yoyozach

hi i am new to rc planes and am looking for some advice on what a good beginner plane would be. i am willing to spend around 200 on a plane. i am trying to find a plane that i can learn the basics on but as i get better i would be able to try flips or some other types of tricks. so does anyone have any good planes that they recomend?
thanks

Solcat

You can get a free flight simulators at http://n.ethz.ch/student/mmoeller/fms/index_e.html http://www.rowlhouse.co.uk/sss/ You can download a lot of available models into it. Use a two stick analog game controller for $12 from Walmart
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The cheapest starter is the Air Hogs Aero Ace. It’s $30 RTF including a transmitter. It’s only controlled by thrust of the two motors so you can’t do loops and it will fly different from a rudder and elevator plane, but its’ tough and it will teach you orientation. It only needs the space of a two car garage to fly.
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With a Slow Stick you will go through a ton of props, a motor and maybe a fuselage before you are competent. A Slow Stick does require only the space of a baseball field to fly. It’s more of a “floater�. A Multiplex Easy star is bigger than a slow stick, much tougher, has a very difficult to break pusher propeller and can handle more wind. It's available RTF for about $180, receiver ready for $109 and as an ARF for $55. The Easy star requires the space of a soccer field to fly. They soar well. See http://www.plawner.net/3/1st_plane/ in which he recommends mainly Multiplex planes for their toughness and ease of construction. They also fly very well. Other options from Multiplex are the Easy Glider and the Twin Star II.
- http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXMYK8&P=FR
- I think the best idea would be to get a receiver ready Mutliplex Easy Glider Electric, which is all built except the receiver installation and get a JR Spectrum radio and receiver for it. Would make a great 4 channel trainer.
http://www.redrockethobbies.com/Spe...M_p/spm2460.htm
http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/240107.asp

- A wise addition to most planes:
- http://www.aeromicro.com/Catalog/gws...a__1500029.htm

yoyozach

thanks for the reply, i'll look at the ones you posted

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

I presume that the $200 is for the plane, radio, electroncis, battery and charger.


I wanted to get involved in RC flying since I was a kid. However I
really didn't want to build the plane. I didn't have the skills, and if I
crashed it my first time out, after all that work, I would be crushed.
Fortunately today you don't have to build to fly.

I started flying in March of 2003. I went the R-T-F route. I think this
is such a great way to get started.

After several months of research, I decided to start with an electric
parkflyer. I looked at lots of planes and packages and selected the
Aerobird.

The new version, the Aerobird Challenger, is even better. I recently added
one of these to the hanger. It has two flight modes - Sport for the beginner or
relaxed flyer and expert for the more advanced or aggressive flyer.

HobbyZone AEROBIRD CHALLENGER
THREE CHANNEL ELECTRIC PARKFLYER

Very inexpensive and rugged for a three channel starter - $110
The plane comes complete and fully assembled. Charge the flight battery with
the included 12 V peak charger, put on the wing, put the included batteries
in the transmitter and up you go! With a little throttle management you can
get flights of 12-15 minutes on a battery.

In addition to being a fun parkflyer, the plane glides very nicely. We
thermal soar the Aerobirds at our glider club field. This is a very
versatile plane.

If you are interested I have written up a tips sheet on how to fix and tune
the Aerobird.

Here is a review of the Aerobird Challenger
http://www.hobbyzonesports.com/Disco...ID=1289#Page01
On these pages you will find Videos of the Aerobird in flight
http://www.parkflyers.com/html/aerobird_video.html

With 600+ flights between my Aerobirds I love them. I recommend the
challenger to new flyers. It has been a great stepping stone to other
planes and other kinds of flying.

Other RTFs that make good first planes

the Multiplex Easy Star, another RTF - There are two at our field. They fly very well.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXFXV0&P=7

For about $170 you get everything you need to fly. This plane is more of a
foam that is pretty rugged and easy to fix. The Easy Start is more of a
park glider as it is larger than the Aerobird and has characteristics that should
make it a better glider than the Aerobird Challenger but can still small
enough to be flown as a electric parkflyer.

The T-Hawk, is another popular RTF at our club. You can also
get a version that will work with standard radios. Add your receiver and
off you go.
http://www.readytoflyfun.com/thawk3chrtf.html


From Electric Park Flyer to Sailplane - my second plane

THE GREAT PLANES SPRIT SELECT RTF 2 METER SAILPLANE -

After parkflyers, I discovered sailplanes. It turns out there are RTF
sailplane packages too. The Spirit Select comes completely assembled with
all the electronics installed. It includes a 72 MHZ
three channel radio which is branded Hobbico, but it is really a Hitec
radio. This was my first glider. I loved learning to soar with the Spirit and
continue to fly it often today.

