it is clear that your school, using established methods, an excellent study book and a defined set of instruction, is clearly the best. Coming out, I do feel more confident than before. While having previous experience may have helped a little I feel much better than at any time in the past. Thank you. Hosea M. N Little Rock, Ar

Mr. Shane Just a note to thank you for being so understanding and patient with me. Trying to get back in the swing of things after a few years off has been very expensive after all the crashes!I went through your school and you have restored my confidence in flying. Thanks again. Ken S. Birmingham, AL

Hi:

It worked! We might be able to handle this internet thing yet!! Just had to tell you I did thoroughly enjoy our days on the frozen 'tundra' ,and it was a great learning experience, the hands on time was really helpful! Miss the 'buddy box' at first, now we 'stand alone ' . Got my runway cleared now, if something was in the way it's GONE, 'nuff said for now, talk at you latter.

Bye, Milton Victoria, Tx