I am an adult now at 29 years old. As a kid i always asked santa for an RC plance, but never got one. I just joined RCU to reseach getting into an RC Nitro car for me and my soon to be 7 year old. He likes the kmart rc truck we have.... but its slow, and the battery doesnt last long, and is never charged when we need it.

ANYWAY,
Of course it was only a matter of hours before i started looking at RC planes as well. And i see there are these relatively large "rtf" trainer planes at reasonable prices. Now i always thought this hobby took thousands and thousands of dolars to get into for some reason.Is it really as easy as buying a rtf trainer and a simulator to go with it for around $300-$400? Can I really only spend $400 andget my foot into this hobby?

I know this is a vauge question..... but i really have no clue about any of this stuff....... but i feel my wallet shriking already!


-Joe

Hey Joe. Where in NJ are you? Reason I ask is because there are a few clubs in our area (Atlantic City area) and I could help you getting started in that respect.

Check this thread, by RCKen, on trainers. The list is quite large, including kits, ARF's, and RTF's.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4537845/tm.htm

I've flown four of these models, and still have one of them. The other three, well, I crashed one, and sold the other two.

If you DO go for an RTF, well, you have a ready to fly plane, but the radio is usually a basic four channel radio that works fine for the plane, but if you want to move it to a different plane later on, well, that's what you have to do.. move it. If you get an ARF (Almost Ready to Fly), well, you add your own radio, your own engine, and your own servos to the ARF. A kit, well, it's a box of laser cut parts that you glue and then cover..add your own radio, engine, & servos.

If it were me, depending on your building talents, well, an ARF is a good starting place. It is totally covered. Normally, you glue the wing halves together, glue on the horizontal and vertical stabs in the rear of the fuselage, hinge the control surfaces, add your components.. servos, engine, tank, battery pack, & receiver, then do the mechanical adjustments to center everything, set the Center of Gravity, then fly the thing.. of course, with the aid of an instructor and a "buddy box" which is a transmitter wired to another transmitter, one being the master the other being the trainer box. The instructor flys the plane until you are ready to take over, he pushes and holds a button which gives the student control, and you fly. If you get in trouble, the instructor simply lets go of the button and takes over, thus saving the plane from a crash.

As for recommendations, well, a good starting ARF would be a Tower Trainer 40 with an OS .46 AX engine.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXCAS2&P=RF
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXFMD5&P=7

If you want a good RTF, well, I believe Phoenix Angel (next post) put up a link for the Hobbico Nexstar Select.. he posted while I was editing.. It's a great trainer. Bonus.. you get sim software specifically for the Nexstar Select... but it does not have a computer radio.... good for future applications.

For a radio, well, any of the good 2.4GHz radio systems, Airtronics, Futaba, Spektrum, JR, Hitec, all work fine. I have a Spektrum DX6i and a DX7 radio. The 6i is a six channel radio.. for basic channels.. aileron, rudder, throttle, elevator, and two auxiliary channels for other purposes. The DX7 has seven channels. All the radio manufacturers make computer radio's (both the Spektrums I have are computer radios) that have all sorts of capabilities, as well as multiple model memories, which means you can have several planes and one transmitter.

This is the basic info.. of course, fuel, glow starter, tools, and so on...

Let me know where you are in NJ.. if you don't want to post it, send a PM.

CGr.

Welcome to the addiction. I hope you are here to stay and have a wonderful time. That being said I will answer your question honestly. You need a club and an instructor. It is a brilliant idea to join the AMA that cost 58 dollars for a year of 2mil in liability insurance. It also allows you to fly at AMA sanctioned clubs without hassle. To answer your question....

Yes and no, while this http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...I=LXEXK2**&P=0 will get you a plane and radio and a simulator. It is something many have learned on with the help of instruction. What it does not cover is http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXL419&P=0 and http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXGHC1&P=0 ... or these
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXEYD4&P=0 Now all of this stuff is not needed you can fly with fuel a manual pump a glow driver and a chicken stick. I have done it. I had some good times without all the extras. They do eventually pile up in $$ ....


All that being said you can have a great time with something like this http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXVVX2&P=0 there are fewer extras you will need and it is a great way to get into the hobby these little electrics are great for starting out. It will allow you to move into things with less investment. Once you are properly addicted you can move into whatever you like.

If you are a nitro junkie like me then it is a larger investment.

