Don's Hobby Shop is the home for the world famous manuals titled "Crosswind Flying" and "Proficient Flying" and "Gas Engines Giant Planes". These pilot and operations manuals have sold in 23 countries around the world and are popular with both experienced and beginner pilots alike.

Crosswind Flying 

Crosswind Flying is a pilot's manual which discusses and outlines techniques that allow the pilot to fly precisely in crosswind. Do you roll the wrong way in Cuban 8's? Do you apply rudder only in stall turns? Do you know how to pull or push your plane back on track? Do you know how to stealth your corrections so they aren't visible? These questions and many other topics are discussed in detail and illustrated with drawings that help the modeler visualize the concepts presented. The manual has received terrific reviews in the model publications and most importantly by many skilled pilots who have or are currently holding offices within the National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics (NSRCA.) and AMA including Former AMA president and Former NSRCA presidents and numerous NSRCA Vice Presidents! Get yours now.   $9.95  Available Store Direct

Proficient Flying

Proficient Flying is a pilot's manual that can help 3 groups of pilots: 1. Those who have soloed and want to develop their flying skills. 2. Beginners who are just learning to fly. 3. Flight Instructors who are looking for a training template. Did you know that your rate of decent on landing is controlled by your throttle and not your elevator? Many modelers have this relationship backwards and never really develop the skill to accurately and consistently fly their plane. This any many other topics are discussed in this manual. Referred to as the "Stick and Rudder of RC Flying" this pilot's manual covers topics about the flight envelope that most RC pilots have never heard of or understand.  If you don't know that your plane is out of the safe flight envelope then the pilot is doomed to repeat the same mistakes and continue to crash planes.  Do you know that elevator controls airspeed and throttle controls rate of decent?   Do you know that stall speed  increases 40%  in a 60%  bank?  50 Chapters and almost 150 pages of information pack this manual with information that will help a pilot become more proficient and avoid the danger areas of the flight envelope that cause planes to crash.  Order yours now. $13.95  Available Store Direct

Gas Engines & Giant Planes

Our newly released third edition, Gas Engines and Giant Planes, contains answers to many of the commonly asked questions that Judy and I hear on the phone every day from modelers around the world who are making the transition to giant scale planes. It makes no difference how proficient a pilot is if the aircraft is not setup correctly.  Most large planes are not crashed due to pilot error - they are crashed due to faulty setup and often on the first flight.  The equipment is often blamed but the reality is that  a newcomer to giant scale does not know the questions to ask to learn how to safely setup a giant scale plane. Talking to thousands of modelers every year for many years has allowed us the opportunity to observe the common setups that are conducive to crashes and setups that are successful.  We have been involved with giant planes since the early 1970's, and have learned from our own mistakes and the mistakes of others as to how to safely setup these planes and engines to avoid crashes, which are so often preventable and unnecessary. Judy and I have put together numerous topics about gas engines and giant sized planes in an easy to read format and illustrated the topics with many photos and drawings. The information in this book will help the reader make the transition into large size planes safer and easier.   $12.95  Available Store Direct

Comments: Proficient flying has been referred to as the Stick and Rudder of R/C Flying and received positives reviews in major model magazines. Crosswind Flying has been recommended by the former president of the AMA as "must reading" and by numerous NSRCA Vice-Presidents and Presidents. Can't get any better endorsements than that.  Gas Engines - Giant Planes  has received numerous positive reviews in  multiple national magazines as recommended reading.    About the Author.. The author is the recipient of the National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics (NSRCA) special achievement award, has been a top 3 finisher at the US Nationals on 4 occasions, and has been the AMA Masters first place qualifier at the US Nationals. The above accomplishments plus authoring numerous articles for major modeling magazines, holding an FAA Commercial Pilot's License, and Flight Instructor rating, plus Airframe and Powerplant ratings and an FCC radio telephone operators permit, provide the experience base upon which these manuals were written.