ozrcboy

Hi Jim,

Welcome to RC flying.

Addressing in order...

I can't speculate why supercub is better than aerobird as I haven't seen the aerobird. However, you are on to something - people tend to recommend the plane they had success with (sometimes to the exclusion of all others). Another potential one to add to your list is a multiplex easystar - this comes in ARF form so as you say you could buy a cheap radio and put your own avionics in it. Even still I imagine you will end up paying more than if you bought the RTF packages. I've flown supercub stock - easy to fly. I've flown easystar stock - easy to fly. I've flown the electrafun xp stock (a trainer in Australia that I'm not sure you folks get) - easy to fly. Lots of good trainers out there.

AJ1202 is spot on about the ailerons. It is really about recovery. Recovering an aileron plane requires two inputs - roll to wings level - elevator up. Recovering in RET tends to be just pull up. However, with practice on a simulator first I've seen a few beginners go straight to ailerons without any great problems.

Having too much power is a bad thing for a couple of reasons - 1) many beginners aren't thinking far enough ahead of the plane, like AJ said. The second is that with enough power beginners learn how to play a video game, not fly. Part of learning to fly is learning how to feel the aircraft, and how she behaves near stall, what happens when you nose up, roll and give full elevator. They also think, ironically, that power is a substitute for planning (gee, I could have cleared that tree if only I had enough power to climb over it) - funny eh, given that you need planning to manage power?

Biplanes AJ pretty comprehensively answered. Just one more thing - the bi wing setup makes them more breakable - that's another reason why genuine trainers aren't biplanes.

With respect to glitches and safety - good for you to be thinking about it. While you are learning you want your flying field to be basically deserted anyway. Glithces normally don't knock your aircraft out of the sky, but what it does is changes it's orientation and heading to one that is not easily recovered.

Just to stress the use of a simulator - even FMS will get you miles ahead for your first flight (provided you practice with either your real TX, or something that has the same stick layout).

Cheers,
oz.