Just my two cents...

these days it is, when I started in "74 you had to build your trainer from a box of wood, the basic RTF trainer will set you back about 400.00 I got a Nextar for about that from Towerhobbies.

you will need a basic flight box,that will also work for nitro cars as well,this fully stocked will set you back 50-100.00 depending on the accessories you chose

then there's club membership which gives you several benefits,one is a structured, and generally safe place to fly your new plane, for the first timer a instructor is a huge help, and just having the help of guys who have done it, crashed it, and rebuilt it, is a big help this can cost between 50-150$ depending on the club.

then there's AMA membership most clubs require it 60$ for adult about 30$ for kids this also includes supplementary insurance coverage, and a magazine.

now there are ways to get a little value for your buck.
Tower has there super saver deals that give you free shipping and assorted discounts for a 10$ yearly fee, a typical tower deal is free shipping for 149.00 and with a code you get another 25.00 off that, I save allot of money using there discount system.

they even will at times give as much as 60$ off of 300$ purchases for there club members.

all that being said your looking at about 700$ for a whole lot of fun and a definite adrenaline rush.

now that I have been back doing it for about 7 years now I have at least 10 grand worth of stuff,my motocross buddies are still way ahead of me

Since I spent the first 65 years of my life in N.J. I feel I must respond and offer you my advice. First advise, Move to Florida haa been here 20 yrs. Cost of hobby never ends but yes can get feet wet for $400.I presently have 22 planes each is worth at least $400. It's not just a hobby but an addiction. Been doing it since 1946 after getting out of Navy. Find a club near you. That will provide loads of help and invaluable instruction. Don't go it alone. Do lots of research.

I am from Sayreville in Middlesex co NJ. In all honesty right this second i dont even have the $400 to jump right into the game. I am broke because I have a modest job, have a son, andlive alon on a single income. Combined with the current enonomy and it doesnt add up well for me. I also have other addictions such as model trains. I have a preorder on a $1600 train that im still working on saving money for. That while still recovering from the $$$ hit i took constructing a Halloween costume for my son that got WAY out of hand.

So as you can see, I DO spend the money.... but things have to wait in line sometimes.

That being said I always like to do research way before i leap into anything. Before i did my first engine swap, i read and learned how to do it instead of ripping an engine out and being clueless. So even if I cant afford a plane for a year, i can slowly learn so that when i am ready, I know what i want and what I am going to do with it.

As far as Nitro VS electric stuff goes... my brother had an electric RC car and a nitro car. They were both just as fast, but the electric still felt like a "toy" , while the Nitro simply makes you gitty! I would hope that learning about nitro engines on my sons RC car (when i give it to him for his bday or next Xmas) will help me get a jump start knowing about the plane engines. Hey, learning on the car, at least I dont have to worry about it falling out of the sky if it stalls right?

Anyway, thanks for all the fast and great responses. Are their any in depth FAQ reads for a complete newbie like me? Do you need any sort of a licence to fly these planes? Can you fly them anywhere, or only in certain areas?

Thanks guys!

-Joe

http://www.gettingairborne.com

Yes. Technology and low cost labor in Asia have really brought the prices down. I messed with control line as a kid then got into RC in my early 20's but had to give it up before really doing much due to the high cost. When I revisited it in my mid-30's I found that the prices had really come down.

You can find an RTF glow powered trainer and be flying for under $500. Heck you can even get a little RTF electric park flyer for $150 that is a lot of fun. It gets more expensive from there though. You always want a newer, more capable airplane, more capable radio, new engine and so-on. Next thing you know you have a ton of money invested into the hobby. Some of the larger more sophisticated planes, especially jets, can cost in the tens of thousands. A guy just "sport" flying with simple airplanes though doesn't need to break the bank.

I always laugh when a friend scoffs at how much an airplane costs but the guy has a harley, a dirt bike a boat or whatever sitting in his garage.
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Nice! Thanks! I will give it a good read through, and probally have about tripple the questions when i am done!

The clubs I used to belong to had there own club trainer and buddy box so anyone wanting to learn to fly could do it just for the price of there own fuel. If the club didn't have the trainer then several of us had them on hand and all set up, same deal, learn to fly free but just buy your own fuel. It's something to check into. Once you learn to fly and get some stick time in then you may not want just a trainer and move into a second plane of your choice. You will also have some ideas of the type of radio you really would like to have besides the one that comes with a RTF type of plane. That's looking ahead, knowing what you would want in the future. Clubs are a good place to start and this time of year you can go to there meetings just to meet some of the people and gather some information. Some people try flying RC and decide not to go on with it, nothing lost if you don't like it.

I would agree with Grey Beard, there are many options, a club is a great start, many many people in a club are more then willing to help get people hooked, the bigger thing is they can help you find a deal. I helped find a friend 3 planes, a couple of radio's, flight box and most everything needed to fly for $200. He needed a few things like fuel and batteries, but the point is deals are out there, you just need to take your time, look around and ask questions. I have around 15 different planes in my hanger in different stages, but I have only bought 1 plane new, and 1 new remote, the rest are used, it has taken money and some time, but not as much as it could have.

