bigmansm

I would really like to purchase a nitro plane. I have experience with the nitro rc cars but NO plane experience at all. Can you give me some information to research? LIke what plane should i start with? what radio is suitable?
I do want to do the take off and landings even though i heard this is the most difficult part.

i still have lots of my tools like my glow plug wrench, the glow plug ignitor. Batteries and chargers, even some fuel (although probably expired)
If there is a certain plane that is better to begin with let me know. One thing i dont want to do is, upgrade things later.
I just want to buy one plane and fly it once a month if that.

thank in advance,
Bigman

horace315

My Feedback: (15)

you should get in contact with one of the local RC clubs in your area,then go from there.they are a valuable resource of information

ChuckW

Are you looking for something turn key that you can take out of the box and fly or are you looking at something requiring more work like an ARF or a kit?

There are a number of ready to fly trainers on the market. The Hobbico Nexstar is a good one and their are others. I believe that there is a list somewhere in this forum.

Regardless of what you select, I'd stick with soemthing high-wing that is intended for new pilots. As for engines, go with a decent .46 so that you can use it in future planes. Same goes for the radio; get a good 4-channel unit at minimum. If you can swing a computer radio, go for it. It may not be necessary for your trainer but you'll want one in the future so you might as well get it now.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

you already started, your asking questions here on RCU.
after you research a club near you, check the top of the beginners page for the list of trainer planes, since you have some nitro stuff your already ahead of the game.
check some of the other threads there is a ton of info.
when joining a club ask if they have a training program ,you will most likely want to join the AMA Academy of Model Aeronautics , most RC clubs require membership, they offer insurance with membership, a major bonus. they also have a club locator to find one close to your area

redfox435cat

first get with a club and talk with them.
you can find a club here
[link=http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx]ama club[/link]
Once your with a club they will set you up with a trainer. You hook your radio to his and he can take and give control keeping your model out of trouble and your equipment in once peice while you learn to control it. leave any ego at the door and trust him and you'll learn quickly. What you buy should be based on what your trainer has so it'll be compatible.

A great first set up is this
[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMU53**&P=0]trainer[/link]
since you have an igniter you'll just need a pump, I prefer a [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMA93&P=7]hand pump[/link]
and a [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXL405&P=7]chicken stick[/link]
I really urge you to step right up to an electric starter and even more so to a cordless model. [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0161p?&I=LZ0178]cordless starter[/link]. the later is kinda the high end but is well worth the cost is you plan on pursuing the hobby

bruce88123

Here is an entire list of planes to peruse
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4537845/tm.htm
take a look around, visit a club or 2 and talk "live" with an instructor. From there you will have a good idea of how to proceed.

Welcome to flying RC.

Arrow IV

BigM,
Here's an idea for ya, go to your hobby shop most likely they will have a simulator on display. Fly that bad boy for a little while, see what you think. Personnaly guys that I've taught always do better if they fly a sim first. If you've got the $ I'd say just buy the sim, maybe someone has one for sale on RCU. Then you'll have some good questions to ask.


PS Bruce is right go talk to guys at the field, don't ask the guys who have the trainers, ask the guys who are teachin the guys with the trainers.

Fastsky

Good advise here. The fuel for the nitro cars is not suitable for RC airplane engines. It has too high a nitro content. You will want a fuel with 10% nitro and 18% oil content. A good engine is an OS 46AX. You can get some that are cheaper, but for a reliable and user friendly engine that also happens to have great power the 46AX can't be beat. Its also great for any 40-46 size sport plane if you want to swap your engine out after training. http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LH5811&P=1[8D]

bigmansm

Well first off, thank you all for taking the time to give me a detialed explaination of how it all works. I have gone by the airfield and i tried tlaking to a few people over there but everyone seemed to busy to talk or just didn't care enough, I actually dont plan on flying down at the local field, unless i go on a weekday. There is a nice HUGE sized parking lot ontop of a mountain near my house. I have already scoped out the landscape and there is not a tall or dangerous tree for miles, plently of runway and a nice sacluded spot. I have seen two guys flying up there before. There is even a 30ft wide flat dirty road that the planes would be landed on, but it would be a hard landing.

