fishinchickens

global hobbies birdie .10.
I had a .15 on it and it took a 500' of a 600' runway to take off. it weighed 2.5 pounds with a 300sq' wing and was severly over kitted( way to much wood and the wrong kinds)

fishinchickens

heres the birdie. It was my second build at 14 years old. Yes only 14. Built it and covered it 100% by myself. Im 16 now and am on to a 1/5 scale waco.

kozmoz

I think the worst plane I ever flew was the little electric brushless pitts special. That lil bugger just would not listen to English. It was all over the sky every time I flew it. I was able to get it back about five or six times in one piece. But definately did not regret the day I put it in a bag. I like the Nexstar as a trainer. Just pull the plug on the flight stabilizer.

airraptor

My Feedback: (66)

I have been flying for since 1978 when i was seven. I learned to fly on the Piece of cake and was a great flying airplane. I want another one. Fox engines were very good engine in the day too. they had no taper on the bore and most used steel pistons. so if using todays fuels could be why they stopped in mid flight. need lots of castor. back in the day i remember running 90% castor and 10% syn mix. to this day I still think the best fuel out there is Red Max.

Ok worst airplane hum been thinking on this for over an hour. i cant think of any that were really not fun. I am one of those guys that will take a plane that no one likes and work on it to make it fly great for what it is. I guess maybe some of the worse one were the ones i built myself. Like i made a small copy of an old Zeamodels F-106 for a 15 size engine (cox/conquest). these planes had a 1/4 thick sheet balsa wing and no airfoil. well i couldnt get it to fly very well at all in the smaller size the cg was the biggest problem i had set it for the area moved foward and aft trying to get the plane to fly decently. the larger 45 size one fly great for what it was and would land at 1/2-5/8 throttle any less and it would stall or you would have to head down at a 50 degree angle.

I have flown most all of the dura-plane planes and the did well for what they were too. I have even flown thier copys that used the PVC tube for the fuselage and they did ok too. i cant remember the name but this company had one plane that had around 520 sq wing and two fus bolted to that, and used two OS45's for power talk about speed and had to land fast with 7lbs and 520sq.

I do have a proble with almost all the arfs today though and thats the covering. I just got a world models Mustang and flew it this weekend. This arf had some really great ideas for the build. on my 3rd flight the left wing covering about 15" long and 6" wide pulled up in flight and almost lost it. I didnt have a big engine on it either a saito 91 on 15%. as with most arfs i now strip the cover off and recover. i would like for most mnfg's to offer an ARC plane as an option like GP does with the viper. this way you could reglue parts and add strength where need then cover it with quality covering.

iflyg450

the worst plane I ever flew was the one just went in

jaav

Mine would be My SPAD dart with a V tail. I built it and left out in the sun..never flew right after that, Great vid of it howling at WOT and very fast spins in to the salt marsh...The best one would be the Electrafun XP [>:] as this thing just kept on going no mater what sort of mods it had[X(] . Was a test bed that kept the RCU forum going for 3 years..

rmenke

My Feedback: (13)

Gang:

I have two in mind I still hate for two reasons. One, I was stupid and naive enough to believe the add hipe, two, I actually paid good bucks for something even the trade mags said were good, great, etc.

#1. The Great Planes Dazzler. Such a piece of crap, could not even hold a knife edge. Was so bad I dove it into the asphalt from 500 feet and then stomped it. Honest.

#2. The Hanger 9 Mini Funtanna. The thing snapped when slowing down in any attitude, including landing at normal speeds. Just not enough wing. Would not track, so simple loops and related were just real ugly. It was hate at first flight. Took it to club one evening and gave it away. It continued making its way around the club until someones dog got it. Was a fitting death. ENJOY

freakingfast

My Feedback: (3)

From Model Plane News:

Editor's choice award for 2010....

"Top Plane: Hangar 9 P-51 Mustang Mk II PTS
Our top plane choice is a product that sets a new standard in trainer aircraft. Forget about learning to fly on a traditional, boxy high-wing airplane now you can get into RC with the most popular plane in the world! The Hangar 9 P-51 Mustang Mk II PTS is a great-looking warbird that comes with removable “training gear� and with an installed engine that’s already broken-in. And when you’ve earned your wings, you have an all-American fighter to bring to the field. Congratulations to Hangar 9 and Horizon for making a trainer that makes learning to fly easier and more fun."

Holy Cow! They must be kidding. Do you think they even flew it......Or could it be H-9 is a big advertiser.....hummmm, let me see.....

