Hey guys,

I'm new on here, and looking for some help. I bought a P-51 a few years back, I got a killer deal I just couldn't pass up. I have always wanted
to get into flying but time/$$ wouldn't allow. Well, I have yet to fly thing, and am scared to. I have driven it around the yard a few times, but it hasn't been fired up in a few yrs.
I know it's not a beginner plane by any means, so that is my problem.
I'm thinking electric would be a better bet to start off with...
I have a JR xf421 ex radio. Which Iknow is probably junk?.. but if I could use it for the plane I can get to train on then i'm happy. Ican get a better radio down the road for the p-51, and the
soon to come arsenal of long-loved planes.
So, to sum it up, What would be a good plane to start with? I don't want something too too small, but maybe not quite as big as mine. which is 58.25'?

anyway any suggestions would be awesome!

Oh and I hope I posted this in the right area, if not, mods, my apologies

A month ago, one of our club members advertised a clean trainer, transmitter and full flight box stuff for $200. Everything needed for a beginner. It was probably a $450 value. You might want to beat the bushes. Contact the local clubs to get on the mailing list of local offerings. Be ready to pounce quickly but wait for a reasonably good deal.

You were very wise not to try to fly your untrimmed Mustang.... the chances of the plane surviving would have been as close to none as one can get.

Best of luck as you explore your entry into the hobby. It is a great sport/hobby/fraternity/pastime.

WhenI got into the hobby a few years ago, I started off with a simulator by Great planes, I used that for about 3 months, by the time spring came around I bought a trainer (nitro) and had one of the guys from the club trim it out for me, then he gave me the radio. I had no problems with navigating, landingsor takeoffs, nobody from thr clubcould belive it was my first time flying. Good luck.

Modern simulators are close to the real deal. I've seen others who flew a simulator a good bit and it showed in what happened at the field.

Bite the bullet and go for one of the new RTF trainers that come with some sort of flight simulator. The flight sim is invaluable and will save you a bunch of money on crashed models, a RTF trainer will have everything you need except field equipment. Whether it's electric or nitro depends to some extent on how much you want to spend on that field equipment and your interest in a particular power source. If you Mustang is nitro powered, it may be to your advantage to buy a nitro powered trainer and get used to how things work and how to tune an engine.

Look around for a local club, they're usually more than happy to help out new guys and may have someone interested in selling what you want.

Here are a few excellent starters:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...rticle_id=1368

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...rticle_id=1315

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...rticle_id=1288

I have real flight, which has been very helpful.

I started out with the e-flite Apprentice, which is a really nice flying plane. Parts are readily available, it is pretty tough, and once you have mastered the basics it flies inverted and does basic aerobatics better than most high wings I've seen. It is also a blast to float fly.

If I were to do it again, though, I'd go for the plug and play, and get a DX7 or 8, some Gens Ace Batteries and a 4 bank charger right off the bat. The DX5 that comes with it is fine for what it is, but once you have a 2nd plane you will want a computer radio with model memory.

Anyway, the advice to check out your local field/club is excellent and should be your first step.

Ditto on what JeffinTD said, I did pretty much he same thing, except I got an Eflight T-34 RTF and the RxR Apprentice with AR600 RX.  Both use the same batteries, and the radio from the T-34 can be bound to the AR600 for the Apprentice.  I also got Gen Ace batteries and the Real Flight sim.  <div>
</div><div>The Sim gets you started, the Apprentice gets you in the air and flying, the T-34 advances you up several levels as it is a progressive trainer, and then you will be ready for the  P-51.</div><div>
</div><div>One note however. the P-51 is a tail dragger, the other two are tricycle geared, so they take off and land different. </div>

Okay let's cut to the chase; the OP has a nitro powered Mustang and foam tricycle gear models won't do much for being able to fly that Mustang.

