ParkZoneFlyer

Some things:

afbtstix:
i agree with staying away from ebay, but why no foamies? They're easier to fix, and the Parkzone line can't be beat.

Sailfish7:
Not that the Aero Ace isn't a great toy to play around with in your front yard, but it doesn't exactly help you if you want to progress to Warbirds or pattern or 3d... it's just a toy, and leave it at that

Connolly:
Yeah, I have heard that the Slow Stick is great. But it is ARF. If someone wants a plane that is designed VERY similarly to the Slow Stick, flies even slower, AND is RTF, go Parkzone Slow-V. From what I've heard, it's great, and it's RTF. But you can't go wrong with the Slow Stick either!!!

maiden-crash

I think the PZ planes are great planes but there is just a few issues with their electronics. Some people say for planes such as the fw 190 and the Mustang that its all in luck if you choose a good model or a bad one. From what Iv'e read, people are throwing away these planes because of problems with their launches, issues with the motor, problems with the servos...etc.

What I think though is that when people buy an rtf plane they expect the plane to be perfect (mind you they should,) but the planes should still be thoroughly examined for faults such as loose screws and twitching servos. All in all, I still think that the Park Zone planes are great planes worth every cent. Just keep in mind the old saying "nobody is perfect", same applies to these planes.
Just my opinion.

BrettBroome

I recently bought a Walkera stealth fighter (#31) for my boys... 2 x 380 speed ducted fans with a 9.6v 1600mah NiMH. While old technology & purchased at a bargain price, it won't develop anywhere near enough thrust to hand launch as indicated in the manual. Great looking plane, good finish & extremely bomb proof construction, but simply won't fly!! Cycled the battery several times too. At over 1Kg it looks to me like it needs a bungy launch, but I have no idea how it would be able to recover from a low altitude stall as it would take ages to build up speed (except straight down I guess.) Anyone seen one of these things actually fly??

Solcat

People at www.wattflyer.com have gotten Walkera ducted fan planes to fly with Walkera brushless motors. Unfortunately you need two esc's to do that, but they are interesting planes given their size, being epp and model after some interesting planes.

ParkZoneFlyer

Well some of the PZ planes DO have electronics systems, as these forums show... notably the Typhoon's servo stripping... but I haven't seen too much bad stuff about the PZ Cub or the Stryker; these two seem to be criticized a lot less than others. I wonder if I should get a Stryker instead of a typhoon...?

Anyhow, you pretty much can't go wrong with a cub or stryker, the other ones you might have to watch some of the electronics. But remember, RTF's still need checking over!

maiden-crash

I was considering buying a typhoon. Even made a thread about it. (Actually, I considerd a lot of different planes) The typhoon seems to be a great plane MOST of the time but one very common complaint is the servos stripping. PZ Cub Flyer, are you flying the cub right now? I asked the same question between the stryker and typhoon and everyone was recomending the stryker for now. They also said that if I was to buy the typhoon, I should buy the plug and play to add a decent transmitter. But I still dont know too much about more aerobatic planes, only about trainers.

Ps. If your looking for speed and basic aerobatics, go for the stryker. If your looking for crazy aerobatics, go with the typhoon. I guess it just depends if your a 3D person or a sports flyer.

maiden-crash

Brett,
It sounds like the battery is WAY to weak for the plane. Those motors are pretty strong...

ParkZoneFlyer

is the stryker faster than the typhoon? because it seems that way...

u mentioned the Typhoon Plug'n'play... i would rather just get the RTF version b/c the PNP includes servos, and those are the problem. I haven't heard of any problems regarding the transmitter except about its hideous transparent green color. But the RTF is probably better, because the PNP has those troublesome servoes.

traxxboy

well I learned on a fire bird xl. Man I love that plane. It took many straight down wrecks And It still flys to this day after 4 some od years of flying. After that I got done building A great planes pt orginal. (Nitro trainer) Now I fly an aero ace (because i can fly it in my garage), A pz f-27 stryker (An awesome plane and almost indestructible), a nitro aliron and light acrobatic trainer, And am looking for a warbird because That is a plane I always wanted. The firebird taught me at the age of 9. I learned on it witout an instructer. The aero ace is a good toy but once you mastered it you move up to a trainer. Luckilly the only crap plane I have had was a estes pee wee trainer. Not even worth twenty dollars.

maiden-crash

I'll be getting the stryker hopefuly tomorrow[8D] I'll fill you all in on how it goes.

JasonRP

I think a lot of planes get a bad rap from newbies buying them, expecting a foamie park flyer to fly like a TowerTrainer 60, and then they break it, and post on here calling it junk, blaming the radio, etc. Sure, there are some junk no-name imports out there. But, I see a lot of flak going up at well-known, solidly engineered and sucessful planes too.

