radicooldude

Hey! I have been into R/C cars for 2 years, and I want to get into R/C planes. I have got a few questions so please bear with me.
1. First off Gas or Electric? I really don't know.. I have run only Elec R/C cars..so I have no experience with gas.
Please tell me the pros and cons of each:
2. Runtime? How long can I expect on gas? How about Electric?
3. Size? In gas terms how big? .20 .40 .60???? In electric? 380 400 480 540?
4. I want to fly in my backyard or in a park..but I don't want it to tute around.. I would like 30's to 40's.. Is that expectable?
5. Next I want to get a radio.. How many channels? FM or AM?
6. If electric, what size batts and what charger?
7. Last.. what Kit? I am 15 and for Christmas my parents want to get me into planes..so they said I have about $300 for everything.
Please give me links to products, like on Tower Hobbies..or so. Thanks for everything. - Zack

CafeenMan

Personal preference. In most places you'll get more help with a glow engine plane. Electrics are still way in the minority.


10-15 minutes on glow, a little less on electric unless you buy more expensive batteries and equipment.

Big enough to see and small enough not to cost you a fortune. You're going to crash it so you don't want to put any more money into than you have to. I don't do electrics, so I can't tell you much about motor size. .40 engine is the most popular size trainer because it fits my first sentence.

No! Do not fly a gas engine in a park. Join a club. If you can't do that, then fly in the boonies. If you want to fly in your yard (really bad idea) or in a park, then a small, electric park flyer is the only safe option.

FM - at least 4 channels. More channels is better if you think you're going to stick with the hobby. I would recommend a six channel to start if you can afford it.

Don't know - can't help you here.

$300 won't get you everything you need for glow. You can get the plane, engine and radio for about that, but you'll need a field box, field equipment, tools, glues, etc. If I were you, I would get something smaller and higher quality for the money rather than going cheap quality to get more of something bigger, if that makes sense.

*Tower Hobbies is evil. Here are some places that actually care about their customers.

http://www.hobbypeople.net/
http://www.hobby-lobby.com/
http://www.hobbybarn.com/site_map.html

* Opinions that vary from mine are wrong.

rrh

I was working on teaching my 16 yr old nephew to fly recently. I'm a SPAD combat guy and didn't have a real trainer so we were trying to fly my combat rigs. Didn't matter that they crashed, didn't hurt em. Anyway, to shorten the story up, on Christmas eve I went to Hobby Town USA and bought a FireBird Commander for $110. Took it to the soccer fields next morning and he was flying!! I had a great time with it, too! I would highly recommend this little completely RTF bird for a starter plane for you. Everything you need is in the box, everything!!! You'll be ready to land by the time the battery gets weak. It has two modes, beginner and expert. Beginner is amazingly responsive. Won't tolerate much wind, being the only real problem. Buy some bi-di tape at Best Buy shipping Dept to put the wing back together that you just broke in half on your third flight. Have fun!

rrh

DBCherry

My Feedback: (4)

Better yet, an Aerobird Commander. It has 3 channels while the Firebirds only have two.

You should most certainly NOT fly glow (gas) powered planes in a park or your backyard. (Unless you have about 20 acres of land.) And even the Firebird/Aerobirds require a field at least two soccer fields in size. Be sure there are no kids, pets, cars, houses, etc. anywhere near where you're going to try and fly.

However, a small parkflyer like a GWS Pico Cub, Tiger Moth, or the larger Slow Stick, could be flown in a large back yard or smaller park. (At least 100 by 200 feet.)

Spend some time reading the "Beginners" forum, then go to "Electrics" and read up on Park Flyers.

Good luck and welcome to RCU.
Dennis-

Jimmbbo

Dude!!

Glad to hear you've left the "dark side" and are ready to add the third dimension to your RC life!

I agree with DBCherry - reading thru the RCU forums is well worth the effort... Read thru the Beginners' forum and do some searches on topics that interest you... will take a bit of time, but will get you going in the right direction. Also suggest visiting your local RC flying club or group and the LHS for their thoughts... seeing the equipment up close and personal is a tremendous help.

When I got back into RC after a 15 year layoff, I spent evenings for two or three weeks checking out various RC links and sites, and happened upon RCU in the process... Was time very well spent IMHO!!

Since you're already familiar with RC, my recommendations for a first airplane is a Hobbico Avistar ARF ($100 at Tower) with a suitable .40 -.46 glow engine ($80 - 120) (do a RCU search for Avistar and I think you'll be happy with the results). Recommend getting at least a 6 channel radio if you think you're gonna do multiple channels down the road (retracts, flaps, etc)...

My experience with Tower has been good, so I do not hesitate to recommend them... this is the link to the Avistar...

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXPY56&P=7


Good Luck and Happy Flying!!

Best!

Jim

radicooldude

Hey thanks all...Unfortunantly it looks like gas wouldn't be good for me..But I have atleast a 300ft backyard... So I will read up more in the beginners section. Thanks- Zack

TerrellFlyer

If you are going electric and limited to your back yard then DBCherry pretty wells sums it up, but my advice is if you can, find a local flying club then just go meet some of the people and watch them fly,that will give you a good idea of which direction to start this hobby,I would do that before spending any money

Montague

My step-mother and I just bought a rig for my father for Christmas. I don't have a grand total on the cost, but I know my share was tad over $100, and my step-mother's was about the same, so it was less than $300, but more than $200.

