RE: aerobird V tail or rudder/elevators?
Stephen,
My first plane is a Challenger. It was a handful because as a first plane it feels fast and responsive. It took a half dozen outings and a bunch of crashes and ugly landings to get somewhaty competent and confident. I wen the self-taught route, too.
You seem fully aware of the alternatives and of the limitations inherent to the Aerobird. I'd say go for it. I wanted to experience more stuff, so my second plane is a GWS J-3 Cub, fuselage version. It's much more docile and has the same 3-channel control. The standard tail feel sno different from the Challenger's v-tail. Same control movements from the transmitter.
If I can share from my experience thus far:
1.- Be patient. Make your first flights on WINDLESS days. Not almost windless, WINDLESS. My mistake was to find out the hard way that wind really affects these little planes. If you want to enjoy the hobby, start out on WINDLESS days until you get the plane to do what you want it to do.
2.- Fly in a BIG field. The booklet that comes with the plane suggests 600' x 600'. I wish I had listened. I tried in about 600' x 250'. There was also a mild breeze - enough to feel it on my face while standing still. I flew OK for a few minutes than got too low and I hit a boulder that marks a field boundary and smashed a wing. Calm air and a lot of space with no trees or obstacles will help keep you from getting white-knuckled early on. Oh ... and at least 50 feet of altitude is a good thing! On my second flight I augered in straight down from about 30 feet and broke a second wing cleanly into two pieces - again, ignoring a breeze and fighting the plane around. Not wise!
3.- Get a roll of clear packing tape - the 2 inch wide stuff, and some 5-minute epoxy. You'd be amazed at the repairs you can do to a wing that looks trashed! I thought the wing from the first crash was a write-off. I decided to try fixing it after busting the replacement wing on my second flight ... I figured tape was cheaper than wings, and if I was going to ding a wing per flight I could lose interest very quickly! I'm still flying both of the repaired wings.
4.- Look for the thread here that offer suggestions on how to reinforce certain parts of the Aerobird. Big help. aeajr has a great set of suggestions on helpful mods and improvements. Do a search here and apply what he says.
5.- Pick up a couple of spare wings from the local hobby shop, as well as an extra set of tail feathers. Worst thing that can happen is that you won't use them.
I've enjoyed it. I've flown a number of times in moderate breeze - 5-8 MPH, but nothing beats flying in still air.
Go for it. If you can keep to the admonition to fly on calm days, your period of learning should be less trying than mine was.
Cheers!!!
BobbyG