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General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

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General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

Old 03-22-2012, 12:41 PM
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Petaris
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Default General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

Hi all,

Iam new to model airplanes and would like to get your oppinion on the General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF located here: http://www.generalhobby.com/piper-fu...low-p-185.html

Has anyone used one of their planes or this one? Are they decently made? Would it be a decent model for a beginner to use? Iran across it on eBay and then Googled the manufacturer and found the info page.

Ihave a Cox EZ Bee II from when Iwas younger but Ionly flew it a couple of times as it was such a pain to start.

I am also looking at a Futaba 6EX transmitter/reciever, Futaba S3004 servos, and an electric motor to use with it. The info page says it only requires a 4 channel transmitter but I thought it would be wise to to get a 6 channel so I have room to grow.

Any thoughts and advice would be very much appreciated!

Thanks,

Petaris
Old 03-22-2012, 01:46 PM
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shd3920
 
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Default RE: General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

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Old 03-22-2012, 02:53 PM
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Default RE: General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

Ummm...not necessarily. The Cub can be an excellent trainer. We usually suggest such planes as you did, Shd, but the Cub can be a good trainer, as previously recommended by others in the forum.

CGr.
Old 03-22-2012, 03:01 PM
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mike109
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Default RE: General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

G'day

That model looks OK but as has already been said, it is not a trainer and is not the best place to start for a beginner in RC flying.

Cubs have their own individual way of flying and they need to be flown. You need a trainer than can do part of the flying for you to give you time to make errors and correct them. The Cub will not.

A real high wing trainer like the excellent Sig Kadet series see www.sigmfg.com is a far better place to start.

Don't be worried about starting modern glow motors. They start quite easily. That said, electric is clean and convenient. I just like glow four strokes though I do have some electric models.

Also, the best piece of advice I can give you is to find a club, watch what they are doing, ask some questions and get some help from people who are already in the game.

Your choice of radio should be fine but you may wish to use a "buddy cord" where two radios are connected together and in this case, you need a similar radio the one being used by the instructor.

If you are planning to teach yourself (you can but it takes time and crashes) then the Parkzone Radian glider is a far better place to start. I managed to teach a bloke to fly by email as he was using one of these excellent models. They fly slowly and are easy to launch and are a far better place to start for a self taught beginner. You do need plenty of "tree free" space too. The Radian can fly its self. You just need to tell it where to go (gently). The most common new comers make is to over control the plane.

Cheers - hope this helps a bit.

Mike in Oz
Old 03-22-2012, 03:01 PM
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Default RE: General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

OK then, I retract my post. When I posted the same question years ago I was told the same thing that I typed, THAT CUBS ARE NOT FOR TRAINERS OR BEGINNERS. Things certainly change thru the years.
Old 03-22-2012, 03:23 PM
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CGRetired
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Default RE: General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

Hey, post what you want. If you have the experience with the Cub to back up what you post, then go for it.

CGr.
Old 03-22-2012, 03:35 PM
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Default RE: General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

ORIGINAL: CGRetired

Hey, post what you want. If you have the experience with the Cub to back up what you post, then go for it.

CGr.
I do not have a full-size cub to back up what I state as I was recommended not to get one as it wasn't right as a trainer. I now wish I had gotten one as I really love the looks of them.

But I do have a Schoolyard 1/2A scale cub that I converted to electric, but was afraid to fly as it came out real nice!!!
Old 03-22-2012, 08:40 PM
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jester_s1
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Default RE: General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

I fly a Cub among other planes and definitely will say it would not have been a good trainer. I love flying it and would recommend it to someone who wants the challenge of flying a scale model, but a trainer it is not. I do know one guy who was determined to train on a Cub just because he liked the plane. It probably added 4 months to his time to solo. The two things that make me say no to it as a trainer are the well known ground handling issues and the fact that it tends to roll away from the wind. A traditional trainer will roll out straight with very little pilot input and will weathervane into the wind which is much less likely to cause a crash. When you add the self righting characteristics of a trainer it's an easy choice.
Old 03-22-2012, 10:42 PM
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Default RE: General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

G'day

I have a lot of trainers and I have had three Cubs. I would not use one as a trainer unless the person was really determined to use it.

