Does anyone have a recommendation for a first patten plane? I have been flying for three years and am flying low wing sport planes. I'd like to stay in the .40 to .60 size range to start. Thanks.

Still competitive at the Sportsman and Intermediate level, after close to 30 years... the Sig King Kobra. It will build quickly, relatively easilly, and not cost an arm and a leg.
(Kougar and Kobra would do OK too... but they are smaller versions of the same plane)

Work to keep it light... all too easy to come out heavy enough to impair performance. (common problem with any competition aircraft...)

Actually, at the Sportsman level, flying skill is so important that you could almost compete with a trainer. Practically any aircraft that has reasonable tollerance for the turbulent conditions found at some fields will work. "Stick Clones" and similar have been known to place well. I've even seen a scale model .60 size Cub flown n Pattern competition and do reasonably well at the Sportsman level.

You don't need to get one of the $1000 kits to get started... just to go into the upper levels of competition, you better have a plane that is top of the line. (and about 5 to 10 years experience in competition flying...)

World Models Zen 50

Thanks for all the thoughts. I'd prefer to go with an ARF or ARC and would like to settle on a .60 or better size. Are there any decent pattern trainers in that range?

I've also heard the Kaos is a great plane too, but am having trouble finding a vendor. I know it's a build, but does anyone make them in an ARF or ARC.

Tower has a 40-size Kaos ARF. However, there were some quality questions on some other threads.

RCPAUL

I helped a newbie assemble the Tower 40 Kaos as his second plane.

The problems with it were not insurmountable... but they were bad enough that we contacted Tower... and were told that they had appx 3,000 planes being returned as defective. We had the plane corrected and assembled by the time we heard that.

Seems they all have right and left wing mis-match problems due to a consistent building error at the production line. When the LE and TE line up, the wings don't line up anywhere else. Turns out, the root rib on one wing is upside down, and its not a true symetrical wing. Also, the wing roots need significant shanding to mate up at all. (watch for one wing bowed out, the other flat. find that and its easier to make the correction.)

The firewall is back a bit far... we had to shim the engine mount forward 1/2 inch to be able to get the engine to get the spinner clear of the fuselage.

The nosewheel wire is a bit short... with the recommended wheels, the plane sits appx 5 deg pointed down from level. Thats a bit more than desired, but its still able to lift off. (we'll replace the wire and lift the nose) It would have been OK if the nosewheel used separate bearing blocks... but to catch the upper beaing hole in the engine mount, the spring coil is just short of rubbing the fuselage bottom. (can slide in paper, but not 1/32 ply with wheel centered.)

We lined up the LE and TE, and epoxied it together... The wing sat in the saddle perfectly. The plane flies quite well.

Thanks for the help. I've heard the Kaos is a good build too.

Huber is right. Almost any decent model can compete at the 401 (Sportsman) level. It's really the pilot that makes the difference.

Someone else suggested a GP Venus. Good suggestion as well.

Once you've decided on a model, you are going to need to spend OODLES of time trimming it out. Takes a while, and making only one change at a time. The idea is to achieve as close to absolute "neutrality" as you can. In other words...a model that has no tendency to do anything you didn't tell it to do. It's fun, educational and you won't believe just how good you can get a model to really behave!


'Then....there's the practice....

Go for it!