Look, I refuse to instruct with these in stock trim and prop. Stick a Master Airscrew 10X5 three blade on it and loose the drag and lift enhancements and then it's better.

J330

My Feedback: (3)

How about an update on this old thread, after six years, has the list improved, changed? What is the current poll to this question?

scoeroo

My Feedback: (9)

There used to be an ARF made by Vmar called a stiletto , they had a bad habit of dropping a wing on final approach if the air speed bled off to quickly .......
Next thing you know you had an instant kit .....

Jetset

My Feedback: (2)

Byron A-4 Skyhawk ducted fan. Bought it second hand from a guy in Edmonton...had it shipped to me in Ontario.
It was so #@&! heavy and built with chalking and silicone inside. Tried to lighten it up but it was still just a pig. After it crashed I was actually happy! LOL
I still have the OS.77 setup that was in it and it still works awesome though.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

In terms of performance expectations and reality - maybe the Hobbico Nexstar trainer I got a few years back for the boys. Worst kit I remember - Sterling Waco SRE.

J330

My Feedback: (3)

For a trainer the Nexstar didn't help the newcomers to the hobby enter gracefully, that's for sure. I can't think of any Sterling kit I did like? But in the last six years, what is currently available that you wouldn't give a second look?
How about VMar issues with covering/glue joints, and weak hardware? (They're back on EBay, claiming new and improved.)

Crazy4Flight

My Feedback: (540)

H9 PTS Mustang. So many spare tail sections for sale a swapmeets, show that it is crap for a trainer.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

I always wondered if this seemingly great trainer idea was too good to be true. But I have not had a chance to see one in action for myself . Any comments I've heard/seen seem to be along the lines of "if you do this and that, it flies okay..", but I don't recall any glowing endorsements.

Crazy4Flight

My Feedback: (540)

Well the Nexus with the gyro and all of its add ons does not allow the student to learn to fly. You learn from mistakes not from having an electronic device make all the corrections for you.

Propworn

My Feedback: (3)

Planes designed and built by University students with no previous modelling/building experience for the SAE Aerodesign Competition. The pilots are expected to fly/control and land safely underpowered airframes carrying 30 to 40 lbs of weight. Regular Class regulated to a OS or Magnum .61.

Some flew well most did not.

Dennis

J330

My Feedback: (3)

I tried to google that and a prostate massager link came up....

J330

My Feedback: (3)

30-40 lbs? Sounds like first time builders alright. I've seen a few look like that at the flying field over the years. Sad story.

Propworn

My Feedback: (3)

The aircraft are as light as they can possibly build them and they carry a payload of 30 to 40 lbs. All up weight no greater than 55lbs. Not unusual to have a 10 to 14 foot span under 10lbs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiHw6f62QiE
One of my better teams.



Dennis

Gizmo-RCU

My Feedback: (27)

46 size Decathlon ARF, not sure of the kit maker? This was about 10 years ago but I still remember that "PIG". A bear on takeoffs as it would not track, and would snap violently on a steep climb as speed decreased, all on it's own.
Inspect5ion showed it was not built straight with a turn in the Fuselage...............you had to look close but then it was obvious.

I GAVE IT A "VIKING" SENDOFF!

hrrcflyer

There are two that are tied for the worst I've had. The first one was the Great Planes U Can Do 60. Thank God I bought the one I had second hand from a friend at a good price or I would have REALLY been upset. . . . . LOL The other one was the Goldberg copy of the Hangar 9 Twist. For the life of me, I cannot remember the name of it. That thing was so bad, by the time I was done with the third flight I gave it away so I didn't have to worry about any more covering coming off. What a POS that thing was. The two tied for a close second were the Uproar and the Dazzler.

David

BelAirBob

Midwest P51 40 size. Sure looked nice but snap rolled. After second crash, I figured it was not worth repairing

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

Just remembered the UMX Beast I bought a couple of years back. Total POS - the CF rigging was glued in so badly the wings had very visible wash-in and twists. Totally unacceptable and a pile of crap to fly. I wrote Horizon and sent pictures of the crooked wings - didn't even get the courtesy of a response. Pissed that money away.

Crazy4Flight

My Feedback: (540)

Dennis,

Looks like your team used a JETT Engineering motor... .60, 75 or .90 ??

We had a team from U of Michigan do their test flying at the Flying Pilgrims club a few years ago. I was not there at the time so I cannot report on the results.

Bob