Cubs are famous for adverse yaw and they need careful use of the rudder in turns and the ones I have had/have flew well but were not "self correcting" to any real extent and were a handful in cross winds if you did not stay on them.

A good trainer will fly slowly, give you warning of mistakes and time to correct and will have some self leveling ability. The best trainers will allow you to just "let go" the sticks and the plane will return its self to level flight. The Kadet Senior, when built as designed, will do this really well once trimmed out.

That is why I would not recommend one.

I am currently teaching three blokes to fly. Two are older beginners, and one is a teenager. The oldest is in his mid sixties and has now soloed his Kadet Senior but he still looses the plot occasionally. He is currently flying a second Kadet Senior after he broke the original one in half on landing. The one he is flying now is a tail dragger and this has added a new skill to his set. The second bloke is in his early 50 and is in a wheel chair. He is doing well with a Kadet LT-40. He has landed and is nearly at solo stage. The third is a 15 year old. He has had only 5 lessons and was doing rolls and touch and goes on the forth lesson. He could have learned on just about anything but started on the Kadet Senior, graduated quickly to an overpowered LT-25 for landing lessons and is about to take to a quite fast World Models Skyraider Mach 1. He will solo very soon and be very good if he keeps at it. He could have started with a Cub.

Old 03-23-2012, 03:37 AM
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Default RE: General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

Agree, have a large Super Cub 102†WS & its not a beginners plane.

IMHO if you go with a big trainer (big is a good plan) my first choice would be the regular version of the Senior Telemaster 94†WS about $200 for the airframe or the SIG Kadet Senior 80†WS about $300 for the airframe.

Have both & they are excellent flyers that can be flown very slowly without stalling.
Old 03-23-2012, 07:26 PM
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Default RE: General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

I agree with "mike109" from down under, scale or near scale cubs don't make good trainers. Some foam electric cubs such as the 48" wingspan Hobby Zone 3 ch super Cub are the exception to the rule only because they have been changed so much that they just sorta look like a cub but are way out of scale. As previously mentioned any of the Sig Kadet series (3 or 4 channel) makes a far better platform to learn on. Save your "cub craving" for after you have mastered not just soloed your trainer. I currently have 8 Cubs in my hanger (38" foamie to H-9 1/4 scale) so you know I love them but will never want to train a newbee on one! It will not end well!
Old 03-23-2012, 08:12 PM
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shd3920
 
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Default RE: General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

Now why am I told I am wrong when I stated that Cubs are not for training but then everyone else here says the same thing and THEY ARE RIGHT.

Gssssssh
Old 03-23-2012, 08:40 PM
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Default RE: General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

G'day shd

You were probably right the first time. Most scale models do not make good trainers. That said, for the right person (young, quick and rich enough to buy a new one when it all goes wrong) a Cub may be OK.

There is a reason there are trainers. They have been designed to help you to learn to fly. They have compromises which make them more suitable to learn RC flying on. Most real types fly well enough as real planes but when scaled down, any little foibles they may have tend to become exaggerated.

The Carl Goldberg Cubs I have and have had fly well enough for an advanced beginner to fly but they really do need coordinated turns (rudder used with ailerons and elevator) or their natural adverse yaw (they yaw the opposite way to the way you want to go if you only use aileron) makes them difficult to handle. Their ground handling is also not as nice as a trike. I had a large Hanger 9 Cub too. It also flew well but again, needed the same coordinated turn treatment.

There are "Cubs" out there which have been built with more dihedral and shorter wings and they do fly more like trainers as they have been given some of the attributes of purpose built trainers.

