ShutterX

hi folks,

this is my first post on RCU. i have been a member for few months now. i basically used this site for rc car comparisons.

i recently boughtan hpi savage x 4.6. its great fun and my weekends have become a lot more lively.

now, i am considering getting into flying but my budget is very limited. so i was thinking of electric. here are some points i considered.

electrics: they are cheaper, smaller and less expensive to maintain. also, since the smaller ones are much lighterand are foam construction. even if i crash, it will not be a total loss.

nitros: they are very expensive, bigger, heavy and one crash means 100s of bucks of damage.

however, the AMA folks at our airfield keep suggesting that i learn on nitro and then shift to electric. i would love to do so, but i simply dont have the moolah. hence i am asking you folks. should i go for the electric? if so, how tough would it be to learn on that plane?

thanks folks,

cheers
Anirban

perttime

There's many kinds of electrics and some of them are great beginner planes. Even the first electric should be a trainer.

Small electrics are relatively inexpensive, but I think prices still go up steeply if you want something bigger: motors, controllers, battery packs, chargers.

If you think you will keep flying electric, you might as well start electric. If glow engines is what you want to do later, see if someone in the club has used gear that they'd sell you.

ShutterX

hi,

thanks for the info. can you suggest some planes for me, i have no idea of planes and would like to do some research on electric.

thanks

Anirban

perttime

I am not quite up to date on what exactly is available now. When I started, everybody was getting GWS electrics to start with: Slow Stick, Beaver, or E-Starter. I got an E-Starter and built it very light and slow: servos for ailerons and elevator, no landing gear. Hand launching, belly landing on grass. It was still fast enough for me but the light weight probably helped it survive some "arrivals".

The down side of small and light planes is that they are less tolerant of wind. They may also be more difficult to see, although it is also easier to keep a slow plane closer to you.

Nowadays, most probably start by using a simulator: crashing does not cost a lot of money and work
FMS ( http://n.ethz.ch/~mmoeller/fms/index_e.html ) is a free simulator. It is not all that great but it can help a lot with orientation. Like, which way do you move the sticks when the plane is flying towards you. I have "Version 2.0 Beta 7" running on Windows XP, even though they say it is for Windows 9x/ME/2000.

tIANci

Multiplex Easy Star ... darn easy to fly, even if you can fly this but you may not be able to fly even a proper trainer, that is how easy this plane is to learn with. If you are going to be serious, get a nice little EP trainer.

ShutterX

thanks guys,

i contacted a local rc dealer here in india and he said he would suggest some electric models for me. lets see i shall see what he has to offer and then may be bite the bullet depending upon the cost.

at the moment, my main focus is on rc trucks/cars..... planning and saving for the HPI Baja :P

cheers

phillipmorris

Not sure what amount you plan to invest, electric if fine, infact all of our small group flys electric.
So many trainers to start out with, if you have an instructor you might even go aileron but caution as responsive ailerons, most will go 3 channel elevator, rudder, throttle.

Top choice we always advise the Super Cub, takes a beating and keeps on flying.
http://secure.hobbyzone.com/HBZ7300.html
Also might still have the nicad version, not the neat lipo, but note nicad if your treed for days, the nicad recharges fine, lipo is toast, and flown both, nicad flew even better tho its older tech, just my input.

Complete 4 channel Airfield wins no contest about $149 RTF, but really need a pilot here, note I did have raw newbies fly this one with me having it trimmed and I put it in the air, allowed them to touch pulse the controls back and forth at altitude and all did fantastic, competent pilot aid please !
Gads a plain jane you supply the decals, otherwise complete RTF, $119, Fantastic Buy !
http://www.nitroplanes.com/93a182-ai...ainer-red.html

Nearly all our members have one of these, finish with a short story, these newbies were ready to buy a used plane and one of flyers said he was selling his Airfield Trainer and wasn't planning on taking it back home, decaled ready to go for $70. Had these newbies ready to buy, our flyer flew it for his final flight, then replied, NOPE Not Going To Sell It ! Hah, no matter how many planes you always want a trainer in the works, hah again !

Let us know if you found something...

FlyStraight

I do not recommend you start with nitro. I did because that's all we had back then. I only wished we had the variety of electric flight as we do now back then. Things would have been much easier. Why not start with a parkzone radian 3-channel glider? I have one and it's perfect for learning. Find a small hill, toss it off it and just learn to glide. Then progress to motored flights. I've flown aerobatics with that glider too. Inverted flying, rolls, loops, etc. The best thing is, you'll still fly it occasionally when you become a good pilot for some thermal fun.