BrokenSpoke

My son and I have been flying the E-Flite Apprentice, great plane to learn on, and are getting to the the point that it will soon be time to move up so to speak. We will be staying with electric and from what I have read, the Great Planes Escapade and any of the Stik variants are good choices. However, many, if not all, of the threads I have read recommending these planes are a little dated. Are these still good choices for a second plane? Is there another plane that would be a better choice?

Thanks.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Take a look at the Cessna 350 Corvalis

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXADFW&P=ML

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

I have been teaching my 7 year old son on an old Right Flyer 60, so far so good but I am thinking second plane.

This combo runs the only nitro motor I have left (an ancient K&B 60) and I think it might be a good match for the smaller escapade, I hear nothing but good things about them to this day.

If you guys get one let me know how it works out.

jester_s1

The sticks work as well as they ever did. There's a good reason why they've been continually produced for over 50 years! If you can imagine your trainer barely reacting when the wind hits it and just doing what you tell it to and nothing else, but retaining the stall resistant characteristics and slow flying ability, that's what flying a stick is like. If you've grown to depend on the trainer's tendency to roll out of a turn or save itself from sideslips you may have an issue with flying it, but if you've developed good piloting technique you'll probably find that a stick is actually easier to control.

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

The Escapade 40 is still a good second plane. I am in the 4th year of flying it. Another good second plane is the H9 Pulse XT 40. Not quite as fast as the Escapade but still an excellent plane.

Bruce

dignlivn

A Stik is still a good choice.


Bob

BrokenSpoke

Looks like I will stay with the Stik. I have a short kit for the Stik I have been wanting to start building. Still, I thought I'd see if it is still considered a great second plane after all these years and it looks like the answer is a resounding yes. Thanks again!

ATVAlliance

You wont be dissapointed in a Stik.

I have 3 of them, mini Ultra stick electric, 40 size Ugly Stick (soon to have floats for float flying) and a 60 size ultra stik.

When the wind is too much for anything else I dare to fly...one of these 3 planes are what I go to for all day fun on a windy day.  Either them, or a F27C Stryker.

mred33

There isn't a thing in the world wrong with a stick. It is one of the greatest flying planes ever designed. It won't do a great pattern, but it will fly great. It wasn't meant to do the pattern anyway, so just enjoy it and have a ball. That is what it was designed for and it does that very well. Just because it is al old design doesn't make it a bad plane. Some of the older planes are the greatest flying planes ever designed. One thing you must remember when flying this plane. It will not self right. You have to fly it all the time, but it is not a hard plane to fly. Just don't expect it to level out by itself. The wing is flat, so you need to fly it all the time. Remember that and you will get along great with it.

Ed

DenverJayhawk

+1 on the Stik. Get yourself a GP Big Stik 60. Best plane ever for mindless hole punching in the sky.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Oh man, I am soooooo broken hearted with that choice.. []

.......

Just kidding, of course. I had a Wild Stick 40 back a few years ago and had a blast with that thing. It was both docile as well as highly capable. Not Pattern capable, but certainly a heck of a lot of fun to fly. It had flaps, and when deployed, man, that thing got wild - thus it's namesake!! I would put in full flaps, then pull the elevator, and it would pretty much loop in it's own length (exaggeration, but you get the idea). A lot of fun to fly.

Then, return the flaps to normal, slow it down, and it would float in for a landing. In winds, not much either, I could come in slowly, almost to a hover, and it would settle down to the ground with a minimum of ground roll. Neat plane.

Good luck with that.

CGr.

jester_s1

I've seen a couple of times in this thread that Sticks won't do pattern aerobatics, which might imply that they aren't good to learn pattern with. But they aren't half bad for it actually. With meticulous flight trimming and the CG back, sticks are pretty neutral handling planes. A very experienced pattern pilot in my club likes to fly SPA events with his stick, and his slow rolls go for about 600 feet at roughly 4 feet of altitude (no, that's not a typo) with no heading changes. Sure, Sticks aren't as good a Kaos or a Skylark for precision maneuvers and they won't snap or spin worth a darn, but they are perfectly adequate for learning the vast majority of maneuvers even up to winning SPA events in the lower classes.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Well, ok. Agreed. My basis was that I already had a pattern plane, A Venus II and used it for pattern where I used the Wild Stick more as a sport - play plane.

CGr.

bigedmustafa

My Feedback: (2)

I would never try to talk any pilot out of buying a Stik, they're terrific aircraft and a joy to fly.

I simply wanted to offer up the E-Flite Advance 25e ARF for consideration. I've recommended it to several pilots I fly with who are coming off of electric trainers just like BrokenSpoke is. The Advance 25e is a classic low-wing sport plane design that seems to offer a great value for the price.

Geoff Barber wrote up a nice review here on RCU: http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...rticle_id=1339

carrellh

I dug up these links before I saw your post about already having a short kit but decided to post these in case you want to look at available options.

These 'Stick' versions are from eflite
http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...ck-arf-EFL2250
http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...5e-arf-EFL4025

Everything I've heard about the Hangar 9 Pulse says it is a great second plane. Eflite has two electric versions
http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...xt-arf-EFL2375
http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...5e-arf-EFL4100

mred33

Didn't mean that you can't do pattern like monuvers with it, just that it will not fly like a Kaos or Dirty Birdy. Ihave done just about every monuver that can be done with a stick and it will do them, BUTit will not do them like a good pattern plane. They are a blast to fly and play around with and make for a very nice second plane and a 3rd and 4th or whatever. Ihave two of them right now and probably will always have some kind of stick flying around. It's also one of the easiest landing planes around and if you put flaps on it they open up a whole new world of flying with that thing. Ihave flaps on mine and love them. Wouldn't have a stick without them, but you can also fly it just fine without flaps. Ido get tired of seeing all the red ones with black crosses though.

Ed