buying my first rc plane
 

Hi guys, I'm a complete newbie at RC flying and I'm about to buy my first plane. I was thinking about the T-34 Turbo Mentor, it seems a nice and stable plane just within my budget. Would you advice this one to a newbie, or is it too difficult / expensive as a first one? Another option would be to start with a really cheap and slow plane, if the risk of crashing the first plane is very high. But what I'm looking for is a reliable plane with good control (variable speed, easy to land) with a long RC range. And it would be cool to mount a little digitial camera on it sometime.

By the way, I'm from Europe so unfortunately prices are a lot higher for me than in the states (for example the price of a new T-34 Mentor is equal to over 200 dollars here..) I'd love to order one from the US / Canada, but shipment seems way too expensive (50 dollar or more).

RE: buying my first rc plane
 

You'll get a lot of opinions about the best plane to fly, but mostly everyone will agree that you should start with some kind of a high wing trainer of some sort unless you've got someone to stand by your side while you learn to fly.

The risk of crashing your first plane is very high. ;)

My learning curve went like this:
1) Used a cheap computer simulator until I could take off and land & fly basic maneuvers easily with wind settings up to 20+ kph. Then moved on to:
2) GWS Slow Stick. Good if you live in a place that gets NO wind at some time of the day. Then:
3) Great Planes BLT. Fuse breaks easily (should be modified during construction), but is a bit faster than the Slow Stick and can handle a bit more wind. Then:
4) GWS E-Starter. An excellent 4 channel trainer. Build it light and even a stock brushed system works well.

Some recommend pusher planes so the prop and prop shaft don't get too abused when the nose gets it on landing.

RE: buying my first rc plane
 

The plane that I had excellent results with is the Hobby Zone Super Cub. It's a very stable easy to fly and land plane. A lot of people put small video cams on them. I actually started with the Hobby Zone Firebird Commander II but after 3 flights I wanted elevator control. I had on crash with the Commander during a hand launch and no crashes (12 flights on it so far) on the Super Cub. Your best bet is to get a trainer and the Super Cub from Hobby Zone is a real good one.

http://hobbyzone.com/rc_planes_hobbyzone_super_cub.htm

RE: buying my first rc plane
 

Ive only been flying about six months, and Ive went through a couple of cheesy planes until I found Hobbico. These are the best trainers period. Easy to fly, sleek, good motor power, and enough wait to ensure you stay in control and the wind doesnt carry the plane. With that said, if you crash these planes, your gonna be digging a little deep in your pocket. Just practice. great planes flight sim is great. Take it easy your first few times out, and get with an experienced flyer. These planes are very stable, easy to land, and a lot of fun. I recommend the Superstar EP, or the new Electristar. I just flew an Electristar this past weekend and I have to buy one now. The R/C "veterans" tell me that this is possibly the best electric trainer ever.

RE: buying my first rc plane
 

i had an airhogs intruder until it started disintegrating mid air (never had a crash though). I now have an electrafun XP(3ch with 4ch radio) which is similar to the hobbyzone firebirds etc, except they are much cheaper and have elvator/rudder control instead of the v tail system (plus its a bit smaller)

RE: buying my first rc plane
 

Depending on where you think you want to take this hobby my first advice would be to do one of these two things.

Either buy a stand alone radio that has a buddy cord system capability
or
Find your local flying club, get to know some of the guys, see if they have a trainer there at their field. A lot of clubs do have this and will be more than happy to teach you some of the basics of flight, some charge a little bit for their time, others don't.

The only drawback to the most popular ready to fly out of the box trainers is that they aren't a "trainer" in the true sense of the word. Learning to fly completely on your own has such a high potential for disappointment that I wouldn't recommend it if it's avoidable.

RE: buying my first rc plane
 

Thanks for the advice guys! After giving it some thought and reading your posts I think I should start with a cheap "unbreakable" plane. If I'd crash a 100+ dollar plane that would probably be the end of it, with my budget. So I'll start toying around with something simple, hopefully I'll be back later when I'm ready for a real one;)