First try flying a big and fast RC plane without any real RC experience. I was either brave or stupid (possibly both) and took P51D for a maiden flight yesterday. After a few test rolls I moved to a bigger area and took off. Take-off was smooth and almost perfect but I immediately realized that I greatly underestimated the speed of this plane and huge area required for flying it comfortably. I had to get it down right away. I was afraid to overcompensate and did not do any abrupt moves. I started to turn, managed to fly above and avoid trees and poles and started to bring it around for a landing, but I was running out of space and had to tighten the turn. That got the plane banking left too steep, so I had to straighten it and the turn was not tight enough as a result. I gently scraped a bush and the plane stopped, hanging on the bush. No damage at all - just spinner snapped off. Not a single scratch. That was lucky.

I think the guys on the forum were right and I need a cheap aileron trainer before I can handle this plane comfortably... Well, I did my best and the plane is in one piece - good enough :-)