Posted: 9/15/2008 4:24:19 PM EDT
|
I'm thinking of getting an RC plane to toy with during my weekend down time. I have no flight experience, other than jumping from planes and playing Aces High. I had heard the 3CHAN are better to start on, so I was looking at the HobbyZone Super Cub and the ParkZone J3 Cub. Then someone else said I'd hate it without ailerons. I have no clue. They have dirt cheap 4CH Cesnas on ebay. Anyone have experience with this? Suggestions? |
| I have been flyinig r/c planes for years. I started with a .46 trainer. I had no training and destroyed it quickly. I didn't give up and rebuilt it. It didn't take long to learn how to fly. Flying away from yourself is easy, its flying toward yourself that takes some getting used to. I would recommend getting some simulator software it really helps. I would get a plane with ailerons, or a four channel. |
|
Lots of good info here: RCGROUPS A 3 channel is a good starting point. You can even have a lot of fun with one of the Air Hogs toys from Target, Toys R Us, etc. But you'll soon get the RC equivalent of BRD, and want more. Also, you can get a free RC sim called FMS (Google it). Helpful, but still just a sim. |
|
I've been trying to learn with an old .40 sized trainer that was given to me. 5 takeoffs, 4 crashes & one successful deadstick. Shit happens so fast, I've been looking at the slower electrics for getting rid of my dumb thumbs but I will stick with a 4 channel for sure. Good luck with whatever you choose. My last crash was in a pond I never knew was there  |
|
If I were to go with a 4chan, as opposed to 3 chan, what would you suggest for a starter? These are the 4CH I saw on ebay. Likely junk, but I don't know squat. I likely will learn on my own. |
Buy a simulator first. It'll pay for itself quickly. Real Flight |
Ar15.com got me turned to hobbyzone/parkzone about a year ago id say. it was quite fun. the planes will take alot of dmg and hard landing before needing to be fixed. They are foam planes, so they are extremely easy to fix. I bought a spitfire from hobbyzone and i flew it about 4 times, and accidentally flew it into a tree. its entire right wing broke off, and i had to climb 25 feet up the fucking tree to get it out, but it was worth it. My heart was broken until i decided to try to Gorilla glue the wing back on, and the fucking thing flies today with the glued wing. I love it. Also you can buy better batteries / brushless engines for them as well, which apparently up the power/weight ratio by like 2 or something. I never got into it that much pretty fun just flying them stock for me now. crash them enough as it is! eta- Make sure to fly in an open area, i dont have any real open area's around me always some tree's around, and trust me if you arent good yet, that tree will suck your plane right into it very quickly. |
|
whatever you do, GET A SIMULATOR. It's Worth a couple hundred bucks. Easy. You can get RealFlight G2 Cheap on rcgroups.com forums. I wrecked a couple planes before i got a sim. After several weeks of flying that I haven't had another crash that wasn't an equipment failure. |
+1 on the sim. Honestly, just do it please. It's for your wallet's own good. |
Where do you plan on flying it? Are you joining a club, or are you just going to go down to a park? |
+2 You will crash whatever you buy. The simulator is really good, and allows you to fly with the same style control box you'd use to fly the real RC plane. It also lets you choose your particular model in most cases, so you get used to how your particular plane responds to the control box. It pays for itself if it saves your plane from one plane destroying crash. |
|
I like RC planes, but I get bored ... quickly. I bought a 20.00 foam Air Hog at Wal-mart and had a blast with it for weeks. I did the same with the 30.00 RC Helicopter. They were easy to fly, cheap to buy, and when I got bored with them, I did not feel bad about tossing a ton-o-cash in to a new, and fading, hobby. Try one, you'll at least know if you really have the time and interest available for a new hobby. TRG |
|
I started with Gas (nitros), but the electrics have really advanced in the past 5 years. I recently bought a "Slow Stick" and have more fun with it then any of my 5 other nitros. They are simpler, they require far less equipment, they are less messy, etc... I taught myself on a .40 trainer and still have it today. Buy yourself an electric and teach yourself. Play with the simulator at the hobby store and make sure you understand the basics. Here is a video of my Slow stick. I fly it off the driveway and the battery can give me up to 30 minute flight times. Please turn your volume way DOWN as my mic is very sensitive! http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c247/chainsawallen/?action=view¤t=IMG_0007.flv |
At the jumpzone on days I'm waiting for the weather to clear. |
Try this out for a ride. Talk about fast!!  ME WANT!! I had a small electric one (parkflyer cessna) I crashed a few months back. I blame a poor battery charge.