I think i am going to buy an ARF kit, I really would like to build one myself but it may be best to start off with one that has most of the major work done to it. I have built a glider before but that did not go too well.

I have a single stick radio with a two channel reciever and the two sevros from the glider, will that work?

I think because of my rc experience i would like to try and buy a plan that is a little nicer than some trainer plane. Like i said above, maybe a plane somewhere in the middle of the skill level.
Can someone give me specs of what i should look for exactly? I am willing to purchase somehing used if there is a nice combo out there.

also, if tower hobbies the place to buy from, or are there a bunch of tower hobbies salesman on these boards? hehe

What type of radio do i need? how many channel? how many sticks?
Do you think i should buy a plane that is already built? seems like half the fun is building them.

I already started to look for a plane. I like these, Based on the looks:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXWH71&P=7
http://cgi.ebay.com/F4U-Corsair-RC-R...QQcmdZViewItem

Nice used setup:
http://cgi.ebay.com/THUNDER-TIGER-AR...QQcmdZViewItem

Are these servos nice?
http://cgi.ebay.com/4-X-SG-5010-Doub...QQcmdZViewItem
i still am a little hesitant because i dont know what to look for exactly. I hate that they are calling these planes trainer planes!

Flying freak

I would not use a 2 channelllet me clarify that. you CANT use a too channel and evan if you do forget about the loops and that. Now as for your plane choose i hav been flying for about 4 mounthes and would never think aout buying that plane off ebay it looks like a fast plane that isnt very stable. probably going to be an handful and as for the first plane i think it looks good.

hogflyer

bigmansm,

Honestly, I'd stay from purchasing from e-bay until you learn a lot more about the hobby - there are some great deals to be on e-bay, but there is also a lot of junk to be had.

I don't know much about the Global RCM trainer 40 as far as quality, but if it's anything like the original RCM deisgn it's a great trainer. One of the first guys I trained in the early 80's had one he scratch build from the RCM plans and it flew like a Sig Kadet Mk II - fantastic.

As far as using your 2-channel radio, you'll probably have to scratch build to get a 2-channel trainer like the Q-Tee. Plans are still available from RCM, and if you get a Cox .049 (reed valve, not Medallion or TD) it's a wonderful trainer. I still have my first Q-tee hanging on the wall retired.

What are your flying skills - how far did you get with your glider? You said that it didn't go too well. A glider is one of the easiest planes to fly, so if you had problems with that don't try to fly a power plane with out proper instruction. RCKen has complied a list of available trainers that is posted at the top of the beginner forum:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4537845/tm.htm

Start looking through that list and it will give you a good idea of what is available. Also you need to look into a club and flying with an instructor. They will be able to teach you everything you need to learn how to safely fly your plane. And don't give up on the glider - once you learn to fly a power plane, you'll be able to put the glider up for some relaxing flying and enjoy it.

Hogflyer

heartless

buy a hanger 9 alpha trainer for about $300 or get one on here. You will love it and the evo engine has some things you can do to it later down the way to improve the speed. Its just an opinion but its mine. I have flown the tower trainer, nexstar, easyfly 40, and my alpha is still my favorite.

jim

redfox435cat

like I mentioned leave the ego at the door. that includes picking up anything other than a trainer and think you can fly it. that is simply setting yourself up for failure.

I guess I wasn't clear on contacting the club. If you walk up to the feild with nothing then people there will most likley ignore you, thats the way it is, people wait all week to fly their stuff and are excited and focused on that.