Good luck

Jon

Joe:

Middlesex.. well, that's a bit far for you to join one of our clubs down here in "Southern" Jersey.. but there are clubs up there.. here is at least one:

WEST JERSEY RADIO FLYERS
Flying Site Details
ROBERT BOTH
14 FOX HALL
MIDDLESEX NJ 08846
Phone: 732.424.9313

As both Gene (Gray Beard) and Minnreefer pointed out, many clubs have "club trainers" available to the new members. The AMA (Acacemy of Model Aeronautics) www.modelaircraft.org has a temporary membership for someone to get in, get their AMA card (this provides insurance and other benefits) and fly a club trainer for a limited time to see if it's right for them. I have one of our club trainers, in fact.

As for types of planes, well, I do fly electric, but prefer glow powered aircraft. I have not yet moved up to gasoline power yet, I just don't have the room to store something that big..

But, electric is a starting point, but not my favorite of choices. They don't have the staying punch of glow power, and if you don't have a bank of spare battery packs, well, you fly once for 8 to 10 minutes, then spend an hour or more charging the battery for a second flight. With glow, well, you fly, land, refuel, and get back up in the air in the time it takes to add fuel to the tank. And, electric trainers tend to be much smaller than glow powered trainers. I try to get folks to get larger size trainers, 46 - 60 size, just to get the advantage of visibility... the better you can see the plane, the better you will be able to see what your controls do.. even in flight.

I could go on about that point, but suffice to say that most will agree that bigger is better... to a limit, that is. And, most trainers are in that 46 - 60 size. The Tower trainer 40 that I pointed out earlier is one of those.. sufficient size and the cost of the ARF is really reasonable. I recommended the OS .46 AX engine because I happen to love OS engines, especially the AX line. But, there are others that are cost effective and will do the job just fine.

Radio costs, well, there are quite a few out there that are just fine and at a reasonable cost. For instance, you just don't need a 10 channel radio with all the bells and whistles when a good 6 channel computer radio will do just fine for a fraction of the cost. But, I would highly recommend that you stick with the big name brands.. better support and more wide-spread usage gives you a chance to ask questions of someone that owns one over one of the real inexpensive low-cost brands. Those big names are Airtronics, Spektrum/JR, Futaba, and Hitec. You just can't go wrong with any of these.

All this, of course, is food for thought for you to digest as your financial situation improves over time. And, I fully understand your situation as I am single and live alone (divorced and never even considered remarrying ). I'm having to much fun as it is!!

Anyway, no matter what you decide, don't be afraid to ask questions.. the old addage "the only stupid question is the one you don't ask" is certainly true in this hobby.

CGr.

Hope you give it a go as its a great father/son hobby. My suggestion is to visit a few local hobby shops and just look around. Often they will have flyers directing you to local fields and clubs. See if they have a simulator or two available for you to test in the store. I happen to like RealFlight. It is the best +/- $200 I spent when first getting started as it will save you a plane or two. With both of you it would be really half the cost and should either of you bail out it can be used as a neat video game. Main issue is to be certain your pc & video are strong enough to support the software. You will have to try to really "fly" and land the planes until you master it on the simulator. If you do you will be amazed at how much the real plane is represented once you do take to the air.

Best of luck to you and your son,

Clay

You should be able to find a good used trainer RTF for 200 bucks or less...sometimes much less.

Ive bought full RTF trainers before for as little as 75 bucks.  Check out your area for swap meets (RC ones) ...there are always deals there to be had.

Nobody have answer your questions. No; you dont need a license but it is recomended you join AMA(kind of a lic), for $60 you get insurance and you need to be in the AMA to join a club.

Second, yes you can fly anywhere, but avoid people and houses, you will get in a lot of trouble if you hit, or God forbids, injure a person or a car.
The clubs have flying sites, with runways. Yes a empty road can be a runway, but again you have to watch for obstacles, trees (they attract planes and eat them), poles, curbs, mailboxes, people, dogs (cats are ok), etc. That is another advantage of a club.

Some hobby shops have used planes they sell at consigment for other people. My first trainer was a Sig LT40 that I bought used at my LHS for $150.

Welcome to the addiction, it is a one way road, once you are in there is no way out.

Just my 2¢.

I'd spend money on a good radio system (Spektrum DX6i comes to mind) and a good engine (Thunder Tiger .46). These are things that can and will last you a long time. Then try to pick up a used trainer at a swap meet or LHS or craigslist, or wherever. You could get a good used trainer airframe for super cheap (if not free!). Then you can put extra money into the support equipment (field box, fuel, glow plugs, fuel pump, glow plug igniter, etc etc).

Then once you're ready to move on to a new plane, you can take your radio and engine and put them in the new plane. Problem with a lot of the RTF is that the equipment is good, but not great. Meaning that sooner or later you'll want to upgrade. So might as well upgrade from the get-go.