|
I don't think that's what they had in mind when they said "starter". |
Bounced by Mustangs? |
|
The Air Hogs brand Aero Ace biplane flys very well, costs $30 and doesn't get hurt in crashes. I used to use them as cruise missiles they got beat up looking but were almost unharmed. These little planes need calm air but are controllable for more than a hundred yards distance. After you get to the point where you can make the Aero Ace do what you want instead of just flying it around you will be ready to move up. But first here's a hint, when the plane is coming toward you "lift the low wing with the stick", when it is flying across your field of view turn your body so that you are sort of flying it from behind. When it's flying away from you then all is well. A good next step is the Slow Stick, they fly very well in calm air, can have very long duration and excellent climb performance and they are very hard to break. A Slow Stick can carry cameras or things to drop and you can put ailerons on one when you want to. Buy one of the $15 to $25 packages of a brushless motor (bell motor) and speed control, get the one that comes with the engine mount that fits the Slow Stick's stick fuselage. Make sure this motor has the correct winds for the SS's big prop. Mine is a BM 2410-09 motor and the prop is a GWS EP 9070. Be sure and use a prop saver so the motor shaft doesn't bend and the prop doesn't break when the plane noses over. Use rubber bands to mount the prop on the prop saver. Use a 2 cell LiPo battery of at least 1200 mah, 1320mah works great, bigger batteries weigh more and that hurts performance. 3 cell batteries give more power but you don't actually need it. I've got a garage full of glow planes some are very fast pattern planes with retracts and such. The Slow Stick replaced them for flying fun and the Aero Ace replaced the Slow Stick. Fast glow powered planes take up an a day to drive to a place where you can fly them and when you're there you have to put up with the rules of the old farts. The Slow Stick takes up an hour to drive 5 minutes to a soccer field and fly it a couple 20 minute flights. The Aero Ace needs 12 minutes to get a good 10 minute flight in front of the house. Read the electric forums on RCGroups, read the Micro RTF forum, the Park Flyer forum and the others too. It will become clear what to do. Like the others said, a simulator is a big head start, I use FMS because it's free but the $200 ones are a lot better. Oops, forgot, look at the ariel photography forum, there are a lot of good vids there so you can see these things in action. |
Taking up crack or heroin would be cheaper and less time consuming..          The absolute BEST electric plane to start out with is an IFO. They're fairly easy to build, you can fly it in your yard (or living room), and the last one I had soaked up about 1200 (no shit number) serious controlled flight into terrain crashes. It can be set up to be very aerobatic, or it can be set up to be a very gentle slow flying trainer. I know everyone wants to start out with a P-51, but you'll spend more time fixing than flying. It looks goofy, but watch the videos. If you're worried about flying in wind, don't be. I've flown an IFO in 40mph winds. Granted, that's not something you'll be able to do when you're starting, but you probably wouldn't want to throw a foam delta out for its maiden flight in front of 200 people who are going to shoot at it with machine guns either... GT Seriously-get the IFO. Built right, it's pretty close to indestructable. |
It's even more fun with a decent controller. I believe there's one by ESKY that runs about 10-15$ on Ebay but some game controllers work OK too. The FMS flight model is fair at best, but good enough to give you a feel for things. Especially important for flying the plane towards yourself. I have Realflight G2 also. It's a good sim but overpriced IMO. I use one called Clearview now - runs $30 IIRC. There are other good ones besides these. I would highly recommend the RCGroups forums - they are pretty much the ARFcom of RC. And they have a forum dedicated to helping beginners. |
|
I just picked up this. I still can't decide on a plane, though. |
|
Not a plane but, I just picked a Atlas PicooZ Helicopter a couple weeks ago. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkXRxN4tWqI&feature=related Too much fun, I want something bigger already!
|
|
+1 for rcgroups, +1 for asking for help from a local club. I first flew in the mid 70's. We started with a .60 trainer. Eventually it took a radio hit was crashed beyond repair - and rebuilt (we glued the matchstick sized pieces together to make a plan to rebuild 1/2 of the fuse). I got back into it 2 years ago. Radios (TX especially) say with you for a while, if you think you are going to fly for a while, they are the best investment. The stuff that comes with parkzone is proprietary - most hobby grade stuff is not. I have had a blast with a sheet of foam, a brushless motor and lipo batteries. Drop in some lightweight servos, exc, and rx - and you have a plane that can hang on it's prop - and do stuff airplanes really shouldn't. I joke, but a lot of time I had had less than $3 of foam in an airframe, and most of the build time was the paint job (vanity sucks). - Go to the foamie sub forum. I am not sure what is hot now, but the "Blue Albacore" flies like it is on rails, and the "Smart Dart" is just dumb fun to fly. The last one I finished was a Foldtimer - very retro, It flies well, but needs a diet to thermal (it really does not like wind either - the Blue Albacore does not notice wind much). Latter if you want, you can upgrade bits and pieces of your equipment to fit your plane of the moment. Eventually I will get my Speed 400 pylon racer in the air. I loved my 500 class pylon racer a quarter century ago. It weighed 5lbs and did 140mph. The speed 400 plane will also do that (perhaps a tad more), but should weigh somewhat less than 1lb. Here is a link to a little plane with a $20 brushless motor and a $10 lipo in it. I seriously doubt that it flies like a "parkzone". It is not a beginners plane though - it will get away from you quickly (fwiw, that was only about 60mph). Most of the video is at about 2/3 power. It essentially has the same power system as the Blue Albacore, Smart Dart, and fold timer - difference is mostly the wind of the motor and the prop (to be honest, the other 3 probably work better with a certain $10 brushless motor - much, much different wind) . |
Yeah.....I'm playing on the laptop keyboard, using A & Z for throttle, and the arrow keys for pitch and roll.