By contacting the club I ment go to the ama site I linked before. Look up the club and contract by phone or e-mail the club and attend a meeting. there you can talk to people and get set up with a trainer(person) to help you fly you trainer(plane) it's free and more than likley the club has a trainer plane for to toy with, trainer cord attached of course for your first couple flights.

other wise your basic rc plane system is 4 channels, two sticks two channels per stick.
ailerons rudder elevator and throttle all on idependent channels

Fastsky

Re: "There is even a 30ft wide flat dirty road that the planes would be landed on, but it would be a hard landing. "< 30 ft. of road isn't long enough for a 40 sized trainer while learning. Its pretty short even for experienced pilots. See if you can get some more help from a club. As redfox435cat mentioned, if I am at the start up area or flying my planes I am focusing on that and probably wouldn't even notice if someone drove up and was standing there. If I do notice, I will go over and see if they have any questions and see if they brought a plane with them. Usually if they do have a plane but haven't had the plane checked out before bringing it to the field, it will need some changes to be made before it is flight worthy. Ie. if the nose wheel is turning 2" in both directions it will need to be reduced big time!![8D]

opjose

Please remember that:

a) Doing this may be violating local rules, laws and/or regulations.
b) You really need permission from the property owner, or local government to do this.
c) If you do not do "b", you can be giving us collectively a "black eye". All it takes is one person to object, to wreak havok on our hobby.
d) There are liability, safety, FAA and other issues that you may be stepping on unless you go back to "B".
e) Liability, don't overlook this!
f) Doing things on your own, helps push our hobby to be regulated and stamped upon.
g) Those "two guys" should be appraised of all of this.

Look for a club and join it if possible.

As part of the membership you'll be required to get your AMA membership as well giving you insurance coverage.

Most clubs have already scoped out safe and permitted flying sites, and act to try to give the hobby a good name.
Government agencies tend to LIKE the "safety" bent of the flying clubs. The clubs in turn act in good faith and try to be good cititizens.

Clubs also will help you in many ways too numerous to mention, including free trainers, raffled airplanes, events, training, and help.

Fastsky

opjose is right about numerous benefits of belonging to a club. If I take off the price of the freebies that I won just by participating in club events, and the free food, prizes, and draws at our club, it actually hasn't cost me anything for the minimal yearly club membership fees.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

I can add to that, I often bring a current project out too the monthly meeting, ask a few questions and get some feed back . I have also won 3 kits from our raffle and numerous other smaller prizes.
the meetings are the real question and answer sessions find out who is interested in teaching you to fly etc. flying off a short runway will end up crashing a trainer they need a little longer take off roll to get in the air. in California there are allot of nosy do gooder types that love to stomp out a good time. and will sue you if something bad should happen.
recently our other club a few miles away had some people try to shut them down after the club marshaled the members and supporters the motion was denied . when you have a club you have a safe secure place to enjoy the hobby

carrellh

I definitely don't work for Tower but they have gotten a lot of my money. When I post links to products I go to Tower first because I can navigate their site easier and faster than any other.

A local hobby shop (LHS), if you have one, can be the best place to get started. If you do not have a LHS, or if it sucks, there are lots of online shops. Just a few are:
www.horizonhobby.com
www.hobbypeople.net
www.quantummodels.com
www.hobby-lobby.com

I recommend any of these sources over ebay for your first plane.

The nice used plane from ebay will cost a fortune to ship across the US, because it's assembled, and you have no way to know how "nice" it really is. The Corsair (or any other WWII fighter) is usually considered to be at least a 3rd or 4th plane because of wing loading, high landing speed, and other flying characteristics.

You wrote this:
Then this:
This may sound harsh, or may be too blunt;
Exactly what "RC experience" do you have that makes you think you'd want to start out with an intermediate skill level plane? I get the impression that you're totally new to flying. Maybe you're a natural born pilot, maybe you're not; but the most logical starting point for nitro planes is a 4 channel ARF or RTF trainer and an instructor.