Here's the ticket and I recommend it to everyone who asks about how to get started if they really want something that'll get 'em going and on the way to bigger or more high performance models. It used to come with a basic flight sim but evidently the newest version does not, however it's RTF, does come with a DX6i radio which should serve the OP well for some time. All he'll need is the ground support stuff for a nitro model and he'll learn something about starting, tuning and maintaining nitro engines. I started with the typical high wing tricycle gear trainer since there was nothing like this available then, if I were to start again this would be the model....

http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...ts-rtf-HAN4425

He will need to buddy box that plane the first few flights though. It is pretty close to the PTS T-34 I have with the exception its glow and its butt hangs on the ground. <div>
</div><div>The T-34 is a good plane, but it is not for a new flyer, and I doubt the Mustang PTS would be either, not without a buddy box.  My T-34 is much faster than the Apprentice, it's heavier, and it can get loose from you rather quickly, where the Apprentice doesn't.  </div><div>
</div><div>Not knocking the PTS Stang, had I seen that before the T-34 I may have purchased that one instead, but after having flown the T-34, I can say the Stang PTS is going to be a bit much for a new pilot, even with Sim time.  Heck even with the number of flights I have done, I would be nervous flying it the first few times. </div>

Granted the loss of a basic sim included with the model is an issue but everything else is moot. It's got the drooped leading edges, fixed flaps and those are removable as your proficiency increases. There is an option to install operational flaps as well as retracts although I'm a bit fuzzy on that one. I've been told that the ARF will accept the retracts where the RTF won't but I cannot confirm or deny that point.

No reason in the world to play with tricycle gear unless you like the particular model, learning to handle tailwheel equipted models after learning on trike's is just another issue he doesn't need to deal with and yes, he'll need somebody to buddy box him regardless of where he starts unless he's got lots of money for broken models. That's one of the reasons I suggested he look for a local club to assist....

There are several hobby stores that set up sims to try out if you don't want to shell out a couple hundred $ for one, but i agree having a buddie box would be a great idea,theres always somebody in a club that has one, you'll save a lot of $ by doing one or the other.

Hey thanks guys for all the replies! finally the holidays are over and I have a chance to get online.
Checking into a local club is a great idea, I for sure would want someone there to save the plane for me if I screw up. About my P-51, I forgot
but it actually is the PTS, but not the newer one, it's the 1st one that came out. With the older JR  xf421 radio. It came with a flight sim cd
and a cable to hook up to my comp, and a separate one to hook into another controller. 
Of course I can't find that cd anywhere. I know I have it but no idea where. It was older when I bought the plane, I think it was in 2006.
I was going to try the simulator route, then find a club for further help. Of course being Jan not a lot of ppl are outside flying planes. So this
will give me time to practice on my comp is I can find the dang cd.
I looked at a few different new sim's and holy crap wth? are they expensive.

if its realflight and i think it is.. the serial number for the sim is on the controller.. you can download the software from thier website.

RealFlight coming with a Horizon model????? I don't think so..... lol

I don't remember what Horizon's sim was called, FS One or something like that? Any way they quit making it and is probably the reason the new PTS's don't come with a sim anymore. Horizon sells Phoenix now but RealFlight (Knife Edge Software) has always been tied into Hobbico.

For the OP; there were a few issues with the original PTS Mustangs, may 'wanna try the search engine here for some of the threads on that model.

If it's the Hanger 9 Pts Mustaang then the sim will not be a Realflight, that is a Tower Hobby product. We have lots of guys using the Mustang trainer it should be fine for you to learn on. I'm not a big fan of trike gear trainers, most people go on to fly tail draggers anyway so you might as well learn on one. You can find lots of used sims on ebay, Rcu etc.

The simulator that came with the original PTS was absolutely ABYSMAL.

Be GLAD you lost the CD, it's THAT bad.

The PTS is a decent enough beginners plane PROVIDED you have an experienced instructor teach you to fly it with a buddy box.

It is not a plane for a "go it alone" novice.

Wait until you find a club and get help tuning and assembling the plane.

