Bad Tooth

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Ok guys, I am looking to buy one of these so my wife and friends can fly off a buddy box. (Planning on putting an OS .40 fp in it.)

Which one should I get - and why? [8D]

w8ye

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They are actually made by the same company.

I always thought that the Duraplane version was made better.

I have a Aerobat and it's made excellent. I've cartwheeled it several times. It was never hurt.

Enjoy,

Jim

whaturi

i, on the other hand have had a sturdy birdy. it was great! i crashed it a few times and it held up great. first i had a 25 la on it. that would fly it fine. then i put a thunder tiger .46 on it. that was very fast. i think the 40 would be good on it. it'll come in a little hot for landing, but with that wing, it should't be to squirrly.

bkelly

sturdy birdy........its a tail dragger........ive had both and converted the tricle gear of the duaplane to a tail dragger have fun with either...they can take a beating but i also had a Tufflight 4D...not a begginers plane but probably the toughest airplane i have ever seen

aerospot

Neither. Both are junk IMO.
If the goal is to provide an easy to fly plane for someone to buddie-chord and experiance RC for the first time (or first few times), light and slow is the answer and neither of these provide that comfort edge.
For a model to fly slow, it needs to be light. Unfortunately light does not equal durable. You cant have your cake and eat it too...
But from a flying standpoint, slower gives the novice pilot time to think and react. Once the novice pilot has demonstrated control in the air, light airplanes slow way down for lighter landings. True, if you dip a wing and cartwheel on landing your most likely going to do some damage but,...
Just my 2 cents..

GarySS

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After some glider flying I learned power on a Sturdy Birdy and a Fox .40. It had ailerons. It wasn't the best landing airplane, but it got the job done without serious mishaps.

GoMike

I learned to fly on the Duraplane when it had just come out 15 or 16 years ago. I put ailerons on it (optional at the time) and added a tailwheel (it came as a tail dragger without a tailwheel). It wasn't the best-flying trainer in the world, but with it and the first version of Dave Brown's R/C simulator I learned how to fly on my own, including loops, rolls, immelmans, split esses, inverted, etc. I could do touch & goes with it faster than anybody at the field - I can't remember how many in a minute. That duraplane took a lot of punishment. After glueing the wing back together for the n'th time I ordered the "Durabat" wing and flew it a few more months.

You can go two ways with a trainer: Light and slow as aerospot says or heavier and more durable. I think either of the two planes Strupp22 is considering would be satisfactory. Naturally, for sentimental reasons I'd recommend the Duraplane.

==Mike==

Bad Tooth

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Aerospot, you say they are both junk but you don't give a clear reason why..........because they fly too fast? That's why they are junk?

I learned to fly on a Hobbico Superstar, that was not able to take a beating, but it flew well for a trainer. The birdy that I flew at the field (to me at least) flew much the same as my Superstar. I think that's a manageable plane to buddy-box. I totally agree that lighter is better for this application, but I'm not looking for something like a GWS Picco-Stick.

Anyway, I'm just looking for a durable trainer, and from what I've seen the dura and the birdy fit that bill. I just wanted to know if there are any huge differences between the two. Tower says that the dura weighs more. Is the tail section on one stronger than the other? Is the pvc box the same size on both? Does one fly differently than the other? etc.

Any more thoughts? Thanks.

aenigma

Ok I know this is an old old thread but I see too many people bad mouthing the duraplane and they probably havne't even flown one, much less know what it is.

I have both a Sutrdy Birdy and a Duraplane Aerobat.Both COMPLETELY different planes.The Sturdy Birdy was a hunk of junk(I got it used and it was beat to hell, so this may be why it flew so bad) and the Duraplane is a fun little plane for a trainer.Not only do these planes take a beating but the Aerobat is quite aerobatic for being so heavy.I extended the ailerons and it will roll so fast you don't know whats going on, and this little thing will actually do a perfect flat spin(and keep doing it if your engine dies! ).

I hated the Sturdy Birdy but decided to get a Duraplane later for 50 dollars since it had an engine on it and to just see if there was a difference at all and there was a big difference.The Aerobat flies much better than the Sturdy Birdy with its dihedral wing.They do land a bit fast but they fly very good and they will take an absolute beating when comparing it to something like my PT-40.I have a .46 on the Aerobat right now and it flies like a bat out of hell.

The sturdy birdy once took a full throttle nose in crash when my dad turned the wrong way and got inverted, it broke the PVC and bent the aluminum channel, and we all know how rare those things are.
So needless to say it was back together in less than a day, and rebending the aluminum channel is very easy.My first few learning flights with that thing(with no instructor by the way) did result in some crashes since the motor on it would die all the time and I had to do some quick ugly landings out in some sage brush and I never really hurt it.I even crashed it into my dog on a landing!Poor dog was limping for a few days and it bent the landing gear real nice, but thats all.I also got it out of range one time because I was stupid and didn't realize the excess antenna(pretty much all of it) wasnt supposed to wrap around the aluminum channel.I lost control of it and it went in the lake so I went out in the boat and got it, pumped the water out of the engine and started it back up then dried out the receiver and it worked fine the next day.

As far as the differences you asked about the Duraplane has a shorter PVC fuselage and aluminum channel, a better aerobatic wing and the tail section is made out of very thick square wood that looks like it was hacked out of a fence.
The one I have also has a screw on motor mount rather than that stupid rubber band mount.