I would not recommend ANY low-wing war bird design for anyone that does not have experience flying- period! Learn to fly with a sim, then get yourself a bigger trainer- if you must only parkfly, get a larger, high-wing park flyer that has a low wing loading (meaning it will fly slow!) In my opinion, it is irresponsible for someone to complain if they buy an expert level plane, and they are less then expert level experienced! It's not fair to the companies that are making good products available for good prices!

It's not a slant at anyone's manhood- we all have had to start somewhere. I know it is tempting for a lot of folks to start out with a fighter plane warbird instead of a slow stick, motor glider, or high-wing trainer.. BUT, it's not gonna be fun if all you do is immediately wreck! I started with Realflight, and put a lot of hours of sim time before flying actual model airplanes.. Best money I ever spent in the hobby!

Jason

maiden-crash

I got the stryker the other day. AMAZING plane. I had no problem moving up from my trainer and after the second flight, I already switched to high rates! The stryker is a pretty fast plane. Its got a very fast roll rate, a good climb rate and loops very well. Landings are a sinch to perform, just cut the throttle and let it glide to a gentle landing, gradually applying some elevator.
This plane already makes me feel like an expert, Id give it a 15 out of 10.

flyinhawaiian

LOL. Sorry about that experience. I have looked at those on Ebay before, but stayed away...


HERE ARE SOME "DESCRIPTIONS" FROM THE DIFFERENT EBAY SELLERS FOR THE b-52 rc:

-"4-Moter makes it very powerful."
-"4 Motors For Faster Speed! "

-"Flight Time: 5-6 min. "
-"Fly time is about 15 - 20 minutes per charge."

-"It has fly time of ~10 minutes. It has control distance of 200 Feet and had four motors for four propellers."

-"Maximum Operating Range : 460 feet "

TerryE

My Feedback: (12)

Hawaii;

If they were honest, they would say:

- 4 motors and it is still way underpowered!
- Flight time (until first crash) 20 seconds - if you are an experienced pilot, 10 seconds if not
- Max operating range : about 30 feet until it commits suicide!

The thing is so flimsy that even a mild crash into tall weeds trashed it beyond even trying to salvage... and I am a fairly good pilot

TE

flyinhawaiian

Sorry about that Terry, I also had bought a while ago a cheaper rc helicopter from Japan that was supposed to be okay. Turns out it takes off normally but then starts spinning around out of control, it is basically junk too, but at least it flies. This upcoming fourth of july I have the perfect job for it. With an extended fuse I will light some type of firework on it and send it into the air, although I don't know what exact type of firework. Suggestions anyone?

TerryE

My Feedback: (12)

One pound of C-4 [X(][X(]

maiden-crash

Hey guys, dont be so rough on the b29, you can save the foam for protection around a receiver[sm=lol.gif]

sniper1

Interesting reading this forum as i have had great success with 2 planes that everyone here hates! The me 262 and B-29 both made by cc lee. My very first flying experience ever, was with the B-29. Yeah i crashed it once when a gust of wind tipped it over while doing a steep turn, having no elevator i could not save it from crashing. Yeah it is underpowered, fragile, only very basic 2 channel, and cheaply made. But i have had over 50 great flights on mine and had it soaring so high it was just a speck in the sky.
Here are some tips: do not fly in anything above a 3mph wind-it will crash! Early summer mornings are ideal. Do not over control the plane, nice gentle scale like turns cant go wrong. Trim the plane for flight- mine needed a fraction of up elevator so i cut the elevators each side and reglued them with a couple of degrees of up. This re****ed in the smoothest take offs ever when the plane reached a certain speed, usually 50ft take off roll on smoth concrete. It does not fly like a conventional rc plane as its only 2 channel, so so you have to glitch the controls on-off-on-off the whole flight-keeping the throttle on will make it climb and quickly stall! And last of all you need a massive flying space for the big shallow turns, flying this thing in confined areas with lots of obstacles is suicide, and is more difficult than an rc jet worth thousands of $$$. I have fond meories of this plane and got me hooked on rc flight!