I gave that link from <font color="#00265e" size="2">Phoenixangel</font> a look and read through the sections there. It was a very good read for a newbie like me. Thank you.

I wanted to ask a question of all you Vets.... Where is the fun for you in the hobby? Are you guys flyers that build your own planes, or modelers that like to fly their creations when done? Does the flying ever get boring? As an outsider looking in Icould very easily imagine that flying in a few circles for 15 minutes could get boring...no? Where is the excitement in the hobby?

Asa guy that loves his O scale trains, I only run them durring the holiday season. And the fact that i only have 2 loops under my tree that just go round and round.... well, after 5 weeks of that I am bored of it and ok with putting them away until next year. In the train hobby the fun comes with bigger layouts where you can run all sorts of switching patters and whatnot. And many people are in the hoby because they love to model, and the trains bring their modeling to life.

So the question I am asking is what keeps you going and deeply interested in the hobby year after year?Do you often find that outsides dont understand what drives your desire?


Now, back to the planes! I am usuallya sucker for new and shinny posessions, but if I ran across a deal that couldnt be beat I could see myself buying a used trainer setup. If not, I would probally get a ARF or RTF depending onmoney. Usually if there was a ready to fly for $300, But i could piece together an ARF plane that would be lightyears ahead of the rtf plane for $100 more, I will goand shell out thesmall amount of extra money for thebetter goods.


And youngsters.... whats a good age to get them involved? My son is at the moment 6 years old, and I can honestly say that im not sure he could handle flying a plane at his age. I think he COULD do it, but his nerves would probally paralize him more than anything. He is pretty gooD with my trains which we operate via wireless remotes. He can control the train and its features, uncouplethe engine, and even operateturnouts and switch engines out of sidings my himslef via thecommand remote system we have. But if something goes wrong he tends to get get nervous and freeze up, because he does understand that they are expensive toysthatcancost over $1000 just for an engine.

Thats all for now. Thanks for all the help so far and for showing me that a hobby like this really IS within the reality of the every day guy!


-Joe

hi there, i just started flying nitro planes 4 weeks ago. i bought a hangar 9 alpha 40 rtf for next to nothing. it comes with everything installed including a very good evolution engine that runs like a champ everytime. i had already got a futaba radio that i bought a few years back so i just sold the spectrum 5 radio to a friend. i have to say i love flying this plane it is so stable and smooth and never gives me any trouble. i would highly recommend this trainer. i would also highly recommend that you join a club to learn how to fly properly and safely. the very best of luck to you in this great addiction called rc flying and remember practice makes perfect. aidan

Well I myself love flying and building, there is a "tinkering" factor that I really enjoy about nitro engines. Fuel, props, glow plugs, weight, and tuning all make a difference in how your plane responds.
There really is not a better feeling then working for a month or two turning a box of sticks and planks into a plane. Except the feeling the first time it is setting on the runway all lined up and it becomes you against the machine. A maiden flight is a special moment, especially if you built it yourself. Get ready for a heart racing, knee knocking good time. It is pure adrenaline.

That being said, there is no worse feeling then being 300ft up and the plane belongs to the wind as you watch it full throttle dive into the turf..... It happens to all of us, mostly it is our fault. They all have an expiration date..

What keeps me coming back over and over? Well all of it, the people are awesome, you will make good friends in this hobby, building is great, flying, well the first time you pull off a perfect blender with that heart stopping moment 5 ft above the deck and everything is silent.. You will know ...

As for the little ones, I have a seven year old little lady that can solo land my hobbistar. She loved the simulator and spent hours at a time on it when I let her. She does not understand wind very well so she does need help with some things. I am always on the box with her but she doesn't need me really. If they can turnip out on xbox 360 and handle the games as well as or better then you, they can fly. Kids learn faster then adults usually in my opinion. They usually do not realize they should have nerves. They do not have any preconceived ideas about flying like we do.

As for the "outside"...well wives can be ..touchy...... about money and time. It will take a lot of both if moderation is not considered. As for people in general, what dude would not want a plane of their own ?

It is like most hobbies, one goes thru stages. In your trains, you did not start with $1000 engines? Everything evolves and changes. It is not that easy to fly well, it is not that hard to fly around, but it is not easy (at least for me) to fully control your plane the way that you want. Then there is building planes. There are many different types of planes and they all fly different, there are pattern planes, warbirds, sport planes, scale planes, float planes, multi engines, jets, and many many more. Every plane flies a little bit different and takes hours to "master". I have been trying to fly for 5 years? now and I am still not a very comfortable pilot (largely because of a lack of time) but I still love to get to the field and fly and talk to my friends there.

I hope that helps.

Jon