Even though it is a simple build, a few things need a bit of attention, e.g. strengthening the gear blocks, etc.

One thing I found nice about the Ultra Micro t-28, if you know of a big open empty parking lot, you have all the room you need to practice with and a plane that can hold up to a lot of bad landings.  Just bring along a bunch of batteries and some packing tape for the repairs.  $99 flight non-simulator.   Get enough practice flights in with that and when you can fly it with 10MPH winds, you will be ready for the larger plane.

Well among other considerations besides it being a tricycle gear; it's out of stock AND the OP's radio won't work with a Horizon/EFlite/ParkZone BNF model....

Dang.. I just lost everything I wrote because the page timed out. bleh.. anyway..
To sum it up, aside the club and sim, which I will pursue both, I do like acdii's idea of the Ultra Micro t-28 to mess around with, exactly that I was kind of looking for, Iwish it wasn't tricicle, but I see they make it in a p-51 as well. But you're right Zeeb, it's coming down to my radio being crappy and non-compatible. It seems I just need a new one, unless I buy an arf and install compatible receiver/servos... but then I still have an old radio in the end. So is the dx6i that the new PTS comes with any good? I see it has fairly decent ratings on Amazon, but it seems that's the base bones basic model? what about the dx7i? or even JR or Futaba? I know that question has been beat into the ground, and I have read post after post of one vs the other... but there has to be one out there that one would want to have. Any suggestions?

I think you go from 10 to 20 model memory going from dx6 to 7.

The 8 gives you 30, telemetry, SD card, and 3 levels of dual rates, a long with some additional features.

The T-28 comes RTF with its own radio that can also be used for all the other BNF planes including the park flyers. Here's the thing, the T-28 BNF and RTF, same price!  <div>
</div><div>You can fiddle with the 28 to get the hang of flying, and the P-51 later to get the hang of a butt dragger.  These are inexpensive ways to get started. </div><div>
</div><div>The DX6i is a very good radio, don't let others tell you different. I have one(had 2, sold one), and it is full up in planes.  It is good as a starter radio, you really aren't going to be using more than 6 channels until you can really fly well.  Since I ran out of slots, I have since picked up a Futaba 8FGS for my new planes, only because they had a deal where you get a second RX for free, otherwise I would have gone with the DX8 radio. </div><div>
</div><div>I will still be flying my current planes on the DX6i no matter what, I have never had a problem with the radio with any of my planes. It sets up easy, and binds easy.  Others may complain that it takes AA batteries instead of a dedicated pack, I say , fooey on them, I like that I can have spare AA batteries in case I forget to recharge the radio. </div><div>
</div><div>If you get a new DX6i, get one with the RX and swap out the one in your P-51 with it. </div>

Yup, DX6i is a great starter radio, that is what comes with the new PTS Mustangs and should work fine for your PTS, but there is an old RC axiom that's saved me a bunch of money along the way as I've progressed to bigger and more complex models; "always buy the most radio you can afford" so you might want to look at the new DX7s or even the DX8 as mentioned.

The question of which brand is a sticky one as folks have their preferences and will practically fight to the death to promote their favorite. I will say that often how a radio feels in your hands is too often overlooked in the selection process. Have you got an LHS that you could go hold the radios you're considering or maybe aquaintances who might have them?

Possibly the other major consideration is whether or not you want to play with other BNF models? If so, Horizon has that market pretty much cornered with the EFlite and ParkZone stuff so a Spektrum or JR radio would be in order.

<div>
</div><div>I agree!  Too bad around here, the LHS dont carry radios except a couple Spektrums.  I got lucky though that Futaba designs have not changed too much over the years, the 8FGS has about the same feel as the old AM 4 channel one I have from the 80's. </div><div>
</div><div></div><div>
</div><div>True, the Futaba fit that bill quite well only because of the second RX that was included with it.  If the OP can afford it, the DX8 would be the best choice if he plans to go BNF route. If he can't the DX6i is the best choice IMO for starting out. </div>