As for the me-262 i cant argue too much as mine is not stock. Sure everyone ive heard about has failed with this plane including my own friend. I bought mine second hand and the previous owner made some vast improvements-namely new 35mhz radio gear. With a new speed controller and receiver, you get variable throttle and lipo battery options, which turns this plane from a piece of junk to an easy to fly, awsome plane! Mine with a small 1350mah lipo can easily outfly my friends parkzone fw-190, and is much easier to fly than my p-51 mustang, with no dreaded tip stall it wants to glide forever! I have only had a few flights on it but already love it to bits!
I guess cheap ready to fly electric planes are easily sold to naive beginner pilots- myself included, and most dont have time to iron out the bugs and learn to fly before crashing. But you get what you pay for so dont expect a perfect model unless you got the cash. All of these cheap rtf planes have their faults, being under powered being the biggest.
If you are a beginner get these new indestructable 2 channel planes if youve got a tight budget, or a simulator if you are serious about the sport, till you get the money for a decent trainer. With a bit of knowledge and discipline these cheap pieces of junk can be great fun!

ozrcboy

Must admit I've looked at those B29s on ebay and wondered whether for $30 it might make an interesting airframe to refit with proper avionics. Cut the elevator and some ailerons and fit push rods. Probably go two wing servos rather than trying to install linkages into the wing.

So, I'm thinking $30 gets me the airframe - 4 x speed 350/400 type motors (I have a ton of these hanging around - or maybe stick with the stock ones - give them some more juice and larger props), an esc, RX, couple of servos - presto.

Is the airframe big enough to fit that kind of gear?

maiden-crash

Wow congratulations on getting the ME262 up there, I havent yet seen pics of it inflight. Also its nice to see this thread going again...

ea01bg

I had a Christen Eagle that I flew amost every day all summer that is worth the money and then some.

Cox Christen Eagle. 129.00 arf (Just toss in your radio reciver, and about 15 min of minor assembley). I got mine off E-Bay before Cox bought the rights from art-tech. I replaced the art-tech reciver with my old futaba but didnt do any other mods. It comes with a lipo and charger ( I've used this charger all year with many 3 cell lipos and it has ot roasted anything yet) and a brushless outrunner (which currerntly lives on in my GWS F4U)
This plane flew great slow or fast. During the course of the summer it survide two crashs 1. lost radio control due to interfearance (found it in a tree after an hour long search minor wing damage. back in ther air within an hour) 2. Barrel roll after a loop ran out of air and smacked the groung hard (cracked the entire nose section off the plane but it stayed in two rather large pices epoxied it back on replaced the prop and in the air the next day).

It finaly took my compleate stupidity to destory it. Ran out to fly didnt do my preflight checks and forgot that I had reversd the servos on my transmitter for one of my other planes. It was not a pretty sight.

tam popo

hope you get my first entry ever! about cc lee me262. £88 for a brick that makes a turbine(ish) sound. Going to strip it down and scratch-build a screamer - own desin -cant be worse than this excuse of a plane![][&o]

tam popo

Hi! damage done to me262 - fuse split but repaired, cowl loose, etc. Oh, and pride severely dented. I'm new to all this (retired at 55). tried homemade catapult (consists of 2 upright poles made from fishing rods and a bungee cord line). A true catapult launch, worked on my swift but not the lead haggis with wings (me262). Have shoulder problem hence the catapult!! Might make a canard winged edf bird this year with bits left.

SergioRoadster

Hi, first of all I find this topic very informative, thank you for starting it maiden.
Myself I'm a beginner but wouldn't want to spend money on a tipical ugly trainer that flies just 5 minutes and decorated like a clown's plane.

I've checked the PArksone F-27 Stryker you guys wrote about and it looks that flies so well that even some begginers commented in the reviews that they started with it. It's a model I'm thinking of.

Y've checked the list of top RTF planes( [link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/product_guide/kitsearchresults.cfm[/link] ) and this Hangar 9 P-51 Mustang PTS seems to be one of the bests models also. [link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=692[/link] . But I don't like much the plane itself and special the colour patern.

LIke maiden-crash I was interested in the Me 262 but for his unfortunate experience now I know it ain't a good plane. My real favourite is the FW 190 from PArkzone but by the review it seems only fit for experienced pilots and i don't like much planes without landing gear.

Does anyone flown this Watt Age Corsair EP?
[link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/product_guide/kitprofile.cfm?kit_id=2810[/link]
[link]http://www.miniplanes.fr/product_info.php?cPath=57_39&products_id=478[/link]
I like very much the design and colour(just like the real one) and I'm interested in a plane that can take off from the ground and land on wheels, myself I don't like much the glider type landing and hand-throwing.
I've read the reviews and is advised for intermediate flyers, but seems to have big wings, can it fly slow? I have experience in computer flight simulators, can that count for experience?

If anyone knows of war-time planes that can be flown by beginners please post hem.

tam popo

Obrigado! Welcome aboard this discussion. I didn't buy the flight sim as mentioned but spent the money on aJP 480 wing (like Zagi) going by reviews here. If you wait one month the GWSME 262 appears and the reviews a.re great (see elsewhere) - been available in Australia for some time. My next plane will be the Stryker but modified. Also going ahead using the stripped out CC lee me262 bits on a home designed edf fan bullet. I spent time surfing years ago in Viano de Castello - beautiful!!! [8D]