I'm not sure if you guys caught it , but my nexstar is the mini. I didn't even realise it was balsa when I ordered it. I also have a foam falcon , but it looks fragile too.

It's far easier for me to walk out back and toss a plane up than to make arrangements , load up and drive to the fly field. I still plan on becoming a member of a nice close club with a very nice field close by. I'll probably do it next season and maybe even get some instruction (I need help with landings)

I like staying home and being able to fly in between high winds, rain nd doing other things. Besides my rc bench is 50' from where I fly so I have chargers, work area, parts, tools , ect. I had fun in July flying in my swimming trunks, jumping into pool while batts charged , cooling off and then flying again.

Electric: The Apprentice
Gas: LT-40 Kadet or Senior Kadet or Hobby Lobby Telemaster 40.
Cheap and good: Airborne Models Super Frontier 40. Excellent recovery characteristics.

you have a good memory sir... i left the hobby(planes) briefly(05-06) out of frustration and got into to RC cars...i got bored really quick with cars, driving in 2 dimensions gets old[8D] now its airplanes all the way!!!

Welcome to the wonderful hobby of flying RC panes... carefull its addictive

Ha, tell me about. Planes 13 and 14 just arrived today.

I think the T-28 is a great trainer and great airplane, I would like to vote for a Hobbico/Flyzone Cessna 350 Corvalis Very docile and has good power. Easy to build can be flowen with or without the flaps (without until you can some experience with it). After you gain some experience setup the flaps for t/o and landings. I always fly my corvalis before i fly anything else. I use it as my warmup plane. High winds don't matter either, the more wind the better, with the long wingspan ill climb out and kill the throttle and glide around with it. When the wind is right you can fly it like a powered glider lol, pushing 10m flytime on a 3s 2200mah. I plan on flying mine until the wings fall off then buy another one lol.<div></div><div>http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...XADFW&amp;P=ML</div><div></div><div>Here's mine:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRjENjJ116Y</div>

I learned on a Hobbyco Avastar with an OS 46 and would recommended it to anyone. It's also good for sharpening my skills in early spring when I haven't flown all winter.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...LXPY56&amp;P=7

I put the sensei together , checked it out a bit on the bench. I put a pair of packs in it and flew the sensei and it is pretty nice. It's pretty easy to fly too , but I don't have a good landing area. The wheels tend to sink into the wet grass/mud. I think I like a little plane better. I hand launched it and will give it another try soon. This is as big a plane as I want to own right now and hand launch. Second flight went very well too. Flew for 15 minutes using only half batery capacity. Landing is no good still.

I've been eying the corvalis , but hadn't considered it since it was not a high wing plane. I think I may just put it on my wish list anyways.

Do you believe that Balsa and ply is somehow inherently weaker?

If so you are mistaken.

Foamies get dings and scratches that are difficult to remove. Typically beginner's foamies look pretty bad after a very short period of time.

While you can repair clean foam breaks with plain old white glue, more often than not the types of crashes beginners experience are beyond repair.

With Balsa & ply planes you can walk into any hobby store, pick up some hardwood, balsa and covering and restore your damaged plane to better than new condition with a bit of work.... particularly the more simply built Trainers & Stiks.

Don't discount Balsa and Ply, because of the vendor's often repeated ( but erroneous ) "foam is easier to repair" mantra... That is merely a sales ploy.

Nice reading between the lines. Yes, I did think that the wood was more brittle therefore weaker. I have also heard that the falcon's foam is weak too. It is very thin and I can see why. My nexstar seems very firm/hard compared to all the foam planes I have. Thanks for the tips.

I'd be lost repairing a wooden plane right now, but I'll learn soon enough I suppose. I am no kind of a builder. The most building I want was today when I put the wing, gear,prop,batery and tails on the sensei.

We found a nice flying field yesterday 1 mile from the house. It is in the same metro park that had NO RC of any kind rule. There's a tiny pilots box, a small field to fly over and no run-way. There is some asphalt behind that may suffice as landing/take-off. I may practise my landings there , but it is only for small planes. Someone has gone out of thier way to initiate this , post rules, ect. I thought it was neat.

Getting used to the sensei , a very nice 30 minute flight this morning.

Are you saying that the park now PERMITS RC flying, and it did not do so before?

Yes. All the metro parks around me have had "no rc" for years. I sometimes ran my on-road cars there when it was not busy, even ran  a boat on the ponds too. After I ran the boat I found out that it is posted that no rc or any kind is permitted. This particular one now has this dedicated electric ONLY park flyer field. I will soon check the other metro parks.

That's what most novices feel when they get into this.

However repairs can be VERY easy to do. You have to try to do them though.

Looking back on the first repairs I tried ( which are still flying and working great many years later ) I did a HORRIBLE job, compared to what I'd do now.

Like anything else you have to jump in and learn.

There are sections here that provide great tips on repairing wood/ply planes.

BTW: Balsa is a misnomer and leads to the wrong perception.

Normally the load bearing structures on wood planes are QUITE tough made of hardwoods.

Balsa tends to be used for surfaces that do not get subjected to high loads.


I had a Great Planes EP Reactor which is a small balsa-ply plane.

I ripped the wings out overstressing in in 3D flight (lousy wing joiners on that plane!). I didn't want to repair it, so after stipping the parts I wanted, I stood on it to break the wood down to little pieces. That was to make it easier to throw away.

Much to my surprise, the little plane took my weight and abuse w/o major damage.

I had to hack at it with a hammer to break it apart.