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Old 09-11-2003, 09:51 AM
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sargentw
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Default RE: RC beginner

Wow you have vision. You go for it. When starting out be careful not to grab the chicken before the egg.

I'm not ready to take the 4+ ch/hotliner route yet. Maybe soon.

I've put my summary of experience in other posts. I'll put here for you too.

Good Luck!

************************************************** *********

New flyers might find my brief Park Flyer history helpful.

My first plane was a Slow Stik. At the time, I didn't know what I was doing and kept stalling and breaking props. Things like center of gravity (COG) and other basic flying concepts weren't getting properly grasped. So I put the Stik aside and ran down to the local hobby store and bought a Firebird II. This is the plane I learned how to fly on. I paid the price; hung it up in trees and even had one go too far up and get blown away never to be seen again. The Firebird II has no elevator control and cannot do very tight turns. However, the Firebird II is inexpensive, crashworthy, and will give the new pilot very important "Stick time" in which to become familiar with turning the plane while flying towards and away from a given reference point.

Next I bought an Aerobird and it about killed me. One day it flies ok and the next day it crashes. The Aerobird always had something going wrong with it, servos, radio, tail boom, COG shift, etc. My Aerobird has been sold and is no longer in my hangar.

Next I bought a GWS Tiger Moth and this plane really built my 3 ch confidence back up after the Aerobird nearly killed it. The Moth is easy to fly and land on those breezeless evenings. After flying the Moth I went back to the Slow Stik and learned to fly it in all types of conditions.

I also now have a Graupner "Super" Terry that flies like a demon. The Terry cannot take rough landings so I would not call it a beginner's plane. The Terry also can fly very fast very quickly and can catch the novice off guard. The Terry is a great acrobatic sport plane that can get you into a little thermal riding. Also the Terry's tail feathers and wing are removable and can neatly pack up in the original box and travel with you.

A couple of months ago I bought the Sky scooter Pro II to practice landings to build up a confidence level with the Terry landings and try a plane with ailerons. The Scooter is a blast to fly and the upgrades purchased at Servo City make plane really perform. The scooter can easily do loops and rolls land hard and fast if needed. The Scooter would make a great beginners plane. You do need a large field, especially if you are a new R/C pilot.

If I did it all again I would have bought the Scooter instead of the Aerobird. The planes cost about the same but with the Scooter you get real R/C gear and a plane that flies and turns a heck of alot better. The Scooter has a high mount swept wing that is extremely stable even in 10+ MPH winds. High altitude and distant orientation is easy with the Scooter because it casts a triangular image and looks like the pointer of a PC mouse.

In conclusion, I could have learned to fly using the Scooter. Based on what I know now, the Sky Scooter would have been a better first plane choice for me going the self taught route.

Fair winds.....