Training Wheels

Do some of you remember your first bicycle, the one that your parent(s) set up with training wheels? You felt like a dufus, every kid in the neighborhood looking at you wobbling along the street or sidewalk, but at least you learned how to control the bike without banging your knees and smashing your head on the ground. Of course, some of you went to school the next day with the red badge of courage - a strawberry, dead leg, charley horse or corked thigh - having skipped the sissie training wheels and jumped right into ditches.

I admit I was a training wheel kid, for a day or two at least. My problem wasn't so much the left or right control but the stopping bit. I had one of those bikes where braking was reversing the pedal action. Plus, we lived at the top of the hill in the neighbourhood. In a panic on my first pedal out of the driveway, I aimed my bike down the hill, forgot to kick back on the pedals at the bottom and WHAM! crashed into a ditch, training wheels in tow and totally useless, my crotch and my ego black-and-blue for a few days (advice: learn to ride a bike in prepuberty, guys; you'll have less bulk in your package to worry about smashing).

Same goes for UAVs - you don't necessarily need training wheels but some age and wisdom teaches you to listen. Here's your OZ (i.e., Aussie or Down Under) advice for the day - a word, or website, to the wise is sufficient:

http://www.ozrcflying.com/2007/03/learning-to-fly-beginners-guide.html

Safe battery charging and soft landings to you! It's a sunny, calm day - guess where I'll be. ;^)