I was already looking at the $99 Revell RTF electric RC helicopter at Target the other day, as if I really need another distraction  .....
|
| I bought an electric sailplane, built it myself, and tried to fly it myself. Immediately crashed it. I then bought a gas powered trainer with a .20 engine and joined a club. I was taking off and landing the first day at a club sancitioned airfield and under the tutelage of a club volunteer. Pay for a club membership and have someone train you. The best use of your money if you want to learn correctly and fast. |
E-Flight Blade 400
|
Update: I found a P-38 model for FMS at n.ethz.ch/~mmoeller/fms/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4965&sid=f7941132e900334bc18d06579016bac4 It's kick ass! It has all the performance of the stock stunt planes that came installed. The aileron rolls are quick, but it doesn't want to roll over with the torque on take off, unlike those single engine planes! |
I know, but you have to admit it's SWEET! 
|
|
I have the super cub also. I smashed the shit of it the first few times I flew it. I can't wait for calm weather. Another time I temporarily lost it in really high winds. It went out of my sight and past the trees at a local park. The engine just couldn't fight the wind. I found it 30 minutes later on it's wheels in somebodies front yard about 1/2 mile from the park. Minimal damage, I think just a broken strut.
If you smash up the front end, expanding foam works as a good repair.
|
|
Quoted:
I have the super cub also. I smashed the shit of it the first few times I flew it. I can't wait for calm weather. Another time I temporarily lost it in really high winds. It went out of my sight and past the trees at a local park. The engine just couldn't fight the wind. I found it 30 minutes later on it's wheels in somebodies front yard about 1/2 mile from the park. Minimal damage, I think just a broken strut. If you smash up the front end, expanding foam works as a good repair. I picked up an 8 cell battery, too. That REALLY improves the performance. |
|
3 ch, generally high wing planes with some dihedral. That is the angle in the wing, the tips being higher than the wingroot.
The way this works, rudder servo in the plane is plugged into the aileron socket of the receiver. The plane is flown as if it had ailerons. The exact same stick movements are used. The transmitter will have the left stick, which is racheted in vertical, for throttle. No servo will be operated by left/right movement of that stick. The transmitter will have the right stick operating the elevator and rudder servos. Push the stick, down elevator, pull the stick, up elevator. Push the stick to the right, the plane will BANK RIGHT due to the dihedral, or angle in the wing. You can do a very nice barrel roll with a plane that has no ailerons. 4 ch, the left stick vertical movement is still throttle, but now the horizontal movement of that stick will operate rudder. The 4 ch plane's right stick, elevator will be the same for vertical movement of the stick, but now horizontal movement of the right stick will operate ailerons. And if you move the right stick to the right it will still make the plane bank to the right. So, the same stick movement results in the same reaction by the aircraft. Think of a 3 channel plane as having combined aileron/rudder, as that is how the plane reacts. So, do you buy a 3 channel radio for a 3 channel plane? NO, that is a waste of money. 3 channel radios are used for gliders, powered gliders. Buy a 4 channel radio for that 3 channel trainer. Just plug the rudder servo into the aileron socket on the receiver, such that moving the aileron stick of the transmitter moves the rudder. Then you will build up the correct stick movement reactions so that when you go to a 4 channel plane, with ailerons, you have it all down. That being said, there is no reason you can't learn on an appropriate trainer equipped with ailerons. Just don't waste your money on a 3 channel radio. And my experience is that the larger the plane, the easier it is to fly. Don't fall for the, "I'm just a beginner, I'll start on a small plane" thing. I would advise nothing smaller than a .40 (2-stroke) plane with at least 55" wingspan. A .60 powered plane with 70" wingspan would be better. My qualifications? I was a long time R/C'er, and also the youngest, at the time, Contest Director. I was also a long time designated club instructor (about 30 years) for three clubs. |