We ordered everything from Quantum Hobbies at:
http://www2.mailordercentral.com/quantummodels/

except the flight batteries, which I picked up at Radical RC
http://www.radicalrc.com

GWS Tigermoth
Hitec Laser 4 TX with Feather4 RX and 2 HS-55 servos
GWS 10-watt speed control (bigger than needed, but no harm there)
Wattage PF-12 Park Flier battery charger
BSI odorless CA glue and accelerator

Batteries from Radical RC are the Nimh 300mah, 7cell flat pack. Some foam had to be cut away to get this slightly larger pack to fit.

We built the plane in about 6hrs on my Dad's dining room table, using mostly the CA rather than the GWS glue (contact cement) that comes with the kit.

The GWS Slow Stick would likely be a better choice than the Tigermoth, but the TM looks like a real airplane .

We didn't get a chance to fly it, the winds were way too high. The intention is to fly it in his backyard, after he gets experience from flying in a local school yard for a bit. (I flew a GWS A-10 in his backyard several tims, so while there are lots of things to avoid like small trees (sapplings, really) and a shed, it's doable).

Just one option. YMMV. Personally, I like glow more, but electric is fun too.

Most glow trainers can fly 15-20min, which is about the limit of most people's ability to concentrate and learn in one shot anyway. Electrics vary in flight time, but I think the rig above should be able to do 8-15min flight times (won't know for sure until we do it, of course)

a65l

My Feedback: (17)

I gotta add my two cents worth. Ordering online or mailorder is going to save you money, no doubt. But I see some of the guys from the hobby shop where I bought my Avistar ARF ($270, not a whole lot more than you would get it online for) at the flying field, and help is always forthcoming. True, you can always find help at an R/C field, that's the nature of the hobby, but it's nice to have a close, personal resource to help you with immediate issues. Like immediate exchanges. Or showing you that your fuel tubing is kinked, which is why your pump isn't working. Most of the stores are cutting their profit to the bare minimum, trying to keep customers. If they go under, we all loose. BTW, this sentiment dosen't include a major chain of hobby stores that are usually found in malls whose name I hope I don't have to mention.

Off soapbox.

Andy

BTW, I bought my first airplane mailorder thru tower hobbies. I actually had the stones to ask a local store why I should buy from them when I could get the same stuff cheaper mailorder. I don't remember their exact reply but I do recall I didn't go back in there. Now they're out of buisness. (10+ years ago)

spokman

My Feedback: (2)

Why don't you go check out a local RC club in your area? See what they are flying. Maybe someone has a small electric you can watch them fly. You might want to consider where you want to go with flying? If park flying is all you want to do then electric is probably the way to go but if you are going to move on to a club per se, I would start there checking it out.

Woodsy

As you want to fly in your yard or park your limited to electrics, for my money

HiTec flash 4 or 5 for the radio, probably from servo city, either of these will allow you to expand your modeling down the track. $176 with park flier set up and 2 bat packs.

something like GWS slow stick for a start, easy to learn on but very versatile plane $35
add the speed control say another $15 and your away.

or Horizon are doing a complete package for $200 ish but the radio is not as versatile as the flash and i think the slow stick is a better choice
http://horizon.hobbyshopnow.com/prod...asp?prod=GWS02


if you already in to cars you should have a good charger any way

Woodsy

i forgot, down load FMS and start practicing.

http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html

MJTech12

If you want to fly glow powered planes you will have to start with a trainer i recommend the nexstar, it comes complete with the engine, servo's already mounted and the radio it also comes with a sim for the computer, fly the sim for about a month and you'll be ready to fly the trainer, please fly it at an AMA approved Park, also see if you can hook up with a person who has been flying for a while it will cut down on repairs like everyone says you will crash it, if you can squeeze and extra hundred the plane is $399.99 at tower, Good Luck

FHHuber

Glow powered... yep you are gong to be spending a bit over the $300. You can find package deals that include airplane radio and engine for VERY close to $300. (Avistar is good, Tower Trainer is also good.) But then you have to add the fuel and some support equipment... Plan on $400. Then add the AMA and club dues... (very hard to find an instructor without going that route..)

Electric really won't be much cheaper. The Radio is the same cost (its the same radio...). The airplane kits are about the same cost. The battery plus motor plus speed control will most likely equal the cost of a glow engine (or exceeed it...) And if you skimp on the electric getting a lesser battery or smaller plane... you will NOT be happy. Then the cost of the support equipment (field charger and such) for the electrc will make up for the fuel cost savings of the first year. [:-]

Realisticly, you will be spending $500 minimum before you solo. But that's LESS than my first 4 channel radio cost in the mid 1970's. (my first car cost less than my first decent radio) And the $80 Kadet MKII kits sell for now... same kit in 1975 was $50 and money is worth less than 1/10 as much now, so effectively its about 1/8 as expensive. (and I bought my stuff from paper route money back then.)

BGR

You want to fly in small places then go electric. But if you are not experienced then you had better start with something like a slow flier that wont get ahead of your skill level. You can get a GWS slow stick that is complete with just about everything for about $300.00. No it wont be a wizz bang super duper airplane that rips up the sky, but it will get you started. As your skills build you can always take the equipment out of the Slow Stick and put it into something a little hotter. Oh and if you total the aircraft, the GWS slow stick is about $39.00 most everywhere.

If you can afford a bit more and you know you will stay with aircraft then get a mid priced computer transmitter, it will serve you a long time as you grow into the hobby. Check out the Hitech line of computer radios, moderately priced and good support. If you decide to go with a cheaper radio then atlest get one with a few mixes so that you can move on to combat wings or other non traditional control scemes.