Anyway after all, all the stuff said here is only opinion. And opinions vary and only rarely do all people in any particular discussion have the same opinions. What I have said is what I have found from personal experience and discussion with trusted friends. It was "true" for me but may not be so for someone else. Anyone wanting to form their own opinion needs to read the posts here and then base an opinion on what they have read and anything else they can find out. But ultimately, personal experience is needed to form your own opinion. Everything else is second hand. At best.

Mike in Oz

Old 03-23-2012, 08:46 PM
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Default RE: General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

I'am sorry, I didn't address your question about the "general Hobby" J-3 cub model. First, as a rule you are better off to stick with one of the "brand name" ARF planes, not the "genaric bargin brand". A Hanger-9 or a Great Planes J-3 cub are both better engineered, better built, and better looking, BUT they sell @ $250 not $110 (how much is the shipping on the bargin plane). What I can see wrong with the general Hobby unit are as follows... 1)the ailerons are non scale strip type not barn door type...2)main gear wheels are too small, are cheap foam type, and not scale Cub type wheels....3)landing gear fairings are cut short at a strange angle on the bottom.....4) none of the decals on the suppiled sheet are sized correctly, too small, and not scale correct.....5)no simulated exposed engine on cowl (all J-3's had the heads sticking out each side of the cowl).....6)no customer support with replacement parts available......7)the instructions with the off brand planes are usually poor....8)last and most important.....all ARF's have some flaws, and the cheap bargin ones always have more then the name brand plane. SO......if you are OK with inaccuracies and have enough know how to put it together without good instructions it may be a bargin @ $110. If you are not qualified to fly it anyway, why not crash a $ 110 plane instead of a $250 plane !!!! That takes us back to starting on a good TRAINER then converting it to a taildragger to learn even more.
Old 03-23-2012, 09:51 PM
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Petaris
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Default RE: General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

Thanks for all the responses everyone! I will take a look at the Sig trainers. Are there other recommended trainer brands or is Sig the best option?
Keeping this short as I am typing on my iPod Touch.
Thanks again!
- Petaris
P.S.: I will be training myself.
Old 03-23-2012, 10:35 PM
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Default RE: General Hobby Piper J-3 Cub 60 81' ARF

G'day

If you will be training your self then I strongly suggest a glider type model like the Park Zone Radian or the Kadet Senior or is smaller sister the Seniorita. I believe there is an electric version of the Seniorita. It and the Senior both could be made electric quite easily. I am considering doing this to one of mine. The down side of the Senior and Seniorita is that they are only available as kits. If you were to try to fly a plane with ailerons like the LT-25 or LT 40, there is a much greater chance you will prang it on your first attempt.

If you are going to teach your self, you need lots of stability and a glider without ailerons like the Radian is the BEST from my experience. The bloke I taught by email also used a Park Zone Super Cub but it ended up being made more of epoxy than foam as he crashed it so often and so hard. The Radian is foam and spare parts are available for it. There are other cheap gliders but none is as easy to learn on or as good as the Radian from the many I have seen.

Now, having said all that, you will be FAR FAR better advised to find someone who can teach you. It will save you a fortune in pranged planes and you will learn far more quickly.

You have not told us how old you are and this really does matter. If you are in your teens then you will probably learn quite quickly. If you are 20 to 40, then it will take a while but not be too long. If you are over 40 or like me over 60 then you will take quite a long time to come to grips with flying an RC model unless you get plenty of lessons often.

So much as I like the Kadet Senior from Sig and its smaller brothers and sisters, I'd suggest a Radian for you if you want to go it alone. Once you get the Radian flying then you can look at planes like the Kadet.

Sorry to be banging on like this but I have seen so many people try to learn and so many planes crashed un-necessarily. I'd strongly advise you to try to find someone to help you. And clubs are the best place to start.

But hang in there. It is a great hobby.

Mike from Oz

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