Here is a link to the site where I purchased it. You can get it for $159
complete!
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...I=LXVK55**&P=7

If you want to do a little building, the ARF is the route, but for an
extra $40, I got the radio and the plane ready to fly. For me that was
perfect.
http://www.greatplanes.com/airplanes/gpma1045.html
Video
http://www.greatplanes.com/gallery/gpma16.mov

I started flying the Spirit in July '03 and have over 300 flights on it.
It is so great when I get it so high it is just a dot in the sky. I
built an electric power pod for it so I can launch it with an electric motor
if I like, but I can take it back off so that I have a pure sailplane. I
definitely recommend the Spirit select as a first sailplane.

Both of my Aerobirds and the Spirit have been a pleasure. I would recommend
them to anyone starting out in electrics or gliders who would like to go the
ready-to-fly route rather then building. I now have many other planes, but
these are the ones that really got me started, and I still enjoy flying them
today.

Six Keys to Success for New Flyers
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18

Pod & Boom Parkflyers - We love them
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5925

Here is an outstanding series of articles published by the AMA that will be
really useful to new pilots. It is called, "From the Ground Up" by Bob
Aberle. I highly recommend it.
http://www.modelaircraft.org/mag/FTGU/Part1/index.html

yoyozach

thanks for the posts guys. last night i was looking at the sticky on good first planes, and one of the planes they recomended was the firebirds so i whent and orderd a firebird freedom. i hope that was a good choise.
once again thanks for the posts

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

The Firebird Freedom is a Firebird of a different feather.

I often recommed HobbyZone planes and always recommend their 3 channel planes, never their 2 channel planes. The Freedom is a HobbyZone and 3 channel, BUT (sorry but there is a but) the Freedom is not getting good reports from the new flyers. Experience guys seem to do fine with it but raw newbies are having big problems. Clearly none of us who responded to your question have recommended it.

I am not saying it is a bad plane, but it doesn't seem as new flyer friendly as the the Aerobirds. I had it on my list of recommend planes for a while but took it off and do not recommend it to my students. The local hobby shops are not happy with me over this.

If possible, I would encourage you to change that to the Aerobird Challenger. Others will comment.

The T-Hawk from www.readytoflyfun.com is also a good choice and in some ways better than the Aerobird Challenger. Initally it looks more expensive, but you get more in the package, so it really isn't.

Finally the Multiplex Easy Star RTF is also an outstanding first plane. Again, looks more expensive but really it isn't.

I would put all of these as head and shoulders above the the Firebird Freedom.

If you can't get one of the ones I recommend, then maybe the Aerobird Xtreme is available. Very similar to the Challenger but bigger. It has some of the same characteristics as the Freedom in that it is larger, heavier and faster than I like for a self training plane, but it does not seem to have the tip stall and hand launch problems of the Freedom.

If you can't change it, or choose not to, no problem, but I don't recommend this plane, or any of the Firebirds as first planes to someoene who wants to learn to fly.


Firebird Freedom - This is a short thread, but if you search on the Firebird Freedom, you will find more. The stalling and trim problems the report seem to be typical. I think the plane is just too big and heavy and seems to need to fly faster than is good for a new flyer. This is all based on reports. I have not flown one, but I know how to overcome these issues. The question is whether new flyers can make a better selection. I think they can.

Pick it up about 8 posts in for the experience reports.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=447614
Other Threads on the Freedom - Not great reports
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_43...tm.htm#4384530
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_42...tm.htm#4248670

Leo L

CANCEL YOUR ORDER! Of all the beginner planes, the Firebird Freedom has proven to be one of the more difficult ones to fly. The reason is that it is fairly heavy for its wing size, which means that it needs to fly quite fast, or it stalls. To hand launch, you must give it full throttle and then literally take some running steps to get enough speed before you launch it so that it doesn't crash. Its not a bad plane, its just not one of the better planes that are available to you.

If you insist on staying with the Freedom, read the various threads on the plane here, on RCGroups, ********* and Radio Control Zone. Then before you fly it, let us know and we'll reinforce the things that you need to do to have a successful flight.

If you take my advice and cancel the Freedom, I advise you to do the following:
1) Immediately get an AeroAce and the free simulator. The simulator will train your mind to properly react to different flying conditions and the AeroAce will get you immediately in the air and having FUN. The AeroAce is virtually indestructable and can be flown almost anywhere, as long as ther is no wind, so you can have fun learning and flying with it RIGHT AWAY!
2) Buy either the SloStick (around $250 with everything included) if you want standard components that you might re-use in the future; or the Slow-V (comes complete for about $150) if cost is a significant consideration. These slow flying planes (as their name implies) require less room than other beginner planes and give the new flyer plenty of time to decide what control inputs are needed under various conditions.
3) Once you get proficient at the slow plane, you can take an easy step to a fast beginner plane like the Aerobird Challenger, T-hawk, EasyStar, SkyFly, etc., or take a bigger step to an intermediate plane like the Cub, Decathlon, Stryker, etc.