If I were to start over with another choice of a beginner plane I would go with a foam electric plane like the Typhoon or something.My uncle is learning to fly with that plane and he has crashed it full throttle into the ground countless times and the tail has been broken off, the fuselage has been broken in half, the wing has been broken in 2 spots, the motor has been ripped off many times and there have been a number of broken props and it has came back from every crash like nothing happend.Most of the time he would put it back together with duct tape then glue it at home for a better and nicer looking hold.The only things I don't like are the cheap gears in the servos that will strip from normal flying(and especially from crashing) and the geared motor.The gears strip out pretty quick when he is running it into the ground. Also the shafts on them bend too.But so far that plane has been an amazing little trainer.

As for a step up from a trainer the Hanger 9 Das Ugly Stick has been a very great flying plane.It flies so effortlessly compared to the trainers.

I just hope this clears up soem confusion for people wanting to start out on the duraplane or sturdy birdy.

aerospot

Clairify my stance on 'hunk of junk'

These planes are what you spend on them, and I hope you dont spend much. That said, I think that theyre fabulous fun-flyers and a great 2nd airplane for the graduate who has, more or less, learned to land. They take way more abuse than a conventional built up trainer or shoulder wing sport and fly fast & furious. There's room for all in this hobby! Heck, some folks bulid and fly lawnmowers... and they truly fly like crap! Now for the creative, there has been some commotion over the combat breed where a light plastic downspout is converted into a fuse and foam wings are hacked upon it. It's a cheep, easy and very fun way to spend an afternoon chas'in around each other try'in to cut streemers loose. I've seen some asome spectacular inflights and dumb-thumbs close to the ground.

I still feel that an instructor studen situation is the best for the absolute novice. An using this situation, a light slow flying airplane using a buddie-chord gives the safest approach. After a student has demonstrated landing skills a faster plane is usually prefered to enable more aerobatics & such. But short of this and one is able, anything goes! The problem seems to be that many get and crash their first plane and fall right out of the hobby in frustration.

I still remember rippin the wings off of my trainer at the bottom of a split ess...

So thanks for wak'in up this thread again! I was suprised to get the email of your post and had forgotten about not signing out from the updates... It is fly'in season and the hanger is full! Tally Ho !!!

Dave

aenigma

Yeah I agree, unfortunately my Sturdy Birdy(with radio and egine so it was RTF) was 250 dollars, so I really got ripped off there!And it was beat up pretty good too.I was a newbie and didnt even look the plane up.The Duraplane on the other hand was 50 dollars with engine and it is a fun little plane to screw with.But as for a trainer for someone who has got the basics of flying down ok the Ugly Stick is great.Or someone who is still learning and crashing then a styrofoam park flyer like the Typhoon can take a beating.

Hobie

The Duraplane .40 trainer set up as a tail dragger is how I went from electric to glow . I first tried to go to glow with a used balsa trainer tricycle gear that I had trouble taking off with out crashing . After major frustration and 3 repairs that take quite bit of time I got a used Duraplane .40 rainier set up as a tail dragger and put an OS .46 AX on it . I no longer had trouble taking off and finally learned to fly . I liked it and it took away the fear factor of crashing and I did have some crashes . Repairing the Duraplane was easy compared to the balsa plane and $12 at Ace Hardware will get you enough PVC to make 5-6 fuselages . I can't say if it is good for a complete beginner but it was great for me after a few months of electric flying . Here is pics of both . I started flying glow last Sept. and I am now flying the Twist and 4* .40 .

Bad Tooth

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Hey guys, thanks for the replies. I almost forgot about this thread. I wanted to let you all know that I decided to go with the sturdy birdy and I'm very happy with it. I had a lot of the supplies that I needed to finish the plane. I think I only had to buy one more servo so it came in pretty cheap for me. I probably spent too much time on the covering, but I also wanted to try my hand at covering. I only have arfs. But as for the flight report it flies surprisingly well. I don't know why so many think that they land fast? This plane lands very slowly. I have had a lot of fun letting my wife get in some stick time. Also no crashes yet, but when those come I'm sure that I will be happy with the plane even more. Please take a look at the plane in the "my models" section of my profile. let me know what you think.

aenigma

Ok I guess my Sturdy Birdy was really a piece of junk, probably crashed a few hundred times too many before I bought it.I just flew a Duraplane my uncle just got and it flew very very good compared to my Sturdy Birdy.I couldn't believe how well it flew, it was actually kind of fun too.There had to be something very wrong with my Sturdy Birdy.And to top it all of my Sturdy Birdy was 250 shipped RTF with an O.S. .40 fp and Futaba electronics with servos that weren't all that great(laggy and low torque)The Duraplane was about 70 without a motor and a Tower Hobbies radio setup.I liked the servos too, for being a budget radio the servos were very fast and seemed to have alot of torque.I still can't believe I paid 250 for that thing!

As far as landing speed goes, I don't think they land very fast, but the Duraplane Aerobat with the clipped straight wing does land fast which is no suprise.I would have to say it is a great plane for a beginner if it isn't already beat up when you get it and as long as the engine is reliable.I remember the engine was my biggest problem with the Sturdy Birdy, it was always dying and of course it was always when it was flying slow.And if I remember right that was pretty often as I was kind of afraid of flying it fast because I wasn't so sure about the rubber banded wings.So needless to say it would be a rough landing.

Speaking of putting a .46 on the Sturdy Birdy I put a Thunder Tiger .46 on my Aerobat awhile ago and man that thing cooks.I swear that little engine will fly a 2x4.And I was very suprised to find out it does perfect flat spins.Plus the roll rate on that thing is enough to make you think the wing is going to tear right off of the fuselage after I extended the ailerons.

Shane18

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Dumbutt