About Me
Hi, my name is Gracen Gonzalez. I’m 14 and live in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
I’ve been flying RC planes since I was 10. I’ve always loved aviation, especially flying scale and model planes. I’m interested in aeronautical engineering and have built many models.
After I graduate from high school, I hope to attend the US Air Force Academy. I’m a member of the Civil Air Patrol and enjoy my role as a aerospace officer.
Flying is one of the most exciting things I’ve ever experienced and through my programs, I hope to share the world of aviation with you.
“Gracen is a remarkable young man and excels at everything he does. I’m confident he’ll give his students the skills to be safe, successful RC pilots.”
Colonel Mickey Addison – Retired US Air Force
“My friend Gracen Gonzalez is a remarkable young man who has lots to teach you! Success in life has everything to do with passion and perseverance: Gracen has pursued his hobby with all his energies, and he’s become an Ace RC pilot in the process. He can show you how to skillfully take flight, and most importantly, how to do so safely. Clear prop!”
Scott Parazynski – Former NASA Astronaut, Everest Climber, Medical Doctor
“Aviation and Space have been passions of mine from an early age. I especially loved building and flying model airplanes as a young person. I think it’s great that Gracen is helping to introduce model airplanes to his generation. Who knows where this might lead?”
Leroy Chiao, Ph.D. – Former NASA Astronaut and International Space Station Commander
“I have personally seen Gracen’s passion and skill for flying grow over the five years I’ve known him. Gracen is dedicated, energetic, knowledgeable and fun loving. He is a very good RC pilot and loves helping other people.”
Denver Collins – US Air Force Retired Flight Instructor
Getting Started in RC Flying
I’ll Be Your Co-Pilot
Anyone can buy an RC car, take it home and drive it right away.
Flying a plane is trickier. You need instruction. Otherwise you’ll end up with a wrecked plane.
I’ll teach you how to fly RC using MY PLANES and using the Buddy Box System.
We’ll each have a transmitter, but my transmitter can override your transmitter. If you get into trouble, I’ll take control and get you out of trouble. Once you’re out of trouble I’ll let you control the plane again.
So you can relax and have fun as you learn because you’ll know that I have your back.
We’ll debrief after every flight so you can learn faster. That’s how they do it in the US Air Force.
Beginner Flight Packages
Glider Flight Package
Price: $25
Plane: UMX Radian Motor Glider
Wingspan: 29″
Difficulty: Easy
The UMX Radian is an easy to fly small motor glider. It’s a blast to fly.
This package includes three batteries with a total flight time of about 25-40 minutes. Also included is a 30-45 minute “ground school” time where you’ll learn the basics of Remote Control (RC) Flying. This is the best beginner package I offer. If you are new to RC, this is the best place to start.
Warbird Flight Package
Price: $35
Plane: UMX P-47
Wingspan: 19″
Difficulty: Easy to Intermediate
Warbirds are notorious for being hard to fly. The P-47 is one of the most gentle and easy to fly warbirds out there. It has a good amount of speed but can also slow down well, a characteristic that not many warbirds have.
This package includes 30-45 minutes of “ground school” time where you’ll learn about warbirds’ flight characteristics. We’ll also review the basics of RC flying.
The flight time in this package is about 20-30 minutes.
Bush Plane Flight Package
Price: $50
Plane: Timber
Wingspan: 61″
Difficulty: Intermediate
The Timber is a big bush plane with steady flight characteristics. This plane can take off and land on almost anything.
This package comes with a 15-30 minutes of “ground school” time.
This package also comes with 15-30 minutes of flight time.
Advanced Flight Packages
Float Plane Advanced Flight Package
Price: $55
Plane: Timber with Float Configuration
Wingspan: 61″
Difficulty: Intermediate to Advanced
The Timber bush plane with floats is fantastic to fly. Taking off and landing on the water brings a totally new dimension to RC flying.
This course comes with a 10-15 minute “ground school” session where you’ll learn about the extra things that you need to know to fly a float plane.
The package comes with about 15-30 minutes of flight time.
Note the camera on the Timber’s nose, the white FPV goggles and the controller.
FPV Advanced Flight Package
Price: $75
Plane: Timber with FPV Configuration
Wingspan: 61″
Difficulty: Intermediate
The First Person View (FPV) package is one of the most enjoyable ones of them all.
We mount a miniature camera on the nose of the plane, and you’ll fly the Timber while wearing FPV goggles. Flying FPV is one of the coolest experiences in RC because you feel like you’re actually in the plane.
This package includes 10-15 minutes of “ground school” and 15-30 minutes of flight time.
Aerobatic Maneuvers Advanced Flight Package
Price: $45
Plane: UMX P-47
Wingspan: 19″
Difficulty: Advanced
Learn how to perform maneuvers like aileron rolls, barrel rolls, loops, and a split-s.
This is one of the harder courses to fly as you’ll doing advanced maneuvers. However, once you have these maneuvers down, you’ll be a safer pilot, you’ll be able to get yourself out of trouble and you’ll be able to impress your friends at the flying field.
This course includes 10-20 minutes of “ground school.”
It also includes 15-25 minutes of flight time.
With this package you’ll get a DxE Transmitter, a charger, and three batteries.
You’ll also get a brand new UMX Radian Motor Glider.
Journey To Flight Exclusive Flight Package
Price: $295 – Best Value
Planes: UMX Radian, UMX P-47, and Timber
This package includes all three of the basic flight packages and one advanced flight package of your choice.
*** Plus, you’ll take home your own UMX Radian Motor Glider, a DxE Transmitter, a charger, and three batteries.
Everything you need to start flying by yourself.
You’ll be well on your way in your journey into flight.
For More Information and to Learn How to Get Started
Email GracenGRC @gmail.com
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
Military and professional pilots have Standard Operating Procedures (rules and guidelines) they use to make sure they’re safe and they operate as professionals. They use checklists and do everything in a specific way so they’re alive to fly another day. As a student of aviation I use SOPs as well.
Flight Location
I usually fly at either my house or the Church of All Nations depending on what we are flying but if you have a specific place that you want to fly at I’m very flexible.
Progression
You must complete at least one of my Beginner Flight Packages before you can do any of the Advanced Flight Packages. I highly recommend that you start with the Glider Flight package as it is the easiest.
Payment
Payment is required before flying. I accept cash and check.
Minimum Age
You must be at least 10 years old to participate.
Crash Policy
In the event of a crash, I’ll pay for repairs if the crash was due to an engine failure, controller failure or if I crashed the plane. The only way the student would have to pay for repairs is if the student does something stupid (eg. I tell them not to do something and they do it anyways, or they want to crash the plane on purpose).
Weather
We will only fly if there is low or no wind.
If it’s too windy, too gusty or if it’s raining, we can wait for the weather to change or we can reschedule. There’s no fee for rescheduling as long as it is weather related since we can’t control the weather.
Rescheduling Lessons
It’s a lot of work for our parents to get us together for your lessons so we need to make sure we are responsible with each other.
If you need to reschedule your lesson and give me a 24 hour notice, there will be no charge.
If you don’t show up for a scheduled lesson, a $25 fee will be added to your next lesson.
If something comes up on my end I’ll always let you know that we need to reschedule.