bigmansm

what do you guys think of this plane combo. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1
$95 for shipping plus whatever the bid is. I think if the total is under $200 it is worth it, even if it needs alittle work.
What is that servo that has all the glue around it? Looks like its on the under side of the wing.
I dont mind buying used, but i dont want junk

this alsot seems pretty nice, but it doesnt look like a trainer and may be alittle out of my league: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

the trainer looks like what you need to get started you are still going to need some help flying it .
the ultra sport, no way, its too much for a beginner to start with,its a hot over powered low wing sport plane = trouble for a first plane, maybe a third plane.
some ebay advice if you don't already know it, watch your potential purchase closely if your interested, the ones I usually get my heart set on get snatched up from underneath unless you watch it like a hawk.
kind of over the ebay deal mainly because I like a product guarantee the major retailers offer pretty good deals and if there is any damage in shipping or in some cases flight failure (with a instructor present) they will replace the plane, for me it was worth the little extr***** on the other hand 80$ is pretty cheap for a set up.

alfdawg

I'm new here and looking to get into flying also and was looking at the ebay post.


what do you guys think of this plane combo. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1
$95 for shipping plus whatever the bid is. I think if the total is under $200 it is worth it, even if it needs alittle work.

100.00 for shipping? Thats just crazy. By the time the auction ends your more than likely going to pay what you would new from one of the planes these guys shown and told you. Does not sound like a good deal to me, just my two cents though.

Mike

bruce88123

You have no idea what you are buying on EBAY and the seller doesn't even know what he is selling in this case. He advertised a "Piper Cub trainer" but in reality is selling a Carl Goldberg Eagle 2 trainer. Not even close to the same thing. He probably bought it used himself somewhere. It's used, you don't know if anything works or if it has been crashed or how badly. No warranties either.

You'd be much better off buying something like http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=LXCXF4**&P=ML and getting warranties, discounts and free shipping I believe.

Far too many beginners buy crap on EBAY and get burned.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

Bruce ya hit the nail on the head the seller has no idea what he has got, 100$ for shipping is more than the current bid for the plane and if the plane arrives damaged you pretty much stuck with a broken plane that you may or may not know how to fix.
San Francisco is about 40 miles from Santa Rosa for me it might be a good deal to drive up there and get something like that not like I am interested.
if you have to pay a huge shipping bill to get it half way across the country, get a new one instead that has some backing behind it and a guarantee, for the price the tower is not a bad deal at all, and as I said in my post earlier as with most of the tower/hobico/great planes trainers there is a crash guarantee if you have a instructor present and you crash, they will replace the plane for you, that is hard to beat IMO.
BTW on some of my purchases from tower there has been some problems,product was not as high quality as advertised, arived broken, small stuff, there return policy is top notch some products exchanged and some returned for refund .

bigmansm

well guys i am going tos top asking the ebay question then.
Im going over to hobby people on sunday then to the local airfield right down the street from hobby people to see if anyone will chat with me.

I was just trying to save some money, but the cost of a decent combo brand new is not out of my price range so i guess ill just buys eomthign brand new!

Here are some of my thoughts: I am willing to buy an ARF kit but only to get a better plane (probably not nesscessary).
With the RTF kit im sure down the road i will need to do some work on it and this will give me a chance to learn the plane and learn to work on them. Starting off small in a way.
I also think i am going to buy a c combo with plane, engine and radio. Although i wanted to stay away from something like this because of sometimes when these combos are puttogether it benefits the seller more then the buyer in terms of quality. BUt, with a combo at least i know everything i paired together for a reason.

bigtim

My Feedback: (13)

well was searching tower for ya a Hobico trainer either the NEXTAR,Superstar,avistar trainers arf's are 99$ the OS 46ax 115$ - 10$ rebate.
the futaba 6ch. computer radio with 6 plane memory 179$ with a 30$ rebate the rebates are for merchandise or half that in cash .with the radio and engine you will be set search out the site and check the prices flying season is about over there are deals to be had

plane-99$
engine-105$
radio-149$
a suggestion break your order into 2 parts and save another 40$ advertised 20$ off a order of 149$ you are into your plane for 300$ with components that will last into the future .and I also have some swamp land with a bridge to nowhere in Florida for sale if you cant find a plane LOL